Stramba

Stramba

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Oh snap...



So, throughout the night I was awaken by honking horns and yelling fans of the Italian soccer team...THEY WON! The streets were filled with people celebrating and it lasted pretty much all night. Can you blame them? Apparently, it’s been 50 years since they’ve won this championship! Hence, the craze.

Shortly after being awaken by the honking horns and chanting fans for the third and final time, I drifted off into a deep slumber that was suddenly interrupted by a morning wake up call at 6 a.m. It came way too quick. My body did not want to get out of bed. Yet, I forced myself to the bathroom to get ready for the day ahead of me. Our tour group met in the lobby to receive these items called “whispers”. Actually pretty cool...they allow the tour guide to speak softly into a microphone and the group to listen without her yelling. They look like a tape-recorder that hangs around your neck and has once earpiece for you to listen to the guide. We are also able to wander a little from her and view the areas, art or whatever item she is discussing without losing her voice. Overall, pretty awesome...however, most of the folks on this tour are (well I’m not going to lie)...older. They had a bit of trouble when we first started out. Some were on the wrong station and others didn’t have their earpiece plugged in all the way. Needless to say, it took a little longer for our guide to start the tour than expected. But, we’re in Italy, everything is a little delayed! ;)

Our tour began at the painting of the Last Supper. I wish I could say I got a great picture, but we weren’t allowed photos in this particular gallery as the flash ruins the paintings and the lighting is very dim so as not to cause fading. Let me tell you, the painting is mind-boggling. It has survived a number of bombings during WWII as well as restorations of the building and painting itself. Unlike many other Da Vinci paintings this particular one is not a fresca painting, meaning it fades faster and is more difficult to restore (especially the vivid colors). In fact, there has been numerous occasions in history where they thought the painting was lost and incapable of being restored. Obviously, with technology and artistic capabilities of current, it is kept immaculate.

Our next stop was the castle of Milan! Here we learned why the city is built the way it is. The reason there are hardly any parallel streets and the city is somewhat of a maze is because the homes or buildings of the time surrounded the castle in a circular shape. The castle was amazing! We took a tour inside the museum and saw a number of pieces of the castle and it’s art that had been saved during battles or wars throughout the centuries. The last stop of the day was the Duomo and Galleria, which we visited yesterday. Today, we received a little more history and background to the Duomo.

To top off the day, we returned to the room where my computer was dying from no charge. :( Leave it to my father to try to figure out adapters! YIKES. He proceeded to try an adapter my uncle brought on MY straightener! Snap, crackle and pop is all I have to say. Basically, if you’ve ever seen “Just Married” with Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy (which happens to be one of my sister’s and I’s favorite movies), we relived the scene where they blow the fuse with a few minor discrepancies- 1) it was a straightener not a vibrator and 2) we didn’t set the fire alarm off. Our power in our room went out and we had to call the concierge to reset the breaker. Thank God it wasn’t my computer! My dad was fired from playing electrician and I asked the gentleman who fixed our power for a proper adapter for my computer. I’m all charged up!

Oh and more importantly.... YES I’ve had gelato--- so far carmel, cioccolato (chocolate) and stracciatella (chocolate chip). Perhaps, by the end I’ll have tried pretty much every flavor... Ciao (for now)!

2 comments:

  1. But how amazing would it have been if it actually WAS a vibrator that your father burnt down your hotel with?!!! Think about it!

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