cornetravel

Getting in and out of Cinque Terre was easy since it’s all done by train. But getting to somewhere can be quite time consuming. We arrived in Florence around midday. Rachele had been here before, at least once or twice, so we followed her around like lost puppies. Nowhere in particular, just getting a feel for the city and seeing where all the main attractions live.

Not really art.

Not the real David.

BFF

Uffizi from across the river.

Ponte Vecchio.

Duomo

Duomo bell tower.

I was exhausted from the train and from hauling a broken suitcase, with no handle, a little over a mile across cobblestone streets and sidewalks. I was in need of a decent beer.

All over Italy they have great wine. The best in the world. Second to none. But we are not much for wine. Sure we occasionally partake, but craft beer is light years better and more interesting. The craft beer scene in Europe leaves a bit to be desired, but a brewery in Florence was supposed to have decent brews.

We headed over to Archea Brewery in hopes of finding a place to hang our hats. We sampled the local wares, as well as some non-Archea beer. The non was better, particularly one of the sours. I let Rachele try the sour beer I was enjoying so much. She looked at me as if I had tried to poison her. I think she drank water the rest of the time.

The brewery was across the river from where we were staying and we hung around that part of the trying to find a pizza place. Rumor has it, in Italy you don’t want to eat any pizza north of Florence. Since we were in Florence, and with Rachele, we wanted to get some good pizza.

We can’t seen to remember the name of where we went. I know the general location on a map, but it’s almost impossible to figure out. Nevertheless, we enjoyed three of the best pizza’s ever eaten even though we were not in Naples. Our favorite pizza you could hardly call a pizza. It had double dough (or as Italians would say, double pasta). Imagine a full sized calzone. The pizza was normal and then they draped an entire crust on the top of the pizza. It’s not mushy because these things cook at around 900 degrees.

Yum!

Double pasta. Double deliciousness.

It was a great experience in a tiny little restaurant. Our Italian leader was pleased with the pizza especially upon hearing the head pizza maker talk, apparently, with a Napoli accent.

Since Rachele had already been to Florence, we felt the need to head out of town and experience nature. Best way to do this, Tuscany. The next morning we hoped in a van with two other women and our happy group of five (plus a “guide”) headed to wine country.

Our tour first took us to San Gimignano. A medieval town overlooking the Tuscan region of Italy. The rain rolled in on our way, but managed to clear up a bit by the time we were about to leave town.

Winning gelato

View from the bell tower

Town center

Views from the tower

City streets.

After an hour or so milling about the town we headed out to begin the wine section of our tour. The first vineyard we visited went through a whole spiel on how to drink the wine, savor the wine, smell the wine. That’s one annoying thing about the whole wine tasting tour, they won’t let you just enjoy the wine and have an opinion. The amount of unnecessary fussiness is a huge detriment to the experience. Although the wine, with all the pretentiousness, was rather good, the lunch was the real star. Where else can you get homemade lasagna with a truffle oil sauce?

Our venue for lunch.

Discussing the oaky notes of the red wine.

Truffle oil lasagna.

Discussing the cherry fragrance of the wine.

Our second and final wine stop was much less stuffy. The wine wasn’t as good, but the views were better, and the person in change was more personable. The rain rolled in again, forcing us inside, but we managed to finish all our tastings. At the end of our tastings we were able to sneak down to the cellar to see where they keep the wine. We also learned about grape flour. Once the grapes are all used for wine, the remaining skin can be made into flour and used just like any other flour. This was definitely the fact of the day.

Vineyard views.

The cellar.

Grape flour.

After a day filled with wine and rain, we were all ready to head back to Florence and take a nap. This was Rachele’s last day with us. After a quick nap, she headed back home to Sardinia. It was sad to see her go, but were delighted we could spend a few days with her and look forward to our paths crossing again in the future.

We liked Tuscany so much we decided to head back the next day.  We had not been able to see Siena or Pisa the day before. Our time in Florence was on the short side so we thought it would be best to see Siena, more of Tuscany, and Pisa on a big bus tour. Although we did get to squeeze these spots in, we paid dearly with our sanity.

