by Maureen | Sep 17, 2009 | Canals, Discoveries, Journal, Quips
Just had an hour and a half bike ride. A BIG snake crossed my path. Little frogs jumped out of the mud puddles in front of me as I approached. Something rustled in the grass next to me. No muskrats tonight, but the cats all perked up their ears and looked at me when I squeaked at them. It smelled like a cooling Fall evening in Eastern Washington, with the absolutely delicious scent of poplar pitch, and the not-so-delicious scent of fruit rotting on the ground. Old men fished along the bank of the canal. The usual group of skirt-and-dress-clad elder women were clustered closely and on their slow stroll.
As two “serious” bikers – Ciclisti Milanesi – with their tight calves, tight back ends and snug, sky-blue lycra passed me, I picked up the pace, pulled in behind them and enjoyed the scenery. As we approached an intersection, I jested to them, in Italian, that I should take a picture! They slowed to my side, I repeated what I had said, then whizzed on in front of them. They took the paved bike lane; I opted for the rugged, rutted, puddled route, and thus, encountered the leaping frogs.
by Maureen | Sep 6, 2009 | Canals, Featured Articles, Journal
When I take the subway home, I hop on the M2 Green Line with “Abbiategrasso” as its final destination, roughly due west of Milano. (The subway train goes south from the center of town, then cuts west.) All this time, last summer included, I’ve seen the name but never seen the town. Wanting both a good ride and something a little different today, I decided to ride the mostly-bike route along the Naviglio Grande instead of my usual, smaller Naviglio Pavese.
What a ride! It was a lovely late-summer morning when I started out, cool enough that I was glad I’d be riding hard. (I’ve never felt it that cool in Milano! I’ve only been here in the summer.) From Milano to Abbiategrasso is 24.6 k (15.2 miles) and the length of it travels past city and country, old buildings and new, rice paddies and industry.
THIS was where people were on their Sunday morning! Bikers were either decked-out-serious or casual peddlers. There were walkers and runners. And the morning sun made it all so pleasant. I was in “that space” and soared. Zoom, Zoom.
When out on my bike, I set my own pace depending on my mood, but once in a while, one of those “serious” bikers will pass me (always men) and I’ll take the bait. Someone to set the speed and make me push myself! I notch it up, pull in behind them and move it. Doing so tickles me and I get a good workout.
Today, two men passed me, and I took my cue. I followed them tight for several miles, even having to put on my brakes so I didn’t crowd them too closely. Then, the very unfortunate. The forward biker hit a metal cover in the path and went down. His partner got out around him, and I, being all too close at that moment, JUST managed to get out past the two of them and avoid being part of the pile. I pulled over and stopped to see how the guy was. He had quite dramatically shaved the skin off the side of his knee. Ugh. After a few moments, seeing that I couldn’t help in any way, I left with the speed-demon in me tamed for the day. (Once home, I added some first aid items to my bike bag.)
I pushed on, and enjoyed the canal-side view. Only once in a while did I stop for a photo or two. I wanted the “brass ring” of Abbiategrasso, so didn’t tarry. After I arrived in town, I had a short, little conversation with another biker where the canal split southward into Naviglio Bereguardo. I wasn’t prepared for that ride today, so I turned to go home. No, I didn’t actually explore the towns along the way. I’ll save that for another time. But I had a gorgeous time, talked to the ponies, saw the Swiss Alps in the distance, poked my head into a few old gates, plucked some ready-to-harvest rice and saw a part of Milano I hadn’t seen before.
I like this place.
The town of Gaggiano had an immaculate cycling path and the church of Sant’ Invenzio.
I’m just a sucker for old buildings, and when I saw that this one marked my imminent birthday, I just had to stop.
And these gates are right nearby…
As I started to get back in toward Milano, of course things got a little tighter, and newer. This was an area near Corsico that seemed very pleasant.
I just HAD to pluck some rice since it encircles Milano. (Risotto anyone?)
When I stopped, my red and chartreuse feet with the yellow circle amused me.
