Western States 100 Trail - Part 3

After three days of rest I felt like having another go at the Western States Trail.  I set off after coffee on Thursday (29 October) for French Meadows where I planned to run back up the trail to my prior stopping place just down from Red Star Ridge (where the Soda Springs Road crosses the trail).  

It is a long drive out to French Meadows of around 2 hours.  It  crosses from the Foresthill Ridge down to the bottom of the North Fork of the American River and then back up to Mosquito Ridge.  The North Fork Canyon is a most impressive sight.  It is primarily forested but it is dramatically steep and incredibly immense with this rather fine tarmac road winding down one side and up the other.  What an awe inspiring sight.

The dam at French Meadows

I didn't get on the trail until 10:00 am and it was already getting warm (as opposed to the previous venture when it was fairly cool all day).  The first part of the trail from here is uphill and a bit of a slog.  I passed some hunters - one a young guy with bow and arrows - the other an old couple with rifles, they must have been around 80.  I chatted with the couple for a while and I showed him my photo of a paw print from my previous run. With supreme confidence he confirmed it as a coyote, a large coyote.  Not a mountain lion, not even a bobcat.  What a relief.

The view to the East from the top of the ridge

The trail continued up to the top of the ridge and then pretty much followed the ridge line, undulating up and down along the way.   The trail was very dusty and rubbly so while some of it was ok running there was a lot of picking the way through rocks and a lot of dust,  It appears people take motorbikes up on the trail, they shouldn’t they are banned, and these really tear up the trail particularly around the hairpin bends of a switchback leaving them this time of year as a heap of fine dust.  Probably better than what happens in the rainy season.

Mainly Trees on this section

As usual around 8 miles out I start getting tired, wondering if I can make it, and then when I get to my turnaround I have a great sense of relief.  The fatigue continues (depending on the grade of the trail) for a while until I finally get my energy back 3 of 4 miles from the car.  I think my last 2 miles were the fastest of the day.  Every time I do this I say to myself I don’t need to do this again, it is misery, I am too old for this, but then there is a sense of satisfaction upon completing it that is hard to beat.

Forest regrowth

There were some sections of regrowth after a fire some years back.  It is amazing how the forest grows back after the devastation of a fire.  The forest floor was carpeted with small fir trees about 4 or 5 ft tall.

The dusty terrain caused my shoes to fill with dust and that got really painful after a while.  I had to stop three times to empty my shoes and beat out my socks before continuing.  That became a real chore after a while but the relief with dust free shoes was well worth it.

Back at the car I was really filthy - arms, legs, feet all covered in dust.  I did the best I could to clean off before changing clothes for the drive home. 

Stopping in Foresthill for something cold to drink I went into the gas station where I was the only one wearing a mask.  Just what you would expect in this land of Trump signs.

Western States 100 Trail - Part 2

I didn’t have much going on at the weekend so I decided to attempt another section of the Western States 100 trail.  This time I was going to camp somewhere near the trail and hopefully run into the Granite Chief Wilderness to spot where I left off last time.  

On Saturday afternoon, I drove in the Land Cruiser up to the eastern end of French Meadows Reservoir.  That is about 100 odd miles and it takes nearly 3 hrs.  I had intended to camp in the Talbot camp and then drive up the trail the next morning to find the Western States Trail.  However, after all the fires in California, all the campgrounds were closed so I had to find a clearing on the side of the trail and camp there for the night.  

The camp spot

I say camp, I camped in the car and stretched out on the back of the Land Cruiser.  Not much headroom, but it is warmer and a whole lot easier than pitching a tent.  By the time I got situated it was gone 6:00 pm so all I had time to do was cook (reheat) a little food and then get ready for nightfall.  By 7:00 pm it was bitterly cold and I was in my sleeping bag inside the car.  That meant it was going to be a long night ahead - I read for a while, I slept for a while, I read a while more in the middle of the night and I extricated myself from the sleeping bag when the sun came up around 7:00.  

A quick breakfast and it was off to find the trail.   According to the map the fire road out of the Talbot area intersected the trail somewhere up the hill.  However before we got too far the road we got to the boundary of the Granite Chief Wilderness Area and the road was closed off with boulders and downed trees.  They don’t want vehicles going into the Wilderness area - I guess I should have realized that.

