by Maureen | Jul 18, 2009 | Discoveries, Food!, Journal
Little did I know that these chocolate-dusted (and, therefore, cough-inducing) pastries were FILLED with, what else?! Chocolate and Vanilla Creme. This is not an uncommon breakfast for an Italian-on-the-go. (How about stay-at-home Italians? What are they eating for breakfast?) Pastries fresh from Spezia Pasticceria are accompanied by a little shot of espresso and, poof, you’re ready for the morning. (At least until you crash from the sugar.) But, oh, the pleasure when they’re goin’ down!
by Maureen | Jul 18, 2009 | Cheese, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Food!, Journal, Shopping & Markets
Sweet or Savory? Based on appearances, these little cracker/cookies could have gone either way. Unfortunately, I was in the mood for a little, sweet cookie, so my stomach overruled my mind.
Wandering around the grocery store, of course all the labels and packages are in Italian. How do I know what I’m looking at and am about to buy? Word derivations and synonyms! Every trip to the grocery store requires “pattern recognition” and a willingness to be exploratory with language.
Take this label for instance… (I should have read it more closely at the store, but like I said, I WANTED these to be sweet!)
The following is a reenactment of the mental hoops I jumped through when reading the ingredient list on this cracker label:
Fette – I had just learned that word so I could order bresaola. It means SLICES.
Pane – Like pan, in Spanish, it means BREAD.
Croccante – Kinda sounds like CRACKER, doesn’t it?
Semi – Semilla, in Spanish, means SEED
Zucca – Like zucchini… must mean some sort of squash, and I see PUMPKIN SEEDS.
Farina – Isn’t that what “Cream of Wheat” is called? OK. Ground grain. FLOUR.
Frumento – Who knows. Skip that one.
Formaggio – I know that one well: CHEESE
Emmental – Hey, it’s EMMENTALER CHEESE, with milk, salt and something, something.
Semi di Zucca – There’re the pumpkin seeds again, 8%.
Semi di Girasole – Sole is sun, and I see SUNFLOWER SEEDS.
Semi di Lino – Lino is linen. Linen comes from flax. Ahh! FLAX SEEDS!
Sesamo – Whew. An easy one. SESAME SEEDS.
Sale Marino – Sale is salt. Marino is marine. Easy. SEA SALT.
Agente Lievintante – Looks like “levitating” to me. OK. LEAVENING AGENT.
Bicarbonato di Sodio – Easy again. BICARBONATE OF SODA (BAKING SODA)
Estratto di Malto d’orzo – EXTRACT OF ORZO MALT (Whatever that is.)
Pasta Acica (Farina di Segala) – More flour of some sort, but it’s so far down the list that it’s a minor ingredient.
No where did I read the ingredient Zucchero – SUGAR! Like I said, I was trying to convince myself that these were sweet and ignored all evidence to the contrary. Upon getting these home, I was surprised to taste a snappy, stout, seeded cracker with a hard toasted cheese layer on top. Likely one of my new favorites, but NOT when I’m looking for dessert!
by Maureen | Jul 15, 2009 | Introspection, Journal
Who would take a perfectly lovely life and tossed it up in the air, only to move halfway around the world to a completely unknown life?! To have done this, and to make it work, requires inner resources that at times feel stretched pretty thin. But I also acknowledge that, through one blessing and another, I have the luxury to MAKE such a choice. I cannot NOT “thank my lucky stars” for being in the position to have done so.
But this ain’t easy! There’s a reason people don’t do this! In the daily outward details, I am settled in. But on a deeper level, I am still finding a rhythm here, and that will likely take a while.
by Maureen | Jul 13, 2009 | Introspection, Journal, Quips
My mosquito bites are driving me pazza! No, that doesn’t mean I feel like I’m covered with tomato sauce and cheese, but maybe that’s exactly the home remedy I need at 4 in the morning! Quick! Someone blog me your tried-and-true remedy.
I have a friend that swears by vinegar, so I’ve been lying in bed for the last hour telling myself to get up and slather it on. Now I smell like red wine vinegar and still itch like hell. (Maybe balsamic would have done the trick?)
No farmacia open at this hour. No childhood-reminiscent, pink calamine lotion in the medicine cabinet. No cool Benadryl gel. Not even any baking soda to make a paste with. Maybe whiskey applied internally, but I don’t even have that.
