Day 3: Milan
We must have been tired out from yesterday....we sleep through until 8:30
am. The sky is gray and threatening and it is cool...where did our
beautiful weather go?
After breakfast, we head out to take the tram to the Naviglio district--on
the far side of town. This is the old port of Milan, established with canals
designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Until recently, it was a major Italian port.
Now it is one of the upcoming districts of Milan for restaurants, shops and
clubs. After some confusion finding the correct tram--not all our
fault...the desk clerk gave us some bad information- we hop on for the ride
around the city. During the ride, the sky brightens and the sun comes out.
When we get off the tram, it is warm and pleasant. We get off at the
Darsena, the main boat basin, and start walking along the canal. Most of
the shops are still closed and there is not much to see. Maybe it is better
to come on an evening when it is more lively. So we cut our visit short and
head for the center of town to catch the antique show in the Brera district.
The antique show has stalls spread out along some of the picturesque small
side streets...there are antiques, books, curios--all the usual items. We
just look and stroll.
By now, it is time for lunch. We start walking towards the Giardini
Publicci--the big public park just north of the central district. We find a
nice bar--Bar Milano--where we buy some sandwiches and drinks and find a
nice bench in the sun to have our picnic. The park is full on a sunny, warm
day--children playing soccer, people walking their dogs, joggers, and bench
sitters. We enjoy our sandwiches and just rest for a while, enjoying the
sun, the setting and the people watching.
Our next destination is the Ambrosiana Art Gallery....recommended to us by
the kind gentleman who had shepherded us to the right tram two days
before--when we were newcomers to Milan. We get on our regular tram--the
No. 1--but I have misread the route map and it takes us far out of our
way....forcing us to double back for part of the route. So I guess we are
still newcomers...
The museum houses the collection of a Milanese cardinal who accumulated a
large store of paintings. The galleries give a great first
impression...they are nicely lit and the paintings are beautifully
displayed. There is also a special show called the Three Rings--which
includes books from the Ambrosiana Library--which is extensive and has
holdings of a wide range of old manuscripts--Christian, Islamic, and Hebrew.
In display cases in several of the rooms, they have made an arrangement
which compares and contrasts themes dealt with by all three traditions. We
are most interested in the Hebrew texts, which are for the most part
beautifully written and decorated. We spend a fair amount of time trying to
read the Italian explanations which give some very good background
information about the texts.
We also note that one of the Hebrew Bibles is displayed upside down but when
we call it to the guard's attention (and later to the ticket clerk), they
claim that there is nothing to be done. Maybe we will send an e-mail to the
Ambrosiana staff later and see if it can get put right.
The collection of paintings is also quite spectacular and we spend a couple
of hours going through the entire gallery. We have bought a small guide to
the gallery and the explanations are very helpful in keeping us oriented and
giving us some additional information about what we are seeing. There are
Caravaggios, Titians, Raffaellos, Bellinis among the collection...there is
even one room which is the collection of a Milanese Jew who left his
collection to the Gallery.
After two hours, we are ready to leave...we are tired, but we have had one
of our best art gallery experiences. As we are leaving, I overhear another
tourist asking at the ticket booth whether an hour is enough time to do
justice to the Ambrosiana. I interrupt to suggest that he might want to
come back another day....that there is lots to see and he might feel rushed.
He decides to return on Tuesday.
It is still bright and sunny outside.....we stop for a gelato--chocolate
chip and hazlenut for me, chocolate chip and lemon for Diana--and they are
very tasty. The gelato may be hard to find in Milan, but when you do get it, it
is worth waiting for....We walk over to the Piazza Duomo and sit in the sun
finishing our gelato. The square is quite busy with tourists and also with
crowds of Filipinos, who seem to form a major sector of the labor
force--especially for domestic work. (We are also struck with the large
number of Japanese tourists and the frequency of menus and signs in
Japanese.)