End of the Road

So that didn’t bode well so I backtraced down the hill and consulted the map again.  There was another road to the west that also crossed over the trail and I knew that road so I thought I would give that a try.  I thought it would be too far to the west to allow me to run to my last stopping place in one day though.  I wanted to keep the miles under 20.

I parked up at the trail crossing and set off up a nice gently uphill trail to Red Star Ridge.  It was cold but not too cold.  After a mile or so the trail merges with a road and I believe that is where there is an aid station.  There were a couple of hunters up there that I chatted to for a while.  Apparently it is deer hunting season.  Hopefully I don’t look much like a deer.

The trail into the Granite Chief Wilderness

The trail in this section is quite nice.  Not too steep for the most part.  Up and down but quite runnable and the views are spectacular.

I carried on the ridge top trail for 5 or 6 miles enjoying every bit of the trail.  It was beautifully sunny but the wind was blowing, and the wind was cold.  A sign that we are getting close to winter and it’s not the place to be in a T-shirt and shorts in winter.   The trail dropped down a fairly steep hill and I came across a couple more hunters camping at the bottom of the hill.  They hadn’t seen any deer but judging by their garbage pile they had consumed a lot of beer the night before.  Nice guys though - we chatted for a while.

I continued on and crossed a road that comes in from Soda Springs and then a really nice bit of flat wide running trail.  Just lovely.  I was thinking about what my turnaround time should be and had decided that 1:30 was the time and that would give me a couple of hours daylight cushion if I slowed down on the return.  Then around 12:45 things started to look familiar and all of a sudden I was at the point I stopped last Wednesday.  That was a good feeling to not have to push things too far.

Deja Vu all over again

The return wasn’t so bad.  Other than one long steep uphill most of the trail was sloping the other way, downhill.  I did become perturbed by a new set of animal tracks on the trail that weren’t there on my way out.  A footprint with 5 pads not quite as big as a mountain lion.  At least that’s what I was hoping.  I did however pick up a rock to act as my weapon if I was attacked by this unknown animal.  The tracks stayed with me on the trail for a good 5 miles.

Bobcat, Coyote, Labrador?

At the end of the day I was getting a little tired and a little cold.  All day the wind had kept blowing and it was now nearing 4:00pm and it was getting cold.  It was a nice sight to see the Land Cruiser appear in the trees and the end of what was a 17 mile run for the day.

A most welcome sight

I came out by continuing north to Robinson Flat and then out the Foresthill Divide Road to Foresthill and Auburn.  A great day but perhaps the last one for this year.  Winter is on the way.

Western States 100 Trail - Part 1

Back in the USA in October and with the Coronavirus issue still impacting our lives I started to look for another challenge.  Completing the TRT earlier in the summer made me think of another run and what I came up with was completing the bits of the Western States 100 mile Trail that I hadn’t already done.  

I had done the pieces from Foresthill to Auburn many times but had not ventured on the beginning part in the high sierras.  This was not going to be so easy as the TRT as some of the parts in the first 60 or so miles are quite remote and of course everything would have to be done as an out and back to get me back to my transportation.

The base of Squaw Valley

On Wednesday, 21 October I decided to make a start and I drove up in the early morning to Squaw Valley to do the first 10 miles of the course.  It was already cold up there and at 8:00 am my car registered 32 degrees.  So there was a definite chill in the air as I started up the trail from the Ski Resort.  I didn’t get far before I came across a sign across the road - Stop - this road is closed to all foot and bicycle traffic.  Well that was just not on.  I couldn’t have come so far to be stopped by a sign so I pretended not to see it and off I went.  There were quite a few Squaw Valley trucks going up and down the road but no one said anything - we just waved at each other.

The view from the bottom of the trail is quite intimidating as all roads go up and fairly steeply at that.  It is 6,200 ft at the base and it rises to 8,750 ft at the top.  That is 2,550 feet in 4.5 miles.  It also gets a bit complicated as to which is the correct road to take.  The ski resort is a myriad of roads leading to the various lifts and lodges and work areas and apart from one sign I didn’t see a single mention of the Western States trail.  Fortunately I had sprung for a subscription to the All Trails iPhone app the night before and that had a course marked on it which allowed me to follow the approximate route.  The map however was just a series of straight lines between various way points and in some places there weren’t many way points so again it was easy to get off course - which of course I did.

