Oh, My Beautiful Launderette

Today was a day you don’t write home about. We needed to do laundry, but discovered that Italy in general, & Milan in particular, don’t have laundromats or, as they call them, launderia automatica. They mostly have drop off service. We found one on the Internet we considered closer to the hotel than the desk clerk’s recommendation. We loaded the clothes in a suitcase & took off for the “short” .7 mile walk. Two hours later having gotten lost & then finally having found the place, we discovered it boarded & closed for renovation. At that point we hopped a tram & headed to the hotel recommended place. We were lucky an attendant who spoke zero English & was quite bossy was there to sell us tokens & soap. While things washed we ate at a local place, Woodstock 3. Yep. That Woodstock. Dozens of workers came in, ate, & left in what seemed like 10 minute shifts. The waitresses were lightening fast & effecient The portions were huge. We each had a slice of pizza that was @ 12×14″. The crust was devine.

Oh. I forgot to mention that it was raining all day while we were traipsing around. To reward ourselves for both cleanliness and virtue, we bought beautiful, sumptuous pastries, a couple of sandwiches, a bottle of local, & settled in for the night. My dogs were barking & we have an early train for Venice tomorrow.

A pictorial look at our stay in Milan.

kathrynlima | March 2, 2011 at 4:57 pm | Reply

Woodstock Cafe sounds very American – especially the part about the large portions!

Milan Galleries

Today was entirely spent in two galleries, the Gallery Poldi-Pizzoli and the Pinatoceta Brera. The Poldi-Puzzoli was a private residence and holds the family’s furnishings, art, personal effects. Only one original room remains from the WWII bombings. It is beautifully appointed with mosaics & murals. There are photographs in each reconstructed room which show the original. The paintings, sculptures and other personal effects were surely safely stored during the war as they are all on display. It is a museunzm in the likeness of the Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Frick. There was a special Botticelli show with the Madonna of the Book, which they own and had just been cleaned. Also, one of the 3 Giullano Medici portraits and others.

The Pinacoteca Brera Museum is the repository of Napolean’s conquests. It’s a large and grand place with the majority of the paintings from the Renaissance. (I’ve seen more Madonnas in the last 3 weeks than a human can comprehend) particularly impressive were Mantegna’s Dead Christ, Raphael’s Berhrol of the Virgin, Carravaggio’s Supper at Emaus, Tintorettos, tons of Bellinis. An artist whom I wasn’t familiar with but both of us were greatly impressed by was Crivelli. His color was highly chromatic, the textures complex & myriad, and the faces less flat. There was a painting by Francisco Hayze, The Kiss, that was reproduced on everything imaginable for sale in the bookstore. I am unformiliar with this painting, & don’t know the importance. Can anyone tell me this?
We had dinner at a Greek/Italian restaurant which specialized in fish: oysters on the 1/2, linguini & mussels, & spaghetti & squid. All was delicious. We’ve also now determined that we were not being charged for the bread all this time. We finally questioned the charge & were informed it is a “table” charge. In other words a tip. 

Milan: Eat, Pray, Love

It is fashion week in Milan. Exciting to see the catwalk set ups and photographers waiting around for shows. The shop windows have the most adorable, smart dresses, bags, coats, etc. One shop window had layers upon layers of wool for men to choose from to have suits made. All the people are chic; no sweats or team logo t-shirts.

