“Made by Hand”. I so love the traditional handcrafts at home in each country and culture. Over time there are those things that have developed that are either functional, decorative or both, and are crafted of fabric, paper, leather, metal, stone, wood, plant matter… They begin with the hand and the mind of their maker, [...]

Two Chinese and one American strolling together along the Naviglio Grande speaking Italian, their only common language. Now if that doesn’t make you smile, I don’t know what will. I had gone back to the Mercatone Antiquariato – The Big Antique Market – (the last one before my departure) in search of the few, last treasures. Three [...]

The excitement of a college-time trek through Europe! Hannah & Zibby started together on June 8, in Newcastle Under Lyme. They went on to Amsterdam and Berlin, took a wrong train into Switzerland, and arrived in Milano yesterday. They’ll go on to Venezia, Firenze, Roma, then Athens and Santorini. A time to discover themselves and [...]

Riding my bike along the canal today, I saw two jackrabbits loping through the now-mowed rapeseed field. These weren’t sweet, little bunny rabbits. They were the size of kangaroos! They were huge! I should have chased them through the field with my camera. My mind’s eye is still disbelieving. – – – 27 Giugno – [...]

A sunny holiday in the middle of the week calls for a bike ride. Apparently every family in Milano had the same thought; the bike path along the canal was crowded with those rolling tra-la-la along. I, on the other hand, felt full of vim and vigor so I pushed myself hard for an hour [...]

While here in Milano for the cycle of a full year, I’ve tried to get some sense of every holiday or special occasion. I’ve attended, or found myself caught in the middle of, festivals, parades, fairs and spontaneous crowds, and each one tells me a little more about Italia and her people. Yesterday was Festa della [...]

Two “fashion” trends persist for men around here: orange-colored pants and the Milanese “man purse”, a sleeker, chic-er version of the multi-pocketed, safari vest. U.S. travel outfitters sell them as “travel vests”, but here in Milano, they are daily wear for the 60-80 set. Now that winter has gone, these functional garments have come out [...]

Another day at the Antiques Market along the Naviglio Grande. Summer is in full swing and tourists have found this hot spot. It’s “the” place to be on the last Sunday of the month for anyone wanting a very diverse selection of some pretty choice items. “Antique” in Italy covers a broader range than “antique” [...]

It was another sunny afternoon and a good time to go to the Piazza del Duomo to wander around. I hadn’t known that there was a sidewalk art sale going on. Much of the work was very mediocre, as if the artists were uncertain. I saw the work of a few painters that showed surety, [...]

My flight arrived yesterday evening, followed by a train ride into the city. I caught a cab and loved the winding ride through the tight streets. Summer had arrived. It was warm. People were out strolling and the sidewalk seating was filled with people enjoying their aperitivi with friends. The whole mood had shifted in [...]

It’s a lovely day here in Seattle. The sun was shining first thing this morning while I scurried around to get the irrigation system up and running. Now it’s pouring rain and my dry yard is thankful. I stepped outside, heard the birds singing and enjoyed the cool, fresh, clean air and smell of salt [...]

My house in Seattle is a mansion. My living room here is as big as my whole apartment in Milan. All of this space for one person? Really, it’s just a two-bedroom, 1950s rambler with a basement and a great yard. But after almost a year in Milan, my house seems enormous. I can’t imagine [...]

The fence joints along the canal were interesting to Dad, so I had stopped to take some detail shots. One of the cyclists, Emilio, stopped to ask if I needed any help. I explained about the fence, then we stood at the canalside and continued chatting for 20 minutes or so. On this cloudy day, [...]

This has been crystallizing for a while and I finally honed it to this kernel: “If you have to use a shoehorn, maybe it’s not the right shoe.” Think about it. This applies to much of life. No. I’m not saying that “right things” are effortless. I’m simply noting that sometimes we want so much [...]

The original plan was to head to Firenze for the day (!), but I caught a short, quick cold Friday night and couldn’t dare think of hopping on the train this morning. (I could hardly get out of bed!) After eventually getting up-and-at-em, I dragged myself up to the Naviglio Grande, knowing they were having [...]