All roads are uphill

The ski resort is huge - it is the largest in California - and unfortunately in the denuded landscape of ski slopes at the end of summer it is not that pretty.   Monster lifts are everywhere and snow making machinery peppers the slopes not to mention the 3 or 4 large lodges.  To be honest it is a bit of an eyesore.

Approaching the Emigrant Pass

As you can imagine the run was not much of a run, it was a brisk walk with lots of stops to check the route and get my breath back.  Near the top I struggled to find the pass over to the other side.  The route I was following seemed to be taking me to the top, then all of a sudden I was too far south.  I corrected and went back and then I was too far north.  I almost gave up until I took the time to study the map more carefully.  I finally figured it out and I made it up the last slope to the pass, Emigrant Pass, where there is a monument marking the spot but not visible until you are right on it.  

Emigrant Pass

It was a pleasure to be done with the ascent for a while and there was a gentle downhill from there into the Granite Chief Wilderness Area.  It was the end of summer and the slopes were covered with dried Corn Lily leaves.  When the wind blew, the leaves rustled in an eerie way making me look around for mountain lions waiting to pounce.   I had just watched a YouTube video of a hiker being threatened by a mountain lion so I was a bit more aware.  I decided I needed a weapon and I found a sharp angular piece of granite that just fit in my hand that I thought would give me some sort of ability to defend myself.  I had also been talking to one of my fellow runners about letting the lions know you are coming by singing or shouting or letting out some noise.   Running with Tourette’s she calls it.  My voice is not strong at the best of times so I soon gave up on that.

Granite Chief Wilderness

The trail through the Granite Chief was not particularly good - it was narrow and twisty, rocky and rubbly and just difficult to run.  I had expected it to be more well defined and well used and more runnable.  Still the countryside was beautiful and the trail traversed along the south facing side of the valley dropping down along the way.

The turnaround spot

I had determined that I would do around 10 miles out that day which should have taken me to somewhere near the Lyon Ridge Aid Station.   I wasn’t really sure I had found the aid station area as there are no roads in there but after just over 10 miles I decided to call it a day and head back.  I made it out in 4.5 hrs which I was surprised to find was 1 hour under the cutoff on race day.  The big difference being, I was pretty tired and running another 95 miles was not on the books for me.  In fact running back up the trail things deteriorated.  I got very tired and while much of the trail was not steeply downhill, there were parts that were and they seemed to be more common than I had noticed coming down the hill.  I didn’t enjoy this section at all and I kept going over the options of what to do if I just couldn’t make it back up the hill.  There were no good options in that scenario.

Granite Chief Wilderness

So it was a slow and tortuous struggle to get back up the hill to Emigrant Pass.  I did lots of resting and very little running.  It was slow going but eventually I did make it up the last bit of slope to Emigrant Pass.  It was nice to then make some better progress jogging down the trail for a while.  Of course I again got off track and had to bushwhack across the hill to get to the road that would take me down.  This time I took the more main road on the way down (longer distance but not so steep).  The long downhill jarred the joints and punished the feet in my grit filled shoes but I eventually made it and jogged into the parking lot of the resort.  

The remains of my still warm coffee from the flask and a clean shirt and socks made me feel a lot better.  I drove home and got in around 8:00 pm.  That was 14 hours door to door.  9.5 hrs out on the trail for only 20 miles.   That looks pathetically slow but I know it was some serious achievement for little old me.

 

Berlin - September 2020

Following on from my trip to Milan and then Zurich I caught the overnight train from Zurich to Berlin.  It was a pleasant enough journey through the night and I arrived in Berlin right on time at 8:00 am.  Berlin’s Hauptbahnhof is an impressively modern train station with multiple levels of train tracks, shops, restaurants and cafes.  My hotel, the Ibis, was right outside the station so I walked over to leave my bag while I explored the city.  To my surprise they let me check in and it was not even 9:00 am.  That was unexpected and quite nice.

