Warhol and Kandinsky Exhibts

For many centuries, The Palazzo Reale di Milano (The Royal Palace of Milan) was the home of Milan's city government. Nowadays, it is still an important part of the Milan government but on the tourism side as it houses some of the most world renown exhibitions and expositions. This time it showcased two of the most famous painters of all time...Andy Warhol and Wassily Kandinsky.

Andy Warhol: The Father of Pop Art

It's not everyday you get to see a gallery full of Andy Warhol masterpieces, but when you are in Milan....anything is possible. The Warhol exhibition at the Palazzo Reale, near the Duomo, contained  some of his well known pieces like the Campbell Soup Can, Mao Tse Tung, Self-portrait, Marilyn, etc. They even had  one of Warhol's "piss paintings" where the canvas was urinated on to cause an oxidation effect.

Warhol was fascinated with Leonardo da Vinci. Ironically, his last art exposition during his lifespan was called "The Last Supper" and was held right here in Milan. The tour was also international friendly as they had individual audio players explaining certain artworks in ENGLISH. :)

Andy's Liz Taylor

Lady Sketch

The Elvis Presley Boot

Campbell's Soup can

Andy's Flowers

Wassily Kandinsky: Father of the Abstract

Immediately after my mind being blown away by Andy Warhol, it was time to see Wassily Kandinsky's exhibition. At first I couldn't put a painting behind Kandinsky's name, but as soon as I entered the exhibit my exact thoughts were, "He was the one who painted that?!"

Born in Moscow, he originally studied law and economics but his concentration was soon to be pointed in a different direction...painting. I guess his educational background would explain how he moved towards becoming a theorist painter. Unfortunately, the two images below are not originally taken by me as the gallery security guard forced me to turn off my phone; nonetheless, these were two important Kandinsky works on display and the Palazzo Reale.

Sky Blue by Kandinsky

Yellow, Red, Blue by Kandinsky

Basilica of San Lorenzo

Saturday: Church Exlploration

No matter what your religious beliefs are, when you come to Milan you HAVE to take some time out of your day and visit any and every church that crosses your path. If I'm correct, I think Nico and I visited around five of them on Saturday. The one I will be describing in this post is the Basilica of San Lorenzo. 

With the origin of this magnificent Catholic church dating back to the late fourth (390AD) - early fifth (402AD) centuries, the original structure has been rebuilt several times due to fires and other natural disasters. However despite these setbacks, the Basilica of San Lorenzo and the Colonne di San Lorenzo (the square plaza in front of the basilica) are still symbols of the Roman Empire legacy in Milan. 

Complete with decorative marble and early christian mosaics, inside the basilica you will notice the main geometric shapes used for its development where squares and circles. Over history, several chapels have even been added along the sides of the original structure. One in particular which is still standing and can be seen by the public for a small fee (1-2 Euros) is the Chapel of St. Aquilino. This chapel dates back to the origin of the basilica...late 4th century.

Overall, this was an amazing church located in the center of Milan, Italy. Milan...a city for anyone who wants to take a journey back in time. Enjoy the pictures!

The front of the basilica

The main dome...not original but still remarkable

Let the sun shine in! (Basilica's main light source)

Decorative marble art 

Notice that details are everywhere

Mosaic in the Chapel of St. Aquilino

Ceiling above the Main Alter in the chapel of St. Aquilino

The back of the Basilica

Red Metro, Green Metro, Yellow Metro, NONE...Wait, What???

Before I get into the details of a rather interesting day (transportation wise), I will start off with a picture taken yesterday at the one and only, make your jaw drop, magnificent Duomo!

The Famous Duomo

Every major city has a public transportation system, and with every public transportation system there are workers who make the daily commute to and from work simple, smooth and easy. Well, at the same time those same workers have a powerful voice...and they sure know how to use it. Today, ATM (Azienda Trasporti Milanesi, Milan's public transportation provider) held a strike which crippled Milan. 

I got my first taste of the strike at about 9 am after I arrived at Lambrate Station to find the doors closed to the green metro line closed.  Apparently, this was an organized strike which lasted during the non-peak travel hours of 8:45am-3pm and 6pm-until shift end. I eventually made it to work early in the afternoon, but on the positive side, I had myself a nice cardio workout! 

My after work commute was a bit easier because I knew I had to be on the Metro by 6 pm. I found myself intermixed with hundreds of others trying to make it in time. To stay true to the blog name, I have to add a rural analogy in the story...picture trying to corral a heard of animals through a chute into the opening of a trailer...a lot of shoving and pushing, right? It was the same. However, despite the strike, no one was bent out of shape, no riots where caused, and life moved on. It just adds a little flair to the dynamics of the city...which I love!

I leave you with a video taken on the last ride home on the green line....

Bienvenido a Milano, Italia!

Here is your first insider look into the remarkable city of Milan, Italy; aka Milano, Italia in Italiano. I have a feeling after this blog post I will have a lot of disgusted friends and family, but here goes nothing! LOL! 

Looking SW on Via Luigi Settembrini

Arriving at the Malpensa airport yesterday (Sunday, March 2, 2014 around 8:00am), I actually got my first glimpse of the city around 10 am. Why the two hour difference you ask? Well, Milan has two major airports...one serving mainly domestic and European Union flights called Linate (LIN) and one serving most of the international flights called Malpensa (MXP). The main difference is the location of the airports; LIN is about 4 miles east of Milan's center where MXP is about 30 miles NNW. However; don't let distance scare you away from MXP because there happens to be an express train called MalpensaExpress connecting the international traveler directly from the airport to various train stations. With day one in the books, I have already utilized Milan's extensive public transportation system including: trams, buses, subways, and trains.

Question for the readers: For my internship, I want to do a little survey. What do you currently know about Milan, and what would you like to know? Please comment to this post or email your responses to lance.husak@gmail.com. Your participation will be greatly appreciated, and don't be afraid to reply with, "I know nothing." Remember...Milano Loves You!

Friend Launches Women2Business Blog

The most powerful way for a startup to spread new and exciting information is through organic means; especially if you don't have the funds available to launch a full-fledged advertising campaign. When mentioning "organic," I'm describing the natural spread of information, like through word of mouth. For this reason, I'm going to introduce you to a new blog with great potential.

When I was in Buenos Aires, I met a vast amount of unbelievable, talented, young professionals who had the drive to change/better the world. One of these individuals was Annamarie, a German/American studying business economics at Universidad de Belgrano passionate about female leadership in the business setting. 

Recently, Annamarie and a friend just launched Women2Business, "a blog encouraging young women to strive for success and self-fulfillment in their private and professional lives." I encourage you to check out their blog as I'm positive it will bring in new perspectives on the topic. Good Luck, Annamarie!

All You Need To Know And More!!!

Buon Giorno!

If you guessed "Italy" to my post "Full of Surprises" you are correct! I will be interning in Milan, Italy from March 1st to May 30th. I've added a new page to The Rural Iowa blog explaining all the details.

Page: What's Next?

If you have more questions or comments, post them and I will respond. I look forward to sharing my experience with all of you!

Ciao,

Lance

Bald Eagles in Central Iowa

There I was...a typical Generation Y messing around on my Samsung Galaxy S4 having the time of my life (sense the sarcasm lol), all until my attention was diverted by some particularly curious stares coming from the chair next to me.

"What's that out in the field?" Said the mom. "It looks like a big bird." (I could only hope she wasn't talking about the yellow one you can find on tv.) 

"Looks like there might be some white on that bird!" She shouted in excitement as she watched it take flight.