After a couple of morning rides along the Naviglio Pavese canal, I was anxious to see it in the late afternoon light. I knew the whole sense would be different, and the building canal-sides would be illuminated with the late sun. I took off for a low-and-slow ride, committed to stopping whenever the image-urge arose. [...]

Milano has a half meter of water in the streets! (In places, not wall-to-wall.) The thunder has been rumbling for hours and I feel it in my seat as I sit here. They don’t make rain like this in Seattle!  You can’t get here from there. I’ve been told there’s no way to or from my [...]

We even skyped the dog, Sammy! It was worth getting up at 6:45 for a 7:00 AM chat with my goofy friends from Junior High and High School! Skype me, baby! They were all together on the beach in West Seattle on their Friday night, at 10:00. We talked for an hour. I gave them [...]

It’s the 4th of July and friends back in the States are celebrating with a long weekend, fireworks, barbeques and beach fires. Here in Milano, I’ve got my eyes open for SOME nod to the U.S. In the land of “il tricolore“, the Italian flag of green, white and red, I’m looking for a splash [...]

Friday night, and I hadn’t been out of the house all day. OK. I changed my clothes, walked to the subway station and hopped on the “green line” at Romolo. Four stops to Cadorna, a switch to the “red line” and just 3 stops to the duomo. I stepped out of the subway looking right [...]

Last night while messing with my camera, I set it down on the kitchen counter and this image popped into the viewfinder. Hmm. I like that. I like the big, round pear butt and the diminishing line of oils and vinegar bottles. I keep a bowl in the kitchen with garlic, tomatoes, fruit of the moment [...]

The other night, 8 of us were out to celebrate a birthday, having sparkling wine at the local hangout a block from NABA. Of the 8, 1 was from Singapore, 1 from New Zealand, 2 from Russia, 3 from Italy and me, from the United States. I love that the school is so international! One [...]

So, I went in search of some “prosciutto crudo” today and found a little shop, Fratelli Giancola, selling “salumi e formaggi” (meats and cheese). I told him, in Italian, that I wanted to eat some melon wrapped with prosciutto and asked for a recommendation. He pointed, pulled a whole hock off a shelf, shaved some [...]

Oh, the pastries! Each one an art piece and divine in the mouth. Each one could make me swoon. Those pear-shaped, sponge-cake gems in the middle, with the cream centers… That cake is so saturated with some sort of lovely liquor that just picking up the pastry makes the potent liquid run down my fingers and into [...]

Tell me: WHY can’t we get tomatoes like this in the U.S.?! Why is it impossible? Deep red. Full-flavored. Properly ripened. High acid. Mmm! THAT’S how tomatoes should be! Pair them with some fresh mozzarella. Drizzle a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Some shreds of basil plucked from the lone plant on the kitchen [...]