by Maureen | Dec 15, 2021 | Apartment, Blog, Canals, Christmas & New Year's Eve, Church, Featured Articles, Food!, Incredible Locations, Italy, Milano, Photos
13 December 2021
“Stanca morta” – Dead tired.
Just arrived this morning after complex travel prep due to Covid-19, two days of almost no sleep, and 24 hours of travel. Door-to-door.
But so content as I sit here in my canal-side appartamento, hearing the apperitivo hub-bub along the Naviglio Grande (Grand Canal) through the double-pane windows. The Christmas light decorations illuminate my apartment.
I’m on the third floor, as Americans would call it. “Secondo Piano” as Italians would say. What we call the first floor is the “terra piano“, the ground floor. The “first floor” is the floor up from that.
“Ho messo tutto a posto. Tutto in ordine. Sistemato. Organizzato.” I put everything just right. Everything in order. Systematized. Organized.
A great flat with a quite ample kitchen, dining table (desk), living room, and non-scary stairs that go up to the loft bedroom and bathroom. (Going up the stairs during the day to use the bathroom is better than having to navigate the stairs down…and back up…in the dark middle of the night.)
I’m on the north side of the canal, so I will get morning and daylight sun streaming in from the canal-side, tall, balcony doors. That thrills me.
And I’m in my traditional neighborhood: “Zona Navigli“. The Canal Zone. I’ve always been in this area and it feels like home. Only a couple of times smack ON the canal, but this has become my default spot. I have friends, favorite restaurants, grocery stores, little shops that I frequent.
Two years have passed since I was last here. It feels like ages, but also like no time at all. Feels like almost yesterday as I move through town to get “home” to my apartment.
But also, the world has changed. Milano has changed. I’ve changed. Italy… and the whole world, bore horrible onslaught from the Covid pandemic… and we still bear it, and likely will for who knows how long.
Italy has “strict regulations” in place, not wanting to endure the loss they bore when the pandemic began. But I do see caution being set aside more than I imagined. So I have to navigate and create my own personal safety as I am comfortable.
I am so glad to be here. This place…Milano…Italia…has been feeding my heart, my brain, my soul, since 2008, every year adding to the bank of inspiration, reference and memory.
I just couldn’t imagine staying away another year. My time here feeds me. Feeds my being.
My Apartment Along the Grand Canal
My “block” along the canal
My apartment along the canal, with it’s bedroom dormer
Entering my apartment, into the kitchen
My living room with high doors that open to a balcony with the canal view
My bathroom, with a big shower
Classic “ringhiera” courtyard, outside my apartment
The stairway up to my apartment
My Neighborhood in the “Zona Navigli”, Canal Zone
The view from my balcony, looking out along the “Naviglio Grande”, the Grand Canal.
Looking west along the canal, past my apartment
Market stalls at La Darsena.
Looking south down the Naviglio Pavese.
Linguine with teeny, tiny “seppiolini”, little squid
Bread platter at Al Pont de Ferr
Cauliflower. Foamy, and neither soup
Gnocchi with black truffle
Warm “salad” of octopus, potato and taggiasche olives. My favorite
Shrimp, tomatoes, pane carasau
“Alici”, fresh anchovies with lemon juice and EVOO
Pane carasau, octopus and potato, smoked tuna, scallop
Mirto and Sardegnan pastry
Tortelli di zucca (squash) with butter and sage
Around town in the evening.
Christmas street decorations
San Lorenzo Maggiore and columns
by Maureen | Sep 19, 2019 | Apartment, Blog, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Italy, Milano, Photos
8:15 P.M. and someone out there is playing the violin. There are also sounds of dogs, kids and dinner dishes. Occasionally a baby’s cry and people sneezing. This inner courtyard is a neighborhood unto itself, and very typically Milanese.
As you walk around Milan, the sidewalks are all faced with storefronts and “portoni”, great big gates sized for car entry, with small person-sized doors included. Behind those gates, one finds a courtyard, a garden, a mini-paradise sometimes. Bikes have their spots. There’s a patch of grass, or more. Some trees. Parking stalls for those that venture having cars. But none of this would you know from out on the sidewalk.
