Lake Orta and Milan
We left the Cinque Terre for the Italian lake district, very near the Swiss border. Our destination was Lake Orta, little sister to the larger (and George Clooney inhabited) Lake Como and Lake Maggiore. Although smaller, Lake Orta is no less lovely than the more famous lakes. Our hotel, the Hotel Bussola, was very nice, sitting on a hill overlooking the town of Orta with expansive views of the lake.
We had time to explore the lakeside town, also called Orta, and grab a quick lunch before a short boat ride to the island in the center of the lake, Isola San Giulio. There is an interesting church on the island, the Basilica San Giulio, a convent, and a circular path that follows the circumference of the island. On our return trip, the boat took us along the shoreline to see some of the fancy resort homes.
That evening, we had the traditional Rick Steves farewell dinner with our traveling partners at a very elegant restaurant in Orta.
Orta town square at night.
The tour ended the next morning in Orta, which is about an hour away from the nearest major airport in Milan. Trina had gone to a lot of effort to pair up groups to share cabs to their next destination. Some were traveling straight to the airport, some to stay in the Milan city center and some at airports near the hotel. We shared a large Mercedes mini-van with another family that cost 100 Euros, total. We were going to spend the rest of the day on a brief tour of Milan and then fly out the next day. Our primary aim was to see DaVinci's "The Last Supper." Principally because of shortcomings of the website, it was nearly impossible to obtain the required reservations, so we reserved a guided tour that included tickets to see the painting. The train from the airport to the city center was a breeze and we joined our tour in front of the Milan Duomo.
The piazza at the Milan Duomo is monumental. To the left of the Duomo is a vast shopping arcade that was a gift from the people of Milan to King Victor Emmanuel, who became the first king of a unified Italy in 1860. His equestrian statue faces the Duomo.
The arcade is humongous and houses all of the fashion houses that make Milan the worldwide center of style.
Through the arcade you'll find the world's most famous and important opera house, La Scala, and . . .
All around the piazza are buskers looking for your Euros. Most are musicians, but this guy was unique, jumping from one of these small blocks to another.
. . this statue of Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo spent the most productive years of his life in Milan working for the Sforza family. He did engineering work for them, designed weapons, built canals, did set design for pageants and plays, and did a little painting from time to time.
The Sforza castle, where Leonardo's patron lived and Leonardo worked.
Our Milan tour guide. He was a Frenchman who studied in England who now lives in Italy. Milan is a very cosmopolitan city.
The fame of the Last Supper made seeing it somewhat surreal. They do a wonderful job of presenting it. Only about 15 people are allowed into the room at a time and each group has about 15 minutes in the room. It's as if you have the painting to yourself.
P.S. The Last Supper is housed at the Santa Maria della Grazie church, a short walk to the train station. It was an easy ride back to the airport and a short cab ride to our hotel. The airport was new and very easy to navigate. The European subway and train systems and their airports make us cry out for infrastructure improvement here in the United States