Great Performances

Another big highlight of my time abroad was the great performances I got to head to. Mostly opera. The list, here:

• Miranda and I saw Sharon Gless in "A Round-Heeled Woman" at the Aldwych in the West End.


• Ross and I saw "Cosi fan Tutte" at La Fenice in Venice.




• I made it to Aida at the Arena di Verona. I was on my own for that one, but it was completely worth it to go, and sitting in the cheap seats worked out just fine.




• Linda and I took her friends Phillis and Roger to Musica a Palazzo to see an evening of love duets.


• I hit up Musica a Palazzo a second time to take Ross, Mark, and Mary to see "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," it was another big hit!


• I hit up a cafe to see my friends Pete Ross and the Sapphire do their live show.


• I made it to La Scala on my last night in Milan to see "Lohengrin", a classic Wagner opera. And it's a beautiful opera house.

I am going to skip talking about all the art and gallery and museum shows I saw, since if I listed it down it would be a distressingly long list!

Memories... Visiting Out!

Wow, while writing yesterday's post, I was surprised by how many people visited in Italy! Not all of them came specifically to visit me, but I am still surprised by the sheer number of visitors I had. I also did a good amount of visiting myself. Here's where I visited:

• In December 2011, I headed to London to stay with Miranda. I also got to see Peter, a sweet family friend. He took me to his print shop! I had so much fun doing all the Christmas stuff there. London really is a smashing place to be.




• I visited home for the winter holidays. Ross and I made it out to Christmas with my family.


• I mentioned yesterday that when Ross was here we visited his sister Dawn in Paris for a few days.




• I visited in the US in March for Esther and Tom's wedding at West Point. That's a beautiful campus!


• I had lots of visitors in April, May, and June, so while I did visit some other cities in Italy during that time (like Riccione, as mentioned in my last post!), I didn't go for travel anywhere else until my cousin Ferg's wedding in Newport Beach. Ross joined me for that. A fun time hanging out with all the relatives!


• During true Italian Vacation Time (aka August), I headed for 11 days in Germany and Luxembourg. Esther and I saw the whole country of Luxembourg in one weekend, it was awesome. I spent a couple nights visiting with my friend Stacy in Oberkochen in the middle of that time. It's a really picturesque spot in the summer! Then Esther and I joined her husband's family near Worms for a weekend of wine. I had a blast!




• I mentioned that I traveled to Rome, Venice, and Florence and the like with visiting friends and family during the fall. My only "independent" trip in that time was to a conference in Istanbul. Now that's a cool city, layers of history underneath but modern and happening on the surface, with great food. I also had a blast with the other conference participants, they were fun. I would give Istanbul high marks, worth a trip.

I had a lot of awesome trips. While I did do a lot of visits back to the US (one for Christmas, two for weddings), I made it out a few times. I really did more traveling within Italy. I was lucky that I had so many visitors!

Coming to a Close...

The year (and this blog) is coming to a close... Here are some of my favorite memories of the year and this blog... Focus today on visitors! I had so many visitors to Milan, and we did so much in the city! Some of my visitors even dragged me off to other awesome cities. (I am not saying I fought them!)

Who came to visit:

• Ross came to visit in February. Besides hanging out in the city, we went to Paris and Venice for Carnevale. In Milan we mostly relaxed!


• Esther and Tom stopped in near the end of April. We ate a lot of different foods, visited the Duomo and downtown in general, and headed to Navigli to have really good pizza.


• Miranda came for a long weekend in May, and we really made the most of it! Besides eating lots of good things, we also trekked out to Lake Como and Verona! I had my first visit to the Brera with Miranda.


• Blake came in the middle of May for an artists' symposium. Eating and drinking were again major highlights of the visit, but I also took my first trip up to Lago Maggiore both to see the Borromeo Islands and to enjoy the art show! Blake and I visited Museo del Novocento.




• In June, Gerri, Chris, and Linda came for the FINA World Master's. I entertained them for a couple days in Milan, and helped them head on to Riccione, and then met them there for a few wonderful days at the beach and cheering them on at their highly successful competition.


• Linda came to visit in Italy in September and October. She didn't come to Milano, but I met her for two wonderful weekends, in Venice and in Rome. In Venice, we dined and lived the chic life, while in Rome we did even more sight-seeing! We really romped all over the city.




• Ross, Mark, and Mary came to visit in October. Ross spent nearly a week with me in Milan, while Mark and Mary stayed in Milan then headed to Firenze for a few days. Then we all met in Venice!


• Heather and Konrad stayed a weekend with me in early November. We had a lot of gelato and went to the Science and Technology Museum, the highlight of which was the submarine tour!




• Stan stopped by Milan the weekend after Thanksgiving, and I joined up with him to visit some of his old haunts.