I’ve never been in an apartment with such a grand, expansive inner “courtyard”. That word seems hardly descriptive enough of the number of neighbors that must look out into this inner square of peace in the city. The multi-use buildings surrounding this enclosed space are 8 floors high. Out on the street around me, one finds a very large book store, cafés, bakeries, a kebab restaurant, a natural foods store, and a large grocery store, along with other smaller businesses. So much is all right here.
And my terrace! “La mia terrazza!” It’s bigger than my whole apartment! I could have a party with 50 or more out there enjoying the evening balm. (When I lived here for a year, my “terrace” was so small we called it “the shelf”.)
This really is a fabulous location. Because it’s encircled within this “courtyard”, it’s mostly shielded from city traffic sounds. For the most part, I hear the “neighbors”. Yet, in two blocks’ walk, I can be at the grocery store, or an even shorter walk to the metro. I can walk on the paths through two green parks to arrive at Leonardo’s Grand Canal, the Naviglio Grande, lined with restaurants, shops, artists’ studios and nightlife. I can easily hop onto the metro subway and get into the heart of town within 15 minutes, or rather choose to stroll and enjoy the sights along the way.
Che divino! How divine. Oh yes, it’s city life, but I did my stint on The Farm for 2 decades, so I’m not interested in “Under the Tuscan Sun”, renovating a dilapidated farm house. I want the hubbub and offerings of this big, international city. I want easy access to it all. I want the buzz and energy of it. But I also appreciate the peace offered to me by this giant terrace, jutting out into this enclosed space, private and yet oh so visible by all the other “neighbors”.
by Maureen | Sep 27, 2015 | Assisi, Blog, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Italy
High on a hill is the town of Assisi, home of Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, born in 1181, later known as Saint Francis, “San Francesco d’Assisi“. But Francesco, one who relinquished all his worldly goods for a life of poverty and simplicity, would rail at the Assisi of today, the streets of which are lined with shops selling tourist and religious kitsch.
As part of a trip to Umbria, and as one who attended St. Francis of Assisi grade school and church (in Burien, Washington), Assisi was a “must see” for me. I simply had to look past the kitsch.
Lesson number one: “Assisi” is not pronounced “A-SISS-ee”, but is rather “Ah-SEE-zee”. It’s an Italian pronunciation thing.
Yes. Go to Assisi. See the beautiful and historic 13th century Basilica of San Francesco and the Basilica of Santa Chiara (St. Clare). Sit in front of the tomb of Francesco with whatever sense of mystery fills your life. Go inward and marvel for a moment. Also relish the lavish decoration of both basilicas (photos were not allowed) and allow it all to inspire you. Some of our world’s great artists lent their vision and talent to the imagery we see there today!
Assisi is a contrast between the devout and the opportunistic, but… with 4 to 5 million visitors a year, can we blame them for responding to the needs and wishes of the throngs?
by Maureen | Sep 27, 2015 | Blog, Città di Castello, Featured Articles, Food!, Incredible Locations, Italy, Meals
Our first stop on our road trip through Umbria, the region landlocked in the middle of Italy: Città di Castello – City of the Castle. Which “castle” they’re referring to, I’m not quite sure, although the Palazzo Vitelli, built in 1500, sure adds grandeur and beautiful open space to the historic center of town.
Citta di Castello offers visitors the many marvels they most seek in Italy, but without the throngs of tourists: winding, narrow, cobbled streets day and night, regional Umbrian meals such as black truffle-topped fresh tagliatelle, and surroundings dense with history.
For a beautiful place to stay, contact Elisa at the Residenza Antica Canonica. The 15th century priests’ lodging is perfectly situated next to the Duomo, and the rooms are beautifully appointed.
In the morning stroll through town, find the local coffee shop and the produce vendor for some fruit and vegetables to carry with you as you continue on your travels.
by Maureen | Sep 24, 2015 | Assisi, Bevagna, Blog, Featured Articles, Follónica, Food!, Incredible Locations, Italy, Orvieto
When friends start planning their trips to Italy, they immediately think of going to Tuscany – Toscana. And when they ask me about my time in Italy, they often say, “Oh! Like Under the Tuscan Sun! Or Eat, Pray, Love!” No… and no.
I think that the notoriety of those films/books, coupled with the publicity generated by a particular Pacific Northwest local that has made a name for himself through travel, have swayed the perception of Italy and the “right” location of treasures to experience. Thus, Tuscany gets all the attention.
