by Maureen | Jun 13, 2010 | Apartment, Church, Food!, Journal, Meals, People, Photos, Shopping & Markets
Sally flew over from Seattle a week ago to share the sights of Milano, the wonderful food treats available and the simple efficiency of my apartment. She came off the plane and out of customs beaming.
We took the Malpensa Express train from the airport into town, and got out at the Cadorna station. We walked out in front so she could see the “Needle, Thread and Knot” sculpture by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. The knot is across the street, as if the needle had taken a stitch under the roadway.
Our first breakfast was a caprese salad with mozzarella from the farm, lovely ripe tomatos, just-picked basil, served on a bed of songino – watercress – and some freshly sliced proscuitto. Not a bad welcome to Milano!
On Sally’s first day in Milano, we walked over to the Saturday street market where the vendors were selling fruit, vegetables, cheese, meat, fish, clothes and a few household goods. We stocked our kitchen with fresh basil, red pepper, asparagus, spicy salame with fennel, fresh eggs, cherry tomatoes, blood oranges, pickled onions, both “sweet” and spicy olives, burratina cheese, smoked mozzarella, dried figs from Calabria, prosciutto and bresaola.
With hot weather, we opened the french doors and sat on my “shelf”, as Sally called it. Not quite big enough to be called a deck, or veranda, or lanai, it held our two chairs while we put our feet up on the railing. We chatted in the sun and greeted neighbors as they walked past to go dump their garbage in the room below us.
No trip to Milano would be complete without going out for aperitivi. We walked along the Naviglio Pavese Canal and stopped into one of the many restaurants that were hopping and lively on the hot, muggy night. We selected from their buffet of pasta, cheese, meats, pizza squares… and ribs (of all things). Sally’s martini was oddly sweet and not at all martini-like.
Sally enjoyed online communications, keeping in touch with family through Skype and e-mail.
There’s a wonderful graffiti wall outside of a garden center between Corso Como and the Monumental Cemetery. What a great backdrop! This is one of my favorite photos of Sally in Milano.
We just had to take a stroll through 10 Corso Como, the city’s legendary fashion, accessories, art and design boutique. This is NOT the place to pull out your credit card, but rather just harvest ideas for garment design and construction.
We made reservations for dinner on Saturday at Malavoglia where you ring the doorbell to get in and are greeted by bow-tie-adorned owner, Aldo, and a complementary glass of bubbly prosecco. We shared a primo of fresh pasta with black squid ink sauce. It was delicious.
One of the highlights of Sally’s time in Milano was her visit to the Duomo. We spent time in the piazza, “the living room of the city”. We walked its circumference marveling at the variation in details and gloried at the cathedral’s interior. We topped off the tour with time on the rooftop, getting up close to the sculptures, finials and gargoyles, and looking out over the city.
by Maureen | Jun 4, 2010 | Apartment, Featured Articles, Introspection, Journal, Photos, Quips
This two-room apartment of mine is really pretty great: A bedroom with lots of storage, two skinny little less-than-twin beds, and a table for sorting things. A well-functioning bathroom. A loft space that I’ve blocked off with fabric and use to store anything I don’t want to look at or use. And one big, high-ceilinged room with a cozy couch, long work table, room for my bike and more kitchen space than most of the kitchens I’ve seen while here in Italy. And I can clean the whole place in about 10 minutes!
When I’m home, I spend most of my time at the table, working at my computer. For the first few months, the lack of light was putting me to sleep, so I rearranged the space and put the table in front of the tall french doors. I also bought some inexpensive but bright lighting which gives me daylight at midnight if I want it. What a difference it made in my energy level!
Here’s an introduction to my “view” out of the french doors while sitting at my desk. I can look upward through the scrolled bars and see the plants in the neighbors’ terrace above me. Nice to see the green! I hung a sheer, white curtain at a 4 foot height so that I’m not in such a fish bowl. I’m on the ground floor and people walk right past me as they go down into the garbage room below me.
