L'antipasto

The Duomo

La Galleria

La Scala

        Alright, on to the next course of my little Italian life. My friend, Mary and I arrive in Milan. Now Milan is known more for it's fashion business then it's tourist attractions, But we found there are some really cool things to see there. We visited the "Duomo" a huge Gothic church right in the downtown center which is right next to La Galleria, a sort of glass covered intersection, with bars and shops and restaurants. Then right next to that is La Scala, the most famous opera house in the world, well we had to see that! And down the street from that was the art museum, which we almost didn't go to because we still had the "Last Supper" and the castle to see and we were only planning on staying in Milan for two days, but for some reason we decided to go to the museum anyway. Which was probably a good decision because I wouldn't be writing this blog right now if we hadn't.
         And there he was. Standing next to the ticket taker, with a huge smile on his face, watching us enter the first room. We got about half way around the room and he came to offer his services as a guide, free of charge, of course! Well you can't do better than free! So off we went to have a guided tour of the museum. He showed us all the important pieces with all kinds of  factual information and when it was over he offered to be our guide for the rest of the day! He would take us to the Last Supper and the castle, but first one must eat something. So, together with his friend/coworker, Enrico,( who he enlisted at the last minute to assist in our guided tour) we were off to this little bar he knew that makes good sandwiches, panini buoni. There I ate, for the first time in my life, a tomato-fresh basil-fresh mozzarella-on the best Italian bread you have ever had-drizzled with extra virgin olive oil-sandwich. It was good, molto buono.

Il Castello Sforzesco

        Next stop, Il Castello Sforzesco, a huge castle in the center of Milan. We visit floor after floor of exhibitions of everything from art work to artillery. Somehow, in all the wonder, we get separated from Mary and Enrico. Now thinking back on the whole thing, that could have been accidental or not, hmmmmm. Who knows? And as we go down this great stone stairwell, we stop on the landing to look out at the courtyard below, and he turns and kisses me, and I let him (cause in reality he had me at the tomato sandwich). And it was good, molto, molto buono!

The Last Supper

          We did go see "The Last Supper" by Leonardo DeVinci and there are so many stories to tell of that trip, but for now I'll end here, in honor of Valentine's Day, on this romantic note. When I finally got back to the states there was a post card, from you know who, my Romeo, my future husband, waiting for me. It was a picture of a famous painting called "Il Bacio" the kiss, by Hayez. It's a couple from the middle ages kissing in a stone castle stairwell. I still have it! Oh, he's good, very, very good. I didn't have a chance!

Il Bacio, The Kiss
Looks a little like Romeo and Juliette to me....hmmmm serendipity!