I’ve now been in and through 19 of the 20 regions of Italy and I can tell you that each one is its own sort of gem. Each region has its own food culture, its own medieval, hilltop towns, and its own swoon-inducing beauty. (Sardegna is the last hold-out of the 20 regions. On the list for next year.)
The central piazza in Città di Castello.
So many have said to me, “We ‘did‘ Florence. We ‘did‘ Rome. We ‘did‘ Venice. We ‘did‘ Cinque Terre…” (And only one of those is in Tuscany, by the way.) Each of those places is marvelous beyond belief. Each of those will make you head-over-heels in love with Italy. Yet you can come to Italy, never go to any of those Big Four, and if you’re willing to nestle in and root around, you can come away as enthralled as ever. You can meet people not yet weary of tourist throngs, eat foods specific to a 50 kilometer radius, find lodging in buildings from the 1400s. History, Art, Culture, Foods… and open-hearted folks are scattered from the heel and toe of The Boot in the south, all the way up to the mountainous top of The Boot in the north, (where you have to remind yourself that you’re still in Italy).
Fresh tagliatelle with shaved black truffles in Umbria.
I keep coming back here and to all that Italy offers of itself to me. I have nestled in. I have rooted around. And now this place has roots in me and a part of me is at home here. Now I can’t stay away. I crave the hearts of those that have become dear to me. I crave the foods I can’t find in Seattle. I yearn for the visual details that ignite my artist/designer’s eye. This is the eighth year that I have made this trek and long pause in this foreign country (including one 14 month stint). It has become hardly “foreign” anymore, and more familiar. I’ve “gone deep” and it pleases me.
—
From Milano, eastward almost to the coast of the Adriatic Sea, then south to Città di Castello, Assisi, Bevagna and Orvieto in Umbria, then west to Follónica on the opposite coast, then back up north past Pisa, the exit for le Cinque Terre and back to Milano.
Last week I ventured into the land-locked center of the country to the region of Umbria, with my friend and incredible painter, Loredano Rizzotti. Umbria was region number 19 on my list and we had an itinerary that included Città di Castello, Assisi, Bevagna and Orvieto, ending in the seaside town of Follónica. All I can say is “Go to Umbria!” It’s lovely. There’s MUCH to see and many flavors to savor.
Today was a clear-sky day in Milano after a day, yesterday, of downpours. It’s on the brink of autumn. All was right with the world as I went out to do my grocery shopping one block up the road toward the Duomo. I continue to marvel at my being here, and count my blessings.
by Maureen | Sep 15, 2015 | Blog, Canals, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Italy, Milano
Stormy, wild wind and rain last night here in Milano. End of summer, early fall. But I arrived four days ago to a day that was fresh and bright and comfortable. The kind of day that makes one relax into the perfection of the moment. I had returned to my home-away-from-home.
This is the eighth year that I’ve made this “pilgrimage”, here to fill myself up with inspiration through a life so very much unlike that which I lead the rest of the year. Everything is different: my pace, my friends, my menu choices. Milano’s very urban surroundings yield proximity to everything, both an historic and contemporary built environment, the contrast of chaos and beauty. As a visual person, artist and designer, my eyes just can’t get enough of this place, this Italy. Details at every turn spark me. My time here in Italy, making Milano my home, adds to my perspective, shapes me and gives me something to take back to my Burien. I am so well-fed here, in all ways.
Eating Well
“Un caffè normale” – This is what you get if you order coffee. It’s the beginning of each day and the end of every meal.
Un caffè in an 1850’s cup.
Carlotta Cafè
The Carlotta Cafè has been a favorite of mine for the last 8 years.
They are dear people that I rush to see when I arrive.
Son, Erik, has learned the family recipes at the Carlotta Cafè, (named after his sister), and carves a whole, roasted pig for a large dinner party. Ninni, Erik’s father, stands in the background.
Insalata Tiepida di Piovra e Patate – Warm Salad of Octopus and Potatoes. My favorite! Fresh, marinated anchovies in the background.
Al Coniglio Bianco – The White Rabbit
A favorite, wonderful place along the Grand Canal – Naviglio Grande – owned by friend, Giampiero, and serving great food and wine: Al Coniglio Bianco.
Al Coniglio Bianco offers seating outside, along the canal, as well as within its intimate, cozy interior.