We take a taxi back to the hotel at around 5:30 pm.....we need a rest before
dinner. We decide that we don't want to go far afield and the place we ate
at on Friday night--Il Carpaccio--is closed tonight. I do some research
and find a Slow Food (and other sources) recommended restaurant--the Osteria
del Treno about five blocks away. When we ask the desk clerk about other
possibilities, he recommends one even closer--da Illia. I had heard another
desk clerk recommend it the day before, so I figured it was either a good
place or that the hotel gets some recognition from the restaurant for
sending people there.
We decide to walk over and find yet another very attractive trattoria....you
enter through the kitchen past a very tempting antipasto table. In the
kitchen, there was also an enormous baked fish, just out of the oven. It
looked delicious. Two more oddities--on the menu in the window, there is a
section of specialita' Farsi--Persian dishes. And, along with the bread,
they serve plates of freshly made, unsalted potato chips and fried potato
balls--something tater tots aspire to.
We both decided to have the antipasto as a first course....and it was very
good--frittata, mozzarella cheese and tomato, mussels, grilled
zucchini--all the usual suspects and some unusual...a barley salad with arucola and tomato.
The pastas were less successful...Diana's ravioli were very tasty but
swimming in butter and my spaghetti alle vongole was served without the
shells and was very pedestrian. Diana also had a very good grilled chicken
breast. But why didn't we order the fish? The wine was a nice refreshing
white from the Val d'Arbia near Montalcino (I later read that Illia's is a Tuscan restaurant--both of their
house wines were from Montalcino).
We were also not very happy with our waiter...he had sort of an attitude and
wasn't very solicitous. Other waiters seemed more gracious and personable.
The clientele of the restaurant was mostly tourists and foreigners but there
was a smattering of Italians and they were doing a booming business. We
overheard an Italian couple ordering "puntarelle"--the seasonal Roman salad
that we like so well, but since we didn't see it on the menu, we didn't think to
order it.
We skipped dessert and headed back to the hotel.....not a stellar dining
experience, but I learned a lesson about taking hotel restaurant
recommendations.
Jim and Diana
am. The sky is gray and threatening and it is cool...where did our
beautiful weather go?
After breakfast, we head out to take the tram to the Naviglio district--on
the far side of town. This is the old port of Milan, established with canals
designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Until recently, it was a major Italian port.
Now it is one of the upcoming districts of Milan for restaurants, shops and
clubs. After some confusion finding the correct tram--not all our
fault...the desk clerk gave us some bad information- we hop on for the ride
around the city. During the ride, the sky brightens and the sun comes out.
When we get off the tram, it is warm and pleasant. We get off at the
Darsena, the main boat basin, and start walking along the canal. Most of
the shops are still closed and there is not much to see. Maybe it is better
to come on an evening when it is more lively. So we cut our visit short and
head for the center of town to catch the antique show in the Brera district.
The antique show has stalls spread out along some of the picturesque small
side streets...there are antiques, books, curios--all the usual items. We
just look and stroll.
By now, it is time for lunch. We start walking towards the Giardini
Publicci--the big public park just north of the central district. We find a
nice bar--Bar Milano--where we buy some sandwiches and drinks and find a
nice bench in the sun to have our picnic. The park is full on a sunny, warm
day--children playing soccer, people walking their dogs, joggers, and bench
sitters. We enjoy our sandwiches and just rest for a while, enjoying the
sun, the setting and the people watching.
Our next destination is the Ambrosiana Art Gallery....recommended to us by
the kind gentleman who had shepherded us to the right tram two days
before--when we were newcomers to Milan. We get on our regular tram--the
No. 1--but I have misread the route map and it takes us far out of our
way....forcing us to double back for part of the route. So I guess we are
still newcomers...
The museum houses the collection of a Milanese cardinal who accumulated a
large store of paintings. The galleries give a great first
impression...they are nicely lit and the paintings are beautifully
displayed. There is also a special show called the Three Rings--which
includes books from the Ambrosiana Library--which is extensive and has
holdings of a wide range of old manuscripts--Christian, Islamic, and Hebrew.
