TOP 10 OF MILAN

Milan is a vibrant, energetic city offering a variety of activities to suit the tastes of any visitor. This metropolitan city is burgeoning with a wealth of fashion, economic, research, artistic, and social opportunities.

Any who comes to visit will find numerous things to do and see. Here are highlights of ten attractions that will allow you to sample Milan's best

1. Duomo - The Duomo is the city's most famous landmark and a sight that you definitely don't want to miss. This ornate cathedral reigns as an architectural beauty with its rose marble spires and stunning stained-glass windows.

2. LaScala - This is yet another famous landmark. Here you can visit the large opera house - Teatro all Scala to view special exhibits, or to attend a ballet, opera or other theatrical experiences.

3. Giardini Pubblici/The Public Gardens - Designed back in the late 1700's, these beautiful park gardens provide breathtaking views. Another welcome addition to the park is the Boschetti, or the little woods. The park includes refreshments and snacks, miniature trains, and bumper cars for entertainment. An additional bonus is the free admission

4. Milan Markets - Avid shoppers won't want to miss out on a trip to one of Milan's many mercados. The Mercatone dell'Antiquario del Naviglio Grande is an antique market featuring over 400 merchants selling everything from books to furniture. The Mercato di Vivale Papiniano is one of Milan's largest markets and is filled with bargains. This market is known for it terrific fashions, most notably its shoes

5. Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecina 'Leonardo Da Vinci (The Science and Technology Museum) This museum houses the world's best scientific and technological collections including a separate area known as the Leonardo Da Vinci Gallery, which of course showcases the inventor's great ideas

6. S. Maria delle Grazie - In this gothic church, you can view Leonardo DaVinci's renowned masterpiece, "The Last Supper." There are also beautiful religious mosaics made from the Vatican school, and the altar where Padre Pio (a well known Catholic saint) said mass, stands in the middle of the presbytery

7. Castello Sforzesco - No trip to an old European city would be complete without a visit to one of its oldest castles. Originally built by the Viscontis and Sforzas, Castle Sforzesco has been rebuilt several times throughout history. Many exquisite art collections can be found inside these palatial walls including the art of Michelangelo, tapestries, and century old costumes

8. Basilica Sant'Ambrogio
One of the oldest churches in Milan, it was founded by the city's bishop and patron saint Ambrose in 379. It's filled with mosaics and carvings dating back to the 4th century.

9. Corso Di Porta Romana - A walk through this ancient Roman gate will lead you into many culturally rich attractions, including the renowned University Bocconi, a well-established business university, and the Parco Ravizza, a garden park

10. Just Cavalli Cafe - You may want to end your sojourn with a fashionable and sophisticated evening at the Just Cavalli Cafe, owned by fashion designer Roberto Cavalli. At this posh and chic cafe, you can enjoy the fine interior showcasing Cavalli's design. You may find yourself in the company of a number of celebrities who often visit there

MILANO March 2009

FAREWELL LETTER

Farewell letter

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Major Latin-American author of novels and short stories, a central figure in the so-called magical realism movement in Latin American literature.

Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1982) for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts.

Worked as a foreign correspondent in Caracas, Rome, Geneva, Poland, Hungary, Paris, Barcelona, Mexico, India and New York City. His most successful novels include "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (1967), "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" (1981) and "Love in the Time of Cholera" (1985), which was made into the movie Love in the Time of Cholera (2007).

After learning that he suffered from lymphatic cancer in 1999, he wrote his autobiography "Vivir para contarla" ("Living to Tell the Tale", 2002).

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If God, for a second, forgot what I have become and granted me a
little bit more of life, I would use it to the best of my ability.

I wouldn't possibly, say everything that is in my mind, but I would
be more thoughtful of all I say.

I would give merit to things not for what they are worth, but for
what they mean to express.

I would sleep little, I would dream more, because I know that for
every minute that we close our eyes, we waste 60 seconds of light.

I would walk while others stop; I would awake while others sleep.

If God would give me a little bit more of life, I would dress in a
simple manner, I would place myself in front of the sun, leaving not
only my body, but my soul naked at its mercy.

To all men I would say how mistaken they are when they think that
they stop falling in love when they grow old, without knowing that
they grow old when they stop falling in love.

I would give wings to children, but I would leave it to them to learn how
to fly by themselves.

To old people I would say that death doesn't arrive when they grow old, but

with forgetfulness.

I have learned so much with you all, I have learned that everybody
wants to live on top of the mountain, without knowing that true
happiness is obtained in the journey taken & the form used to reach
the top of the hill.

I have learned that when a newborn baby holds, with its little hand,
his father's finger, it has trapped him for the rest of his life.

I have learned that a man has the right and obligation to look down
at another man, only when that man needs help to get up from the
ground.

Say always what you feel, not what you think. If I knew that today is
the last time that that I am going to see you asleep, I would hug you
with all my strength and I would pray to the Lord to let me be the
guardian angel of your soul.

If I knew that these are the last moments to see you, I would say

 "I love you".

There is always tomorrow, and life gives us another opportunity to do
things right, but in case I am wrong, and today is all that is left to
me, I would love to tell you how much I love you & that I will never
forget you.

Tomorrow is never guaranteed to anyone, young or old. Today could be
the last time to see your loved ones, which is why you mustn't wait;
do it today, in case tomorrow never arrives. I am sure you will be
sorry you wasted the opportunity today to give a smile, a hug, a kiss,
and that you were too busy to grant them their last wish.

Keep your loved ones near you; tell them in their ears and to their
faces how much you need them and love them. Love them and treat them
well; take your time to tell them "I am sorry";" forgive me"," please"
"thank you", and all those loving words you know.

Nobody will know you for your secret thought. Ask the Lord for wisdom and
strength to express them.

Show your friends and loved ones how important they are to you.


For you, With much love,
Your Friend,
Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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THE TEATRO ALLA SCALA

The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous opera houses.

A fire destroyed the previous theatre, the ancient  Teatro Regio Ducal

 on 25 February 1776, after a carnival gala.

A second plan was accepted in 1776 by Empress Maria Theresa. The new theatre was built on the former location of the church of Santa Maria della Scala, from which the theatre gets its name. The church was deconsecrated and demolished, and over a period of two years the theatre was completed by Pietro Marliani, Pietro Nosetti and Antonio and Giuseppe Fe. This theatre had a total over 3,000 seats organized into 678 pit-stalls, arranged in six tiers of boxes above which is the 'loggione' or two galleries. Now the stage is one of the largest in Italy

La Scala was originally illuminated with eighty-four oil lamps mounted on the palcoscenico and another thousand in the rest of theater. To prevent the risks of fire, several rooms were filled with hundreds of water buckets. In time, oil lamps were replaced by gas lamps, these in turn were replaced by electric lights in 1883.

The original structure was renovated in 1907, when it was given its current layout with 2,800 seats. In 1943, during WWII, La Scala was severely damaged by bombing. It was rebuilt and reopened on 11 May 1946

In the near future I have to travel to Milan due to business trip and I'll try to visit opera performance  in La Scala.



It that time they will play opera ALCINA by Georg Friedrich Händel  


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