Foodstuffs gathered at Al Coniglio Bianco.
A large skillet of mussels, clams and scampi on paccheri pasta with a simple, fresh tomato sauce. (Frankie’s, in Burien, should take a lesson…)
After plucking shellfish and crustaceans in their lovely sauce, the napkin was rather soiled.
Al Pont de Ferr – “At the Iron Bridge”
A wonderful, and unusual, selection of breads on the table at Pont de Ferr.
Appetizers of a slider, stuff olive and patè morsel.
Risotto with pesto and green beans.
Tortelli with zabaglione and fresh peas.
Part of a mid-day snack: “Nervetti”, a pressed loaf of beef tendons, nerves and cartilage, prepared with onions. (I think it’d be good on pizza.)
Time with Friends
Painter friends along the canal: Luigi Marchesi, Loredano Rizzotti and Renato Giananti.
Renato, Loredano, Maureen
Dear Lara Bezzecchi lives along the canal.
by Maureen | Jun 30, 2014 | Blog, Cheese, Featured Articles, Food!, Genova, Incredible Locations, Italy, Meals, Milano, Photos, Sanremo
For the record, “Italian Food” is SO much more than pizza, spaghetti, ravioli and fettucine alfredo. In fact, “fettucine alfredo” doesn’t exist except in the restaurants catering to tourists away from home looking for their favorite edible myth.
Hold your hand up in front of you with your thumb and forefinger a half inch apart. That measures the typical range Americans imagine of the variety of food in Italy. Now, stick your arms straight out to your sides. That’s the REAL measure of the bountiful range of edible deliciousness you’ll encounter in Italy. And that bounty is not at all spread uniformly throughout “the boot”. You can go 50 kilometers and find a completely different food culture. There are some foods you’ll find in one town only.
I urge you. When you answer that call to go explore Italy, please don’t fall back on ordering pizza, spaghetti and ravioli. Sure, they will be good, and not like what you’ve had in America. Rather, find out what the local specialty is and eat it with gusto. And please, whatever you do, don’t seek out that well-known, international hamburger chain. You’ll be in the land of good food! Eat well! You might just find your next, new favorite dish.
In the last month, I stayed in the north of Italy: Milano, Sanremo, Genova, Pavia and small towns scattered in the hills south of Milan. The following photos show a selection of the dishes I ate with great pleasure.
(For contrast, check out “Eating the South” to see some of the foods I enjoyed when I traveled in Sicily, the southern coast and “heel of the boot” in 2011.)
(Click on the first photo to view the images “plate-size” and click through the slide show.)
Sardenara
Sardenara, freshly made by my friend, Sandra. Foccacia dough base with a simple tomato sauce, anchovies, taggiasche olives, capers and a few garlic cloves. Sanremo
Tortelli di Verdura
Tortelli di Verdura. Trattoria da Pasquale. Parasacco (south of Milano)
Salumi and caprese
Salumi and cheese plate with caprese. Sanremo
Octopus and potato salad. My favorite!
Warm octopus and potato salad – Insalata di piovra e patate. Carlotta Cafè. Milano
Fresh cheese and bread
High in the hills and hungry near Pizzocorno, we stopped at a cheese maker’s farm and bought a few slices of cheese and bread, to be eaten on a slab of wood as our table. Pizzocorno, Oltrepò Pavese
Lemon sorbet with fresh strawberries
Lemon sorbet with fresh strawberries
Pizza and beer
Pizza and Birra Moretti along the Grand Canal – Naviglio Grande. Milano
An UN-Italian breakfast
Sauteed zucchini, onion, beets and a little cheese formed and baked. Old silver and linen. Milano
Cheese with potato crust and pickled vegetables
Cheese in a crust of potato threads, with pickled vegetables. – Formaggio salva in crosta di palate con giardiniera. Trattoria Il Postiglione, Rubbiano di Credera
Pasta with beet sauce and gorgonzola cheese
Paccheri pasta with pureed beet sauce and gorgonzola ‘piccante’, cooked by painter, Loredano Rizzotti. Milano
Pasta with snails