Living a block away from the canal… having had that torrential downpour a week ago… riding along the canal and stopping to take pictures…oooo. The opportunities for mosquito bites have been many and those little buggers haven’t wasted any time!
I must have 100 bites. That means I could test drive 100 different bite-soothing remedies. Send me your ideas! (Winner gets the prize, and I might get some sleep.)
by Maureen | Jul 12, 2009 | Graffiti & Street Art, Photos
The mural right across the grassy patch from the “Ozmo Mural“.
by Maureen | Jul 12, 2009 | Graphics, Journal, Photo of the Day, Photos
Posters of the G8 participants have been in all of the subway stations, during the time leading up to the G8 Summit that was held in L’Aquila this last week. These were on rotating displays, that changed every few seconds. At one moment, I caught a glimpse of Obama displayed next to Berlusconi, and it seemed Barack was looking askance at Silvio, who was looking away. I had to wait for the display to cycle through and the two images to be side-by-side again.
“The main issues that the world’s eight leading countries addressed were: La crisi economica internazionale e le crisi regionali (The international economic crisis and regional crises), la sicurezza alimentare (food safety and security), la lotta ai cambiamenti climatici (the struggle against climate changes), and la liberalizzazione del commercio mondiale (the deregulation of world trade).”
by Maureen | Jul 12, 2009 | Graphics, Photo of the Day, Photos
Here’s an imperative for all of us, created in tilework in the Metro subway here in Milano. (Darn, I didn’t note which subway stop… It might be Monte Napoleone.)
by Maureen | Jul 11, 2009 | Featured Articles, Photo of the Day, Photos
Another early evening ride along the canal on a smooth bike.
A beautiful temperature and gorgeous light.
by Maureen | Jul 9, 2009 | Graphics, Photo of the Day, Photos
There’s just something about this huge Maybelline ad sky-high against the duomo that doesn’t quite fit.
by Maureen | Jul 9, 2009 | Graffiti & Street Art, Photo of the Day, Photos
I just liked this!
(Is that a highly stylized “ciao”? Or a tag? It could be both.)
And here are other portions of the same sign:
by Maureen | Jul 9, 2009 | Introspection, Journal, Quips
Sabato 4 luglio • Saturday, July 4
Journal Entry
Wandering Via Monte Napoleone… How will I survive here without my sewing machine? I might BURST! Jil Sander and Kenzo have such details. Insets. Glorious fine fabrics. Combinations. Sander is pared. Kenzo is playful. And they both do it damn well. I tour Milano with my fingertips, taking in every contrast in fiber, weave, knit. Exquisite. My dream of such fabric. I’d love to “go underground”, into seclusion with a good machine and just a fraction of the material I encounter here. I wouldn’t even know how to handle it (the fabric)… but give me a chance to try!
by Maureen | Jul 9, 2009 | Canals, Featured Articles, Journal
After a couple of morning rides along the Naviglio Pavese canal, I was anxious to see it in the late afternoon light. I knew the whole sense would be different, and the building canal-sides would be illuminated with the late sun. I took off for a low-and-slow ride, committed to stopping whenever the image-urge arose.
As I thought, it was lovely. The light was softer than harsh late morning/mid-day. Building details that had been in shadow each time before were now crisp with texture. Oh! Just what I wanted! (That, and a slow, contemplative ride.)
I like this envelope graffiti:
And look at who caught my eye. He was about 8 inches long.
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)
by Maureen | Jul 4, 2009 | Journal
We even skyped the dog, Sammy!
It was worth getting up at 6:45 for a 7:00 AM chat with my goofy friends from Junior High and High School! Skype me, baby! They were all together on the beach in West Seattle on their Friday night, at 10:00. We talked for an hour. I gave them a skype walking tour of my apartment and we just talked about the little things of getting settled in.
Fun to see their silly faces and recognize each voice in the background.
They had pulled in a bunch of crabs in the crab pot and had a feast on the beach. Even the crab got into the skype action.
Good, ole technology. (New technology!) It makes all these remote smiles possible!
by Maureen | Jul 4, 2009 | Featured Articles, Journal
It’s the 4th of July and friends back in the States are celebrating with a long weekend, fireworks, barbeques and beach fires. Here in Milano, I’ve got my eyes open for SOME nod to the U.S. In the land of “il tricolore“, the Italian flag of green, white and red, I’m looking for a splash of Old Glory, the red, white and blue.