Berlin Hauptbahnhof

I set off to explore the town but since I had been here a couple of times before I was not too inspired to see anything in particular.  I had read about the graffiti and mural art in an area by the Ost Bahnhof, so I decided to head that way.  Walking didn’t feel too attractive to me so I rented another scooter. 

Berlin is really good at accommodating bicycles and scooters.  There are many cycle lanes and cycle paths and the city is just full of cyclists.  You have to be careful as a tourist if you are not accustomed to silent bicycles speeding by you.  They have separate paths which I kept confusing with footpaths only to find that a bicycle has the right of way and could indeed take you out.  The real nice thing though is that for the most part the bicyclists follow the rules of the road and stop at stop signs and keep to their paths.  If only that were the case in the USA.

To get over to the Ost Bahnhof, I could more or less follow the banks of the River Spree all the way.  It is a scenic and interesting route too, taking me past the Parliament buildings and the Reichstag and on towards Museum Island.  On the northern tip of Museum Island is the Bode Museum.  I didn’t go in but I did admire the wonderful building.

The Bode Museum

I crossed over to the north side of the Spree and continued along through the main roads to the East Side Gallery.  The East Side Gallery is a section of the Berlin Wall on Muhlenstrasse where artists were invited to decorate sections of the East side of the Wall.  That was back in 1990; 30 years ago now.  The border between the East and the West was actually the River Spree itself so this part of the wall was rather small and to my eyes easily scalable.  However you would have to have first made it across the Spree and no doubt there were plenty of guard towers.   Since the original artwork was done there has been significant deterioration from plain old weathering to graffiti and vandalism. There have been attempts to restore and preserve the works (not without controversy) and for the most part it is now in reasonable condition (except for the graffiti tagging).  

I particularly liked the red jacketed wall jumper, the Detour to the Japanese Sector, the Andrei Sacharov portrait and of course the Brezhnev - Honecker Kiss.

By this time I had been using my scooter for an hour and apparently after 60 minutes they terminate the rental, at least they do if it is stationary and locked as mine was at the time.  I continued on for a while on foot, crossing over to the south side of the Spree and back towards the center on Kopenicker Strasse. I was not really in the mood for walking so I rented another scooter for the journey back.  They are relatively easy to find in this city - they are scattered everywhere. I followed the south side of the Spree back to the Hauptbahnhof and my hotel.

I had a quick lunch in a nearby restaurant and then decided to rent a bicycle for the afternoon’s explorations.  The scooters, while fun, were getting to be quite expensive.  My morning’s travels amounted to 25 euros.  I rented a bicycle from the hotel for the entire afternoon for just 8 euros.  

The Brandenburg Gate

I wasn’t sure where to go in the afternoon but I had read about the old Tempelhof Airport in the south of the city and I thought that would make a nice trip.  I traversed across the city seeing many of the sights on the way - the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate, Under den Linden, Potsdamerplatz, Alexanderplatz.  I was getting the hang of this cycling and scootering by now, and feeling quite comfortable riding in traffic.

The Tempelhof Airport buildings are immense - it was once among the top 12 largest buildings in the world.   While the airport did exist earlier, much of the airport was built during the 1930s as part of Hitler’s and Albert Speer’s plan for the new Germany and it was in this pre WWII period that the airport grew. Of course it’s real claim to fame for me was the role it played in the Soviet blockade of Berlin in the post war era.  There was a tremendous amount of traffic coming in and out of the airport during this period to supply food and other resources to the inhabitants of West Berlin.

Tempelhof Airport Hangars

There is an arc of huge hangar buildings, now mostly not in use but they are certainly impressive.  I do believe that you can do tours in more normal times but alas all I could do was ride around the exterior.  I did get to go into one section that was opened as a sports center with tennis courts, basketball courts, etc. and that got me out to the runway area.  There is an old USAF plane parked in front of the terminal - a C-47 perhaps as that was the primary plane used in the airlift.  They were called "raisin bombers" as the pilots and crew often dropped sweets as they came into land for the children who would wait by the airport fence.

