What was nice was that I got to hear a lot more history of each of the places I had visited. We went to Il Duomo again - I didn't go inside since I had been the day before, but bought water (I was perpetually dying of thirst this entire trip) and walked around the piazza instead. While I was walking, a man shoved bird feed into my hand, then held it up by my wrist so that the pigeons could fly up and eat it. It was awful. I don't mind the pigeons, but I certainly didn't want them landing in my hand. Then he tried to grab my water from me so I could get my camera out for him to take a picture, but I told him I didn't have a camera (not true, obviously). After I had dumped the birdfeed out of my hand, he tried to get me to pay him for having dirty pigeons land in my hand. I said I didn't have any money and walked away very quickly.
There were two highlights of the tour for me: getting to see the inside of Castello Sforzesco and visiting The Last Supper. The castle was wild inside - there were different areas and chambers that were separate in case they were invaded.
These towers were designed by Leonardo DaVinci
Old cannonballs used - all different sizes
The whole front facade of the castle had been rebuilt since much of it was destroyed during WWII.
(We went to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele again too - obsessed with these ceilings)
We went to The Last Supper at the end of the tour. A nice German man and his son offered to take my picture in front of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the cathedral next to where the painting is kept. They also took my picture in front of a recreation of The Last Supper afterwards.
I've never felt a particular connection to The Last Supper but it was absolutely amazing to see in person. It was much larger than I expected - it was directly on the wall and was 15ft x 29ft. Our tour guide explained the meanings of the facial expressions of each of the disciples. The re-creation was much less exciting after seeing the real thing. The Crucifixion by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano was located directly across from The Last Supper. They were both so unbelievable beautiful. I talked to a guy traveling from Florida as well which was nice.
When I returned to the hostel, they were starting celebrations for Ferragosto (a religious holiday on August 15). This involved "lunch" after 2:30pm for 15 euros - unlimited food and wine. Tara, Emily, Grig, and many others spent most of the rest of the day hanging out on the stoop outside the hostel and eating SO MUCH. I was perpetually extremely full - but I didn't feel bad because the food was such good quality.
The fried olives were my absolute favorite - we also had bread, fresh mozzarella, meats, spinach quiche, fish, tiramisu, parmesano, and more.
Octopus and Squid - Yummy
Unlimited Limoncello too!
The stoop of Ostello Bello :)
After meeting our new roommate - May, 32 from London and originally Beijing, we dressed up to go out to the bars. We weren't out long since they were pretty empty, but it was a good time!
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