Our little boutique hotel, Antica Locando Leonardo, is around the corner from Santa Maria delle Grazie, home to Leonardo’s Last Supper. We didn’t even realize this until we took a tour and found ourselves there sitting in our backyard.
The hotel is almost walking distance to other major sites, the Duomo, la Scala, and the Galleria. Almost meaning for most reasonable people. Us? We’ve walked the 3 miles twice a day. I just figure it’s a good way to work off the pasta and chianti.
I wish I could find new words to describe places and sights we are seeing other than amazing, beautiful, unprecedented, etc. I’ll use Gasp to explain the Duomo. It is the 8th largest Cathedral in the world. It holds 40,000 people and is made entirely of marble. There are 3 very large stained glass windows in the nave that illustrate the bible. But, more than the interior, the roof exemplifies the craftman’s magic. It is pure eye candy. Every inch of marble carved. The photos don’t do it justice.
The Galleria, a covered glass-vaulted arcade connects the Duomo with Teatro Alla Scala. It is filled with luxury shops and restaurants.
la Scala is quite plain and small. Our guide said that opening night tickets go as high as $2000. The interior looks a lot like Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, oval with boxes set into the walls. There is a small museum with paintings and sculptures of performers, conductors and composers. They have Verdi’s cast death mask and hand.
Lastly today we saw The Last Supper. Visits are very controlled; 25 persons are allowed every 15 minutes. The painting has survived many poor and misguided restorations as well as a WWII bombing. Gazing upon it, the context of it’s history is more thought provoking and moving than the work itself.
Tonight we walked to the Brera district for dinner. This is an area of narrow streets, bars, shops and galleries. Our meal was average. But the atmosphere was lively and nice.
What a wonder it is! So grand, so solemn, so vast! And yet so delicate, so airy, so graceful! A very world of solid weight, and yet it seems …a delusion of frostwork that might vanish with a breath!… The central one of its five great doors is bordered with a bas-relief of birds and fruits and beasts and insects, which have been so ingeniously carved out of the marble that they seem like living creatures– and the figures are so numerous and the design so complex, that one might study it a week without exhausting its interest…everywhere that a niche or a perch can be found about the enormous building, from summit to base, there is a marble statue, and every statue is a study in itself…Away above, on the lofty roof, rank on rank of carved and fretted spires spring high in the air, and through their rich tracery one sees the sky beyond. … (Up on) the roof…springing from its broad marble flagstones, were the long files of spires, looking very tall close at hand, but diminishing in the distance…We could see, now, that the statue on the top of each was the size of a large man, though they all looked like dolls from the street… They say that the Cathedral of Milan is second only to St. Peter’s at Rome. I cannot understand how it can be second to anything made by human hands. Mark Twain

Lyon to Milan

What a day! What a day! We got on the wrong train in Chambery. You know, once a train is under way there is nothing to be done. You might as well accept your fate and go with it. So, on the advice of a very nice and sympathetic porter, we got off at the first stop, waited 3 hours for the return train to Chambery, then another 5 hours for the train to Milan. Our eta for Milan is 10:30 pm, some 8 hours over due. But we had a nice 2 hour lunch of salad, crepes & wine and got to see the French Alps.

All this waiting around gives me time to note things I forgot.
1. The Real Madrid football team stayed in our Lyon hotel one night for a game against Lyon. We happened upon them in the lobby where screaming young females and flashing cameras were waiting outside. The females literally chased down the street after their limousines (in their stiletto heals no less).
2. All the young people here still chain smoke. But it seems no smoking is allowed indoors any longer. Well, at least in Spain and France. We will see about Italy.
3. We have seen maybe a half dozen over weight people. And they weren’t really obese. Must be all that smoking. 🙂
4. Julia. Do you remember the embroidered olive scarf you gave me? I’m wearing it all across Europe. Thanks.
5. In France all tbe shops close at 2 for lunch. And some of the restaurants close for lunch, too. We never quite figured that out.
I hope for more telling news tomorrow when we see DaVinci’s Last Supper and the Duomo.

Lyon Croix-Rousse

During the Renaissance Lyon prospered as a printing and silk weaving industry. Half the inhabitants were silk workers (canuts). Crux-Rousse district was home to many small silk workshops. There is very little remaining of the industry today due to technology (Jacquard loom), an illness that wiped out the French silk worm, and the building of the Suez Canal that led to easier access to Chinese silks. We visited one of the remaining silk workshops, L’Atelier de Soierie. This shop only prints and paints the silk. The weaving takes place in other shops. And all the silk now comes from Brazil. The entire district sits on a very steep hill with a lot of graffiti covered buildings.