House-made tagliatelle pasta with nettles and garlic sweetened with vine snails and mascarpone. Tagliatelle alle ortiche e aglio addolcito con lumache di vigna e mascarpone. Trattoria Il Postiglione, Rubbiano di Credera
Guinea fowl and garden vegetables
Free-range guinea fowl cooked with black tea, served with garden vegetables. – Faraona ruspante al thè nero con verdure dell’ orto. Trattoria Il Postiglione, Rubbiano di Credera
Baked apple with fresh strawberries
Baked apple slices with fresh strawberries and cinnamon. Milano
UN-Italian Salad
Not a typical Italian ‘insalatone’ – big salad – with greens, fresh asparagus, tomato and basil. Milano
Mixed, fried foods
‘Frito Misto’, a mix of fried foods, including zucchini flowers, fish, arancine (deep fried rice balls). Milano
Pasta with meat ragú and asparagus
Egg pasta with white meat sauce and asparagus. – Stracci di pasta all’uova con ragù di carni bianche e asparagi. Trattoria Il Postiglione, Rubbiano di Credera
Lunch table setting
Lunch table setting with Ewa and Loredano. Milano
Lunch table setting
Lunch table setting
Cabbage, onion, carrot, egg
After going into ‘carb overload’, I craved some veggies with a little protein: cabbage, onion, carrot and egg. Milano
Italian breakfast
This is the typical Italian breakfast: a shot of caffè – ‘espresso’ – and a pastry, often filled with Nutella or some other horribly sweet concoction. (Just can’t do it, myself.) Pasticceria Cucchi. Milano
Appetizer bread and veggie tarts
Appetizers of bread and veggie tarts. Genova
Prosciutto, salame and lardo
Prosciutto, salame and lardo – yes, LARD. Mmm. Try it. Delicious. L’Ustaria di Giùgaton, Pavia
How to drink wine at the Gíügaton
How to drink wine at the Gíügaton. There’s even a way to hold it in your hands. L’Ustaria di Giùgaton, Pavia
Pisarè
Pisarè – A combination of thumbnail-sized ‘gnocchi’ pasta nubs, beans, tomato and hot pepper. L’Ustaria di Giùgaton, Pavia
Strawberry macedonia
A very typical Italian dessert is ‘macedonia’, mixed, cut-up fruit. This is fresh strawberries with shaved chocolate and mint flowers, prepared by Loredano. Milano
Russian salad with chicken
Russian salad – insalata russa – with a sort of pickled chicken – pollo in carbine. L’Ustaria di Giùgaton, Pavia
Farinata
Farina – Garbanzo bean flour batter which is spiked with olive oil and salt and baked in a very hot oven. Here served plain and with two different cheeses. Genova
Coffee creme brûlée with cinnamon gelato
Coffee creme brûlée with cinnamon gelato – Creme brulé al caffè con gelato alla canella. Triennale Design Museum. Milano
Marmalade and chocolate tarts
Marmalade and chocolate tarts – Trattoria da Pasquale. Parasacco (south of Milano)
Dolce con zabaglione
Dessert of crunchy, fried, sweet nuggets surrounded by a ‘zabaglione’ sauce. L’Ustaria di Giùgaton, Pavia
Foccacia di recco
Foccacia di recco – Stracchino cheese trapped in between two, super-thin layers of dough. Genova
Panna cotta with chocolate
Panna cotta with chocolate sauce. Genova
Fruit tart
Fruit tart. Milano
Pickled, fried fish
Pickled fish – Pesce sottaceto. Trattoria da Pasquale. Parasacco (south of Milano
Rabbit with geranium
Rabbit with geranium – Coniglio con geranio. Trattoria da Pasquale. Parasacco (south of Milano)
Fennel and ‘bottarga’
Fennel and shaved fish roe – finocchio con bottarga. Carlotta Cafè. Milano
Tuna with tomatoes and taggiasche olives
Tuna with tomatoes and olives – Tonno al’isolana. Carlotta Cafè. Milano
Baked orata with taggiasche olives
Baked orata with taggiasche olives – Orata al forno con olive taggiasche. Carlotta Cafè. Milano
Tagliolino pasta with shaved asparagus
Tagliolino pasta with shaved asparagus – Tagliolino alla vecchia Milano, ‘la version primaverile’. Triennale Design Museum. Milano
Lime pudding with mint sauce
Lime pudding with mint sauce – Morbida di lime con salsa alla menta. Triennale Design Museum. Milano
by Maureen | May 29, 2014 | Blog, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Food!, Graphics, Journal, Meals, New York City, U.S.A.
