DISCOVER LOMBARDY WITH FAMOUS GAY ARTISTS
7 days - 6 nights
1st day – Friday: MILANO AND MICHELANGELO
Day dedicated to the free visit of Milan and Michelangelo’s work present locally. Michelangelo was contemporary with Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Benvenuto Cellini and Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (Il Sodoma), and all these artists were publicly charged with sodomy (Leonardo was even imprisoned for two months). Michelangelo, like the other ones, was offered sexual services by the “ragazzi” or street boys who worked as apprentices in the art studios.
In Milan, in the Sforzesco Castle, we find the last and unfinished Michelangelo’s work: the “Pietà Rondanini”. The statue is a representation of infinite piety, as felt by the Madonna for her dead Son – so infinite that no finished work could ever circumscribe it. In Michelangelo’s words, we could say it is so infinite that the hand that obeys the intellect could not discover it from the marble.
In the Sforzesco Castle we also find a decorated room by Leonardo da Vinci. The painting covers the ceiling and upper walls of the Sala delle Asse. Leonardo designed a decoration scheme that reproduces an outdoor space, in which great tree trunks starting from the walls extend their branches from lunettes to cover the entire ceiling, where they create a dense pergola with a complex interwoven pattern.
Lunch and afternoon free in Milan.
In the late evening meeting at your hotel with our Rainbow Travel assistant, who will explain your tour and Milan’s gay nightlife.
Dinner free.
Overnight in hotel.
2nd day - Saturday: MILANO: CARAVAGGIO AND LEONARDO DA VINCI
Breakfast in hotel.
Morning dedicated to the Milan guided tour following Leonardo Da Vinci and Caravaggio
Another gay artist who lived and worked in Milan is Caravaggio. Caravaggio found protection under the cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, who gave him shelter and helped him with his career. In 1594 he met Mario Minniti, a twenty year old man, and took him to live with him. There were other relationships that Caravaggio had with different men, but the relationship he had with Minitti is the only one known to be called as a couple.
In the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana we find a Caravaggio work: the Basket of fruit. Much has been made of the worm-eaten, insect-predated, and generally less than perfect condition of the fruit. In line with the culture of the age, the general theme appears to revolve about the fading beauty, and the natural decaying of all things.
Free time for lunch.
Afternoon dedicated to the visit one of the most famous paintings in the world: The Last Supper painted by Leonardo da Vinci. Tickets must be reserved in advanced
Little is self-revealed about Leonardo's sexuality, as, although he left hundreds of pages of writing, very little of it is personal in nature. He left no letters, poetry or diary that indicate any romantic interest. Is Mona Lisa a composite of a man and a woman? That’s what a prominent art historian said, sending everyone into a damn tizzy. The historian Silvano Vinceti claimed that the painting is partly a portrait of a Florentine woman named Lisa and partly a painting of a fellow named Gian Giacomo Caprotti — who some believe was Leonardo da Vinci’s gay lover.
“Apericena” (light dinner) at Lecco Milano or in a typical restaurant
After dinner, we’ll spend the night in an important disco gay of Milan
Overnight in hotel.
3rd day - Sunday: SAIL WITH LEONARDO AND BERGAMO
Breakfast in hotel.
The ferry crossing the Adda river that connects the Bergamo shores of Villa d’Adda and Lecco of Imbersago has a long history, which begins many centuries ago. It is not known precisely whether its inventor is the great Leonardo da Vinci. It is certain, however, that the Florentine genius studied the course of the river for several years, at the service of the Lord of Milan Ludovico Il Moro and he drew the ferry, identical to the present one, on his stay in the city of Cassano d'Adda at the Count Girolamo Mahfouz in the years 1506 – 1507.
Free time for lunch.
Afternoon dedicated to the free visit of Bergamo. The city lies on the hill overlooking the plain since Roman times. Sheltered by the imposing Venetian wall, enclosing thousand and one treasures.
Typical Dinner in restaurant
Later just have a drink at gay pub Mamo’s (entrance and drink included)
Overnight in hotel.
4th day - Monday: BRESCIA AND ISEO LAKE OR GARDA LAKE
Breakfast in hotel.
Morning free for the visit of Monte Isola, the largest lake island in Europe. On the island you will feel as if you have gone back in time since there are no cars, except for the priest’s, the doctor’s and the mayor’s. Montisola is linked to the mainland by a ferry service and the handiest and closest point from which you can reach the island is Sulzano.