We had lunch at a Rick Steves’ recommended spot, Les Lyonaisse. The best part was sharing a table with a French couple who were also retired and loved art, music, travel. They gave us good advice for Vienna & on which desert to have.

Lyon Beaux-Arts

The Beaux-Arts Museum of Lyon is located in a former 17th century Benedictine abbey on the presque ‘ile. On the plaza facing the museum is a formidable sculpture by Botholdi, he of the Statue of Liberty. Four horses pulling a chariot rise up out of a fountain in an allegory to the Garonne & it’s tributaries. The core of the museum is a sculpture garden surrounded by a cloister.

The chapel of the museum holds the majority of the sculpture collection. It was this exhibition that had the most lasting impression on me with beautifully executed and powerfully emotive pieces by Rodin, Etex, Pradier & Maillol. There was also an excellen holding of Egyptian mummies and canopic jars, which seemed untouched by time. Of all the paintings, I most enjoyed Gericault’s The Monomaniac of Envy. Wayne liked Picasso’s Woman Seated on the Beach and Zubaran’s St. Francis. We spent about 4 hours there, had lunch & then took the funicular back up to Fourviere to see the Gallo-Roman ruins. The Romans settled Lyon in 43 AD and were present for about 350 years. Lugdunum was the Roman name of the city. Evidence of the Romans is everywhere and discoveries are still made. The amphitheater is not as beautiful as Taormina’s but certainly as impressive. The accompanying museum held complete floor mosaics as large as 25′ x 50’ which one could walk on. Many of these were discovered in Lyon homes as late as the 1900’s.

We intended to go to the Museum of contemporaey art after dinner. But there was an event (the type of which eluded us) in the lobby with a speaker.

Les Beaux-Arts

Bordeaux to Lyon

Not much to report today. The majority of it was spent on the train. The trip from Bordeaux to Lyon was 7.5 hours. There were about 7 stops, which added to the time. Unfortunately, France’s first class car does not offer the service our Espana travels led us to expect. There were no warm towelettes, no tv, but most important, no food. The stops were too short to jump off. Alas, The fasting made up for last night’s gorging on duck & fois gras.

The Lyon station, Part Dieu surprised us with the hundreds of people milling around. It was twilight so we decided to catch a taxi rather than the bus. Our hotel is a Hilton, an American style fat hotel. We met a nice young man in the lounge where free scotch was available. He wanted to practice English and spent a lot of time giving us advice on sights, restaurants and transportation. My first goal in Lyon will be to find A Beautiful Launderette.

Bordeaux

I’m in love again. Yes, I am a fickle traveler. I love the one I’m with. Bordeaux is Versailles of the southwest; huge structures straddle places while narrow streets wind and offer glimpses of cathedral spires. It’s a city of glimmering ochre. After our arrival yesterday we went for an early dinner (late lunch?) at Karl’s where we were offered “clean air and green atmosphere”. The place was packed with 20 somethings chattering away. We did some strolling to the Place de Bourse and then found a little wine store where the owner was a Brit who has lived here for 34 years. He sent us back to the hotel with some local Merlot and Cabernet.

This morning we began with coffee on the Royal Hotel patio across from the Grande Theatre. We walked down Rue Carherine to find our way toward the Cathedral St Andre. Rue Catherine was originally the Roman Gallo way into Bordeaux. It is one L O N G road packed with shops and ending at the Place de la Victoire where we found a delightful sculpture of a mother turtle and baby. A few blocks away was the Cathedral. It is a UNESCO site, built in the late 11th
century. Only the front wall of the original structure remains. The latest formation is in the Southern Gothic style. The bell tower is separate from the cathedral. It was here that Eleanor of Aquitaine married Louis VII.
We made two other stops today. The first at the Grosse Cloche, the only remaining part of the gateway to St Eloise, a part of the medieval town hall. The second stop was the Basilique Saint-Seurin. This is a UNESCO site. Probably the birthplace of Christianity on Bordeaux, part of the church includes an 11th century Romanesque porch, apse, and crypt. At dinner this evening we ate next to an American who had just come from Egypt where he had been living. 

