The Road to Milano

Well, it is more like a story you read in a novel than actual fact, but we've landed on our feet in Milano.

It all started a while ago when we started up Italian – English conversation contacts via the internet. One of the people we connected with is here in Milano. She has been most helpful, via Skype, on Italian language and culture, and questions about cooking, and she also revealed that she had another Australian friend.

When we started making noises about leaving Florence and using Milano as a base for travel to Vienna and Prague, we were advised that the Australian couple have an apartment that may be available if we were interested. We were interested.

After a little research and some negotiation, we settled the deal and got the address and arrival date. During the intervening weeks, the owner called to say the phone was connected, the brand new broadband internet service was on and that they could arrange a discount for parking. Not too bad.

We mentioned the suburb of Naviglio to our friends in Firenze, and they were very impressed and couldn't believe that we had found such a place.

The fateful day came and we packed up Firenze and said good-bye to our landlady, Caterina. It took a lot longer than expected for many reasons; we had collected an enormous amount of paper and other junk, Caterina and her mum wanted to say a proper good-bye, and Caterina announced in the middle of it that she and her boyfriend had just broken up.

Then we hit the road, starting with the crazy and chaotic Firenze. A quick stop for diesel, and we were on the Autostrada. Alan couldn't relax until we were closer to Bolognese thatn Firenze, he hated Firenze so much.

After that it was a dream run with Pam exercising her previously undetected Mediterranean heritage and carving through the traffic at 120. After a brief lunch at 3:30, Alan switched on the GPS and it started issuing instructions. Before very long, we were off the Autostrada and into the outer suburbs of greater Milano. Traffic was light, and the roads wide and expansive, although street names are difficult because they are engraved into the sides of buildings.

We called in our location to the owners so that they could meet up with us, and then suddenly, the GPS said 'congratulations – you've arrived'.

It was true. We were in our street, and just metres from our driveway.

The apartment is astonishing. It is in a block of about thirty and is luxurious compared with everything else we've had. Our bedroom has nice double glazed French doors which open out onto a small balcony over the road, and trams go past under it! we have a large family room/kitchen complete with dishwasher and microwave. The bathroom has a western style shower, which we had really missed, and there is a loft above it. It is all very new and modern there are thousands of cupboards. Next door is a cafe with tables on the street, there is a supermarket across the road, and we have restaurants all along the canals just down the road. Oh, and there is a metro station a hundred metres away, and our trusty Berlingo lives in their secure car park.

Our first evening was spent unloading the car, buying essentials across the road and then searching out a suitable restaurant. We dined in a nice, quiet place just around the corner, and Pam had traditional osso bucco, and Alan chose the braised beef with polenta. Wonderful. A selection of Italian wines by the glass topped off the event.

That's our first day. Just wait until we settle in!

Anyone for Easter in Milano? We have a loft!

A FEW DAYS LATER

We love our very luxurious 1 bedroom apartment. Walking distance, from the city centre but surrounded by canals (some built & designed by one Leonardo da Vinci!) and lots of good aperitivo bars and restaurants. In some ways it is reminiscent of Venice, but also of parts of Paris and of Birmingham in England. We have done a few walks around the neighbourhood and have found two bread shops, one of which sells the best rock cakes (currant buns) called PAM! Of course they are brilliant!!!

We liked Milan on our few days here when we arrived in Italy and so far we are liking it even more on our 2nd visit. So we are settled here, more or less, for the next 3 weeks.

So far this week we have been to our friends for dinner. We were reliably told she is one of the best cooks in Italy, and this was the case – the meal was simply excellent. We are also back there for dinner on Saturday with the owners of our flat.

We have also been to the current Magritte exhibition in Milan, 100 of his paintings around the theme of “The mysteries of Nature” – absolutely brilliant. He has been one of my favourite painters for many years and this exhibition just reinforced that view.

Yesterday we went to a very pretty, but isolated village just near Pavia (about 40 minutes south of Milan), to visit a friend of our friend Chris Pitt. Her friend, Maura was lovely and we hope to visit her again over Easter.

Tomorrow we hope to go to Lake Como for the day – an easy half hour drive from Milan, but it is weather dependent as a cold front is due, with rain! So far we have had lovely weather.

Next week are off to Vienna and Prague for 3 days each, before returning to Milan for Easter, then off to France.

More soon!

Just a short little anecdote.

We came home at 1.00am on Saturday night / Sunday morning from our brilliant meal out at our friend’s. I just checked my email before I went to bed (it is a good time to check because of the time difference). Anyway there is an email from my friend Ezekial, whom I had not heard from for a while. For those of you who have forgotten, Ezekial was that lovely hunk of a guy that I made friends with in Montpellier while studying French. He had replied to my skype update message, so I chatted back and from 1.00 – 2.00am we had this great text chat in Italian, plus a tiny bit of French and English.
Ezekial was born in Argentina, so speaks Spanish as his native tongue, but his grandparents were Italian, so he also speaks fairly fluent Italian, plus of course French at a similar level to me, as that is how we met (in French language class). He has worked in Germany for the last several years so also speaks fluent German and of course some English. I am so envious of these people who can speak several languages fluently.

But, what I had to share with you all, is the observation I made to Alan:
It felt strange but at the same time a real buzz to be “An Australian sitting in Italy chatting in Italian to an Argentinian guy I met in France but who is living in Germany”!
How multicultural can you get?
And it was a real buzz to be able to chat in Italian – he could understand all my comments and questions and I could understand him!


On a different note. The meal at our friend's was even better than Tuesday. A very smooth bean soup with pasta to start, followed by roast beef, mixed grilled vegetables (zucchini, peppers, onions, courgettes, eggplant & tomatoes) and herbed roast potatoes. Third course was Procuitto crudo (very thinly sliced raw ham), an Italian cheese platter with gorgonzola, parmesan, sheep’s cheese and a soft yellow cheese (last 2 names forgotten) but all cheeses excellent, with marinated veges and fresh baby tomatoes. Fourth course was Colomba – an Easter version of the famous panetone cake with candied peel & almonds and a beautiful home made chocolate cake. Fifth course were beautiful fresh marinated strawberries.
To top it off her husband is into wine in a big way, so we had a lovely white wine from Eastern Toscana to start the dinner, then 2 excellent red wines – one from Piedmonte in northern Italy and one from Tuscany (very different from each other), and then finished off with a beautiful Asti Moscato (spumante).
Needless to say we were very full and satisfied at the end of the evening.
We have invited them back to our place for dinner just before Easter when we return from Prague & Vienna, so we will have to be on our toes!!!! I told them that we will try some Italian cooking and she said NOOOOOOOOOOO. She wants something different, so our thinking caps are on! We will let you know how we go.

So buona sera, bon soir, good evening, buono appetito for now,