One thing I worked hard to do on our trip was to not get involved in large tours. We tried any tour that mentioned small groups. No more than 12 people or so. The internet is rife with complaints about large buses hauling lazy travelers all over a country, attempting to maximize the tourist ability to check something off a “list”. Sadly, we fell prey to this exact occurrence on this tour.

It was not an enjoyable day. 12 hours on a bus of 55 people visiting San Gimignano, Siena, and Pisa. (Pisa, I should add, is two hours away from all the rest of this stuff, making it a really stupid thing to try to add on to a day)

A few highlights:

San Gimignano (again)

On day two in San Gimignano we had clearer weather so I was able to take better pictures of the views. We also didn’t feel the pressure to see anything else in the town. We spent our time there meeting our gelato quota and sipping prosecco as we looked out over the vineyards. Time well spent.

Siena

This was our favorite part of the day. In hindsight we would spend a whole day in Siena. The tour provided a local guide for the city. We learned about the Palio di Siena which is a horse race that is held in the middle of the town. The horse race is between 10 of the 17 contradas. Each contrada represents a different city ward. They have their own mascot (varying from snail to wave to eagle), colors, and rivals. Of course there is much pageantry about it all, but at the core the race is three laps around the main plaza in the city. When one is declared the winner (the loser is the contrada that came in second not last) the members of the contrada celebrate at the cathedral.

The main bell tower in the plaza.

Contrada map.

Contrada sign. The city signs let you know when you are entering a new contrada.

The cathedral in town may be my favorite church. The moment you walked through the doors your jaw can’t help but drop. The structure is unique from the outside as it is made from local stone so it actually looks black and white (The cathedral in Florence looks more green and white). The black and white stone can also be found on the inside along with mosaic floors, works from Donatello and Michelangelo,  as well as a library filled with colorful frescoes. Everywhere you looked it was beautiful.

I wish we could all be as sassy as this angel.

Pisa

The leaning tower of Pisa is a sight to see, but it was a surprise to learn that it is tower within a complex of about 4 buildings. There is a church, a baptistry, a monumental cemetary… All of these buildings make up Pisa’s cathedral square. The leaning tower is only the bell tower. It was surreal to turn the corner in Pisa and see nothing but stark white buildings and luscious green grass. Only after the initial shock of colors do you notice that a bell tower is peeking around the cathedral corner.

The next 45 minutes were wasted trying to take funny pictures. We’ll let you decide which is best.

I went for the classic pushing it over.

Look its not leaning!

Elizabeth went for the ole its falling on me bit.

Pisa was the last stop on our very long and large tour. It was great to see it all but please don’t do large tours. Don’t let friends do large tours. Instead spend the day focusing on one thing you really want to do.

As our usual Sunday schedule dictated, we woke up and went to Mass. After Mass, Clay insisted on eating at a restaurant that served and American-style brunch. I was sure this would end in disaster. I make an effort to not eat “American” abroad because it usually leads to  disappointment, but not this time. The brunch exceeded my expectations. It was like we were back in the USA brunching on a lazy Sunday enjoying waffles, pancakes, real bacon, a muffin (the jam filled that we like so much), fresh fruit and American coffee. The coffee, while it couldn’t hold a candle to Italian or even Spanish coffee, did remind me of home.

We then headed to the old home of the University of Bologna. The university is noted as being the first and oldest in Europe. It was heavily damaged in World War II, but later rebuilt from the original pieces found in the rubble. You can visit the municipal library established in 1838 and the former anatomy room where they used to carve up cadavers, which was built in the 1600s.

The infamous anatomy table.

After getting schooled, we went in search of a famous gelato place in Bologna that was recommended by our Modena tour guide. Yes our gelato challenge was still happening. It was day 8 and we were still enjoying gelato. We waited in line for 15-20 minutes. The line was out the door. It was the best to date. Our flavors were vanilla based and not too wild, but they were delicious.

The next day we spent in Bologna should not have been there. When we were planning our trip, we made a mistake and booked an extra night in Bologna. Not sure how it happened, but we’re glad it did in a town as slow and relaxing as Bologna.