If I look up from my desk and too the right, I can see a patch of blue sky. I hadn’t realized how important it was for me to see the sky. Until I put up that 4 foot sheer, I had the full-height curtain closed all of the time, and I felt so enclosed! With the sheer, short drape, I can look out and still have privacy.
My french doors actually face out into a tight, dark cubby. The afternoon light hits my windows for a short time each day in summer. In winter, the light is nil. In this photo, my bathroom window is to the left, and the window at my kitchen sink is to the right of the french doors.
The bottom floor and part of the second floor of this building complex are filled with offices. The windows open up into this courtyard which serves as parking for workers and the few residents. You can see my neighbor’s garden terrace. It really is a bright spot for me.
I live on Via Bordighera, a couple miles south of my beloved Duomo. This shot (below) looks north on our dead-end road which stops at the train tracks a half block north of my apartment. That’s my bedroom window circled there. They park the glass recycling trucks on the street right outside my bedroom window when making their collection. The mural on the south wall takes an otherwise bland face and dresses it up.
These two apartment buildings sit askew on their lot and are surrounded by trees. The birds love this lot, so the neighborhood sounds like an aviary, believe it or not! I’m thrilled by the prevalence of the bird song.
Street signs are typically made of slabs of marble, about a half inch thick.
This is the intersection at Via Bordighera and Via Imperia: my neighborhood, looking west. All the buildings at this corner have their corners chopped off, so it creates a wide, octagonal intersection and cars park every which way. I buy my water and chat with Enza at their little shop on the corner at the farthest left.
From this intersection, I would turn around and go one block east to the Naviglio Pavese (canal) that I love so much. It’s SO close!
This is where I live.
by Maureen | Jun 3, 2010 | Canals, Certosa di Pavia, Church, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Journal, Photo of the Day, Photos, Quips
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 until I was further along the canal than I had gone before: Certosa di Pavia.
What a beautiful little town about 15 miles south of Milano. I saw spires to the east and followed them to a gem of a church I had been unaware of.
“The Certosa di Pavia Gra-Car (“Charterhouse of Pavia – Gratiarum Chartusia”), Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of Grace, is a monastery and complex in Lombardy, northern Italy, situated near a small town of the same name in the Province of Pavia, 8 km north of Pavia. Built in 1396-1495, it was once located on the border of a large hunting park belonging to the Visconti family of Milan, of which today only scattered parts remain.
Certosa is the Italian name for a house of the cloistered monastic order of Carthusians founded by St. Bruno in 1044 at Grande Chartreuse. Though the Carthusians in their early centuries were known for their seclusion and asceticism and the plainness of their architecture, the Certosa is renowned for the exuberance of its architecture, in both the Gothic and Renaissance styles, and for its collection of artworks which are particularly representative of the region.”
(Read more in Wikipedia.)
I enjoyed the verdant courtyard between the entry gate and the church’s door, and marveled at the detail-laden exterior. Photos were not allowed inside of the church, nor were such casual, immodest clothes as biker’s lycra, so I could only stand at the doorway and peer in at the vaulted, starry ceiling overhead.
How wonderful to hop on my bike, discover a place I hadn’t seen yet, and unexpectedly see something so beautiful! As I rode away, the sun was bouncing off the rice paddies alongside the church compound. The wind picked up strongly and required that I shift gears to ride against it, arriving home in advance of a northern storm that loomed dark but never materialized.
by Maureen | May 31, 2010 | Introspection, Journal, Quips
The corn stalks are more than knee-high. The rapeseed has been harvested and the poppies cut along with it. Workers are driving tractors along the canal, using flail-choppers to cut the meter-high grass and weeds.
