Loving Milan

This is the street where Kathy's dad grew up in Milan. It was so nostaglic to go back there..
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We left Venice on another first class train – the Eurostar for Milan. These trains are great to travel on.

We spent the evening with Fabio and Silvana and her family at their apartment in central Milan (not far from where Mussolini was hanged!!). They were wonderfully hospitable to us and we had a great evening sharing memories, catching up and wonderful food again. It was lovely to see where they lived and to meet Simona (21) and Roberto (27), their two children, who also live at the apartment. Driving with Fabio around the streets of Milan was also an experience I won’t forget. He knows the streets so well, but in one instance, we went on the wrong side of the road and a low concrete curb separating the two directions of traffic to overtake slower vehicles!! He was chatting to me casually all the while, gesturing with one hand on the wheel!! At intersections we would triple up at the front of the queue with two other cars, partly straddling the middle of the road. No problem, no one seemed to mind at all as we sped off on the green light!! Other times we squeezed through gaps in the traffic so small Fabio turned his mirrors in to avoid scraping others (Milanese etiquette not observed in other Italian cities!).

This exhibition was really colourful, just outside the Milan Central Station..
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The apartment garage is called a “box” and is rightly named. To even get in Fabio has to turn in his mirrors. Fabio has bought 3, for the 3 family cars and each one is quite expensive.

I found I could generally understand the gist of conversation, but sometimes really struggled to make myself understood. Sometimes I could refer to Kathy for help. Her Italian has been excellent and many people have commented how good it is. She has added modern idiom and terms to the Italian she learnt from age 6 – 14.

We have such happy memories of this fantastic dinner we shared with Fabio, Sylvana and Simona for the celebration of 30 years of marriage...
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We were chauffeured back to the hotel at about 1am, but felt that we had enjoyed a lovely evening with new (for me) and old (for Kathy) friends.

The next morning Silvana took us to see someone else who remembered Kathy’s family when they lived in Italy. This older lady had been preparing for us for days and our “lunch” consisted of a lovely plate of Neapolitan pasta (many apologies only one type of pasta – she had cooked 2 earlier, but accidentally burnt them), stuffed tomatoes, prosciutto and melon (mmm…. my favourite), then ice cream and Limoncello. She was very disappointed that this was all we could manage, but kept pressing us to have fruit etc. We knew we were going out to dinner that night, so were desperately trying to balance politeness with minimizing intake of this lovely food. They were so welcoming and happy to see us, that we felt the warmth and took it with us as we left them on the Milan Metro to go to Leonardo’s “Last Supper”.

This was the fantastic anti pasta we had, or actually, just one dish of it..
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This was well worth the hassle to get to see, as you have to book at least one month in advance to get a 15 minute viewing. There was a sign at the entry saying fully booked until the end of August!! The painting is on the wall of a church that was quite extensively bombed during WW2, but it remains pretty much intact. The audio guide made it very interesting. Such a shame that in the 16^th century they decided to extend the door portal under the fresco and removed part of the view of Jesus’ feet. The expressions on the faces of each of the apostles are very interesting as to how Leonardo depicted the scene. He was an amazing painter, inventor and scientist. Such a talented person.

The impressive Milan Duomo
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That evening Fabio picked us up to go to a dinner to celebrate their 30^th wedding anniversary. It was truly an honour to be invited to share in this celebration and they had chosen a fantastic restaurant on the outskirts of Milan. It was a rustic farmhouse with a truly authentic Italian chef and had the feel of a restaurant with several Michelin stars.. We ate outside under a lovely arbour covered with a climber and the atmosphere was wonderful. We did not even try to interpret the menu and let Fabio order for us. Wonderful food. The antipasti were absolutely fabulous. I could have finished right there and had a fantastic meal. Then we had a mushroom and blueberry risotto, followed by pasta with cheese and legumes, then the main! I had venison and the others by this stage shared a main. Then of course there was the dolce (sweet). It came as a fantastic “cake” of fresh fruit. So delicious. Of course, all this was served with amazing wine with a dessert wine to follow. It was probably the best restaurant experience of my entire life and an evening to savour.

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I was beginning to really warm to Milan. It is a city about the same population as Auckland, but truly a clean, efficient version of Italy. As we have traveled through Italy, you can clearly see the history of the place, and how prior to the late 1800’s it was a series of independent states. Each of these has developed its own culture and feel. Milan is sophisticated and fashionable. Everyone smokes everywhere. The toilet flush system is unique, with a sort of single tap system that is very confusing and not particularly efficient. I also did not hear one noisy motorino in Milan. Now that made me like it immensely!

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The next day, we set off for a mooch to the Milan Duomo and environs. When we were confronted with this edifice coming out of the metro, it was impressive. It is the 3^rd largest church in the world. It was not built for function, but form and it took about 300 years to finish! You can see why when you get up close. There are HUNDREDS of statues all over the outside of the building and heaps inside as well. In addition, the structure has a “field” of spires that seem to go on for ever. It is impressive by its sheer size. The marble floor inside is also amazing; there were a couple of people scrubbing it on their knees in one corner – it would probably take them a year to complete this task. We also took the stairs up to the top of the Duomo (there was also lift). We needed the exercise after all the heavy eating. Milan is flat, so not much of a view of the city, but a great view of the super structure of the Duomo.

We then went down and explored the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele. We could really imagine Kathy’s dad in this place. It was cultured and sophisticated, but also gentle and kind. There were a group of 4 young men playing classical music in this place and the music sounded wonderful in this huge structure. There were two violins and two piano accordians, which combined for a unique but really nice sound. These guys were really good too. In the middle of the Galleria there are a series of mosaics. There is one of a bull that is said to give you good luck if you stand on its sensitive region. Silvana had instructed Kathy that she had to do this, so she dutifully obeyed! In fact there was no ‘sensitive region’ visible due to the number of people who have performed this ritual over the years.

Earlier, Silvana had taken us to see the house where Kathy’s dad grew up and the University where his father had taught in Milan. It was great to imagine him running around these streets as a boy. He lived there until he was 18.

One more evening meal with even more old and new friends in a local Pizzeria, then we sadly bade them farewell. We left Milan the next day having renewed and established some relationships that we will treasure for the rest of our lives. We felt richer for having been there.