The Old Town of Milan

I am happy to show you today the beautiful city of Milan. When I have arrived at the main train station I was not impressed - I have heard so much about it but the platforms looked like any other train platforms in the world.

It is only when I entered the main hall that I understood what this all fuzz was about.

The main train station in Milan was built in the 1930s under the supervision of the fascist dictatorship of Mussolini. It is huge and definitely meant to impress. The walls are decorated with sculptures, paintings and mosaics. This is the entry to the ticket office.

The station was rebuilt a couple of times over the last eighty years so it is quite modern, with elevators and escalators. Still, it keeps its majestic style.

The life of Milan centers nowadays around the Piazza del Duomo or the Cathedral Square. It is surrounded by some nice buildings, housing the most exquisite fashion brands.

In the back, you can spot the Victor Emmanuel II Gallery. It is an amazing place - the little streets are covered by a glass roof that transforms them into a gallery.

Let's enter inside. If you have a wallet packed with credit cards, you can enter one of the shops.

For example this Prada boutique ...

... or the Louis Vitton's one.

I am afraid that the only option for me would be the McDonald's just outside this lane.

By the way - have you noticed the roof? Yes, it is hard  not to notice it.

But did you also look under your feet? Here comes the white cross on a red shield. No, it is not for Denmark or Switzerland. It is the coat of arms of Milan.

Now I wonder how many of you noticed the name of the Piazza we just crossed. And yes, the cathedral of Milan, dedicated to St Mary of the Nativity, is also here. This is one of the biggest that I have ever seen. No wonder, it took almost six centuries to be completed. It is the fifth largest church in the world and the largest in Italy.

The cathedral is basically in the gothic style. It is beautifully ornamented with hundreds of statues and reliefs. Unfortunately it is strictly forbidden to take pictures inside the cathedral.

If we take just a few steps on the left of the Duomo, we will find a building that looks very modest. But do not judge the book by the cover. It is the world famous theater and opera of La Scala.

Inside, it is much more impressive.

There are in total two thousand seats, most of them in individual balconies, each of which has six places.

Below the main stage comes the place for the orchestra.

The building houses also a small museum, where you can see sculptures and paintings of famous singers and composers, ancient playing instruments and some magnificent costumes used in the spectacles produced by the La Scala. This one is from Aida opera. You can see why Milan is considered a capital of fashion.

I hope that you have enjoyed this walk through the Old Town of Milan. Let's now catch the underground because there is one more place in Milan that I want to show you.

Västerås

I am very excited to take you today to yet another country, the last missing in my list in the Scandinavian Peninsula - Sweden. We will visit today a nice little town called Västerås, located in central Sweden, some 100 kilometres from the capital city of Stockholm.

 We will take from the airport a nice highway running next to many lakes.

You will quickly notice that the houses next to the road look all the same - wooden, painted in dark red colour (it even has its own name - faluröd), with white windows.

The buildings in Västerås are also red, but this is because they are mainly made of brick.

There are two major brick-built buildings in town. The first one is the gothic cathedral, dedicated to Virgin Mary and John the Baptist.




The tower is 92 meters, it does not seem to be as high as in some of the gothic cathedrals in the South of Europe.

Inside you could find the tombs of some of the Swedish kings. Unfortunately, we arrived in the evening and the church was closed. So we can only admire saints on the reliefs on the outside walls.

Let's move to the second important building made of brick. We need to cross the river Svartån. Like in Paris and Wrocław, the couples put padlocks as proof of their devotion.

Quickly, we will arrive to a very nice park, located next to a small lake. The building in the back is the Town Hall.



We need to pass next to the town's theater.

Finally here comes the second major building made of brick - the royal castle in Västerås. Actually it does not look like a castle at all. It was built in thirteenth century and rebuilt in sixteenth century. Nowadays it looks like a large residential building.

Those of you who are a bit tired can have some rest on one of these funny benches.

I propose we cross the lake to take a closer look at the Town Hall again.