On our bonus day we decided to walk the porticoes of Bologna. The city planners instituted the porticoes to protect people from the weather as the milled about. Bologna has the longest portico in the world with 666 archways. The portico leads from downtown to a church on a hilltop. We covered about half on the way up and decided to walk all the way into town to finish them all off. The idea was better than the act. It isn’t the most thrilling walk, but it’s about the only way to get to the top of the hillside.

We grabbed lunch at a shop that deals in meats and cheese. They skirt some laws about health codes so they serve food (the meats and cheeses they sell as if you were at a grocery store) on plates, but they do not have a menu and will not bring the food to your table. They offer suggestions, but cannot have anything set in stone or some such. Very peculiar, but also very tasty.

We took a little nap before dinner where we indulged in more stuffed pasta. The highlight of the night was going to a small bar and Clay eating a sugar cube that had been soaked in a high grain alcohol. The closet/store sets the cube on alight before the patron, Clay, blows it off and then eats it. A lovely gimmick. Clay can assure you the booze did not completely burn out. He mentioned that the inside of the cube was equivalent to downing lighter fluid. Lucky him.*sips reasonable glass of prosecco as Clay laments his decisions*

It was fun day all around and a great way to leave Bologna. The next day we were off to Cinque Terre, not before buying a few muffins first.

The goal of getting to each city in Italy was to arrive in time to be able to eat lunch. Why was eating lunch so important? Because we were in Italy and I didn’t want to miss a meal while on a train. Italy still does a fair amount of siesta nonsense, so a lot of places are not open between 3:30 and 7, making it very important to not schedule a tour near lunch, otherwise you’ll miss the chance to eat.

Thankfully all the major train stations have a place called VyTA. They sell a muffin that has jam or chocolate stuffing in the middle. We discovered them in Milan and tried to eat a apricot, chocolate, or berry muffin at every train station we encountered. I don’t think I ever grabbed a picture, but they are decent muffins. The sweet fruity or chocolate filling only enhance how deliciously terrible they are for you.

We didn’t eat too many before arriving in Bologna though, so after we settled in we headed straight out for lunch.

There were plenty of cheap places by us selling day old schwarma or offering the popular afternoon buffet. Loud music was everywhere. Youths chain smoked out in the cafes. Graffiti tags covered any wall nearby. Turned out we were staying within the campus of the University of Bologna. That would explain the cigarette smoke and seedy vibe of the entire area. Sleep would be difficult, especially with the music/food festival and the political propaganda being yelled out on the stage in the square, but it was interesting none the less.

We walked around Bologna with not much to see or do. Like Porto, there is not a lot of pressure to see things in Bolonga. Unlike Porto, thankfully, there is no importance placed on codfish. Instead, Bologna cares about stuffed pasta’s.

As we wandered, we ran into the two famous towers in town, built in order to keep an eye on the surrounding areas to keep the city safe. We also strolled in and around Santo Stefano, a collection of seven churches dating back to 5th century.

Inside the seven churches.

Santo Stefano

A look at the porticoes in the city.

The two towers. They used to be the same height.

We found a place for lunch quite a ways from the busy city center. We had hit the lunch rush. The restaurant was packed, as was the outside, as was the entire basement. We finally got seated in the bowels of the restaurant and made note that places in Italy don’t always go up a level to seat you, sometimes they go down.

Our meal would end up being one of the best we had in Italy. We had a basic panini with proscuitto and cheese and a couple of pasta dishes, ravioli and a ragu with wide noodles. Every thing we ordered was very good. It was also pretty cheap. Good pasta dishes in Italy ran around 8-10 USD.

As we continued to walk around the city, we decided to try out the walking tour from the Bologna Tourism Office. Normally, we only do free walking tours to learn about cities. Up until Venice, every single tour had exceeded our expectation. We could not find one of these in Bologna so we went with a regular tour provided by the city of Bologna.

The first half of the tour never even left Piazza Maggiore. We covered all the old buildings in the square, with a particular focus on the cathedral. Folks in Bologna wanted it to be bigger than St. Peter’s in the Vatican city and it was on track to be so. Then they ran out of money. It was so under-financed they couldn’t even cover the entire facade with marble, much less add. Later a pope decided to build a college next to the church, squashing all hope that the church would be extended any further.

