THIS is the time to be in Milano. The temperature is warm enough (75 degrees) to be comfortable in light linen and...
75 Degrees of Perfection
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Discoveries Articles
Ushering Ants
The first order of business this morning was to usher the flock* of ants OUT. As soon as the weather warmed, the ants...
Kitty Fix on Ricotta Day
Wednesday is "ricotta day", the day they make fresh ricotta at the Cascina Femegro. Even though I had just been there...
Portraits of a Regional Election
They put the temporary, scaffold-and-tin poster walls back up in my neighborhood just in time to feature advertising...
Head Cheese & Olive Bread
After the flea market at Piazza dei Ciompi in Firenze last Sunday, I walked a few blocks further and saw yellow-tented...
Linens & Buttons in Firenze
It was as a Camp Fire Girl in fifth grade that I learned to sew by stitching along the lines of binder paper. I've...
Heart of the Renaissance
If you haven't been to Firenze (Florence), put it on your "life list" of must-see places in the world. Really. Two...
Quite a Git-Up
As I was returning home from Firenze and taking the metro from the train station, this couple was practically "doing...
Winter Goes Grudgingly
Winter has been long and gray and holding tight, unwilling to give way. But it's late March now, and winter goes...
How to Patch a Chuckhole
There's an ingenious citizen taking action along the frontage road that borders the canal and leads to the bike path....
Fractal Fibonacci Romanesco*
They call it "Cavolfiore" or Cauliflower here, but Americans call it "Romanesco Broccoli". Either way, it tastes...
Eat, That You Will Feel Well
Would you let 30 random strangers eat off your plate? Would you, in turn, eat off the plates of those 30 strangers?...
I Met Mary!
Last June, just a few days after I had arrived here in Milano, I went to the Cimitero Monumentale - the Monumental...
Zucchi Collection
When here in Milano in the summer of 2008, I stumbled upon a Zucchi Store just a half block north of the Duomo. They...
Prosciutto Soup
The other day I noticed the section in the meat department at the grocery store where they sell the "ends" of the...
Inspire the Construction Workers
JUST as they were on a crane removing this billboard ad for high-fashion lingerie, I was walking by with my camera and...
Pasta. We’re Not Talkin’ Noodles
Milano is a fabulous place to do a "design intensive" exploration, and I've stepped up my voracious visual consumption...
Where are the eggs?
"Excuse me. Where are the eggs?" On my first grocery shopping trip last June, I searched all over the refrigerator...
Frette – Damask Dreams
When I rounded the corner and saw the wall of red and cream damask patterns, I skipped both a breath and a heart...
Home Construction, Italian Style
How many people travel to Italy and include construction shots in their set of "vacation photos"? When I went to see...