I am so fortunate to be visiting a dear friend in Milan. It is lovely to stay in someone's home and be able to get a sense of everyday life in a new place. Don't know about you, but I always fantasize about living in the places I visit. Franca and nine-year old daughter, Alice, have a wonderful flat in a fashionable part of Milan. I visited Alice's school - just a block away - plus the little grocery they use and a few other neighborhood shops. I could walk into the very center of town - the Duomo - in twenty minutes, following the trolley tracks. Along the way, I have never seen so many jewelry stores and shoe stores. Milanese women are quite smart no matter their age. Also there is no gray or white hair on women - even ninety-year-olds. Must be a genetic phenomenon. Also high cuffed boots. And no one is overweight. Fat and gray hair have been banished.
On the way it is necessary to stop for a cappucino and a brioche.
The Duomo sits on a huge piazza teeming with gypsys and pickpockets. But you have your moneybelt on so need not worry. Do not make eye contact, and say "NO" forcefully and keep moving. It is one of my favorite churches inside with pillars like huge tree trunks. It is very cold but beautiful, huge, terrifying in a way. The floor is an amazing pattern in stone - my favorite thing. The outside looks like a wedding cake that went berserk. But by the doors are bas reliefs that are wonderful.
On the side of the piazza is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the original shopping mall. In the middle of the piazza is V. E. himself on his horse.
Going through the Galleria you emerge at the other end in another piazza and see La Scala. Such a plain, unadorned building - all the drama is on the inside.
Franca is an excellent cook. We agree that midday is a good time for the biggest meal. I see greens that are new to me and only need some balsamic vinegar to dress them. The coffee is sublime. When I get home I want to make these small cups of espresso that get savored.
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