Seen ALL OVER town are the Passo Carrabile signs, instructing people not to block passage. With the classic red circle and diagonal stripe, these signs provide an omnipresent red, white and blue splash.
As I’m out-and-about today, I will keep my eyes open and attentive for the nod westward.
by Maureen | Jul 4, 2009 | Featured Articles, Journal, Quips
Friday night, and I hadn’t been out of the house all day. OK. I changed my clothes, walked to the subway station and hopped on the “green line” at Romolo. Four stops to Cadorna, a switch to the “red line” and just 3 stops to the duomo.
I stepped out of the subway looking right up at the sandcastle spires of the duomo in mid-evening light. Beautiful. And the tourist throngs of the day were gone, so the vast piazza was quiet and clear. What an easy, lingering wander along small back streets I hadn’t explored yet. I allowed my feet to go at half their usual pace, and it changed the whole tone of the evening.
All of the shops were closed and preparing for “Saldi!“, sales! Window displays were being changed and sale signs were being hung. It happens throughout the city, starting on one given day. Everything is discounted 30 to 50%. It’s likely to be a madhouse downtown today at 10:00 as the stores open up, but I plan to be a brave shopper. As I wandered around last night I saw several stores with shoes that actually looked comfortable AND chic. (I’ll brave the crowds for comfort. Besides, the walking shoes I’ve been wearing daily are showing wear and this is the time to buy!)
Just following my feet I happened onto Via Monte Napoleone. What a heady gathering of luxury clothing, jewelry and shoe stores! All the names I’ve heard of were assembled along that strip into a concentrated study in fashion and marketing. The displays were enticing and beautiful, and some quite playful. I saw paper cut-outs, african masks, 60s Op-Art, lush greens amidst stone. All so sumptuous. Ooo lah lah.
By 9:15 I had wandered north of the duomo and into the territory of the metro “yellow line”. The subway station at Monte Napoleone got me all mixed up and turned around, but I sorted myself out. There were groups of people dressed up as if they had been to a concert or the theater. Most stations had people milling about. There were only a few places where I was alone, but my awareness was keen the whole time. I hopped the yellow line to the red, then the red to the green and stepped out of the Romolo station, close to home, just before 10:00. Here I was, riding the subway alone after dark in the evening and walking home at 10:00. Was it genuine safety or ignorance? (I wouldn’t have considered it in New York.)
by Maureen | Jul 3, 2009 | Food!, Journal, Quips, Shopping & Markets
Last night while messing with my camera, I set it down on the kitchen counter and this image popped into the viewfinder. Hmm. I like that. I like the big, round pear butt and the diminishing line of oils and vinegar bottles. I keep a bowl in the kitchen with garlic, tomatoes, fruit of the moment and usually a little, white paper bag with the remnant of the last bakery purchase.
I have been searching the city for a nice loaf of dense, multi-grain bread. The only thing I’ve found so far was a half loaf of very good grain-and-seed bread at Peck, downtown by the duomo. It was 3,50 euro for half a loaf, about 4 inches square! That’s about $5.25! No way will that become my staple. But of course, at Peck, everything is for show and it’s NOT where the locals shop! No photos allowed there, but absolutely everything is photo-worthy. The place is a work of art. I’m sure the tourists go in to buy and have gifts shipped home for family and friends.
This is a white-flour world with the pastas, pastries and breads. That’s fine, but I want something with some texture, fiber, flavor, density and keeping power. The lovely white breads last a day and are stale the next. (And I want more nutritive value.) (Does that make me a party-pooper?)
by Maureen | Jul 2, 2009 | Food!, Introspection, Journal, People
The other night, 8 of us were out to celebrate a birthday, having sparkling wine at the local hangout a block from NABA. Of the 8, 1 was from Singapore, 1 from New Zealand, 2 from Russia, 3 from Italy and me, from the United States. I love that the school is so international!
One of the 8 was the Interior Design Instructor, Francesco. He said that, from the past year’s Master’s Degree Program in Interior Design, there were 15 students representing 11 countries: Georgia, Russia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Croatia, Iran, Jordan, Italy, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic and Pakistan. Francesco said “We are more diplomats” than simply students. He listed the many different religious/spiritual backgrounds represented in the classroom and spoke of the conversations they had in the midst of their Interior Design classes.
