This was part of our Northern Italy (2024) trip. Sister (our daughter) and Cutie (our younger son) joined us on this trip.
(Click here to see all our trips.)
I had a reservation for 3 people to view The Last Supper this morning. The reservation was made before Cutie decided to join us for this trip, and it was not possible to secure another reservation for Cutie. This was fine by him, and he decided to be alone this morning and only to join us for lunch later.
Rei, Sister and I left our lodging around 8am, and took the metro to Sforza Castle. On the way, we stopped by a small café to have breakfast. Coffee and croissants were cheaper in Milan compared to the same food in Cortina and Ortisei.
The Sforza museums and panoramic walk wouldn’t open until 10am, so we only toured the castle grounds and took pictures. There was a fountain in front of the castle with a great view. Since it was still very early, there weren’t too many tourists. Since our reservation to see the Last Supper was at 11:30am, we didn’t have enough time to visit the museums.
The Last Supper Mural was in S. Maria delle Grazie, which was about 15-minute walk away from Sforza. We arrived too early, so we went to another nearby coffee shop to have coffee and dessert. We also walked to the Basilica di Sant’ Ambrogio; however, there was a celebration event going on, and we couldn’t enter and could only tour the courtyard.
The 11:30am reservation was for a guided tour, which was excellent. The guide provided us with a lot of information. However, the visit was too short, and we felt very rushed.
After that, Cutie joined us to visit the Sforza museums. The Museum of Rondanini Pietà displayed one of the Pietà statues by Michelangelo. The statue was unfinished; it was rough but still impressive. There were also other museums with statues, weapons, tapestries, and glass arts.
Cutie made a 1:30pm lunch reservation for 4 at Gloria Osteria, and that’s where we had lunch. The food was delicious and the service very efficient. After lunch, we walked to Duomo (The Metro was on strike!) just in time for our 2:30pm reservations.
This was Milan fashion week. There were lots of activities, and the place was packed! Fortunately, we had reservations and didn’t need to wait in a long line. The Duomo rooftop was exquisite. However, there were scaffolds in many places due to a restoration effort (in preparation for the 2026 Olympics?). This unfortunately affected the great view.
It was very warm on the rooftop. Afterwards, we walked down to the Duomo interior church area. This was a very big church (the 4th largest) with many-colored stained-glass windows. Our tickets also included visits to the Archaeology area and the Duomo church museum. Cutie was still jet-lagged, so he gave up and returned to his hotel room to rest.
The three of us continued to the Canal District (Naviglio Grande). The area was more like the San Antonio Riverwalk than the Venice Grand Canal. Originally, we planned to have dinner there, but Sister was tired. So, we just had gelato at Amorino and then returned to our apartment. Instead of going out to dinner, we simply bought pasta and pizza to go.
Amy 'n Rei 