Ohhh were halfway there…

Scaffolding

Where the side of the church stops.

They made it into a lovely window.

Each chapel is decorated in their own way. This was one of the most beautiful.

We walked around a bit to see the University of Bologna (the oldest university in Europe)…

the markets of the city…

the worlds longest sundial…

Where the sun hits the floor telling the time of year.

The whole in the ceiling that lets the sunshine through.

a famous painting of the Divine Comedy…

The whole wall.

Heaven

Purgatory

Hell

… and a group of terracotta statues.

The statues, housed in a quaint church that was once part of the hospital of the area, were some of the best art we have ever seen. Not just on this trip, but ever.

The statues known as “Compianto sul Cristo morto” (Lamentation Over the Dead Christ) was made up of six separate individuals standing in a semicircle overlooking the dead Christ. The most moving of the figures is Mary Magdalene who looks as if the air from her screams are blowing her garments away. The expressiveness the artist was able to give the figures is incredible. It is an injustice to only call them amazing.

After our tour, we strolled around the city unsure of where to go, but excited to be wandering. Music was alive and in the streets. Bands seemed to be parked in the road, playing songs from all over the world. Some we knew, most we didn’t. We managed to find a canal in Bologna (not sure why Venice has such a monopoly).

At we decided that we are stuffed pasta family. The best pasta dishes we devoured are the one’s with meat, cheese, spinach, etc. inside the pasta. I guess we love surprises.

We headed back to our place, unsure if the scene had toned from earlier in the day. It had not. Instead, they had ramped up the racket. The food part of the “festival” was comprised of a rather eclectic cuisine. Our favorite was the Spanish place serving “traditional” Spanish food. Its menu included paella, but also tacos and nachos. Not as authentic as we thought.

Our terrace at day.

Our terrace at night.

The next morning we started our biggest bestest (expensivest) tour yet. With not much to do in Bologna, we had set to visit Modena for a day. This region of Italy is home to Parmesan cheese, Balsamic vinegar, and prosciutto. All of which have a designation so these particular foodstuffs are stamped, sealed, graded, approved, what have you to let everyone around the world know where each came from.

This particular tour didn’t visit places that gave you a hard sale. The tour was more informational and learning-based compared to tours which gave you a little info and then shove you in a shop to hawk their wares. We were finally rid of the Moroccan tour standards.

The tour picked us up next to the train station in Bologna. So before we even started a tour devoted to just food, I ran over to the station to grab one (maybe two) of those jam filled muffins. With another successful meal in Italy completed, our bus took off for the Parmesan factory.

Being in an industrial factory is not glamorous or sexy. Our pictures show us in all the regalia of visitors touring a cheese making facility. Our tour guide affectionately referred to our fashions as the latest Gucci spring fashions. So glamorous. While in our hairnets, we learned everything there is to know about making Parmesan. The most interesting bits of info were about the Parmesan during it’s aging process.

Officials visit each Parmesan factory to check the wheels of cheese. They use a small hammer and other tools to ensure there are no air pockets inside the wheel and it has no significant defects. If mold or a hole develops on the outside of the wheel, they can burn that section to insure bacteria does not spread.

Some wheels are affected so much that it cannot be sold as official Parmigiano-Reggiano. If this happens they scuff the outer edge of the wheel and sell it at a discount. If the wheel is in even worse shape, they end up turning it into the Parmesan cheese Kraft would sell for you to sprinkle on your spaghetti and meatballs.

Once we finished the factory tour, we were able to sample some of the cheese. Of course it was excellent and we bought some 48 month aged. The purchase process was to rummage through a box with various aged Parmesan cheese at various weights, find what you want, and drop some cash in the same box. It was quite the no frills operation.

We arrived at the prosciutto factory next. They weren’t working since it was a Saturday, but we were able to tour the facility with the owner and learn about the process. They also have a formal meat shop selling the cuts they produce, as well as cheeses and other products from around Europe.

Our guide tried his best to give a great understanding of how everything was organized, but the owner, in his excitement and enthusiasm for his profession, could not stop himself from interrupting our guide to give us additional information. It was amusing because the owner only knows Italian and our guide would have to calm him down in Italian and then translate what the owner said to us.

