I have another day off in Milano, Italy, whilst another trainer takes the NLP Master Practitioner course and people have said that I should go and see the sights. Well there are not many tourist sights to visit in Milan despite the age of the city.
Physical places like Duomo, Teatro Alla Scala, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Castello Sforzesco and more are worth a visit, but they do seem to be spread-out, being far and few between.
I had taken the City Tour bus to get an idea of the layout of Milan, thus allowing me to spend my own time to view what I decided to see.
I had work to complete in the morning and at mid-day I set out to walk from Stazione Centrale (the Central Railway Station) to Santa Maria Deile Grazie the home of The Last Supper painting. It is a painting on my list to see, and this was my opportunity.
After a long walk following a map through the back street of Milan, I arrived at Santa Maria Deile Grazie, and after a search to find the entrance, I offered my money to enter, but was told there were no tickets available, and they were fully booked until June, that is nearly two weeks waiting time.
Visiting other tourist and religious sites throughout the world, I have never come across such a long waiting time, even the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, Rome yes one has to queue for a lengthy time, but not two weeks.
So do not visit Santa Maria Deile Grazie to see The Last Supper unless you have booked your place, or willing to wait a long time maybe weeks.
A little upset, but OK, get on with life, I had seen on the City Tour bus tour I had seen near bye the Museo Nazionale Della Scinza e Della Tecnologia, Leonardo De Vinci, (National Museum of Science and Technology), Leonardo De Vinci.
When I got to the museum building, an old 16th century monastery, I could not see an entrance, I could see no signs, so I set out and walked around the block, that way I would find the entrance. Trust me to go the wrong way, the long way round, but eventually I found the entrance.
Bus loads of school children were going into the building, and I nearly gave-up trying to get in, plus I wondered if it would be worth the time with so many children inside. But I stuck to my plan and paid to get in.
Was it worth it? Yes and no.
They seem to be under going a lot of rebuilding work, and many areas were empty or restricted. I only saw three aircraft behind a makeshift barrier, the railway engine shed had some good examples, but again many exhibits were restricted or only viewed from a distance.
Three aircraft at Museo Nazionale Della Scinza e Della Tecnologia, Leonardo De Vinci, Milano.
There is a submarine on display, but that too was restricted, and an extra charge of 8 Euro to view the inside. It must have bee quite an effort to get it from the sea to the inland city of Milan.
A submarine at Museo Nazionale Della Scinza e Della Tecnologia, Leonardo De Vinci, Milano.
Although there were many children visiting, they were all well behaved under the control of I presume their teachers, and were often to be seen in rooms where there were interactive exhibits.
I enjoyed the exhibition of Leonardo Da Vinci housed in one long gallery, giving a brief history of his work with models of some of his ideas.
Also, I did see a fresco of The Last Supper painted in 1626 by Giovanni Mauro Della Rovere, as against the one in Santa Maria Deile Grazie by Leonardo Da Vinci painted between 1495 and 1498. So all was not lost.
The Last Supper painted in 1626 by Giovanni Mauro Della Rovere
After that visit, it was a long walk back to Stazione Centrale and my hotel. I had been walking or on my feet for nearly six hours.
Now I deserve a pizza or a plate of gnocchi.