There’s a firm breeze on this 80 degree day and the sky is bright blue. The air is clear enough to reveal the Alps forming their broad arc of one third of the horizon. That always impresses me: looking up from my bike and seeing the Alps in the distance. What a sight, and the stuff of dreams.
by Maureen | May 23, 2010 | Canals, Featured Articles, Journal, People, Photo of the Day, Photos
What to do when the temperature is in the 80s on a Saturday afternoon, post jet-lag? Go for a bike ride with a cyclist friend, start along the canal, ride through the farmland to a little lake, get and fix a flat tire and make like a sculpture.
Cyclist Emilio and I rode out west of Assago (south of Milano) to the Villaggio Santa Maria. They have a man-made lake, a pool, a path around the lake shore, and grass to lounge on. It was a nice afternoon of chatting on winding farm roads, climbing overpasses, and seeing new bike routes.
Grazie, Emilio.
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Sometimes when I meet people here, I tell them my name is “Maria”. They can handle that. Or I do tell them my name is Maureen, and that “Maureen” is like “Maria” in that they both mean “Mary”.
by Maureen | May 22, 2010 | Canals, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Introspection, Journal, Photo of the Day, Photos
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 two weeks! (Although I was told that the Milanese just came off a spell of rain while I was enjoying sunshine in Seattle.)
Today, less than 24 hours after returning, I was riding my bike along the canal under a sunny sky and a low-80s afternoon. I rode for more than 2 hours and smelled wild rose, jasmine, gardenia… and some plant whose scent approximates the combination of sweat and urine.
Just 15 minutes south of Milano by bike, I was enjoying the sight of bright yellow fields of rapeseed (canola) speckled red with poppies. The stuff of masters’ paintings. Beautiful.
The cottonwood fluff was so thick that I had to hold my breath as I rode through certain areas. The pathside has become downy-soft.
As I had seen both flying into Milano and on my ride, the rice paddies are being flooded and reflect the blue of the sky above. (Who would think that Milano is surrounded by rice paddies?!)
I like the summary that this ground-level billboard provides, illustrating signature Italian food products. “Giant in quality. Small in price.”
There’s a new section of bike path whose “official” opening every cyclist has been waiting months for. They long ago gave up on waiting and simply ride around the barricades. The problem is the two underpasses that were built below the level of the canal and have been flooded all winter and spring. Today, though, they were clear of water and allowed me to keep riding without risking my life in the alternate: a busy roundabout ON A BIKE! I went further today than I normally do, almost to the town of Pavia.
This collection of signs amused me. The drainage ditch and small road behind are closed. Fishing is forbidden, as is harvesting mushrooms. What are they thinking? Such a sign TELLS me that this is a hot spot for gathering mushrooms. It gives a person reason to cross over and start hunting! (Don’t they know you should always keep your mushroom spots SECRET?!)
This poor snake didn’t make it, but the salamander I saw at the last second did. I wonder what kind of snake it is…
A sculptor has taken over this old hydraulic plant and has built a workshop (low, with the blue trim) and sculpture garden, right next to one of the canal’s many locks. One of these days I’ll have to stop and chat with him.
It pleases me to have nearly completed one year on the Naviglio Pavese Canal, with its seasonal changes. It holds something different for me each time I roll along at its side and I continue to marvel and revel. I find myself singing and speaking Italian to myself. (Uh oh. Scary.) And I certainly find myself smiling.
by Maureen | May 1, 2010 | Canals, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Journal, People, Photo of the Day, Photos, Quips, Shopping & Markets
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, we covered everything under the sun.
“Do you want to ride together for a while?”, he asked.
“Sure!”
Courteously, he seemed to be letting me set the pace, so I picked it up, pushed it and we rode hard for much of the way. “Wow!”, he said. He was surprised by the pace I could keep, which he clocked at 35 kph (almost 22 mph).
What fun! Nice to have a cycling companion.
We may ride together again another day.
Grazie, Emilio! Molto piacere.
