Milan Cathedral
Milan Cathedral is one of those buildings that you can’t photograph too many times.
The way the spires and the other carvings interact to create different shapes is almost unique and is far superior to the creations of Gaudi.
Again, I’m drawn back to 2001, when the cathedral was surrounded by a massive army of Ipswich supporters dressed in blue. Sadly, I don’t have any photos of that day.
I also went to see the Jackson Pollock exhibition in the Royal Palace. It emphasised how little I know of modern art. But it was very well presented and thought provoking.
Milan is a place that you can really do in a weekend, as the public transport is good, and the major sites are clustered around a few points, like the cathedral and the castle. I was only in the vicinity of the cathedral for about two hours, but if I’d had more time, I could have wasted a whole day, not going further than say a kilometre from the cathedral.
One regret was that I didn’t get up very early and go to the piazza in front of the cathedral, as only at that hour do you really appreciate the beauty of any place of architectural integrity. It was raining hard, so I chickened out!
In Search Of The Last Supper
I’ve seen Leonardo’s Last Supper in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in Milan twice, but felt that as it was a wet afternoon, that I might be greedy and have another look.
However, it was all fully booked, so I just looked at the outside of the church and then got a tram to the Duomo.
Incidentally, the first time I saw the mural, was when Ipswich played Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup in 2001. One of the staff was surprised at how many visitors they had that day all dressed in blue.
Although Ipswich lost as expected, we all had a great day in Milan.
But normally now, twelve years later, you have to pre-book the visit. I suppose now with most visitors having the Internet on their phone, this is not that easy.
Hundreds Of Sunflowers
On the forecourt at St. Pancras station, it was all happening this morning.
It’s an art installation, that will be opening on Tuesday.
I shall return!
The MacDonald Gill Exhibition In Ealing
I was going to Ealing to see the Macdonald Gill exhibition. There’s more about the exhibition and an example, here on the BBC
The MacDonald Gill Exhibition In Ealing
It was very much worth visiting. I seem to remember one of his maps, prints or posters somewhere in my past.
Perhaps, it was in an Underground station or my father had one in his print works. He had the machines to print large posters and I wonder if before the Second World War, he’d actually been asked to print some.
I’ll never know, as his print works is long gone.
John Lennon Gets A Building
I don’t know what John Lennon would have thought about this building at Liverpool John Moores University.
But at least it’s an impressive one in a prominent place in the City!
A Cafe In Liverpool
Liverpool generally doesn’t do boring and there is nothing boring about this cafe.
A Cafe In Liverpool
It is actually in the Victoria Building of Liverpool University, which gave red brick universities, their name.
But the interior is a superb example of Victorian excess, in what is now the Victoria Gallery and Museum.
I particularly liked the clock.
The Clock
The food and drink is not too bad either.
Liverpool’s Bucket Fountain
I mentioned this in the comments on an earlier post. So today, instead of going direct to my meeting at the Unversity, I took the Wirral line to James Street station to see the Bucket fountain.
It was actually working, although I have read that normally the water is turned off.
Endless Stair
Endless Stair is according to its publicity, a striking sculpture composed of 15 Escher-like interlocking staircases. For more about M C Escher look here.
The structure was certainly attracting attention by the Tate Modern.
Note the picture from the Millennium Bridge which shows it in front of the Tate Modern at the right.
The Munch Museum
After the National Gallery, I took the metro to get to the Munch Museum to see the other half of the Munch 150 exhibition. It runs to October the 13th, so you’ve about four weeks.
I was also able to get some excellent Swedish meatballs at the museum.
Munchies At The Munch Museum
Were they Munchies?
The Anonymous Widower 