Lovely Weather Ahead!

Due to the Easter Holidays, all of the Accademia students got to have a 3-day weekend (aka: prime traveling time). A lot of the other students were interested in going to Cinque Terre or Sorento, but I knew I would be going to both of those places with my mom so I made solo plans…again. For my weekend, I decided to head from Arezzo to Milan on Friday night, Milan to Turin on Saturday night, and then back to Arezzo on Sunday to have Monday to relax and rest.

On Friday, I left the villa very quickly after the theater students’ Commedia performance (which was amazing! They did a stylized and very comedic version of Romeo and Juliet. Some of my favorite scenes included an almost silent and rather touching scene of Romeo and Juliet meeting and falling in love, Romeo’s and the Apothecary’s high-noon showdown, and the death of Tybult the chicken). I needed to get to town early since my phone was locked and I couldn’t open it and in order to buy dinner for the train. The phone ended up being a quick 5-minute solution (and it now is fine! WOOO!) so I ended up sitting and waiting in the roundabout park near the station for quite a while. I then bought my dinner (a kebab panino from my favorite kebab place and a crème filled croissant from a bar near the station) and headed to the station. On the way to and in the station, I ended up seeing a lot of the other Accademia students, which was nice since we then all got to say goodbyes and wish each other safe and fun trips. I then got on board my train and left.

From Arezzo to Florence to Milan, I really had no problems whatsoever (well…almost. The water I bought ended up being carbonated, but I found a fountain at the Florence station where I could fill it with the good stuff). The Milan station ended up being one of the more unusual train stations I’ve been due to its fancy design, multiple floors filled with shops, and winding moving ramps that took you from level to level. Once outside, it turned out that what I had been told was a not so nice neighborhood at night was actually still pretty busy and full of people. It didn’t matter anyways since I had chosen a hotel on the opposite side of the pizza from the station and it ended up being a quick and easy walk to find it.

Once in the hotel, I checked in (purely in Italian! WOO!) and headed up to my room. My room turned out to be the perfect size for what I needed and I was happy staying there for the night. There was a slight problem with noises from inside the hotel (not outside though) disturbing my sleep a bit, but it wasn’t too bad. 

My room in Milan 

In the morning, I checked out and walked to the Corso Buenas Aeres. Before arriving in Milan I had just planned to take the metro near my hotel to the Duomo, but, after reading about some cheaper shopping areas in my guidebook, I ended up deciding to check out this street first instead. It ended up being a really lovely walk and, although I didn’t find any shops I particularly wanted to go into, I enjoyed exploring. I ended up finding an outdoor market where I almost bought raspberries (they didn’t look great upon closer inspection), a beautiful old hotel, and a ton of pretty streets to walk down. 

The market

A shop I almost went into

Once I reached the end of the street, I then went down into the metro. I then spent a good thirty minutes fighting with the ticket machines before I ended up buying the all day pass from the human vendor nearby (which was so helpful for my knee). I then took the metro to the Duomo where I spent a few minutes enjoying the sights of the piazza and reorienting myself.

From the piazza, I then headed down Via Torino to look at some other cheap clothing stores. I didn’t find any interesting shops (even though I went in three), but I found two wonderful churches. The first was tiny, just a cylinder under a dome, but the space was used so well and the dark color of the stone in the floor and the walls was beautiful and the art and statues and the walls were impressive. 

The first church

Although there were no signs saying no photos, I ended up not taking any inside just because I felt that would be rude. I didn’t take any photos in the second church either, but this one had a sign saying I couldn’t and many guards inside so I didn’t ignore that rule. I ended up really enjoying and being impressed by the second church because its design was both beautiful and intelligent. I loved the lightly golden flowers on the ceiling and the hidden electric lights that caused it to shine brilliantly instead of fading to pastels (which you could see in the unlit areas), and, behind the alter, there was a great optical illusion. If you stood in front of the altar, it looked as if the church extended quite far behind it. However, since I already was on the look out for an optical illusion, I noticed that the painting behind the altar was too big to be that far back and became suspicious. When I went to the side of the church, it turned out that I was right and that the area behind the altar was not as spacious as implied by the front. Everything there was still 3D, but not quite as deep as one would think from the front. I ended up spending a good bit of time just enjoying the view and thinking about the calculations that must have gone into making it.

The optical illusion church

After leaving the church, I then ended up briefly walking down another street coming off of the piazza and then getting lunch in a restaurant on the front of the piazza. I then went into the Duomo. I must admit that, although the outside was beautiful, the inside failed to wow me. I really do think that Italy has spoiled me on churches at this point. However, I was impressed at a few things; the size was incredible, the multiple organs must be sensational when played at once, and some of the stained glass windows were beautiful. Amusingly enough, I also found a creepy statue of a skinned saint that I head read about online a few days ago (yes, it was as creepy as they said).

