The sisters at the monastery welcomed me on a very hot sunny Monday afternoon. The gardens are large with fruit trees, flower beds, and grapevines.
I worked early in the gardens each day pruning roses, weeding, and picking fruit that was ripe or fallen from the trees.
I worked with two young women for a day each in my first week since our stays overlapped. Another Workawayer arrived for my 2d week from her home in Budapest. We hit it off right away and worked hard together in the mornings outside. We would hear sisters singing or praying through the chapel windows, and knew we had to give that side of the monastery a wide berth as we walked our wheel barrows through to the street-side dumpsters for organic yard waste. I’d often see a sister or two sitting with their breakfast perched on a little box that doubled as the carrier for their breakfast. The mindfulness and quiet ways the sisters moved through their tasks was inspiring. I found myself taking my time over deadheading roses or pulling weeds, much more patiently than I might usually do.
The trains were delayed and/or cancelled on the Friday evening I was heading to Milan. I finally saw the sign on a computerized ticket tape running across the train info screen saying train strike. I quickly found the info site in English and learned that Italian trains companies, like in the UK, give advance warning of when strikes will occur. As in England, passengers and conductors seemed to rally to support people to get on trains not technically part of their itinerary, but would get them to a train that was heading to their destination. Eventually I did make it to Milan along with many other delayed and heat bedraggled travelers.
I signed up for a walking tour in the morning in order to be able to see The Last Supper. The lines to get in are quite long, and booking on a tour means your group has a designated time to enter for the 15 minute slot allowed. The tour began outside of Sforza Castle and walked through the piazza outside of it and then into the Castle grounds. The Castle has 12 galleries in it, and we entered one to see da Vinci’s amazing final Pieta.It was his 4th Pieta, nearly completed before his death at 88. Even in its unfinished state, it is so eloquent and lovely. The tour guide gave us some interesting information about Milan as we walked the few block to where we would eventually see The Last Supper.
It resides in the Refectory of a former Dominican convent. Access to view the painting is limited to 40 people for 15 minutes total; as we entered into an ante chamber with sliding glass doors, we were told to wait til the bell sounded and the next door slid open, signifying that the other group had left the room of the painting. da Vinci’s experiment with using a dry technique to achieve his shades of light. Typical or ‘true fresco’ painting happened while the plaster is still damp. da Vinci took 4 years to complete this painting, taking his time to meditate on what shadow and he wanted to achieve. This dry style of painting meant that the Last Supper almost immediately was at risk of deteriorating. It has to have very controlled light and air around it, and has been restored more than once already. The Dominican friars were very upset that it took 4 years for the painting to be completed.
Milan is big, busy and beautiful in the way that cities can be; big monuments and smaller details that tell a lot about the city’s inhabitants. I saw many very fashionable people dressed in gorgeous designer clothes (despite the 94 degrees F), as well as older residents out with adult children or friends for their late afternoon espresso and pastry. Good people watching everywhere!
I made it back safely to the monastery for my final few days. Milan Centrale was way busier than I expected at 7:30 am. The map on my train showed what a long trip some people had ahead of them.
The heat continued, and I continuing to look forward to my siestas. There’s a definite reason stores and some restaurants close from 3-7pm. My Workaway partner or I would go down to the kitchen to carry up the tray with our lunches made by the sisters, spend our lunch times talking of all sorts of things, and then fading away til early evening came along.
Of course the heat broke the night before I left the monastery! I had a really good sleep that night too! I said my good byes to the sisters and my new Workaway friend. My time at the monastery was rich in conversations and more observations of of how the sisters live their days. I think Budapest may be on a future itinerary so that I can see my Workaway friend.
My final weekend in Italy was on the coast in the Cinque Terre region. These are 5 ancient fishing villages along the coast in the northwest. The train taking me out to the coast seemed to be going in and out of tunnels every few minutes, and then through a very long tunnel. Once I saw the mountains from the water, and hiked between 2 towns, I understood the need for tunnels. They literally travel miles through rocky hills and mountains. The trains were busy regional trains for the final part of my trip, stopping at each of the villages to allow people to visit or catch a ride to the village where they began a hike. The transportation there is excellent. You can hike, train, and ferry to all but one village that doesn’t have a port to dock.
I’m typing this final sentence on the plane because for some reason, I have WiFi to do so! Lots of beautiful images, grand and small, are floating through my mind from my travels of the past few weeks. Equally thoughtful and heartfelt conversations linger in my mind. I’m eager to get home to see how my own artwork is changed and inspired by what I’ve seen in nature and museums. And perhaps to try some recipes the sisters shared with me.
