Italy Review Blog: Tuesday 9th February 2021

Good morning all on Tuesday 9th February. I've decided to include a brief weather synopsis on the blogs from now on and I can tell you that today is a bit of a mixed bag across the country. Obviously we're still in winter and that's felt the most in the northern regions. The high today in Turin for example will be just 3° Celsius, while the warmest temperatures today can be found down in Sicily with Catania expecting a whopping 18° C and feeling positively spring-like. 

The news continues to be dominated by politics and the formation around Italy's (latest) new government so I won't dwell too long on that. The number of new Corona virus cases in Italy yesterday was 7,970; that's the lowest figure since I started this blog at the beginning of this month and a significant drop from the day before (11,641). The overall figure of people currently infected also continues to fall: this time by 7,420 to a total of 419,604. Although still very large, the numbers continue to decline and with the warmer weather not too far away, that decline should sharpen in the coming weeks. 

One very positive piece of tourism news over the last 24 hours surrounds the city of Milan. The city's number one attraction: Milan Cathedral (Il Duomo di Milano) will reopen on Thursday this week (11th February) after being closed since November last year. Another of the city's iconic sights: Da Vinci's Last Supper at Santa Maria delle Grazie will also be reopening on the same day. Visiting Santa Maria delle Grazie is usually extremely difficult with the necessity to book in advance and a waiting list in the region of six months at times; however, lucky Milanese residents will be able to circumvent those rules at the moment and buy tickets on the day, with a dozen people allowed entry every 15 minutes. 

When things get back to normal, Milan is one of the most interesting cities to visit in Italy. It's an historic city with a fascinating past but it has a much more modern feel compared to the likes of Rome, Venice or Florence. Aside from the Duomo, (widely considered to be one of the best and currently occupying second position on my list of best Cathedrals of Italy), there's the beautiful Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, an early example of the modern shopping mall but way ahead of anything that's followed it, in terms of style and grace.

Just a short walk from the Galleria there's the famous Teatro alla Scala with its own museum, and dozens of other museums close by including the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana and the National Museum of Science of Technology with some great work by Da Vinci among its exhibits. The most historic sight in the city is the imposing Sforza Castle which sits at one end of the huge Parco Sempione: one of the biggest city parks in Italy.

I'll leave you with some images of Things to see in Milan for now and I'll be back with more tomorrow.