Final journey in Dolzago...arrivederci....

This has been a fantastic experience!!!  I have met wonderful people and seen amazing places with of course, the great food!!!  Please follow my photos as I take you on the last journey with the castle and ending with Rondanini Pieta, the last work of Michelangelo.  Grazie for letting me share this with you:)

Well, in my quest to "find" the secret garden/castle, I found these stairs close by and started to climb...

...and climb.

And there it was again, my castle, but I couldn't find a way in, but... 

...what I found at the top was...

...a church/sanctuary.  I turned to see a couple sitting on a bench who told me, "Yes, that is a castle once owned by a noble contessa and this church was her refuge!"  I didn't have time to speak to them further because they seemed to appear and then disappear (seriously)!   

Looking down.

The church was locked, but I walked around and discovered this path which included the Stations of the Cross.

I never saw the couple again, but I did see a blind black cat!!!  By the way, the castle is for sale.

 

This is David, the owner and Mickey of the café that was my hangout for these months.  Almost every day I would have a delicious cappuccino and brioche...what will I do when I get home???  They were wonderful and David helped me a lot with my Italian.  He said I couldn't leave because I had become a celebrity:)

These are the owners of the other café which I called the old men's bar because they all sat around and debated life LOL  The owners didn't speak any English, but we had a great time together...very sweet:)

In Milano with Pinuccia and her dear friend, Patti:)

Manu, Cinzia and Lovin took me to a restaurant that served Napoli pizza, the best in the world!!!  And our crazy waiter.

 

Monza catherdral

Manzoni House/Museum in Lecco

 

More dessert...a frozen fig with the insides filled with sorbet.  Can it get any better?!

Sforzesco Castle in Milano with Pinuccia.  

This is Rondanini Pieta at the Sforzesco Castle.

I leave you with this.  The last work of Michelangelo, six days before he died.  We know he was a genius, but how he captured in marble the expression on Mary's face is absolutely breathtaking.  It brought tears to my eyes.