The Duomo

Inside the Duomo

The creepy statue

 After exiting the Duomo, I then walked all the way around it (and briefly into the palace next door which turned out to be extremely not impressive—I didn’t take any pictures of it at all) to reach the stairs that would take me to the top. I ended up waiting in line a bit (all the while questioning my decision to forgo the elevator up for the sake of a cheaper price), bought my ticket, and began my slow journey up the 250 stairs. For the past two weeks, I had been taking the stairs one at a time, and I did the same at the Duomo. I was slow, but I made it to the top with only my other leg and lungs aching. Once at the top, I decided the trip up (and what would turn out to be a worse trip down) was worth it. I wasn’t just on top of the Duomo looking out from a balcony-esque path; I was walking on the roof. 

On the roof of the Duomo

View from the roof of the Duomo

There were two levels that we were able to explore and I fully enjoyed walking around them. It was incredible seeing the spires and intricate carvings from in the middle of them and standing at the top provided a great view of our surrounds. Also, by the time I reached the top, the sun had fully broken free of the clouds and we enjoyed extremely warm and sunny weather for the rest of the day (excluding the last hour I was in Milan in which it drizzled lightly). This was a wonderful surprise since the weather report has said it would be partly cloudy with a chance of rain and I hoped the weather would be equally lovely in Turin the next day.

Eventually I left the throngs of people sunning themselves on the roof and headed back down the looooong stairs. From the Duomo I then went into the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and enjoyed the architecture while eating some gelato (crème caramel and chocolate flavors).

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele

I then spun on the testicles of the bull mosaic for good luck and headed out and down to the metro. I then took the metro to Castello Sforzesco. I had planned to go there only to walk through the park behind it to see the aquarium and go up into the Torre Branca, but the combination of the lovely weather and my leg still being off caused me to only go up into the tower. The views from the top were amazing, and I was quite happy that it was only accessible by elevator, but, the entire time I was at the top, the tower rattled loudly which made the experience less pleasant. 

View from the tower

The tower

Once we were back down on the ground, I wandered through the park trying to decide what to do. Since I wasn’t going to the Aquarium (I had tried to locate it from the tower to see if maybe it was close/exciting looking enough to ignore my leg for, but I couldn’t and happily gave up), I had much more time on my hands than I expected. So, in the end, I ended up following the lead of the many people in the park, and I plopped down on the grass to lounge in the sun.

The patk

For a glorious 30 minutes, I sat and did nothing. However, eventually exploring Milan called to me again and I got up to go back into the heart of the city.

I took the metro back to the Duomo and then walked over to the Teatro alla Scala since it had been recommended for to me. I wasn’t that impressed though I’m sure I would have been if I had been able to go inside and see the famous directions and architecture. From there, I walked quickly back to the Duomo through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele (which I discovered, much to my annoyance, to be the quicker route I hadn’t noticed before) and then took the metro into the Quadrilatero della Moda, the streets that held Milan’s highest fashion stores.

As I started my walk around the streets, I was skeptical of how interesting I was going to find this particular sightseeing adventure. However, once I turned down the first street, I found myself laughing at the intimidating prices listed in the windows for the outfits on display, wowed by some of the fancy window displays, and interested in a few shops.

Window display

Window display 

Window display

Due to fear of actually buying anything, I didn’t really go into that many shops (the interesting windows were enough for me!). However, there were two where I gave into temptation and entered. The first was a shop that sold funky hat/head decorations.

Amazing hat things...soooo tempting!

I was sorely tempted in this shop but the average price of over 1,500 euros kept me from considering purchasing (or even touching) anything. The second shop, a clothing shop of a brand I didn’t recognize, luckily killed temptation for me once I was inside since all of the clothing they had was not soft to the touch at all.

As soon as I had completed my walk, I felt the first little sprinkles of rain on my head. However, by this time, I needed to head back to the train station anyways so this was the most convenient time to get rain at all. It never got much heavier, though I did have to pull out my umbrella briefly. Near the station I had some fast food for dinner and then went to a café to get some dessert. I bought a small chocolate cake for 8 euros (I was so annoyed when I learned that. All of the other desserts in the window were all listed as 4!) 

My expensive tasty desert

which was very tasty, and, while I ate, I ended up sitting next to two Italian drag queens. I then went back to the train station, waited there for a while, and then boarded the train to Turin.

When I arrived in Turin, I exited the station only to find that the weather had taken a turn for the worse. It was now definitely raining, and, huddled under my umbrella, I hoped that my hotel wasn’t too far away and wasn’t in a sketchy area. Luckily I was two for two; the walk to my hotel was not bad at all (though the rain did make it feel longer), and the streets I walked to get there were both well lit and full of other people walking. Once I arrived at the hotel, I had a minor moment of freaking out when I thought the door was locked for the night (turns out I just had to hit a buzzer to get in), but otherwise check in (again, completely in Italian, but this time with more conversation! Wooo!) went smoothly.

