The Last Supper

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The last supper is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, painted from 1495 to 1498 and is located in of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. I had already got flights to Milan before I even knew that the painting was here and, as such, I had great difficulty getting tickets.

Most tickets seem to sell out months in advance, but I would suggest continuing to try each day as some people (most likely travel agents) cancel and the tickets become available again. I did manage to acquire one ticket about a week before I flew into Milan.

Santa Maria delle Grazie. You can tour the main chapel and the garden for free but you need a ticket to see the painting

Once you have a ticket you need to show up at least 30 minutes in advance to get your ticket validated and then return 10 minutes before to line up. The picture is housed in the refectory and it’s a fairy basic room.

The lights and temperature are controlled in the room to attempt to maintain the painting

Since the tickets are so restricted there is not a huge crowd like for some attractions in Italy. There are still around 50 people at a time and you are allowed around 15 minutes to see the painting.

It’s a fairly small room but you get a chance to get the front eventually

At the other end of the room, and on the way out is a painting of the cruxification.

David

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David in the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze in Florence, Italty

One of the things I have always wanted to see if I made a trip to Florence was the statue of David.

David was created from 1501 to 1504 by Michelangelo out of one single piece of marble. The goal was to place him on the top of the main cathedral in Florence but once the piece was completed it was decided it was too nice to place on the roof and instead was placed in the Palazzo della Signoria. In 1873, the statue was moved to the Galleria dell’Accademia.

Back in the Palazzo della Signora you can see a replica of the original. To see the original, however you need to get tickets. I’d suggest booking in advance as the line for people without advanced tickets was very long. The whole gallery was quite congested, so don’t expect an intimate experience with just you and David 🙂

Lots of tourists admiring David in Florence
It can be quite a challenge to get close

The gallery also hosts many other sculptures and there is even a small musical instrument gallery.

This is a replica. The original is apparently held in a private collection in Scotland

Puerto Vallarta

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A view of the Puerto Vallarta townsite (ocean is behind me) from Mirador Cerro de La Cruz

We flew Aeromar from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta. I would highly recommend them. They fly small aircraft but they are fairly quiet and they serve a snack and a beer on the one hour flight. They were on time and the whole experience was very good. Puerto Vallarta was busier than Guadalajara with a mixture of domestic tourists and International ones.

The sail on the Malecon

We arrived around 6pm so we basically went to check in to the AirBnB and then walked into Zona romantica for dinner and had a stroll along the Malecon after dinner. Lots of people were out and about. There was some social distancing and mask wearing but it was certainly not 100%. There were less restrictions here than in Guadalajara. Restaurants did not have to close here however bars still needed to remain closed (any establishment that only serves alcohol)

Another view from Mirador Cerro de La Cruz, this time facing the ocean

The second day we did the hike up the the cross. It is as steep as I remember it but it affords great views. The weather was nice but it was a little cooler than usual for this time of year. On New Years Eve it actually dropped down to around 6 degrees. The daytime high was around 25 degrees.