My Travels - Italia Part 4 of 4 (Milano, 2006)

The 8:57 to Milan is my time machine on fast-forward, leaving behind my scuffle with ancient Rome, thrusting me into a final match with modern Italy.

Central Station greets me in Art Noveaux, but its the absent pursuers that fascinate me. They can't be too far and I have little time.

Outside is the subway, but the city beckons exploration above ground.

Leonardo's The Last Supper is a three-month wait at the Santa Maria delle Grazie. I wasn't gonna get caught in line, so I kept walking.

What a treat, I thought: a real castle, the Sforza, waiting for an onslaught. But I found it absurd. What is a moat without water? What is a stronghold without a drawbridge?













What is a castle without a hoard?

I crossed into Via Montenapoleon, center of world fashion, avenues lined with windows into moda Italia.

Dolce & Gabbana on every block... Past the functional La Scala Opera House... Thru the spacious Galleria, probably the oldest shopping mall in the world, but looking nothing like yore...


Out into the piazza...

...THUNDERSTRUCK into the shadow of the gothic Duomo!

I have found the canvas that will bear my wrath!

They have posted armed security by the entrances! They know their nemesis has been doubling as a tourist.

It would be midnight when I slip past. Armed and rancorous, I worked in haste, knowing the walls are closing in, my time shortening. I'm more than halfway through before I was chased away by the watchmen.

Daybreak and I went back, hoping to bask in my triumph, only to find my work already under wraps!

Today, they'll tell you the Duomo is under renovation, perhaps until early next year. But they know I defaced the facade! They know I've struck at the heart!

It would have looked like this:
They know infuriatingly well: I came, I saw, I conquered!

P.S. The only travel books that matter belong to Rick Steves. He's like the reconnaisance scout we never had, or the one that ever came back.