My little jubilee, the 50th country visited was Liechtenstein. And boy what a ceremony happened. The Principality of Liechtenstein and the Swiss Confederation were celebrating the 100 years of their common Dounae contract. We were about to cross the bridge that was built over the river Rhine, but we were stopped as the celebration was just…
Krapina is my hometown. Zagorje runs through veins. Kajkavian dialect is spoken out loud by my core. So please, allow me to show you a portion of heaven given to us people from Zagorje to enjoy, nourish, and remain proud. Krapina Krapina was first mentioned in 1193. It has always been a favorite site for…
This is a post of a lovely, walkable city that will charm all wine, gastronomy and history lovers. From Markets to Mustard! This capital of Burgundie is calling you to get all its tastes. And you will not know all of these existed! The province was home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until…
Avignon is a city on the Rhône river in the south of France. It is surrounded by walls of Avignon (French: Les Remparts d’Avignon) – a series of defensive stone walls that were originally built in the 14th century during the Avignon papacy and have been continually rebuilt and repaired throughout their subsequent history. We entered through Porte Saint-Michel. The…
This historical province of southeastern France, extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It largely corresponds with the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur . The largest city of the region and its modern-day capital is Marseille. Known for its diverse landscapes, miles of…
Michel de Notre-Dame, as we all know as Nostradamus, was an apothecary by profession, and published in the year 1555 a book called Les Prophéties (The Prophecies). In his collection of 942 poetic quatrains, he predicted various future events that experts, and many amateurs, find a way of interpreting into related events occurring in the present day. Some historical evidence suggests…
This is going to be a short post. Sanremo is a city on the west coast of Italy, in the province of Liguria. It is the capital of the Riviera dei Fiori or Riviera of Flowers. Its casino also makes it a sort of Italian version of Monte Carlo. This large building in Art Nouveau…
Vivid green pesto, great wine and fabulous walks … Genoa is a city of indulgence. Driving in the city, noticing it’s fabulous big secession buildings it reminded me of the importance of Italy: banks, trades, imports of goods and businesses… Genoa was a medieval rival to Venice. It’s not been primped for tourists like Venice, though.…
Rapallo was never on my list. I never thought there could actually be something about this city. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, just between Cinque Terre and Genoa. As a girl from Croatia, I know it from the history books as the Treaty of Rapallo was signed there, in Villa Pagana, formerly known as Villa Spinola. A treaty…
The five Cinque Terre villages are situated in northern Italy on the Mediterranean Sea, just 3 hours by train from Milan, Pisa and Florence. I have arrived by car and totally enjoyed the national park that spreads across the five villages. La Spezia My journey started in La Spezia. This was the very first stop as I…
Tintine was slowly climbing up the hills of San Marino. Not much pressure should have been put on this car as she had enough of the shocks in the last year or two. The hills around us were rising and soon we found ourselves surrounded by an amazing view. It was San Marino surrounded by…
My Life in Sicily finished after a year spent on this island. It was time to turn on my Tintine (a beautiful red car), hop on a ferry and say goodbye. I was nostalgic as a was driving through Reggio Calabria. But soon I was in Puglia – the region with the best Italian cheeses.…
Lombardia, Italia… beautiful region, beautiful country, great time in expensive, kinda boring but nice city known by arts, commerce, design, entertainment, fashion and tourism. I arrived in the morning to Airport Milanesa and […]
Lombardia, Italia… beautiful region, beautiful country, great time in expensive, kinda boring but nice city known by arts, commerce, design, entertainment, fashion and tourism.
I arrived in the morning to Airport Milanesa and around 10:00 I was in the city center at Piazza del Duomo where the Monument to King Victor Emmanuel II stands as a first italian king from 19 century.
At Piazza del Duomo, I’ve been admiring the cathedral, itaDuomo. The fifth biggest church the world and only the second (after St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican), the moment when the gothic architecture descends from north and testimonies its glory.
Dedicated to St Mary of the Nativity, this gothic cathedral derives from 14th century. The first cathedral, the “new basilica,” ita. basilica nova was completed by 355 which archeological rests can be seen below the cathedral together with the old octagonal baptistery, the Battistero Paleocristiano, under the Milan Cathedral.
It was Napoleon who finished the façade and inner part of the basilica and jump-started the final stages of construction in the early 19th century. Considering its construction is still continuing, this could be considered the longest-worked cathedral in the world.
The floor is 15 century white Candoglia marble with Varenna black marble and Arzo red marble, obtaining its own style amongst the world basilicas.
They say there are more statues on this gothic-style cathedral than any other building in the world. There are 3,400 statues, 135 gargoyles and 700 figures that decorate Milan Duomo! I climb the stairs to the rooftop to fully appreciate the architecture of the most renowned silhouette in the city.
I was admiring the archades and kontrafors and after 10 min clinbng up the stairs, I was breathtaken for some time…
From the terrazza you can see breathtaking views across Milan and also the famous Madonnina, the gold-colored statue of Mary that stands on the cathedral’s highest spire.
View on modern district Palazzo Lombardia from Duomo
After visiting the cathedral I spent some time walking inside the Galeria Vittorio Emanuele – the oldest shopping centre in the world. The floor is a mosaic with the picture of the bull on whose balls one should stand with heel, spin around and make a wish.
Closeby is the statue of Leonardo DaVinci and the museum of his life and discoveries. This world famous scientist and artist lived in Milano for 16 years. He influenced the town planning since severe plagues in 1484 and 1485 drew his attention to problems.
Statue of Leonardo DaVinci
Inside the Museum of DaVinci
Leonardo’s fresco of the Last Supper is placed in the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie. This world famous painting from 16th century was ordered by Leonardo’s patron Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan.
Milan is famous for La Scala or the official name Teatro alla Scala. It is is an opera house dating from 18 century. Many of the finest singers and great opera artists have appeared at La Scala during the past 200 years as this building has prestige accoustic hall.
La Scala
From the other adventures worth to mention, I would state the faboulous 19 century Cental Station building of the Art Nouveau style 🙂 As me living currently in Belgium, I couldn’t resisit falling in love with this architecture style. Later some renovations were done so its bombastic appearance with muscular sculptures was a good fit with Mussolini’s preferred architecture style.
When mentioning Duke of Milan and Sforza family, their greates oponent was Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor known as Barbarossa (ita. red beard). Spreading his power over Lombardy, the anti-German sentiment was increasing and the locals forced Barbarossa’s wife to ride through the city on a donkey in a humiliating manner. Barbarossa implemented his revenge for this insult by forcing the magistrates of the city to remove a fig from the anus of a donkey using only their teeth.
So the todays insulting gesture, (called fico), of holding a fist with the thumb between the middle and forefinger came by its origin from this event. 🙂
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After reading this i really want to visit here and images of museum love it
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As an Italian I often go to Milan which is only 2 hours drive from my city! Isn’t it lovely!?
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