What a treasure to have the combination of international breadth and design strength. Where else can one find this?! It is energizing!
by Maureen | Jul 2, 2009 | Cheese, Discoveries, Food!, Journal
So, I went in search of some “prosciutto crudo” today and found a little shop, Fratelli Giancola, selling “salumi e formaggi” (meats and cheese). I told him, in Italian, that I wanted to eat some melon wrapped with prosciutto and asked for a recommendation. He pointed, pulled a whole hock off a shelf, shaved some of the fat away, then started slicing paper thin. I could easily and readily buy prosciutto prepackaged at the grocery store, but I wanted to try walking into one of the many specialty stores. There was much he said to me that I didn’t understand, but at least I walked out the door with what I came for!
He also had yet another cheese that caught my eye. It’s a smokey knot! OK. I had to have some of that. I gestured the quantity and ended up with about 8 “knots”. They’re kinda like a string cheese, tied in a knot, then smoked. Mmm, mmm good! The thing is, they’re great for “playing with my food”. You can actually UNTIE the knot and then retie it! What fun, AND smokey, salty, tastey.
I’d better start discovering some fabulous fruits and vegetables instead of cheeses and meats (with a half inch layer of fat on them). What will my doctor say!? (OK. In a year, I’ll check my cholesterol level and make a decision then.) Right now, it’s “no holds barred”. Try it all. Jump in. EAT!
Hey! It’s an “M” when untied!
by Maureen | Jul 2, 2009 | Featured Articles, Food!
Oh, the pastries! Each one an art piece and divine in the mouth. Each one could make me swoon.
Those pear-shaped, sponge-cake gems in the middle, with the cream centers… That cake is so saturated with some sort of lovely liquor that just picking up the pastry makes the potent liquid run down my fingers and into my palm. It was a shock the first time I bit into one!
This beautiful array is from Spezia Milano Pasticceria, just two blocks from home and tucked in behind a gas station (of all places!). It’s easily missed, but since it’s reputed to be the best in the city, it’s NOT to be missed!
by Maureen | Jul 2, 2009 | Cheese, Featured Articles, Food!, Meals
Tell me: WHY can’t we get tomatoes like this in the U.S.?! Why is it impossible? Deep red. Full-flavored. Properly ripened. High acid. Mmm! THAT’S how tomatoes should be!
Pair them with some fresh mozzarella. Drizzle a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Some shreds of basil plucked from the lone plant on the kitchen window sill. And a dusting of salt and pepper. Heaven on a plate.
by Maureen | Jun 30, 2009 | Featured Articles, People
The opening of NABA’s Summer Session! The campus is abuzz with the anticipation of 85 new students here for two- and four-week programs. They will study Fashion, Graphics, Photography, Interiors and Product Design. They will volley their ideas across the courtyards. NABA students will collaborate in their classrooms, chat over lunches and take their curiosity out into the city. They will mine Milano for all the sustenance and inspiration it offers.
The vitality and energy of this community adds a charge to the air. There is palpable, creative expression around campus. Faculty members bring their passions to the classrooms and staff share the enthusiasm.
For those ardent students, relentless in their desires to learn from everyone and everything around them, how could there be a richer sweet spot to occupy? NABA feeds the voracious student.
1st Session:
June 29th to July 10th
Introduction Level
Introduction to Interior Design
Introduction to Product Design
Introduction to Graphic Design
Introduction to Fashion Design
Introduction to Fashion Marketing
Introduction to Fashion Styling
Introduction to Fashion Accessories
Intermediate Level
From Haute Couture to Pret-a-Porter: Paris/Milan
Lighting Design Studio
Landscape Architecture Studio
Advanced Level
Costume Decoration and Painting
Each student received a “Welcome Bag” filled with an International Student’s Guide, maps, schedules and student resources.