My room ended up being really cozy and I ended up sleeping very well that night (though my one complaint was that it would have been nice if they provided a plastic cup or something in the bathroom). 

My room

In the morning, I had more difficulty checking out (I don’t think my brain could handle another language so well in the morning), but no major problems occurred and I was quickly on my way out the door to discover only glorious sunny weather. From the hotel, I headed towards the center of the city. Along my walk a found an adorable church, a park guarded by large statues of the Egyptian goddess Bastet, and a street filled with high-end shops to rival Milan. Even with all of these interesting side sights, I eventually reached my first destination of Piazza San Carlo. It was beautiful and impressive with its many grand statues decorating the piazza and the church there. 

Piazza San Carlo

Piazza San Carlo

Piazza San Carlo

As I walked through it to head to my next destination, I could hear a violin playing. I recognized the song, but I was nearly out of the piazza when I realized that it was “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” from Evita. Divertente, sí? 

From the piazza, I ended up deciding to check out some interesting looking architecture up ahead instead of going straight to the Egyptian Museum that a professor had recommended. The interesting architecture ended up being the palace in an area with many interesting sights that I had planned to go to later, so I just decided to explore it early. I ended up going in the Palazzo Madama which had an amazing staircase that you could walk up for free and the Palazzo Reale which was not free so I just ended up exploring outside. 

The Palazzo Reale

Inside the Palazzo Madama

Once I reached the other side of the palace, I discovered more interesting sights and explored a bit that area. I saw the old Roman theater, some old mosaics preserved in the ground with a glass covering, a very large bell tower, and a park with an old fortress/castle looking thing.

The mosaics

The tower 

The old ruins 

After I was done, I then headed into the Duomo, which turned out to be very plain and dull. However, back in the piazza, there was the church of San Lorenzo, which was a lovely space filled with beautiful decorations. 

San Lorenzo

San Lorenzo

Once I left, I realized it was getting close to lunch but not close enough to start eating. To fill the time, I ended up walking down a side street that surprisingly lead me to another palace with an outdoor market at its base. I ended up buying a huge doughnut that I saved for later. From there, I still had more time to kill before lunch so I headed over to Mole Antonelliana (and old synagogue that now houses a cinema museum and a very tall tower). Although the walk over was lovely (I found the palace gardens and a major theater of Turin), I probably should have bought lunch before heading to the tower. Once there, I discovered an intensely long line that didn’t seem to be moving. At all. Even so, I really wanted to go up and see the view, so I got in line. I ended up waiting over an hour and a half, but I eventually made it in (and got the student discount too!). Unfortunately, once inside, I had to wait in line to take the elevator up into the tower though luckily this line moved much more quickly and I had the lovely company of a woman from southern Italy who chatted with me for the entire time. I also ate my doughnut during that wait.

However, the view from the top was definitely worth the trial of getting there since the perfectly clear and sunny weather let me see not only the entire city, but the spectacular Alps as well! 

The spectacular view

The only thing that kept me from staying up there for a long time was that I had an early train back to Arezzo and I still needed to get lunch and go to the Egyptian Museum. From the tower, I walked quickly back to the piazza with the palaces, grabbed a kebab, stopped to buy a postcard and see if there was a shot glass for Fran, and went to the museum. By the time I reached the museum, it was around 2:30pm and my train would leave at 4:30p. However, we were close to the station and I thought seeing the museum would go rather quickly in comparison to the tower. Boy was I wrong.

The museum also had a line outside, mercifully much short and faster moving than at the tower, but I still ended up waiting for 30 frustrating minutes before I was allowed inside (at least I got another discounted ticket because of my age though). The museum was worth the wait, and I was amazed by both the size of the collection and what artifacts they had. The exhibit was in three parts with the first being up a flight of stairs. In the first, there were many mummies (both human and animal. I wasn’t too thrilled at looking at the human ones, but I really enjoyed the animals. I found a couple for cats and one for a crocodile!), pieces of writings and drawings on cloth and stone, jewelry, and small statues. 

Some small statues

Old writings and drawings 

Kitty mummies!

I loved these rooms the best and ended up coming back to this branch of the exhibit at the end since I had a little extra time. The second, down the stairs and to the right, was many dark and mirrored rooms containing large statues of the gods.

The second part of the exhibit

I didn’t enjoy them as much as I enjoy Greek statues, but it was incredible being able to get close to them and see some of the details. The last part of the exhibit was on the ground floor on the left of the building and it contained many artifacts from the tomb of a specific person. I wasn’t too excited by this branch, but the detail work on the coffin was beautiful.

Once I had seen the whole exhibit, I left the museum and headed straight for the train station at a brisk pace. Luckily, I made it with about ten minutes to spare and I boarded the train to head back to Florence and then Arezzo. As the train pulled away, I was able to see the Alps again.

Ciao!