Place Bourse, Bordeaux

Bilbao to Bordeaux

Boarding the train ahead of us this morning were 3 elderly couples with enough luggage and totes to clothe 10 families. They were all under 5′ and looked as if they would fall through the gap at any moment while they pulled and lugged bags onto the train. They were yelling and bossing each other, paying no mind to the dozen people patiently waiting behind them. I was grabbing bags and lifting them onto the train. Wayne was steadying the women as they mounted the steps. We felt empathy and sympathy until we were onboard & they continued to block the aisle stowing their multitude of bags and arguing about where to sit. Then one of the old men twice pushed me aside in the aisle, and one let the door slam in Wayne’s face. It’s already decided. We’re exiting the opposite end of the car 

Now a word about how the USA could take a lesson on Spanish conservation. Every hotel uses the room key to maintain the electrical current in the room. It slides into a slot by the door. They give you only one key so that when you leave you must take it out of the slot thus automatically shutting off everything. Most escalators begin running as one steps onto the area in front. The hairdryer in one hotel only operated as long as the on switch was held down. And all toilets have the dual flush options.
Other different things
1. Bread is always served. There is always an extra charge for it. There is never butter. We couldn’t decide if we should say, “no pan”, not eat it, or what. So we just paid w/o complaint.
2. An entre is only the protein. And there is no option for sides. I guess it’s a good thing the bread is there.
3. There is very little tipping. The gov’t mandates inclusion within the costs. We do tip.
4. Streets and public places are clean and constantly being cleaned.
5. Cherry trees and magnolias are in bloom.
The ride is beautiful. There are a few pictures on flickr. Try to look beyond the window glare and imagine the valley much greener. Our first change was in Miranda de Ebros a small little station where there are only 4 platforms and a very helpful porter. The country changed dramatically on the ride to our next change, Hendaya, France. We think we were passing the Pyrennes. At any rate they were quite large snow capped mountains.
Arrived on Bordeaux at 4:30. Took a cab to our very charming hotel in the old city. Immediately went to eat something. Can’t tell you how beautiful and full of old world charm this place is. No one appears to be under 22 years of age. And they are everywhere. Tomorrow I will show you through photos the beauty of Bordeaux. 

3 Comments

1. kathrynlima | February 17, 2011 at 7:34 pm | Reply

   Did you see the windmills? Spain and Portugal generate a higher proportion of their electrical power from the wind than anyone else.

2. Christy | February 17, 2011 at 7:56 pm | Reply

   We did when flying into Madrid. Nothing from the train though.

3. carolynberlin | February 28, 2011 at 9:39 pm | Reply

   What a fantastic photo, what a beautiful landscape!

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Guggenheim Bilbao

Malcolm McLaren said, “The medium is the message.” When it comes to Frank Geary’s Guggenheim, no truer statement could be said. The interior undulates in the same manner as the exterior. Here, several noted contemporary artists have site specific permanent pieces in dedicated galleries. I’m not sure if Geary invited them. But they all pay homage to his design. Jenny Holzer, Jim Dine and Richard Serra each hallmark their medium with works that complement the space. The most effective is Serra’s. I’ll let the photos on flickr tell the story. Julia, thought of you when we walked through Louise Borgeoise’ Maman. And, Carolyn, there is a group exhibit titled Haunted that addresses memory through photography and video. It speaks to your interest.

All the galleries are huge and serve well 20th century abstract art. Really, really, really nice museum.

Richard Serra's The Matter of Time, Guggenheim Balbao

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