Tempelhof Airport

After seeing all I could, I headed back northwards to the hotel passing all the landmarks again.  This time I detoured past Checkpoint Charlie which was remarkably quiet in this Coronavirus world. Just down the street from the Checkpoint was Traby World, where you can arrange to be driven around town in a Trabant, that iconic East German car.

In the evening I had a lovely Italian meal in a restaurant near the station and then retired to my room to ready myself for the early morning bus to the airport.  Even at 5:00 in the morning the buses were running every 10 minutes to the Tegel airport and what is more, the ride was free.  Whether that was a normal situation or just because of Coronavirus I do not know.  My flight left a few minutes late and I was in London an hour or so later.  From there it was on to San Francisco and home.

There are more photos here.

Zurich - September 2020

I took the early morning train from Milan to Zurich.  It was around a 3 hour journey and while the carriage was quite empty to start with it got quite full (by coronavirus social distancing standards) as we got close to Zurich.  As you would expect we arrived on time in the very clean and tidy Hauptbahnhof.  I stored my bag in the luggage lockers and off I went to explore the city. I picked up a City Map from the Tourist Info office on the station and it had a walking tour on it so I thought that would be a good start.  

Zurich Hauptbahnoff

Outside the station there was an impressive statue to a Mr. Escher.  I thought perhaps M.C. Escher the artist but no, some other Escher who was a Swiss Railway pioneer.  I walked down the main shopping street leading away from the station, Bahnhofstraße, before turning off into the older part of town and going down to the River Limmat.  As I expected everything was quite perfect - no littering, no graffiti, no evidence of homelessness, everything orderly.  Sometimes that is not so interesting. I wandered around the old part of town for a while before finding a nice restaurant for lunch.

River Limmat from Old Town

After lunch I again went out to Bahnhofstraße and walked towards the financial district and the main square, Paradeplatz.  There were some very impressive buildings - old buildings. They obviously also have a great public transport system in Zurich - there were trams everywhere. 

Paradeplatz

Fraumunster Church

I next paid a visit to a church, the Fraumunster Church.  This was a plain and simple church (we were no longer in a Catholic Country) with a nice, though quite unpretentious, interior.  The most remarkable thing about it was the stained glass windows.  These were works of art in themselves being designed by Marc Chagall and by Alberto Giacometti.  What beautiful things for such a simple church.

Chagall Windows in Fraumunster Church

I walked down the side of the Limmat towards Lake Zurich.  There was a nice park alongside the lake and lots of bicyclists and runners were enjoying the early afternoon sunshine.  I had read on the internet about a more edgy and artsy neighborhood called Rote Fabrik and thought I might pay it a visit.  It didn’t look too far but after a while I realized I still had a long way to go, and then to get back and my time was limited.  Fortunately, at that very moment, there appeared before me an electric scooter.  That was the perfect solution so I downloaded the app, created an account and away I went as fast as it would go.  What fun.  

Rote Fabrik

The Rote Fabrik area was not that interesting to be honest.  A few graffiti clad warehouses and that was about it.  Not to worry though as I now had a means of speedy transport and I set off back for the city center again to pick up on my walking tour (now a scooter tour) where I left off before.   

Le Corbusier House

Next stop was the Le Corbusier House.  A wonderfully colored modern building by Le Corbusier that sits in a nice neighborhood adjacent to the lake.  The house doesn’t actually fit in with the beautiful older homes around it but I liked it.

Zurich Opera House

Turning back towards the city again I passed by the rather splendid Opera House and then on up into the more older sections and the Grossmunster Church.  The scooter was quite aware of where I was going and in this older section of town its speed became limited.  You don’t want scooters careening through town in old narrow streets.  At this point I decided to abandon the scooter and to continue on foot.  I went inside the Grossmunster Church which again was quite plain.  It did have wonderful doors however - large bronze doors depicting biblical scenes.  Again there were beautiful stained glass windows by Giacometti.

Grossmunster Church

Door at Grossmunster Church

Giacometti's Windows in Grossmunster Church

I wandered on around the old town on the east side of the Limmat.  There was the Cabaret Votaire where in 1916, in World War I, the Dada art movement was born. It was not open but there was a commemorative plaque on the wall to recognize the event.