My perception of the enormity, diversity, energy and intensity of New York had felt daunting all these years, so I had never gone. “Oh, I can’t just go to New York for a couple of days. How can I even begin to make a dent in seeing it?! Where do I start? What are the “musts”? And all my life I had heard about the “danger” of the city and its subways so there was trepidation built up that prevented me from going. Somehow it was easier for me to move to a foreign country and speak a foreign language, than it was for me to make a trip to New York City.
Enough.
I’ve flown Seattle-to-New York-to-Milan several times, never having ventured out of the JFK airport. This time I decided to stop in New York for 3 days and “dip my big toe in the water” of the city. Kind friends, Alta and Jonah, offered to let me stay in their cozy home with them in Long Island City, Queens. (Alta and I met 2 years ago in Milan through Legacy of Letters.) And dear Richard, another friend, offered to lead me on a whirlwind walking tour of the city; working for the Transit Authority, he’s in a prime position to know some obscure ins and outs of NYC. (He and I met in Sicily 3 years ago.)
It took hours to juggle and finally book 2 separate round trip tickets, and make allowances for all of the added complexity that it would heap on my travel: 1 SEA-NYC-SEA, 1 NYC-MXP-NYC. It really threw a wrench in customs, immigration, baggage handling, security, transfers, etc., but I wanted to see something of New York once-and-for-all! So I gave myself lots of “padding” in the schedule, tried to anticipate the unknowns, and booked it.
The first night, Friday May 9, Alta, Jonah and I went to a neighborhood Mexican restaurant for a bite to eat, then walked to the waterfront Gantry Plaza State Park to look across the east river to the city’s nighttime skyline. Welcome to New York! Shimmering in the fog.
Luminous skyline
Luminous (cell phone) skyline snapshot from across the water, at Long Island City (Queens), Gantry Plaza State Park.
Industrial remnants
At Long Island City
Breakfast with Alta
Alta serves up Macedonia, the Italian term for cut, mixed fruit, usually served for dessert after dinner.
The next day, Saturday May 10, Alta had meetings in town, so we both hopped on the subway and then split up. I was amused as I realized that it was Milan and Paris that prepared me for New York. “Hey! I can do this. It’s familiar to me now!” I wandered, explored, walked, looked. First, I mistakenly went south to the financial district in lower Manhattan (Oops. but that’s how discoveries are made.) I then headed back up north to Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the “Charles James: Beyond Fashion” Show. It was so inspiring! I swooned… and ordered the 10 pound book, which awaits me at home.
From MoMA, I just followed my nose south down 5th Avenue, Madison Avenue, Park Avenue… the places I had always heard of. I walked the south edge of the Jackie O Reservoir in Central Park. Merely poked my head in and looked up into the Guggenheim. Found quirky things at streetside. Dodged occasional squalls by ducking into doorways. And came across a window display at Chanel that enchants me still.
I allowed myself to NOT “see all of New York”, which freed me to accept the days as they unfolded without pressure. This was a trip to break the ice.
By the end of the day, and with the sky growing gray, feet tired, ready to sit, ready to write, I was “feelin’ groovy” at the west end of the 59th Street Bridge and found a relaxed place to sit with an open window wall to the street and the storm. I had a bite to eat, a sip to drink and plenty of pages in my journal.
Italian sausage with kraut
Italian sausage with kraut and a little mustard on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art stairway crowd before the squall passed through.
Expressively-dressed woman
Dressing with color and her own sense of flair.
Garbage cans with style
Attractively-designed garbage cans in Central Park.
Guggenheim Museum facade
The broad, sweeping, sculpture of the museum facade.
MO at the Guggenheim
I couldn’t resist.
Wall Street subway stop
Worth riding the subway just to see the mosaics.
59th Street Bridge subway stop
The subway platforms really have a lot of beauty for those willing to see it.
Art 2 Poster
Poster for ART 2: An International Platform on Contemporary Art.
Yet another M
This M scribed into concrete and filling with pebbles.
Grand Central Station
I just had to come up out of the subway and step into Grand Central to shoot a couple pictures, even though it meant paying another fare to get right back into the subway.
Ducking in out of the squall
At the end of the ‘Feelin’ Groovy Bridge’ (59th Street Bridge) for a bite to eat, a sip of wine and some time with my journal.