In display cases in several of the rooms, they have made an arrangement
which compares and contrasts themes dealt with by all three traditions. We
are most interested in the Hebrew texts, which are for the most part
beautifully written and decorated. We spend a fair amount of time trying to
read the Italian explanations which give some very good background
information about the texts.
We also note that one of the Hebrew Bibles is displayed upside down but when
we call it to the guard's attention (and later to the ticket clerk), they
claim that there is nothing to be done. Maybe we will send an e-mail to the
Ambrosiana staff later and see if it can get put right.
The collection of paintings is also quite spectacular and we spend a couple
of hours going through the entire gallery. We have bought a small guide to
the gallery and the explanations are very helpful in keeping us oriented and
giving us some additional information about what we are seeing. There are
Caravaggios, Titians, Raffaellos, Bellinis among the collection...there is
even one room which is the collection of a Milanese Jew who left his
collection to the Gallery.
After two hours, we are ready to leave...we are tired, but we have had one
of our best art gallery experiences. As we are leaving, I overhear another
tourist asking at the ticket booth whether an hour is enough time to do
justice to the Ambrosiana. I interrupt to suggest that he might want to
come back another day....that there is lots to see and he might feel rushed.
He decides to return on Tuesday.
It is still bright and sunny outside.....we stop for a gelato--chocolate
chip and hazlenut for me, chocolate chip and lemon for Diana--and they are
very tasty. The gelato may be hard to find in Milan, but when you do get it, it
is worth waiting for....We walk over to the Piazza Duomo and sit in the sun
finishing our gelato. The square is quite busy with tourists and also with
crowds of Filipinos, who seem to form a major sector of the labor
force--especially for domestic work. (We are also struck with the large
number of Japanese tourists and the frequency of menus and signs in
Japanese.)
We take a taxi back to the hotel at around 5:30 pm.....we need a rest before
dinner. We decide that we don't want to go far afield and the place we ate
at on Friday night--Il Carpaccio--is closed tonight. I do some research
and find a Slow Food (and other sources) recommended restaurant--the Osteria
del Treno about five blocks away. When we ask the desk clerk about other
possibilities, he recommends one even closer--da Illia. I had heard another
desk clerk recommend it the day before, so I figured it was either a good
place or that the hotel gets some recognition from the restaurant for
sending people there.
We decide to walk over and find yet another very attractive trattoria....you
enter through the kitchen past a very tempting antipasto table. In the
kitchen, there was also an enormous baked fish, just out of the oven. It
looked delicious. Two more oddities--on the menu in the window, there is a
section of specialita' Farsi--Persian dishes. And, along with the bread,
they serve plates of freshly made, unsalted potato chips and fried potato
balls--something tater tots aspire to.
We both decided to have the antipasto as a first course....and it was very
good--frittata, mozzarella cheese and tomato, mussels, grilled
zucchini--all the usual suspects and some unusual...a barley salad with arucola and tomato.
The pastas were less successful...Diana's ravioli were very tasty but
swimming in butter and my spaghetti alle vongole was served without the
shells and was very pedestrian. Diana also had a very good grilled chicken
breast. But why didn't we order the fish? The wine was a nice refreshing
white from the Val d'Arbia near Montalcino (I later read that Illia's is a Tuscan restaurant--both of their
house wines were from Montalcino).
We were also not very happy with our waiter...he had sort of an attitude and
wasn't very solicitous. Other waiters seemed more gracious and personable.
The clientele of the restaurant was mostly tourists and foreigners but there
was a smattering of Italians and they were doing a booming business. We
overheard an Italian couple ordering "puntarelle"--the seasonal Roman salad
that we like so well, but since we didn't see it on the menu, we didn't think to
order it.
We skipped dessert and headed back to the hotel.....not a stellar dining
experience, but I learned a lesson about taking hotel restaurant
recommendations.
Jim and Diana
