Travel: Milano, Italy 1998

	Recently, I and some friends went for a holiday in Italy to relax, explore, and embibe! Milan was our point of arrival and departure but we didn't spend a lot of time there otherwise. It's an OK city, but nothing compared with Florence or elsewhere in Tuscany. The Duomo was beautiful, like a wedding cake, with so much ornament and so many statues on its exterior. We stayed a mere block away in a quaint little hotel next to the famous Galleria--the first shopping mall. Personally, I preferred the more quite and interesting San Supice just a few blocks away. It was much less assuming and had an interesting and unusal feature: since there was no room for a real asp on the lot when built, it has one painted inside instead, with just a bit of relief. Traditionally, for a church this size, the asp should be around 30 feet deep (at least) but this one was maybe one foot deep at most. The perspective painting was perfect when seen from the entry or anywhere in the center of church and from the edges it looked somewhat warped in perspective. Very cool! I wish I had a picture of it. On the way out of St. Supice, there was a large alcove with a pedestal and a Macintosh atop it. I'm sure there was supposed to be a kiosk-type presentation on the screen, but while we were there, it was off and looked like a quiet, idolized homage to the Mac. It was a surprising and hilarious treat.
	One unexpected find in the city was a series of small canals at the south end. These canals had a lot of character and reminded me of Amsterdam.
	Before heading off to Florence, Laura, Thede, Jennie, Jeff and I had lunch at a little cafe on the walking street leading to the Duomo. None of us spoke Italian so ordering food was always fun. I bet Thede still can't say "orange juice" even though the waitress taught him twice. Onto Firenze.

 

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