Copper ribbon text
Innovative window display at Chanel. The artist took thin copper ribbon, about 1/16″ wide, and kinked and twisted it so that it’s shadow wrote out a phrase. The whole thing was about 18″ wide. There were several different phrases rendered.
For the next day, Sunday, I had “signed up” for a brisk, whirlwind walking tour with Richard. He, his father and I had met at a B&B in Palermo, Sicily 3 years ago and had enjoyed exploring Palermo and Monreale together. I was finally taking him up on the offer he made then of a walking tour of New York City. We really beat feet! We started at The Highline in Chelsea, and leisurely walked from end to end. This had been a “must” on my list. (Seattle, take note of the Highline as the Viaduct comes down.) We also touched the West Village, the Abbottega Ristorante, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Little Italy, the Caffè Roma for Gelato, Chinatown, the Lower East Side, Katz’s Deli, the Financial District, the Municipal Building and City Hall. Richard and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge as the afternoon waned, with plenty of time for photos, and ended in Carroll Gardens for a farewell dinner with Alta and Jonah.
Whirlwind Tour Guide, Richard.
My NYC Whirlwind Tour Guide, Richard, as we strolled the length of the Highline.
Highline New Construction
The Chelsea Highline has attracted new construction, refurbishing of old construction and a revitalized buzz in and about the area.
More Damn Traffic
“Honey, I twisted through more damn traffic today.”
Highline Transition
This is an elegant transition between paved walkways and planting areas up on The Highline. Where can I apply this concept?
Blue-on-Blue along the Highline
This amused my eye.
An M for my collection
Of course I “collect” the letter “M”.
Little Italy
Heading into Little Italy on a lovely day.
Ricotta and mozzarella
Alluvia. Oldest cheese store in America.
Another M
Much like the Metro M in Milano.
Street graphics
Repetition of one poster creates strong pattern and is very eye-catching. I see this in Milan, too.
Sam’s Knitwear
In 1948, Sam arrived in New York from Europe. After years of working odd jobs, he opened up Sam’s Knitwear on Orchard Street on the Lower East Side.
World hats and fragrances
Just love some of the old, long-time shops. How long have they been there?
BIKE is also a four letter word
Bike pile.
Beauty & Essex
Layered, old and new signage.
Iron contrast
Pleasing forms.
Blue-on-Blue at Essex
Ooo, such color!
Old tower. New tower.
Certain contrasts.
Stumble on the unexpected
Inspiring and sage.
Clever
How many people walk past this and chuckle?
Vintage Pepsi-Cola
The vintage Pepsi-Cola sign at the Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City, Queens.
Painted out
Random, abstract blocks of gray.
Doing what he loves
Artwork by Mike Tuscia. Doing what he loves in his chapter two.
Revitalization or gentrification?
Revitalization or gentrification or one-and-the-same?
Citizen M
A curious collage.
Across from the Tenement Museum
The view looking up, across the street.
Manhattan Mini Storage Ad
I was told that Manhattan Mini Storage has some clever ads.
Zombie Gnomes
Zombie Gnomes seen on an evening stroll.
Doorway under the Brooklyn Bridge
Is that doorway still in use? Access to the works?
Brooklyn Bridge cables
Looking up through the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge
City view
From the Brooklyn Bridge.
City view from the Brooklyn Bridge
City view from the Brooklyn Bridge, with Richard at right.
Pickle Selection
Left to right: Full sour, half sour and dill. Mmmm.
Farewell dinner
Farewell dinner with Richard, Alta and Jonah.
One arrow points elsewhere
Can you find the one arrow that points elsewhere?
NYC Skyline
From across the East River at Long Island City
Streetside Farewell Lunch
My streetside, farewell lunch of mussels with fennel, celery, garlic, onion in a delicious broth. Alta and I shared conversation and a meal before I caught the Air Train to JFK.
by Maureen | May 19, 2013 | Cheese, Featured Articles, Food!, Incredible Locations, Italy, Journal, Milano, Photos, Shopping & Markets
In this neighborhood, Saturday is market day. A string of city blocks nearby is blocked off and filled to the brim with produce, fish, cheese, flowers, housewares, clothing… and people. It seems to be when everyone does their big marketing for the week, going home and filling their tiny fridges and cupboards with Italian veggies, fruits and cheese, mediterranean fish, and cheap sundries.