• Finally, my sister came for the first week of December. We headed down to Florence to stay with Heather and Konrad, bought masks in Venice, and celebrated the day of the patron saint of Milan, Sant'Ambroggio!

Well, that's quite a long list of visitors. I didn't realize how lucky I was to have so many guests 'til one of my Germany-living friends told me that I was her first visitor after living for Germany for just over a year. I'm lucky to have so many intrepid friends!

Venice Souvenirs...

Masks! Every time I go to Venice, I get a mask as a souvenir.



I went to Venice four times this year... I bought the pair of golden masks together on one trip. Let's see, the red one is from when Ross and I went to Carnival, the blue-green glitter metal one is from when I visited with Linda, the green one with the fabric trim is when I went with Ross and Mark and Mary, and then the golden pair is from when I took my sister!

I'm adding those to the one I from my first visit to Venice. I do think it's my favorite place to visit in Italy.

Souvenirs of My Travels

Merry Christmas to all! I didn't post yesterday due to being unbelievably unwell, but now I seem to have slept it off with only minor effects remaining...

The next few days I will be posting pics of different cool things I got on my travels. Esther bought this for me when we visited the mines in Luxembourg!

Panettone

I'm in Connecticut with Ross's family today... I can't believe what we saw at the grocery store! Panettone!

Last Groceries

This is my last round of Italian groceries... I didn't manage to eat all this stuff before I left since I ended up having a few meals out and about. I kinda knew I was overbuying. However, I had to at least have some panettone before I left! It's a traditional Italian Christmas cake, particularly for Milano. In the Veneto, they have pandoro instead. Very similar, no fruit bits but with powdered sugar on the outside...

Matterhorn

On my flight home on Wednesday, it was clear over the alps, and then foggy from France to London. But, having a clear view of the alps is so great. I had a special treat... the Matterhorn was marked on the in-flight map close up since there aren't a lot of landmark cities in the middle of the alps. As soon as I saw it on there, I thought, "Gee, I hope we get close... I wonder if it will be on my side of the plane." I lucked out! Matterhorn!

Lohengrin at La Scala

On Tuesday night (my last night in Milan) I went to see Lohengrin at La Scala. Let me say, it was a great show. The singers, the orchestra, the set design, all of that was great. Lohengrin has pretty good music, really pretty for a Wagner opera.

La Scala is a beautiful opera house. Opera houses do usually have lovely chandeliers...



I sprung for a good seat, a balcony box front.



The boxes are tiny. My seat was the front right one. A nicely dressed businessman was sitting on the little stool one seat "behind" me. The view was probably OK from his seat, but really, I think I had the only good view in the box...



Ceiling clocks are a thing in theaters in Italy.



The cast of Lohengrin, taking their bows. Much deserved! The woman playing Ortrud was probably my favorite, she really was a great actress as well as a good singer.



All in all, a great night. I even got a program, which was basically a hardback book! (Complete with dust cover!)

Christmastime in the City...

This weekend I went down to the Duomo area to take in the Christmas decorations and caught a free show at Palazzo Marino. This time it was Cupid and Psyche. I didn't think we were allowed to take pictures in there, so I didn't. It's cool, at this palace right near the galleria, they have small free shows with a few pieces at a time, changing every month or so. This time it was a great Canova sculpture and a painting by François Gérard. Both of these pieces were on loan from the Louvre, and are pretty much masterworks. Anyway, pretty great. Anyway, the snow is still up on everything. The Christmas tree in the Duomo square is actually much smaller than last years, but still nicely decorated. (It's not as big as it looks in this picture!)





Well, this is my last day in Italy, I am on my way to the airport right now... I guess this spells the end of my blog on Italy! Maybe I will take up another blogging project, but until the end of the year expect greatest hits, odds and ends, and some reflection of my time here. Goodbye Milano!

Winter Wonderland

Winter wonderland shots from this weekend. I don't know what it is, but it really seems like precipitation is a weekend thing in Milan. This weekend we got about six inches of snow, and next weekend is supposed to add more to that total. These pictures are just around my neighborhood.

Goodbye, Sister!

A week ago Sunday I sent my sister back off to Boston. I was so sad to see her go I even took her to the airport. (Though, once again, the one-day return train ticket somehow got the best of me... still not sure how to get it to validate a second time...) We grabbed a quick lunch at the airport, just pizza and sodas.



On my way back home I noticed that the holiday decorations were actually on! Auguri! I can't find any home ornaments that say that, though, for some reason all the Christmas decorations I see in stores are in English, French, or Spanish... I want Auguri!

Saturday Evening

We finished up our Saturday morning by heading to the Duomo to have a little indoor tour. (Led by me, of course!)



Since it was Immaculate Conception day, there were lots of masses happening. We caught a good part of one.



We popped over to La Rinascente to finish up our tour from the night before.