Free time for Lunch.
Afternoon free for the visit of Brescia. In 1500 the monk Francesco Calcagno is sentenced to death in Brescia for affirmations blasphemous some of which in exaltation to the homosexuality.
Dinner free.
Overnight in hotel.
5th day - Tuesday: VALEGGIO SUL MINCIO AND MANTOVA
Breakfast in hotel.
Morning dedicated to the free visit of Valeggio sul Mincio. Borghetto, in the Municipality of Valeggio sul Mincio, is a beautiful village built in 1400 around a series of water mills to grind corn and grow rice along the river Mincio. It offers visitors a landscape of great natural beauty.
Free time for Lunch.
Afternoon dedicated to the free visit of Mantova. Visiting Mantova, walking along the old town heart is like stepping back in time. The imposing Piazza Sordello is enclosed by the Ducal Palace, the Cathedral and the palaces dating back to the Middle Ages.
Dinner free.
Overnight in hotel.
6th day - Wednesday: CREMONA AND PAVIA
Breakfast in hotel.
Start the visit of Cremona by visiting the Torrazzo, go to the top and admire the urban skyline from above. Afterwards head to the Cathedral or Duomo standing beside it, this structure is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.
Free time for Lunch.
Did you know that Albert Einstein stayed in Pavia for a while? His parents moved to the city in 1895 in Palazzo Cornazzani and the renowned scientist came to visit them. He spent entire days walking by the Oltrepò and riding on bicycle along the Ticino river.
Dinner free.
Overnight in hotel.
7th day - Thursday: MILANO AND “THE NAVIGLI”
Breakfast in hotel.
In the morning free visit of Milan’s channels area. The Navigli are a system of canals and waterways whose construction lasted seven centuries (from XII to XIX century). It connected the lake Maggiore, the lake Como, the Ticino river and the Po river, also connecting Milan with Switzerland, North Eastern and Western Europe and to the sea, and irrigated huge productive areas. In just 35 years 90 km of waterways had been built and the first canal was realised in the XII century when began the construction of the Naviglio Grande with a system of dams invented by Leonardo Da Vinci in the XV century.
Free time for Lunch.
TERM OF THE SERVICES.
IF YOU WANT YOU CAN CONTINUE THE TOUR WITH COMO LAKE AND MAGGIORE LAKE.
Lago Maggiore: by train or by road. Travellers traversing the Alps from Switzerland at the Simplon Pass wind down from the mountains and sidle up to this enormous finger of blue beauty. The star attractions are the Borromean Islands, which, like a fleet of fine vessels, lie at anchor at the Borromean Gulf’s (Golfo Borromeo) entrance, an incursion of water between the lake’s two main towns, Stresa and Verbania.
Lago di Como: by train or by road. Como, the modern city, with its grid-iron road layout, reflects the ground plan of the settlement where the Roman Novum Comum grew out of. The main east-west axis of the Decumanus road corresponds to the current Via Independenza and the Cardo maximus to Via Cesare Cantù.
Lecco is mostly known for The Betrothed, the first Italian literature novel written by Alessandro Manzoni. But Lecco is not only “that branch of Lake Como …”, in fact Lecco means history that we can discover and rediscover thanks to the civic museums.
Possibility of customization and adding services:
- additional typical dinner in restaurant
- additional guided tour
- guided boat tour of the lake
According to the number of participants, RainbowItaly can propose this itinerary in self-drive, minibus, GT bus, luxury car with private driver and everything can be personalized, starting from a basic package that includes:
- car rent for individual or Gt bus for groups for the entire tour
- Meeting with our Rainbow Travel assistant in the late evening in hotel to introduce your tour and Milan’s gay nightlife
- Accomodation in selected 3/4 stars gay friendly hotels or in bed & breakfast
- Entrance to Sforza castle, Brera’s picture gallery and Cenacolo
- Adda cruising as from the program
- Roundtrip ferry to Monte Isola
- Half day LGBT guided tour of Milan “Following Leonardo da Vinci”
- One light dinner (“apericena”) at Lecco Milano or similar venue
- One typical dinner in a restaurant in Bergamo
- Entrance and drink at Mamo’s in Bergamo
- Entrance and one drink in an important Milan gay disco
Prices do not include:
- parking, fuel, meals and drinks where not mentioned
- Insurance
- everything which is not specified