2nd Session:
July 14th to July 24th
Intermediate Level
Interior Design Studio
Product Design Studio
Fashion Styling Studio
Fashion Accessories Design Studio
Fashion Journalism Studio
Fashion Merchandising Studio
Fashion Photography Studio
Fashion Textiles and Fibres Studio
Graphic Art Design for Fashion Studio
Photography and the Moving Image Studio
Advanced Level
Jewellery Design for Costumes
4-week session:
June 29th to July 24th
Advanced Level
Digital Set Design
4-week session:
June 22nd to July 3rd
Advanced level course in Theatre Lighting Design
NABA students gather for the Welcome & Orientation Presentation.
Students were oriented to the school, its services and surroundings and the City of Milano.
Luca Buttafava, NABA Special Programs Coordinator, along with other faculty and staff, encouraged students to embrace the richness offered here in Milano, and charged them with the excitement of design.
Students were hosted at an end-of-the-first-day “Apperitivi”, a casual mingling party with food and drinks so the students could get to know one another.
A group of students from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, enjoy the apperitivi party hosted by NABA.
by Maureen | Jun 28, 2009 | Canals, Discoveries, Featured Articles
“Bici“, (bee-chee) short for “bicicletta“: bicycle! I borrowed a bike and have been for a couple of rides south from Milano down the Naviglio Pavese canal. It’s a nice straight shot used by lots of other bikers, both serious and casual. Decked-out cyclists, leathery tan from habitual riding in Italy’s sun, clustered in speedy packs, must have all been in their 60s and 70s. They were in contrast to the couples and families out for an easy Sunday stroll on wheels.
In some places it’s one lane, shared with cars; on other stretches, it’s bikes only. The canal fronts warehouses, apartments and office buildings…wheat, rice and corn fields and p-patch gardens. Quite a mix and it all makes for a pleasant ride. I saw a few p-patch cats at the path-side, and geese nesting in the tall grass along the edges. When seeing the intensely-green rice fields, I flashed back to being in the China countryside! Some of the scents were similar, too.
There are locks along the canal, and a very occasional boat. I saw these two twin boats heading up-current and wondered what-the-heck kind of boats those are! Any ideas? (Further north, in town, a few tour boats make short runs, and there are also some restaurant barges.)
Peering down into the aerated water just below one falls, there were big schools of big fish. A foot and a half long? I was told they were related to carp, but they had a pretty streamlined silhouette from above. The water is fairly shallow and murky for the most part, so it does seem like carpy habitat.
It felt good to ride. Good to get my heart rate up, get some exercise and fresh air, and see the surrounding area. Nice to know that the canal road/path is just a block away from my apartment and an easy-out-the-door!
by Maureen | Jun 25, 2009 | Cheese, Food!, Shopping & Markets
Took my long walk to the grocery store today, up along Corso San Gottardo, where the little specialty shops are, as well as a few “bigger” stores. The grocery store has a good variety and good quality.
In my shopping bag today was: a big red pepper, a half dozen on-the-vine tomatoes, green beans, garlic, red onion, chicken thighs, fresh little mozzarelline, grana padano hard cheese, ricotta forno (which, I think, is a roasted ricotta), tomato sauce, rucola (arugula), cannellini and borlotti beans and a box of plastic bags. A half a block away at the little corner store, I bought a half dozen bottles of “Acqua Frizzante“, sparkling mineral water, a staple. I don’t have a menu planned, but I’ll whip up something…
Along San Gottardo I can’t tell you how many little “pasticerie” there are, tempting passersby – and me – with their displays of pastries, breads and other delicious foods. I succumbed and stepped in to buy a little something. I came out with a half dozen, bite-sized “biscotti al coco” (coconut macaroons) and “frollini al cioccolato” (a dry little cookie with chocolate bits in it).
by Maureen | Jun 25, 2009 | Featured Articles, Food!, Meals
Dinner at Il Giardino del Naviglio (Garden restaurant, near the Naviglio Pavese canal). When our server brought this platter and set it in front of me, placing another one on the other side of the table, I thought that each platter would be shared by two. But no. She brought two more matching platters. This was just the appetizer: “Imperiale”.
What an understatement that name is! A platter of superlative, ultra fine seafood, all raw and absolutely fresh: sea bass, mussels, oysters, mediteranean scampi, red shrimp, chopped tuna with olives and oil, orata tartar, branzino, 3 kinds of caviar, olive oil, soy sauce, lemon and fresh baked bread rolls. Wow.