Further along there was a plaque recognizing where Lenin lived during World War I.  It is from here that he left by train for St Petersburg to take a leadership role in the Russian Revolution.

My final venture was to visit one of the major art galleries in Zurich - the Kunsthaus.  I walked over to it, only to find that on Mondays it was closed.  So much for that.

Steamer on Lake Zurich

I walked back down to the mouth of the Limmat on Lake Zurich and enquired about boat tours across the lake. There was a boat coming along shortly that would take me a little ways down the lake and then return and go up the Limmat as far as the station. That was perfect so I bought a ticket and boarded the boat for a little jaunt down the lake and then up the river. A nice way to see the city.

The River Limmat through Old Town Zurich

It was now late enough to get a quick dinner before going to catch my train to Berlin.  As I had really enjoyed lunch and hadn’t seen anywhere better I returned to the same restaurant.  Again I was out of luck as the restaurant was closing in 10 minutes at 5:00.  It took a while to find another restaurant and when I did it wasn’t really that good - too much meat, and the place had a cheesy smell - but nevertheless it did sustain me for the rest of the day.

I went back to the station and bought a few supplies for the overnight train and by then it was time to board.  It wasn’t quite the clean and luxurious sleeper that I was expecting but it wasn’t too bad.  I had a compartment to myself for the 12 hour ride to Berlin and I slept very well.

Overnight Train to Berlin

There are more photos here.

Milan - September 2020

I somehow got sidetracked into a rather circuitous route back to the USA after my stay in England during September.  I had discovered a rather good deal on flights from Berlin to San Francisco.  If I looked for a ticket from London to SF then business class was coming out way too expensive ($3,500) whereas if I looked for Berlin to SF then it was half the price (approx $1,500).  That is a good deal.  I had to return my car to East Midlands Airport and usually you can get cheap flights to Berlin from there, courtesy of RyanAir.  However, that didn’t turn out to be the case on the day my car rental was up.  But for 10 pounds I could go to Milan.  Admittedly to carry my bag was another 35 pounds but that is still a deal.  So I flew out on a Saturday afternoon to Milan. I would then get the train from Milan via Zurich to Berlin - a nice little adventure.

Actually the flight wasn’t to Milan airport but to Bergamo airport (one of those RyanAir cheaper airports that are just a bit further out from their destination).  Not to worry though there was a comfortable coach waiting at the airport for the 45 minute drive into Milan.  I was dropped off at the Central Railway Station, a magnificent building, and I walked the half kilometer over to my hotel -the quite nice and modern and affordable iQ Hotel.

After check in I walked down the street to a lovely little restaurant where I dined outside on the street.  A delicious Margherita Pizza.  I discovered that in Italy they don’t slice your pizza for you they deliver it whole so you have to tackle it yourself with a knife and fork.  Oh the inconvenience.  

Milan Central Station

Next morning, I was up early before breakfast and went to explore around the Central Railway Station.  This is a magnificent structure.  Started before WWI it struggled to be built and was not finished and opened until 1935 in the Mussolini era.  Frank Lloyd Wright apparently said it was the most beautiful station in the world.  It is still the largest by volume in the world.

Central Station Interior

It was back to the hotel for breakfast and then off for a walk around town.  It was a pleasantly warm morning and only a 45 minute walk to the more interesting parts of town - i.e. the Piazza Duomo.  The first interesting thing I discovered was the statue of Leonardo da Vinci in the park outside the La Scala Opera House.  A nice small park, a quite modest statue of Leonardo and the not at all remarkable La Scala.  I discovered that while normal operas were not being performed there was a piano concert that evening - alas it was sold out.

La Scala Opera House

Leonardo Da Vinci Statue

Just past La Scala is the very fine and ornate Galleria Vittorio Emanuele.  This is a most splendid arcade of very high end shops, cafes and restaurants.  Versace, Prada, Louis Vuitton - they are all there.  It was built in the 1870’s and it is truly a wonderful structure even if you can’t afford to buy anything there.  Apparently in the 1990’s McDonalds moved in.  When their lease was up 20 years later the owners would not renew.  Obviously McDonalds customers were not the clientele they were trying to attract. McDonald’s sued but later dropped the case.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele

Passing through the arcade you come out onto the Piazza del Duomo.  This square is dominated with the exceptionally beautiful and ornate Duomo, the Cathedral of Milan. It is truly a wonder to behold, so many spires, so many statues, so much ornamentation - all in a light white marble - the building just takes your breath away.  Its construction was started back in 1386 but it was not fully completed until the 1960’s.  It is the largest church in Italy, St Peter’s is larger but that is not in Italy, it is in the Vatican, an independent state.