At the end of the good day riding, I cooked the shrimp and veggies from yesterday’s Saturday Market. It was perfect.
by Maureen | Sep 2, 2009 | Ireland, Journal, Quips
I know. Long time no post… I haven’t posted much in the week since I got back from Ireland even though I have a hundred ideas of things I want to write about and post photos of! Oh, the images! Stone Circles, Malin Head, Crana Knits, Crockawaddy Glebe, Thatched Roof Houses, Old Stone Buildings, the Fermanagh Tour, Grianan Ailigh, Distant Cousins, Great-Grandma’s Birthplace…and “The Road to America”! (And all of those things mean nothing until I actually SHOW you!)
And then there are the 7 HUGE muskrats I saw along the canal the other day when out for a ride. They weren’t river otter at all like I had originally thought. There was one granddaddy muskrat twice as big as my head!
The “Italian Contemporary Society”, “History of Design” and “Italian Language” classes at NABA have to be wedged in there somewhere, too! The Fall 2009 Semester began this week and it’s great to see people back on campus, and to see Milano lively again. It got awful lonely around here in the month of August.
But, you know…there’s such a thing as WORK! First things first.
by Maureen | Aug 15, 2009 | Featured Articles, Journal, Photo of the Day, Photos
15 Agosto – Ferragosto. A major Italian holiday, the high, midpoint of the Italian exodus month, and “the day when Roman Catholics believe the Virgin Mary ascended into heaven”. Having heard about this being such a big-deal holiday, and knowing that I’d be in town, I made a special trip a few days ago to the tourist information office to find out what would be going on.
The calendar they gave me listed a parade scheduled to march from the Castello to the Piazza dei Mercanti, right next to the Duomo Cathedral. Great! I wanted to be there. With Italy being such a Catholic country, and this being a feast to honor the Assumption of Mary, I thought there would be statues and images of Mary carried through the streets toward the cathedral. I thought there’d be a great outpouring of traditional veneration for our saints and religious figures.
Nope. Instead, I found a group of “LatinoAmericando” music and dance groups. The Peruvians presented their traditional expressions, but other groups were more appropriate for mardi gras and carnevale. The women were hardly presented as virginal! Does a feather here and a sequin there count as clothing?
And I usually think of “Latin America” as including those countries in Central America, but didn’t see them represented. And I’m in Italy! How did Latin America co-opt this holiday? Easy. The Italians have all left town!
So I, and other immigrants and tourists, lined the parade route, got dusted by the feathers dancing by and tapped our feet to the sounds of drums and Andean flutes. The tourist-catering restaurants were doing a booming business in gnocchi and gelato.
Here’s another amusing synopsis of August and Ferragosto, by another blogger:
http://www.upperitaly.net/index.php?id=68
by Maureen | Aug 14, 2009 | Featured Articles, Graffiti & Street Art, Journal, Photos
When they told me you could play football in the streets of Milan during the month of August, they weren’t joking! I had been asked the standard question, “where are you going for August?” Fortunately, I had already made plans for Ischia and Ireland during the month.
The Italians are serious about their month-long vacations at the peak of summer heat. Those I know have left for France, Spain, Poland, Tunisia… anywhere but here! Around town, the only faces are of immigrants, tourists and, I guess, those rare Italians that have no other place to go. I’ve never seen so much parking available on the street, and probably won’t again for another year.
This month of August, I’ve got to assume that a business is closed. Most are sealed tight with their graffitied, roll-down doors posted with the sign “Chiuso per Ferie” – Closed for Vacation – and the date they’ll return. Closure is a given. Those that remain open advertise loudly that they are, but they retain a skeleton staff and few patrons. Hardly a soul to talk to, except the Kenyan woman behind the meat counter at the grocery store, and the little old lady in the produce department that I had a nice conversation with.
I had been buying my bottled water a half block away at the corner carry-out. Well, they’re spending a nice vacation somewhere, so now I carry my bottled water 4 blocks and buy it two liters at a time instead of 6. It gets heavy, but I can walk down the middle of the street while I do it.