This is what 53 looks like in Italy:
by Maureen | May 1, 2010 | Canals, Featured Articles, Introspection, Journal, People, Photos, Quips
There’s a farm field along the canal, across from the Zibido Cemetery, that has piled up a rank-smelling mound of rotting straw and organic matter. Luigi sees it as prime compost for his garden and is hauling it home one bucketful at a time.
As I was riding along, I didn’t recognize him at first. Since the weather has gotten warmer, Luigi’s many-times-mended clothes have gotten more summery. (He was in a heavy jacket the last time I saw him.) As we stood there talking, I noticed that at some point in years past, he’s customized his shirt. The collar’s been removed, and careful stitches finish that edge.
We had a nice chat. Luigi told me that he grows green beans, chicory, potatoes, tomatoes, salad greens and a little bit of everything else in his garden. We talked some more about his 70-year-old bike, and some of the long-time Italian bicycle brands: Bianchi, Silvestrini, Rossignoli. Any brand markings on his bike have long since yielded to the rusty patina.
Luigi reached out and shook my hand. We said our “arrivederci” and look forward to our next conversation along the canal.
by Maureen | Apr 26, 2010 | Canals, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Journal, Photo of the Day, Photos, Shopping & Markets
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 their monthly Antiques Market. “OK, fine. I’ll go there instead.”
Glad I did! I found some wonderful things. I’m enthralled with old penmanship and typography, fabric and sewing notions, curious boxes and just plain cool things. Here’s my day’s assortment:
Old post cards, religious medals and pen nibs.
I selected a pencil drawing from 1888, an old travel journal from 1961, report cards from 1907+, a cheese sign, decorative cloth tape, “money substitute papers” from the Comune di Varese from 1926 and some hat forms from Genova.
A bundle of 100-year-old postcards and a Superman school journal from 1980 were included in my day’s treasures. (1980 was 30 years ago! Wow.)
by Maureen | Apr 26, 2010 | Canals, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Journal, People, Photo of the Day, Photos, Shopping & Markets
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.)
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There is still some limited boat traffic along the canal when they’ve let the water in.
The antique sellers’ stalls also stretch far out into the side streets that branch off of the canal.
Linens? Oh yes. I find plenty. And they’re gorgeous. And the sellers know what they have and charge prices accordingly. There are few, if any, “steals” here. But the high quality linen and cotton, with the embroidery and open-work stitching, are superb examples of the old European linens. (I would love to buy them all up… but for what?)
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Beautiful, finely-crafted instruments of all sorts! The asking price of this Astrolabe was 700 Euro. (Cough, cough. Roughly $1000 right now.) But it was lovely.
I don’t even know what this Parisian instrument is.
These look like porcelain portraits of Mao and his family.
An interesting assortment of portraits.
It is startling to me how often I see the American flag, or some representation of it.
Isn’t this luggage out of the stereotypical “Italian Holiday Travel Movie”?
The dog matches the upholstery. I missed him at first.
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Smile. I’m on Candid Camera (for my Seester.)
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This guy sold horse figures of every sort.
I had been walking around for hours and stumbled upon some finds. “How much for this group of papers and books?” “50 Euro.” “How about 40?” How about 45 and you let me buy you a drink.” I laughed. It caught me completely by surprise. I bought the papers and books for 45 Euro and Graziano and I stepped 10 feet across the cobblestone and had a glass of cold white wine at a Sushi Bar on a hot afternoon and talked for a little while. So funny. But it was a pleasant and charming break.
Cool hat box. (Cool typography.)
As the warm afternoon waned, the cafés started to fill with people enjoying the Milanese aperitivo. The musicians showed up in the old Vicolo dei Lavandai, the washing station of the 19th century where women gathered to scour their clothes against washboard stones as their wash water flowed off into the canal.
Who’da thought I’d see this?! Wait! I should have bought the one a few issues back: Settembre 1957!
Packing up to go home, this man still wore hat, bow tie and white coat as he packed his lamps into a salami box.
So now, do you have an idea of what’s for sale at an Italian Antique/Flea Market?