Then came the platter of grilled seafood: more scampi and shrimp, scallops, squid, octopus (the most sublime I’ve ever eaten), and a lovely golden-grilled white fish. (The platter was shared, thankfully!)
OK, so it all had to be topped off with a little taste of something sweet, a little counter to the salt and protein of the seafood. Dessert! But something simple and light, please. A chocolate tasting. There were 6 different flavors of chocolates, including truffle (as in, real truffle. It was my least favorite), cinnamon/sugar, vanilla, hot pepper, selection #5?, and 97% cacao. Each chocolate was paired with a rum so different from the other. What an array of flavor subtlety! The chocolate tasting was light, and fortunately shared by 5 at the table.
On the way home, we all did a “passeggiata” stroll north along the canal and back just to settle things a bit. I don’t think I’ve ever had a meal so sumptuous!
by Maureen | Jun 25, 2009 | Graphics, Photos
Mount a poster and you’ve got public notice. Mount 2 or 4 together and it becomes art. The repetition of one image creates a pattern perhaps unintended by the original designer, but SO effective by the one with the glue!
by Maureen | Jun 25, 2009 | Graphics, Photos
I have been dreaming… and I am! This poster had my name all over it… and the names of all my family and friends!
by Maureen | Jun 25, 2009 | Discoveries, Featured Articles, Graffiti & Street Art, Journal, Photo of the Day, Photos
The “street art” – the graffiti and murals – around here keeps my fingers clicking. And I find imagery around any corner, behind, under and on top of other things. The back sides of billboards. The hard-to-access building facades. The posters on top of posters, then layered and peeling. I find brick coupled with print … coupled with sprayed and brushed paints. I find the work of one artist augmented by the work of another. (Does the first artist see it that way? Is it collaboration and enhancement, or is it violation?)
Turning a corner yesterday, the tall, bare wall facing an idle patch of dry, scruffy ground had been enlivened by an incredible mural of several styles. It excited me! I just love the black and white, line-drawn, classic figure against the colorful and imaginative characters. What fun! One of my favorites to date!
And, don’t you love this chair against the mural, bright white and linear as if it’s a 3D part of the painting itself?! It’s all too perfect.
by Maureen | Jun 24, 2009 | Journal, Shopping & Markets
There’s nothing like buying a new cell phone, in Italy. Just shopping for one was hard enough without a language in common with the sales person. Now I’ve bought one and the manual is in Italian and the phone is in Italian! Setting it up is a trick. My reading comprehension is pretty good, but this is a very specific vocabulary.
… so I just downloaded the manual in English. Some things I just don’t want to challenge me!
It was bad enough when, for “fun” I switched my iPhone to Italian and THAT phone I know!
Now and then I do need a break from the challenge. Maybe the intensity has added to my sleepiness. Maybe it’s not all jet lag!
(So, I didn’t go back to Mr. Impatient. I went to a bigger store. They actually let me handle the phones AND pick my phone number! I got a quad-band so I can use it in the States or anywhere else, when traveling.)
by Maureen | Jun 23, 2009 | Discoveries, Featured Articles, Journal, Shopping & Markets
The most complicated thing I’ve (tried to) shop for is an Italian cell phone. It’d be easy to simply get any old cheap phone, just something that’ll make and take calls, and do SMS… But I’m a tech junkie. I want a nice interface and good design. I want bluetooth. If it’s going to have a camera, it might as well be higher-res than low. How big are the numbers? Can I read them without my glasses? All of those things are easy to decide on without speaking, and by just looking at the tech summary posted, but asking the young, impatient, non-enunciating guy about the pros and cons of dual-band vs. tri-band and its potential use in the U.S…. Ha! Do I pay the higher price so I can use it when I’m back in Seattle for short visits? Hmm. He wouldn’t let me handle the phone much to check out it’s product design. And asking him about the rechargeability and interchangeablity of the SIM card in my very limited Italian and his non-existent English made me just cut the visit short. I bought a SIM card to get started with a borrowed phone, and I’ll figure the rest out later. At least now, back at home, I can review the tech specs online, then go back forearmed with information. (And besides, it’s hard to shop when I’m hot, tired and feeling stretched!)