The country’s big newspaper, Corriere della Serra, ran a “photo of the day” showing the wide-open, empty streets of Milan.
by Maureen | Aug 9, 2009 | Featured Articles, Introspection, Journal, L'Isola d'Ischia, Photo of the Day, Photos, Venezia - Venice
9 Agosto – Journal Entry
Sunday night. Back home in Milano. Silence & solitude. Ready to be here and it feels like it’s been ages! I guess that’s the sign of a good vacation. But I tired of the tourist crowds. I tired of the heat and sweat, although I made everything possible out of that trip. I shot some wonderful photos. Had some amazingly full conversations, in Italian. (“Full” for this stage in my ability.) Had some fantastic food. Shared warm smiles with a few people. Actually relaxed in ways I haven’t before (sunbathing at a resort!) And I enjoyed some wide-ranging chats in getting to know Glenda.
I’m glad I went. Glad for the time, energy and expense. Glad to have added to my experience of Italy.
Yesterday, my (our) last day, I wandered alone, had the best meal in two months, and explored the “un-beaten path”. That’s what I learned in Venice last year: get off the main drag. Get away from the rutted route of the tourist hordes! It’s when I simply step off onto a side street, neither advertised nor polished, that I find some sort of interesting gem and a more realistic picture of local life. That feels much more true and full of heart. It’s what I seek out with each new place. I had that yesterday and now feel especially satisfied.
I walked opposite the flow of tourism, away from high-end boutiques, shops selling flip-flops and souvenirs, and subsequent gelato vendors. I strolled the back road, enjoyed a waterside park and its bench alone with my journal. Got almost out to the lighthouse. Took a mere-shoulder-wide, cobbled path up, up, up the hill and found private villas, a tiny church and a calico cat that wouldn’t let me stop petting her. And after coming back down the hill and onto a little water’s-edge stret, I entered a fish market and watched the fishmonger cut 1/2″ slices off a swordfish tail-end that was a least a foot in diameter.
All of that is Ischia!
And, in my solo, side-street wandering, I shot a photo that’s one of my favorites so far! At the Coast Guard office of all places… Gorgeous, salmon-colored walls, a stairway, wrought iron and light from above. Beautiful! That’s the reason to wander away!
by Maureen | Aug 9, 2009 | Introspection, Journal, Quips
9 Agosto 2009 – Sunday. On the Northbound Train
“The Full Italian Experience”
Fellini would do a good job with this. Train ride home to Milano. (Yes, please!) Left Napoli just before 1:00. Arrived in Rome at about 2:00. Japanese passengers 1 seat away just got robbed, on board, of their wallets. (Gypsies got on the train and made a commotion about seat assignments, then took advantage of the disarray they had caused.) Afraid of further loss, the Japanese cable-locked their huge suitcase, IN the aisle-way, to their seat armrest. Spanish travelers just got on the train and couldn’t get past the big suitcase. The conductor came on board and told the theft-victims there was nothing the local authorities could do about the wallets. He asked the Japanese man to stow the suitcase at the end of the rail car. (Right! They just lost everything else. Now stow the bag out of sight and surveillance?) The baby next to me is screaming. Her Napolitana mother remembered her own Coca-cola and sandwich, but forgot the baby’s bottle.
Three hours to go.
(Written while on the train, but no internet connection available, so this is posted from the comfort of my wonderful apartment in Milano. Ahhh. Home!)
by Maureen | Aug 3, 2009 | Discoveries, Featured Articles, Graphics, Journal, People
It’s August in Milano. It’s hot and humid, and most people are part of the mass-exodus out of the city for the month. (The whole country takes the month off.) But some of us are left behind (or haven’t left yet). What’s the average relaxation passtime on a hot summer day? A day at the beach. But there is no beach in Milano, up to two hours away from the sea, so someone brought the seaside to the city. And the beach was packed.
Dubbed “MysLand” (with a silent “s”, like “island”), the in-city beach was constructed on 10,000 square meters of former fairgrounds, not far from the center of town. The cost was 1.8 million Euro ($2.56 million) to create the semblance of the sea, complete with an imported sandy beach, palm trees, an odd-shaped “ocean” (pool), boardwalk, dressing cabins and café. The real kicker to me, though, was the supergraphic panel that encircled the whole “island”, giving us our view of the wide open ocean with blue skies overhead and occasional puffer-belly clouds.
