Milano

From Milan, the setting for some of Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona. The play where the character of Valentine speaks:

... now let us take our leave.
To Milan let me hear from thee by letters
Of thy success in love, and what news else
Betideth here in absence of thy friend;
And likewise will visit thee with mine.

Milan, compared to Rome, strikes us as a more 'refined' city, but perhaps it is just because it is quieter, less busy, offering more space to breathe. It seems a more sophisticated city, less pre-occupied.

Having said that, it is the city where we have least enjoyed the accommodation we have booked. Some apartments do not deserve the name 'apartment'. Our present Milanese 'digs' should be refered to as, erm, cupboard? As you come into the apartment complex, you are struck by the Grandeur of it. The apartment, however, is next to the Concierge's one, and we suspect it was perhaps once used as his storage room. It has, admittedly, two stories (well a ground floor and mezzanine, which you get up to via a staircase), and it is beautifully appointed with huge, classic architraves, wooden floors, marble and the like, but there is only one window, and in the bathroom - tucked away behind our mezannine bedroom - I really can't stand upright (that's how low the ceiling is). It looks huge thanks to wall wide mirrors, that give it a sense of space without actually giving you room to move. We all feel incredibly claustrophobic, so we'll all be glad to leave it again Saturday morning. 

Outside ... palatial.

Inside ... erm, get me out of here...

Milan, though, is lovely and we spend most of the time outside, in town. Yesterday, while Tess and Yarrow caught up on school work and exam preparation, Niki and I visited a museum and the Duomo Cathedral, a gothic, squat, gloomy building in the centre where one wasn't allowed to take photographs unless one had paid six euros. Reminiscent of the Vatican I, of course, took photos and ignored the fervent and repeated admonissions of the 'minders'.

A demure, austere, gloomy Duoma

At night we had dinner with Niki's friend marina's mother, Fiorella. Marina's relationship with Niki goes back a long, long time, so it was good for them to catch up and for us newbies to the Italian scene it was a lovely 'authentic' way to meet Italians and learn about their customs. We were treated to a real Italian meal with anti-pasti, pasti, first course, second course and two deserts! 

Last night Niki's friend Marina and her husband Francesco had invited us to join them at a ballet performance by Teatro alla Scala, the our dance and ballet talent associated with the Scala Opera House in Milan. A wonderful, dreamy, evening full of music, colour, dance, stories and applause. We all loved it!

How do they do it...?

Today, Friday, we visited the Duomo Cathedral again to let the girls get a taste of it (no photos, though).  After this, Tess and Yarrow shouted us lunch in the centre in a lovely pavement cafe (the pavement cafe with the Very Attractive Waiter, I am told), which was really kind of them.  The cafe sported an inside Living Room - interesting option, for a cafe ...

A dining room, perhaps?

To polish the day off we visited a Modiglini and Contemporaries exhibition in the Palazzo Real (just next to the Duomo) which was very interesting. A guided audio tour, which is the things to do these days in museums told us everything about Modiglini and his eastern European and Russian contemporaries of which we knew precious little.

A stroll on the way home through the Milanese fashion quarter, basically the same as the historic centre around the Piazza Duomo, a roughly rectangular area known as the Quadrilatero d'Oro (Golden Quadrilateral), bounded by Via Montenapoleone, Via Sant'Andrea, Via Monzani and Via della Spiga, showed us another side of Milan life. This is where shoes cost at least 300 euros, most bags 1,000 euros, dresses 5,000 and jewelry is priceless (literally), where the Bold and Beautiful do their shopping, but which (I have to say) is far-flung from any reality that I know. Most shops, of course, are empty, with only the attendants waiting for customers.

Another world

On Saturday morning Francesco will pick us up from the apartment, and take us to Monza where we have booked into a hotel for a night. We'll spend the weekend with Marina and her family.