CHAPTER 4: Masterpiece “The last supper” and next step: Venice!

Our last day in Milan started with an accessible guided visit to the Cenacolo Vinciano – the museum that contains the masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci, “the last supper”. Having the chance to admire this masterpiece was one of the many reasons (beside food of course!) that pushed me booking this Italian itinerary: Gina and I we are both art passionate and Gina actually teaches art at school so Leonardo Da Vinci’s genius has always fascinated us and we couldn’t really miss this pearl. The cenacolo is one of the  most renowned and visited museum in town, and luckily it is accessible. We decided to book  skip the line tickets and avoid any possible line at the entrance. I understood that for reasons of preservation of the painting itself – access is restricted to a limited number of visitors, so it’s always necessary to book in advance. We reached the cenacolo by accessible minivan, but we decided not to book a private guide for the the museum as Gina knows everything about the masterpiece and its history. The Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci was painted between 1494 and 1498 under the government of Ludovico il Moro and represents the last “dinner” between Jesus and his disciples. If you are a believer or not – if you are an art lover or not – I really suggest you to see this masterpiece while in Milan because really really worth! There is so much art, passion and history in that painting!

(This is the link of the tour of romeanditaly group: https://www.romeanditaly.com/accessible/accessible-milan-the-last-supper-tour/ – and this is the website of the Cenacolo itself: https://cenacolovinciano.org/en/ )

Shelley and Mark decided not to join us this morning  to have some free time at disposal to shopping by themselves. It was fine for us… they also deserve some times on their own! But of course we couldn’t leave them alone getting lost around Milan – so this morning I’ve called the offices of romeanditaly group and arranged a last minute assistant to look after them for 2 hours. Shelley really wanted some Italian shoes and Mark – who is a footballl lover – decided to visit the Milan football team shop – I gave them some money.. and I hope I will have back some change!

After the Cenacolo tour (for us) and the shopping experience for the kids – we met all up again in the hotel at noon to finally leave Milan and reach Venice. We jumped on our accessible minivan to reach the train station, and get our frecciarossa (Italian name for high speed train! This is the official website where you can check the timetable https://www.trenitalia.com/it/le_frecce/collegamenti_e_servizifrecciarossa.html ) to Venice. I booked a dedicated assistant on departure so not to have to worry about anything: the guy had our train tickets printed, helped us with luggage, with the accessible ramp provided by the train company, and once all set on board, the train departed. We’ve booked first class tickets, so we were served with free coffee and some snacks! We also decided to have lunch on board with some “panini” we bought at the train station, not to waste time in any restaurant.

The panorama seen from the windows was incredibly, and even more when we reached the Venice lagoon, and the train followed a track completely suspended over water!

Once arrived in Venice, another pre-booked assistant helped us on arrival procedure, and took us to our accessible transfer to the hotel… not an accessible minivan this time but an accessible private boat! What an incredibile experience is to live on water and having to move around by boat!!! I’m curious to discover if there are cars into Venice, or maybe just gondolas??

We arrived at our hotel – 5* hotel Bonvecchiati (https://www.hotelbonvecchiati.it/it/ristorante/)  suggested by Stefano – and accommodated in an amazing accessible family room with a nice view over the canals! We quickly unpacked and went outside for a spritz (I’m getting addicted to this fresh & delicious Italian cocktail!). They served us with some cold cuts, a selection of cheeses, olives and some focaccia. I though that was a special touch offered from that particular bar, but talking with the waitress I’ve understand that the Italian aperitivo always includes some snacks together with the cocktail! What a great deal! 

We had dinner in the accessible restaurant of our hotel, and since the wake up call was going to be early the day after, we went early to bed.

Stay tuned with us, next Monday the next chapter of “The accessible trip to Italy of our Friend Bill” will be released

written by #Bill