We walked up to the castle to do a quick bit of catch up shopping at the street fair, and then headed back toward my apartment. We shopped at Penny, me for groceries, my sister for souvenir food to take home. It wasn't too crowded, luckily. We huddled up in the apartment, packing Vio's bag and having a few snacks, before heading to my landlord's for aperitivo and pasta dinner. It was a lot of fun, and a great, relaxing way to spend an evening.

Saturday Morning Church Tour

Saturday morning we got up early to go see Cenacolo, the Leonardo Da Vinci Last Supper, at Santa Maria delle Grazie. It was a pretty cool experience, it is truly a masterpiece. Our group of 25 included a Japanese tour group, who were a bit of a block, but they were also guided around to see some other things in the refectory so we got some unobstructed time. After the Last Supper, we toured the inside of the church, which had some beautiful carved icons.



We walked past the fair, which was still on.



We were on our way over to the Santo Stefano Maggiore area and we passed by a 1928 tram next to a new one. The future and the past!



We were on our way first to San Bernardino alle Ossa, Vio's selection for weird churches. The church is famous for its ossuary. It's a little creepy, no? Still, a unique sight.



The ceiling fresco was actually really awesome, with cool layered corners. The bone decorations are fascinating.



After we popped into Santo Stefano.



We headed back to the Duomo area for Panzerotti at Luini's and gelato at Cioccolati Italiani...

Friday in Milano

Friday we took the train out of Venice, after a crazy hunt for a mask that Vio fancied. The good news was that our plot to obtain it went flawlessly, and we made it out of there with no problems.



We regathered our strength at my apartment for a few hours, then braved the incredible cold and snow to head to the holiday festivities. We went to Basilica Sant'Ambrogio to see the saint himself, and we ended up sticking around for mass. It was one of the pretty ones with a choir, and wasn't too long since they really pack them in on the holidays!



After we headed to Fiera degli Oh Bej Oh Bej and did some shopping. I bought some cool stuff, and Vio bought a few things too. We didn't end up snacking out there since it was so cold out there, we headed over to la Rinascente instead so we could sit inside and have cocktails and cheese. Lots of cheese.



Look at how much snow is falling! I know that it's not a lot by New England standards, but seriously for Milan that it pretty snowy for early December.



We made it home and even to bed at a decent hour. Thank goodness it's toasty in my apartment, my toes were chilly after that evening!

Wine Review: Barbera del Monferrato

OK, a quick break from vacation photos for some wine I drank last night! I am trying to remember where I bought this wine. I think I paid more than two Euros for it... It's an interesting wine, and this variety of Barbera is meant to be drunk young. The first things you notice about it are that it's lightly sparkling, and that the color is powerfully bloody ruby red. The flavor is pretty strong, but not rough. A little fruit, definite acid and bitterness. I would actually buy it again, but it's not a wine I could drink all the time... too bold for that!



Second, unrelated taste test: Chocorooms! Vio impulse-bought these at the airport on her way to Italy. Based strictly on the packaging I think...



They taste just like you would expect from the package. Plain, but not too soft or milky, chocolate, crispy slightly sweet cracker. They are cute and hilarious, and actually taste pretty good. Thanks, sister!

Thursday Evening

After the museum, we went to lunch at Ae Oche, a pretty cheap and decent pizzeria.



We went to Scuola di San Rocco after lunch, one of my favorite weird sights in Venezia. The whole thing is decked out in Tintoretto paintings. The ground level is pretty sober looking, but up on the first floor it's pretty bonkers, with really weird allegorical carvings by Pianta. After we took the boat out to see the inside of Santa Maria della Salute.



We decided to take a boat around the "bottom" of Venice, between the main part of the city and Giudecca, just to see a little new territory. Man, it got dark quite quickly on our boat trip! By the time we were at the west end of Giudecca it was pretty much completely night-time. We were on the 2 vaporetto, and we rode all the way around to Rialto just so we could walk over and see the bridge.



We had dinner at a little place not so far from our hotel. I am not sure I ever saw the sign for the place. We were pretty close to the only customers, it was a cold slow night.



We had pasta dishes and grilled veggies, and some red wine of course. The guy who was running the place gave us a little dessert and aperitif liqueur so we were there for quite a while relaxing and enjoying.



It was a good night!

Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia

Thursday morning we made it to Vio's top Venice attraction choice, the Natural History Museum of Venice. We were the only two tourists there in a sea of school children. Still, it was a pretty good museum. One of the main sections of the museum is about fossils and evolution. It starts off with a dinosaur section. They have a pretty whole dinosaur skeleton dug up by an Italian. It's an Ouranosaurus nigeriensis...



The exhibit area for fossils of evolving life has a cool design.



There are several sections dedicated to Venetian explorers. Like 19th and 20th centuries, not Marco Polo.



And they had a Fiji mermaid! Really creepy.



Overall, it was a pretty cool museum. Not large, but nice exhibit design...