Flying into Milano yesterday evening, (after a very long day of cancelled and delayed flights) I felt emotional and got a little teary-eyed. This is my seventeenth year of making this journey, coming back for a month or more to see friends, visit new and treasured places, and eat some of my favorite dishes as well as venture untried regional specialities.
In the evening, I arrived at my rented apartment, a simple one-room studio with a bathroom and the “essentials”. Just right. This is in a classic Milanese “Casa de Ringhiera”, roughly 600 years old, in which there’s an inner courtyard, accessed by walking through a locked, wrought iron gate. I walk up a narrow, stone/wrought iron stairway to the “second floor”, (what is considered the “third floor” in the U.S.). Each floor is ringed with an outer walkway balcony. At this building, the balconies on all floors are laden with producing grape vines. It creates a beautiful effect.
I arrived hungry and way off in my body clock, so I met up with my painter friend, Loredano, for a bite to eat, and we went to Trattoria della Darsena, a lovely, warm and welcoming little restaurant run by friends. They had “Vitello Tonnato” on the menu… one of my favorites and perfect for a warm-but-not-hot evening. It’s very thin slices of roast veal, topped with a smooth pureéd sauce of tuna and mayonnaise, plus cherry tomatoes and capers. I know… roast veal with tuna sauce sounds like an unlikely and odd combination, but it’s delicious.
Having arrived late in the evening and having no groceries in the house, my breakfast this morning consisted of two crackers and a slice of cheese from yesterday’s plane flight, plus a “caffè normale” (one shot of espresso) and a few nuts. It tided me over ‘til my long-awaited lunch…
I walked up the Naviglio Grande – Grand Canal – to Trattoria Ponte Rosso, and affectionately greeted the owner, Luciano, with the classic two-cheek kiss. I’ve been eating in his trattoria for years now. I immediately ordered Carpaccio di Spada Affumicata – paper thin slices of smoked tuna, from Sicily. I had this a year ago and have been daydreaming about it ever since. It was topped with cherry tomatoes, shaved fennel and taggiasche olives (specifically from Liguria), then drizzled with a fine olive oil. I enjoyed some prosecco, then a cafè normale to finish off the meal.
A leisurely, relaxed, slow meal on an easy day. Perfect after 24+ hours of travel door-to-door yesterday. And now I’m sitting in the silence (except for the sound of the air conditioning) of my studio apartment. All is just right. Tutto perfetto. Tomorrow I fly south, to start a southern tour (last done in 2011!): Bari (Puglia), Matera (Basilicata), Napoli (Campania), Nulvi (Sardegna)… then back here to Milano (Lombardia) for two and a half weeks.
I recognize the blessing and privilege of being able to have such a sojourn in my life… and to do this every year!
As I sit here, 7:00 PM on my first day, the church bells are ringing one block away and their chiming fills the air. Home again.