When I was first living here in 2009, it took me a few times to figure out “the system” for buying from the vendors, and then overcome my timidity with my then more-limited Italian. I know the protocol now for waiting in line off to the side, but I still get mixed up over exactly how many green beans come in a kilo… quite a few! Requesting my food in metric amounts is still a guessing game for me.
Then there’s the foxy game the vendors play to upsell a little each time. I ask for 2, they put 3 in my bag. I ask for a half kilo, I go home with somewhere between half and a whole kilo, even though they weigh each order.
And I have yet to find a produce vendor that handles the goods with a gentle touch. It matters with tomatoes, apricots, nespole, plums, figs and others! They use the open produce bag for target practice, flinging each tender fruit toward the bag’s gaping entrance. (Sometimes I’ll observe a vendor for a while and decide not to buy from one that throws the fruit around. It doesn’t leave me many options though.) By the time I walk home with my day’s purchases, I’ve got spoilage already.
All that said, the array not only offers edible delights but a visual one as well. I enjoyed shooting panoramas today to give a sense of the surroundings (those these don’t show the throng of people, nor the clothes and sundries.)
(Click on the photos to see them enlarged.)
Lovely fruits and vegetables.
All sorts of seafood, much of which I’d never seen until I came here.
Olives, canned tuna, pickled foods.
Produce galore.
Breads and rolls.
We need more olives.
Yet more produce.
Olives, pickles foods, dried fruits.
Nuts and olives.
Salted cod, olives, dried foods and others.
More produce, lots of greens.
Many different cheeses and meats.
A meat and cheese vendor.
Today I brought home erbette, rucola, lattuga, fagiolini, pomodori, olive, cipolle, cima di rapa. (leafy greens, arugula, bibb lettuce, green beans, tomatoes, olives, pickled onions, broccoli tops.)
by Maureen | May 8, 2013 | Burien, Czech Republic, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Introspection, Italy, Journal, Milano, Photos, Prague, Seattle, U.S.A.
It’s been a pause, a respite from one endeavor so I could shift energies and surge headlong into others. I took a break from documentation so that participation could be intense and entire. And it has been.
After the visual lushness of Prague last July, I returned to Milano for just a few days before heading back out for a 12-day whirlwind typographic tour with Legacy of Letters. Our days started early, ended late and were filled in between with letterforms and conversation. These months later, many of us still keep in touch. The lasting connection is a surprise gift.
The tour ended and I returned to Milano to gather my things and my wits, suntanned, thinking in Italian and in the dreamy end-days of goodbye. I had no plan to return to Italy 10 months later and didn’t know when I would.
I’m a veteran of re-entry now, but it still plunges me deep and solo and quiet. It takes a while to get my head together after returning from life off-and-away. It’s as if I’ve been to the moon and back. I hunker down and get private, and very selective.
Really, it takes a couple months to get back in my groove here, not feeling jarred and jolted by contrasts and absences.
In time, I got my momentum back up and strong. I’ve explored snow crystals and cloudscapes. HTML and CSS. Intimate, heartfelt time and public, community time. I have enjoyed satisfying work and creative, personal expression. I took a big bite, savoring flavors both sweet and sour, and filled my belly in these last 10 months.
Yet still I felt a pang at the idea of not tasting Italy, not setting foot along the Naviglio Grande – the Grand Canal. Not sharing meals with friends I cherish there. Italia… Milano… has become a second home for me. My heart and mind have been pierced with a barbed and complex arrow which cannot be removed.
And so I find myself on the eve of departure. I look forward to a “going home”. It’s not the external excitement of a first visit I feel. It’s deep and fundamental; it’s in my gut and my core.
I have crafted a life which twines two places half a world apart. I marvel at it, find it jaw-dropping and am humbled and grateful more than I could ever communicate. It is a “well-wrought life”, as a friend once said.
Just days from now, I will make my pilgrimage to my beloved Duomo of Milano. I will take very late night strolls along the canals. I will ride a bike into the farmland for fresh ricotta, share meals with dear friends, switch to Italian 98% of the time and fill myself with inspiration. My time in Italy is deeply challenging, deeply nourishing, deeply invigorating.
It is an incredible gift to live so full-on, to be so vital, so stimulated.