On the last Sunday of the month, one can browse Antiques and Flea-Market-Finds for as far as the eye can see (2 kilometers), on both sides of  the Naviglio Grande, the Grand Canal. (This canal intersects with the Naviglio Pavese, the one I ride my bike along.) . . There is still some limited boat [...]

Running parallel to the Naviglio Pavese canal, between the bike path and the highway, is a drainage ditch overgrown by a tangle of brush and trees in every state of growth or death. Luigi knows this. The 82-year-old man rides his 70-year-old bike along the canal and stops to cut deadwood. Today he worked on [...]

THIS is the time to be in Milano. The temperature is warm enough (75 degrees) to be comfortable in light linen and cotton, and enjoyable having the windows open to fresh air, but not so warm that there’s any thought  yet of air conditioning. I had a wandering, leisurely ride through the farmland exploring roads [...]

The first order of business this morning was to usher the flock* of ants OUT. As soon as the weather warmed, the ants returned. When I first shared my apartment with them last summer and mentioned it to a friend here, he said “It’s summer.” As in, “Ants? And your point is?” (A corollary response:”Welcome [...]

Wednesday is “ricotta day”, the day they make fresh ricotta at the Cascina Femegro. Even though I had just been there yesterday, a sunny afternoon and the thought of hours-fresh ricotta on some nice bread easily convinced me to hop on my bike. I headed south along the canal, and turned west into the farmland. [...]

They put the temporary, scaffold-and-tin poster walls back up in my neighborhood just in time to feature advertising for the regional elections. Three inch holes are bored into the sidewalk, with rubber plugs for the off-season. Overnight, they can pop the plugs and throw up the walls clean and ready to be weighted with soon-flaking [...]

After the flea market at Piazza dei Ciompi in Firenze last Sunday, I walked a few blocks further and saw yellow-tented stalls. Hmm. A food market: cheeses, meats, breads and a few other goodies. Some from Toscana (Tuscany), Firenze’s region. Some spicier ones from the south. ‘Nduja is a casing-stuffed meat that is spicy and [...]

It was as a Camp Fire Girl in fifth grade that I learned to sew by stitching along the lines of binder paper. I’ve been sewing by machine and by hand ever since and fabric is one of the things that makes my heart rate pick up. (Literally.) So, put me in a place where [...]

If you haven’t been to Firenze (Florence), put it on your “life list” of must-see places in the world. Really. Two years ago I spent a couple of afternoons exploring Firenze, but I hadn’t been back since I returned to Italy last June. So I hopped on the train late last Friday morning, and less [...]

As I was returning home from Firenze and taking the metro from the train station, this couple was practically “doing the one-two” on the subway! That’s quite a git-up they’ve got going there. (No. They are NOT typical, which made them all the more unbelievably laughable.) They sat across from me and I just couldn’t [...]

Winter has been long and gray and holding tight, unwilling to give way. But it’s late March now, and winter goes grudgingly, allowing spring to tip toe in. It’s rained much of this last week, and I haven’t been out on two wheels for too long. So in spite of forecast rain and the questionable [...]

There’s an ingenious citizen taking action along the frontage road that borders the canal and leads to the bike path. Why wait until the city gets around to patching chuckholes on this minor road? Fill them with ceramic tile scraps! It may not be a perfect solution, but it’s an improvement.

They call it “Cavolfiore” or Cauliflower here, but Americans call it “Romanesco Broccoli”. Either way, it tastes great, it’s absolutely beautiful, and it’s math on your plate. The Romanesco is a clear example of fractals and the fibonacci number sequence. See how the whole head of Romanesco is made of smaller heads that mimic the [...]

Would you let 30 random strangers eat off your plate? Would you, in turn, eat off the plates of those 30 strangers? The Uovo Performing Arts Festival included one “performance” yesterday of 30 individuals, by reservation only. “Mangia che ti fa bene”, “Eat that you will feel well.” For 10 euro, or about $13.50, I walked [...]

Last June, just a few days after I had arrived here in Milano, I went to the Cimitero Monumentale – the Monumental Cemetery - to look around. It is, indeed, “monumental” and every bit worth an afternoon of strolling and looking. As they say, it is WAY over the top! One can study architecture, sculpture, typography [...]