Ferramenta
I also needed to buy a few screws so I can repair the hinge on my kitchen cabinet door. I removed the old ones, put them in with my coins and carried them around with me. When at the student bookstore at NABA, I said to Paolo, in Italian “where can I buy some of these?” I didn’t even have to know what screws are called in Italian! He told me to look for the Ferramenta on San Gottardo. Shopping on San Gottardo today, I couldn’t remember the term “ferramenta”, so I tried the same trick after walking into a little store that sells clocks. The Ferramenta was just a block away. Very cool! Floor to ceiling bins of fixtures, attachments, handles, screws, small hand tools, and other metal hardware. That’s all the guy sells. Again, I just pulled the screws out of my coinpurse and showed them to him. A little crude Italian spoken by me, a flurry of Italian from him. He pulled 8 screws out of a bin, tore a page out of a magazine and wrapped the screws then taped the little package closed. Cost: 30 centessimi, about 45 cents, and he allowed me to shoot a couple of pictures of him and his many bins.
Electrical Components
Or there’s the question of power and electrical plugs. Some things are dual-voltage and just need different prongs. Some need voltage conversion. Others should have both of the above plus a surge protector, like my laptop. Figure all that out, and get recommendations when you don’t speak the language! The guys in the Mac department at the big store near the duomo were moderately helpful, and I checked out what kind of surge protector they use on their display machines. But the simple plug converters like I had ordered last year from a company in the U.S. were tough to find… Until, also on San Gottardo, I walked past a little hole-in-the-wall store that just sells electrical components. He had exactly what I needed and I bought 3 of them for about 1,50 Euro each.
I like these little, highly specialized shops! And the proprietors know exactly what they’re selling.
Gisella
Gisella, from Sicily, is a pleasure to be greeted by. I stepped into her bakery yesterday, then went back today. She’s more than happy to tell me about her different breads and foods. And one, her food was good. Two, her friendly warmth will make her a pleasant part of my regular community within the neighborhood around my home. She was very patient and accommodating with my limited Italian and I want a good bakery. She’s got bread loaves, sweets and some lunch/dinner items prepared by her Mom.
Permesso
I went to the post office yesterday to gather up the paperwork for my “Permesso di Soggiorno”, “Permit to Stay”. The women in the office at NABA were invaluable for giving me pointers for filling out the paperwork and telling me where to get the pieces I needed. All those things in hand, I returned to the post office today to submit my formal application. I was there for about 20 minutes, and they clarified a few things here and there, but in the end, they gave a quite forceful stamp on all my papers and handed me the infamous “receipt”, which shows that I’ve jumped through that hoop. Now I wait for final papers.
All of these things I’m doing without carrying around and Italian-English dictionary. My stumbling Italian, for the most part has been enough to get me by. I generally walk out the door with what I need.
by Maureen | Jun 21, 2009 | Discoveries, Featured Articles, Photo of the Day
Milano’s Cimitero Monumentale – Monumental Cemetery – is beyond words. It rivals many museums of architecture and sculpture and offers a lesson one could spend years studying. The architectural periods and sculptural styles are diverse and magnificent! And to have them side-by-side provides a concentrated contrast hard to find elsewhere.
I had heard about it when here last summer, so I took the green line on the subway to the Garibaldi stop and headed in the general direction. The chaotic streets made it difficult to navigate, but I checked my map often.
The entrance building is palatial and I’m sure oft-photographed, but I immediately went deep into the old crypts seeking out those which are generally overlooked. What a study in Italian names! I found myself pronouncing each one quietly out loud, so for the following two hours the dead were having their names read aloud. The oldest burials were from the late 1800s; the cemetery was opened in 1866. The most recent grave I encountered was from just a few weeks ago.
This woman’s name – Vittoria Colombo Carugati –
was never written in with much more than pencil.
This memorial is perhaps the most startling that I saw. It shows two very emaciated men, barely draped and in a kiss at death. Both of them reach out to the hand of the woman seated near them. Wouldn’t you love to know THAT story!?
Some of the tombs are the size of a small apartment!
And the architectural styles cover the full gamut!
This is quite a modern memorial!
Other quite modern pieces were boxy enclosures of broad glass and stone.
Near the grand entry, this memorial to an architect says across the top of one side, “Offer your spirit to God the redeemer. Offer your blood to your country.”
