Adventures through Milan!

After saying goodbye to my grandparents in Sicily, I ventured to Milan, Italy by myself for the day. At first, I was excited about spending the day in Milan; however, when I made my plans, I failed to think about the fact that I would be in Italy the day after Easter, and Easter’s a big deal in Italy! It’s a tradition in Italy to have a barbeque on Easter Monday, and I supposed that’s where most people in Milan were. Once I landed in Milan, I decided the first place I wanted to go was the Duomo—the second largest cathedral in the world. It was extraordinary. Even though it was being cleaned and there was scaffolding over much of the front façade, I was still able to imagine the full facade.
Despite that nearly all of the shops in the area were closed, the placa in front of the cathedral, Placa de Duomo, was filled with people. The benches surrounding the statue in the center was filled on the three sides with sunlight while children climbed up on to the fountain. Adjacent to the placa was an outdoor, covered, shopping center that formed an axis with the elements of the placa. Additionally, on the side opposite the shopping center was a façade that mirrored the shopping center façade. This mirroring affect gave Placa de Duomo an effective border. It was interesting to see how people moved through this space. Seeing that there was a sole statue in such a large space, it appeared that visitors still formed static places of their own.

After spending some time in Placa de Duomo, I decided to see if I could see the panting of The Last Supper. After wandering through the city and finally finding the monastery that housed the fresco, I was disappointed to find out that admission for the day was sold out.
From here, I wasn’t sure what to do next, so I started to wander. While I was walking down one of the streets, a sculpture caught my eye. Once I arrived at the space, I noticed that there were two sculptures that went together. On one side of the street was a threaded needle. On the other side of the street was the knotted end of the thread inside of a fountain. The sculpture was planned such that it looked as if the needle was pulling the thread beneath the street and out on the other side. The context which the fountain and sculpture were set in were such that they divided a larger road into smaller streets leading off into different directions. As for the use of the space, it was a sunny and warm day; therefore, a few people sat on the edges of the fountain. Across the street where the needle poked out of the ground was a metro station, which was occupied by metro riders awaiting their trains, as well as relaxing in the sun.
The sculpture in the area was a nice way to attract people’s attention when looking for the Cadorna metro station. It served as a landmark or reference point for visitors new to the city.