The Duomo

I purchased a ticket to go inside the church and it is almost as spectacular inside.  Being Sunday there was a service going on, but of course that did not stop the flow of tourists around the edge of the church.  You can also visit the roof of the church to get a closer view of all the carvings and ornamentation on the exterior.  I must have taken a hundred photos.  There is so much ornate carving and decoration - no wonder it took nearly 600 years to complete.

Interior of the Duomo

Rooftop exterior of the Duomo

From the rooftop you can see a nice view of Torre Velasca, an interesting looking modern building with a wider top section than its base. Some people like it, some people don't.

Torre Velasca from the Duomo Roof

There is a Duomo Museum next to the church that I visited but that is just more statues and carvings - literally hundreds more of them.  I was getting overloaded with viewing carved stone.

Entrance to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele

The Piazza del Duomo is certainly the highlight of the city.  It has the wonderful Duomo itself, then the entry arch into the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and then there is a statue of King Victor Emanuele himself seated on his horse and of course decorated with pigeons and their excrement.  There was a man, a blind man I believe, that was playing a Theramin in the square.  I love the sound of that instrument, so spacy and weird, but I had never seen one played before in real life.

The Theramin Player

Castle Sforza

Next stop on my walking tour was the Castle Sforza.  This dates from the 14th century though most if what we see today was from the 15th Century.  Not the most impressive of castles but pleasant enough.  There are several museums on the complex, three of which I visited - one for Michaelangelo’s last attempt at a Pieta, one for old musical instruments, and one for Applied Arts. It was a combination ticket, the Pieta was the draw for me.  Actually the Pieta is not that remarkable - it is unfinished and is quite simple and basic. I do recognize its historical significance though.

Michaelangelo's Pieta

Beyond the Castle Sforza there is a nice park, Sempione Park, leading up towards the Arco della Pace, the Peace Arch.  There was one guy playing electric guitar in the park and he was quite good - Shine on you crazy diamond - Pink Floyd - it made for a most enjoyable walk through the park.

Arco della Pace

I was getting tired now but I though I would make an attempt to see Leonardo’s Last Supper which is hanging in a refectory attached to the Convent of Santa Maria della Gracie.  I found the convent but alas there was no signs of life.  It looked like it was closed on Sundays or closed for coronvirus.

From there I headed over to the nearest subway station and caught the subway back to the Central Station and to my hotel.  Navigating the subway was straightforward - tickets were easy to buy for 2 euros, and the stations and trains were clean and not too crowded.  

A brief cleanup at the hotel followed by a light late lunch/early dinner and then I went off again towards the Duomo to see if I could get a ticket for that night’s La Scala concert.  There were a few people milling around the ticket office and I was told to come back one hour before the concert and see if there were any tickets turned in.  This I did and was fortunately rewarded with a single ticket.  A bit pricy at 95 euros but it’s not every day you get to visit La Scala.

The La Scala Concert

The concert was a piano recital by Mauricio Pollini - a bit of Brahms, a bit of Schoenberg, a bit of Beethoven.  Pollini, a local Milan boy, is 76 and the poor guy looked it.  I felt sorry for him as the audience gave him so many encores and he had to keep hobbling off and then back on to the stage each time.  Of all the pieces I liked the Schoenberg best.

La Scala

Inside La Scala it is quite small.  A small main floor where I was seated and then 6 levels of small boxes around the perimeter.  With the Coronovirus restrictions only around a third of seats were available.  My row had 13 seats with only 5 available for sitting.

After the concert I took the subway back out to the Central Station and to my hotel.  My phone told me I had walked 13 miles that day.  No wonder I was a little tired.  The next morning it was off again with an early start for my 7:10 train to Zurich.

Early Morning Train to Zurich

There are more photos here.