As I was leaving, I heard the unmistakable sound of vigil prayers. I followed the music of voices to a small chapel at the back and underside of the grand entry, and found a gathering of elder women praying for the repose of souls. “May perpetual light shine upon them.” Here are the names of those they were praying for today. (I love the decidedly European handwriting, all of one woman.)
by Maureen | Jun 21, 2009 | Introspection, Journal
The 10-foot high French doors are wide open. (Are they called “Italian doors” since we’re in Italy?) We had a long, strong rain last night and the air is cool. The sky is blue. Someone in an apartment that faces this courtyard has the stereo playing Louis Armstrong singing “What a Wonderful World” and other American oldies that include the likes of Glenn Miller.
There are the sounds of an easy weekend morning: The tick of the gas range lighting; dishes pulled from cupboards for a meal; a not-well competing radio program. Occasionally, there is traffic noise, but surprisingly (and thankfully) it doesn’t color the sound here much. Air conditioning units add their hum, and above and beyond it all, I do hear the birds singing, here in the middle of Milano.
by Maureen | Jun 21, 2009 | Cheese, Food!, Meals
I guess I could have gotten a bigger plate. A little of this, a little of that and all of a sudden the small plate was piled high with proscuitto crudo, scamorza affumicata, focaccia with carmelized onions, a few slices of bosc, some pan-seared green beans, and fresh tomato drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, of course. Not a bad little Sunday brunch thrown together with what’s in the fridge.
by Maureen | Jun 21, 2009 | Cheese, Discoveries, Food!, Shopping & Markets
There’s a really great grocery store that I walk to about a mile away. It’s a good thing that it’s two miles there and back and that I walk because I keep finding really delicious cheeses to try out! (Uh oh! I’m much more of a sucker for the cheeses than the photogenic pastries here. Either one’s a danger!)
Here’s one that I just had to test: tomino prataiola mignon. It’s got a thin, brie-like exterior, with a subtly-flavored center and firm as if brie had aged and dried.
(I can see I’m going to need to learn some descriptive foodie terms to describe what I’m eating!)
by Maureen | Jun 21, 2009 | Photo of the Day
A pair of these beautiful, iron hands knock on double doors along Corso San Gottardo, between my apartment and the grocery store. They stopped me in my tracks.
by Maureen | Jun 21, 2009 | Graffiti & Street Art
This spiral greeted me as I stepped out of the Romolo subway stop near home.
by Maureen | Jun 21, 2009 | Graffiti & Street Art
I’m always looking for an interesting “M”, since that’s my first initial and often how I sign my letters and e-mails. This one is quite beautiful, found just around the corner from my apartment, along the canal.
by Maureen | Jun 20, 2009 | Photo of the Day, Quips
I saw these two one-day-after-the-other: 1) A display in the subway station advertising a shop that sells “American Indian artifacts” (yeah, right!), and 2) Pop corn, branded with the image of a Plains Indian Chief.
Curious the fascination with America… but maybe not at all! Look at the U.S. obsession with Italy! I guess it goes both ways…
Two weeks later, I found this inflatable rubber canoe alongside the canal:
by Maureen | Jun 20, 2009 | Introspection, Journal
I’m such a nester. Always have been. I awoke at 4:30 or so this morning, Saturday, forced sleep ’til about 5:30 then got up. Cup of coffee at my side, I wrote and messed with photos for a while ’til I started getting drowsy at about 9:30. I napped for a little more than an hour, then got up, ready for major nesting.
This apartment came with 5 overhead cabinets in the kitchen, filled with dishes, pots & pans, and odds-and-ends foodstuffs. I pulled it ALL out of the cabinets, wiped down the shelves, decided which food to throw away, and scrubbed the built-up grime on the pans I set aside to use.
The unneeded dishes and pans are all neatly tucked into 1 cabinet, and the other 4 cabinets are spare, organized and clean-n-sparkly. Ahhh. I gained space and feel better about the surfaces I’m cooking and eating on!
by Maureen | Jun 20, 2009 | Introspection, Journal, Quips
Yesterday morning at 11:00 I came up out of the subway right in front of the magnificent duomo. Wow. Such a sight and it was great to be back again; I enjoyed it so much last year. It reminds me of a sandcastle that was built by dribbling wet sand down my fingertips.
But there was no one to call at 11:00 in the morning my time! It was 2:00 a.m. on the U.S. West Coast. There was no one with whom to share the excitement…