As we approach the bridge, you will notice that there is a little water tourbine on the river, generating electricity. It is hidden in this nice little house.

Or to be more precise, next to it.
 

Next to the Town Hall there is a statue of a golden bull located on a high pillar. I have no clue what it represents but it reminds me vaguely of the golden calf that the Jews have made when Moses was getting from God the Ten Commandments.

The Town Hall, just like the cathedral, is distinguished by the tall tower.

I just noticed that in the middle of the lake there is a fountain! In the back you will recognise the theater.

I was at first surprised that this theater is so small but I was later told that the main cultural events take place in a new concert hall.

The truth is however, that Västerås is basically an industrial town. Vasteras is the town where the apparel retailer H&M was founded.

It is also the birthplace of ASEA, a large manufacturing company operating in the electrical industry. Nowadays ASEA is part of the ABB Group, but its Swedish headquarters are still in the historical ASEA building.

Next to the entry, you can even spot a monument of its founder.

But ASEA has given to Västerås one more monument and I must admit that I like it much more. These are the Aseaströmmen, a monument that commemorates thousands of ASEA workers that were coming to work on their bicycles. The name of the monument is a mixture of the name ASEA and strömmen meaning current or flow. This current filled the streets of the city each time the shifts changed at the factory.

I hope that you liked this little tour of Västerås. I propose we take a last and final look at the river Svartån, bordered by houses painted in Falun red.

Rigoletto

Over the last years I have shown you many opera houses in Europe. But actually we never visited one inside. To make up for it I will take you today to the famous "Rigoletto" by Guiseppe Verdi, as shown in the National Opera in Warsaw.

You might remember the building itself since we have seen it two years ago. During the night, the former Town Hall building is nicely illuminated.

On the top of the National Opera House you will rediscover the quadriga above the main entrance.

First, we need to buy the tickets.

Then, we move to the cloak room.

The red carpet will lead us to the balcony.

The spectacle starts at 7 PM so it is just about time that we take our places.

The room is vast, with many levels of balconies and galleries.

The curtain is still closed.

Just below the scene you can see the orchestra.

The best-known air from "Rigoletto" is "La donna è mobile". The most famous performance is probably this by Luciano Pavarotti.

But do not be fooled by the light tone of this air. "Rigoletto" is a sad story. The main character, Rigoletto, is a court jester, whose job is to amuse the Duke of Mantua.

http://www.teatrwielki.pl/repertuar/opera/kalendarium/rigoletto-1.html

The Duke likes to have fun and his favourite hobby is seducing women, both married and innocent, leaving the fathers and the husbands helpless faced to his ducal power. 

http://www.teatrwielki.pl/repertuar/opera/kalendarium/rigoletto-1.html

When he seduces the daughter of Rigoletto the latter hires an assassin. Unfortunately, Rigoletto's daughter Gilda fells in love with the Duke and sacrifices her life to save her beloved, despite the fact that she knows he was unfaithful to her. 

http://www.teatrwielki.pl/repertuar/opera/kalendarium/rigoletto-1.html

Since the action of "Rigoletto" is taking place in various locations, there is a need to change the scenography a number of times. During the breaks it is possible to visit the buffet. In a fancy place the food is fancy as well.

I particularly liked the cake.

One of the greatest things about operas are the amazing costumes. We are lucky because we will be able to visit an exhibition of the greatest designs of costumes starring in the spectacles of the National Opera in Warsaw. They fully deserve the name of haute couture.

The first dress that I will show you comes of course from Rigoletto, this is the dress of one of the noble women seduced by the Duke of Mantua.

The respective scene is shown on a screen next to the dress.

This amazing dress is from la Traviata, it is a design by Gosia Baczyńska.

The costumes for Madame Butterfly designed by Magdalena Tesławska and Paweł Grabarczyk.

And here Onegin as seen by Joanna Klimas.

I hope that you have enjoyed this date with high culture. I must say that I liked it a lot! And I just cannot get "La donna è mobile" out of my head ...