When we arrived at 10:00 a.m. the place was so empty we thought they were closed. By the time we picked up our towels off the beach chairs at 2:00, there was lying-room-only. Many people sprawled on the astroturf sport court fronted by the big, beachside banner.
The whole concept was a hoot!
Sun-bathing in Italy was a lesson in body-consciousness and body-acceptance. Women of every size and shape sported two-piece bathing suits, no matter how abundantly they overflowed the seams or how sparsely their body parts were covered. And they didn’t seem terribly concerned either way. Men wore enough to cover their privates, some more private than others. I’m afraid my bone-white, sun-starved, Irish-German, Seattleite skin was like a beacon amidst the deep bronze I was surrounded by. Part of my lesson in body-acceptance. My new love of Italian cheese and lack of gym-time also lent opportunities for self-acceptance!
By the way, I spent the day at the beach with Ewa, the one I enjoyed my octopus with two weeks ago after strolling the antique market. After our seaside Sunday, we went home to a delicious lunch of lamb cooked by Piotr, Ewa’s husband. We’ve gotten together several times and will meet up in September after they return from their Milano exodus.
by Maureen | Jul 25, 2009 | Featured Articles, Journal, People
“Maureen, we’re still in Milan. Can we come crash on your floor tonight?”
“Better yet, my couch folds out into a queen bed.”
Erin and Pete, whom I had met in the morning along the canal bike trail, got sidetracked at the duomo and castello for the day. They hadn’t made it out of the city on their 6-month-total bike trek, so they were looking for a place to lay their heads for the night.
Sure! Why not? (Per ché no?)
I tried to put a twin bed sheet on the queen size mattress. It only kinda worked, but it sure beat sleeping in the bushes between two highways, which they HAVE done along the course of their trip.
They arrived in the evening and got showered up. They put on their cleanest clothes and I walked them over to the Antik Café alongside the canal for appetizers, while I headed to NABA for the End-of-Summer-Session party. An hour later, I brought Erin and Pete back to the school where they joined the loud music and danced ’til the late hours.
(When their day had started, I’m sure they had no idea they’d end up meeting someone on the bike trail and then sleeping on her couch after dancing in bare feet all night.)
Back at my apartment, we talked about their trip and their plans. We looked at photos. Exchanged stories. And then ran out of speed at about 2:00 a.m. Breakfast on Friday morning was an odd one, serving what I had available. Pete ate granola with yogurt and a cup of coffee. Erin was daring and joined me for a Mexican-seasoned stew of chicken, veggies and beans that I had cooked up a couple days earlier.
Next stop for Erin and Pete: up to Lake Como and into Switzerland. Buon viaggio!
by Maureen | Jul 7, 2009 | Featured Articles, Journal
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 apartment and that I need a rubber dinghy instead of a bike. Via Spezia, a main arterial 1 block west, is underwater with cars included. I wonder what the canal 1 block east looks like right now!
A report from the school, NABA, says that there are 6 buildings flooded.
I look out my windows and don’t see any space between the raindrops. No raincoat will do any good against this, and surely I should have packed my chest waders! It sounds like a good day to stay in and tie myself to the computer.
Half Hour Later:
I just found this report online:
“Milano è completamente allagata. Il traffico è paralizzato. Per fare 100 metri a piedi mi sono completamente inzuppata pantaloni e scarpe. In ufficio non arriva nessuno.”
Translation: “Milano is completely flooded. Traffic is paralyzed. After going 100 meters on foot my pants and shoes are completely soaked. No one has arrived at the office.”
(For sure I’ll stay home! And the thunder still rumbles. Actually, if I had an umbrella, a sou’wester and some rubber boots, I’d probably go out just to take a look around.)
EARLY EVENING:
Quite the results! Electrical outtages. Traffic at a standstill. Bus, train and plane delays. Underpasses closed.
http://milano.corriere.it/milano/notizie/cronaca/09_luglio_7/temporale_milano_allagamenti-1601542022660.shtml
Parco Sempione (Photomasi)
