Milan and Turin...

We spent a four day weekend in Milan and Turin. Milan was really nice. We did not see much of Turin other than the very long wait in line to see the Shroud of Turin.

Let's start in Milan - the fashion capital of course. The needle and thread is a neat display that starts the fashion district part of the city.

We journeyed on to the castle of the city and the art displayed within.

This was the last piece being worked on by Michelangelo right before he died in Milan.

I really enjoyed the Madonna and Child with Mary nursing baby Jesus.
My favorite people posing with other famous people!

So then we headed to the famous Duomo in the main part of the city. The Duomo is quite amazing and the photos don't come close to showing it's true beauty - which are in the elaborate stained glass windows. This cathedral is in the heart of the city and is second in size only to St. Peters in Rome. It took over 200 years to complete the building. The dedication of several generations to complete this structure is stunning by today's standards.

The Madonna at the top of the Duomo.

The famous rose window that is centered by the sun symbol that you find all over the city and represent the city of Milan.

St. Bartholomew - who was stripped of his skin for his transgressions. This is the most famous statues in the Duomo.

The main pulpit of the Duomo.

Unfortunately, we did not get to see DaVinci's Last Supper. The tickets were sold out for weeks ahead and even though they are free, we could not get them. We were told that many of the tourist groups reserve out bunches of the tickets then sell them online - so boo to them. We will get back to Milan again, I'm sure and hope to see it next time.

One of our days was spent in Turn, where all I can say is "Oh my aching feet." We had tickets to see the Shroud of Turn - which most people believe is the burial clothe of Jesus. So, whether you believe it or not, it is a tremendous religious symbol so many, many, many...people stand on line for hours, and hours, and hours...to see it. We, being the religious nuts that we are known to be, joined the line! (!!)

(OK, sidebar here. Most of you know that Lenny is what those church going folks call a CEO - Christmas and Easter Only - so he went out of his way to get these tickets for me - the Christian upon whom he is relying to ride my tailcoat into heaven. So, being the appreciative wife that I am, I could not disappoint him by not willingly standing in what was by far the longest line I have every stood in all of my life. Our feet were aching and we stood there for over 3 hours. So, I tried not to complain, but I don't think I managed that very well. Despite it all, I'm glad we did it so we checked it off the list!!)

They only put the shroud on display ever 10 years, so this really was a "once in a lifetime experience."

The crowds!

I do want to go back to Turin since the city is quite beautiful and we really did not get to see it because our feet hurt so much.

So now, we are almost done with May - and considering that it's almost July maybe I should be pleased with that?? I really need to get my ironing done so I must stop writing for a bit. Besides, I'm sure you are all sick of reading all this stuff!

Coming soon...Corfu (Greek Isle) for Memorial Day weekend! Stay tuned!

Austria and the drive South...

So, we left the castles of Germany behind to get over the Alps and into Austria for the night. The drive was just amazing. Alex was very funny as she kept seeing thing after thing that was so beautiful she could not stop saying "Wow!"

So here's the famous Cooper for which we drove three days to Germany. Lenny said we'd share it, but since it's been over a month and the only chance I've had to date was on the drive here from Germany, I suppose it's really his car. This problem was solved by the fact that my car did finally arrive (in early June that is) and now I have the big "Mommy Mobile" and can keep up with the Italians.

So, back to the trip home. Driving the Alps was quite an experience. One that while I was not overly eager for, I would love to do again!

The views were tremendous.

And...now we are on the Austrian side.

We drove a few hours and ended up in Innsbruck for dinner. We found a lovely little hotel that had a great restaurant. Turns out they eat the same foods as the Germans and so we had a traditional "German" dinner of Schnitzel.

We did not have a lot of time in Innsbruck but we did do a little touring downtown before getting on the road. I long to go back there soon as spend more than half a day.

We spent the morning in the town square and visiting the famous Dome of St. Jakob. This place is the most amazing and just simply ornate one I've seen outside of St. Peters.

Can you imagine preaching from there?

So, those who've followed my photographs know that I tend to find the odd in midst of the normal everyday. Well, as we walked through the town I saw this tag on the street - No Cops. Lenny and Alex were forced into my art and did so in an agreeable manner - which is to say that Lenny went along with it because it shuts me up and Alex, of course, is game for anything! Don't be surprised if this shows up on our Christmas cards!

On over the border we went and crossed into Northern Italy. This border is amazing and the vineyards are tremendous. This view is of a cloister of nuns who make wine. We drove up the hills - with zig zag turns and all to have a great lunch on the Italian side of the border - only to realize that in Northern Italy the first language is actually - you guessed it - German!

It was Mother's Day so we just enjoyed the view and a great meal. Hmmm...sounds like food is a top priority, well, it's Italy after all!

We made this journey into a four day event. We drove further south to Verona, Italy. Which for Shakespeare fans is the famous home of Romeo and Juliet. Unfortunately, we had bad weather and so we did not have any good photos to share. The most interesting thing that happened after spending all that time in Germany what do we find in downtown Verona but a German Beer Festival! So, we had the traditional oversized cup of beer and on we went toward home.

Catching up...

So, it's been a while. Lenny told me last night that I need to get back into my blog as I have not done anything in a while. I could make a lot of excuses but the reality is that I've been so busy doing nothing and enjoying it that I have not been writing about it! Well, I can't even say that's the truth since we've actually be pretty busy I just have not taken the time to write about it.

So, I left off telling you we'd go visit a castle, and we did just tat.

On our way to the Neuschwanstein Castle, we found this lovely church at the foot of the hill. The weather was a bit overcast and chilly - it was still Spring here and Germany is not known for it's balmy weather!

Take note of the lovely yellow flowers. We say them all along our route and they just covered the hills. The beauty of them was amazing so we took many photos along they way.
It turns out, upon loser examination that the flowers covering the fields were nothing less than...yes, you are seeing it right. They are the bane of existence for homeowners and yet, covering field after field in Austria they are just amazing - Dandelions!

We got a real kick out of that.

So, on up to the castle. This castle had quite a tragic history but the bottom line is that the prince that constructed it was ultimately dethroned - driven crazy and drowned in a lake with his psychiatrist. He was well known for construction of the vast castles and in fact was the primary designer of at least three of them, the most famous of which is Neuschwanstein. Often this one is called the Sleeping Beauty Castle and was the inspiration of the design for the Disney versions in California and Florida.

We took what every princess takes, a horse and buggy ride up the hill to the castle.

The view as we headed up the hill.

The first stop on the route is the cantilever bridge. For those who don't know (an I who had to look it up) "cantilever" is a design aspect that puts equal parts pressure toward the center so the bridge stays up without support in the center. This bridge was quite high above a river and the view is spectacular. I'm not a huge fan of heights so I tried not to look over too often!

No photos were allowed in the castle itself, so we only have them at a distance. The inside was quite spectacular as well and we decided that we would spend a good portion of the next couple of years tackling the objective to see as many of these wonderful German Castles as possible.

We departed that afternoon for Innsbruck, Austria where we spent the night before heading down into Italy for the drive home. Next up, Mother's Day in Austria.