The sampling of meat products was fantastic. Various prosciutti were passed about. The specialty of the house was present, prosciutto stuffed with black truffles. This creation of the owner was my favorite of what we sampled. We ended up buying a fair amount of different cuts, excited for what dinner would look like back in Bologna.

The final food stop was the stop we were most excited about, Balsamic vinegar. What you buy in the grocery store is not real Balsamic. Even the $20-30 bottle isn’t authentic Balsamic. The real stuff runs $50 or more and is aged for at least 12 years. It’s like buying a quality scotch or whiskey.

This was our first foray into authentic Balsamic and it did not disappoint.

We learned about the barrels. In the family (because of course this is a family business), when a child is born a collection of barrels is created for the him or her. The barrel collection is made up of 5, 6, or 7 barrels of decreasing sizes in various woods. When the child moves out or gets married, the barrels enter the hands of that person. The gentleman who owns the business had his four year old daughter with us and showed us her barrels. He showed us his barrels. He showed us his grandfather’s barrels.

We learned about the production which is rather simple and about the aging process which is quite complex. Wine is cooked down and placed in the largest barrel. Each year a bit from the largest barrel is moved to the next, slightly smaller, barrel in the line. This continues until it reaches the smallest barrel. Eventually, you take from the smallest barrel and you have finished Balsamic.

It was a fantastic learning process and we procured a 25 year bottle of Balsamic. We are using it sparingly.

The day continued as we headed out to Maranello to visit the Ferrari Museum. There was an option to drive a Ferrari, but a few things prevented it from happening for me. The first was the sparkling wine I had at the prosciutto place. The second was the fact that none of the cars have a stick shift. If I was gonna drive a sports car, I wanted it to be an authentic experience. The third was the price. And number four was that I had not driven a car in three months. Not any car at all. I’d been in a few taxis, but not behind the wheel of anything since the US. Probably not a good idea to start back with a Ferrari.

The museum was filled with beautiful cars. But you probably had that figured out.

We closed the tour with a very long lunch. It consisted of enough stuffed pasta, grilled meat, and wine to sink a battleship. It was an excellent meal and the folks on the tour with us were pleasant company.

We arrived back in Bologna and took naps. Dinner was a collection of our treats from the day’s tour.

Some people would only take a day trip to Bologna or maybe stay a night or two.We are not some people. We spent four days in Bologna and enjoyed every one of them. The next post will cover the last half of our Bologna stay.

From One Side Of Italy to Another – We left Milan in the morning and arrived in Venice before lunch time. Upon arriving, always by train, you exit the station and the grand canal is there to greet you. It’s neat to be on the train and head from the mainland to the island, but a much cooler experience once you see the canals.

We were staying on Murano island, the glass blowing island, for our few days in town. We had to quickly learn about the vaporettos, especially if we were ever gonna get anywhere. We didn’t make any mistakes and quickly made our way to our airbnb on Murano.

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

It was as awesome as the pictures had made it out to be. It was on a canal without feeling cramped and had an incredible view of the church across the way. Staying in Venice is incredibly expensive, so we were fortunate to find this place at a more reasonable price.

Back on Venice island, we walked around the city, taking it all in and trying to find a respite from the tourists. This was more difficult than any place we had traveled thus far. The main tourist attractions were slammed with people.

The views around Piazza San Marco

The views around Piazza San Marco

The views around Piazza San Marco

Luckily, I found a place just a few turns off the Rialto bridge where tourists were not congregating. We enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine and some small sandwiches for only a couple of bucks a piece. 

We began our tour of the Doge’s Palace not long after lunch. It’s a very impressive building typifying the greatness of the former Venetian Empire. While the tour itself was lacking in substance, the architecture and paintings made up for it. A marvelous building to go with a long running empire.

We left there to walk around the city and figure out if we wanted to do anything else in the city. We couldn’t get enough of the streets and canals. All you want to do in Venice is explore. It’s a wonderful, magical place.

We closed the night with dinner back on Murano. It was lovely and quiet, away from the hoards of tourists. Staying on Murano was a great idea, even if it took a bit to get back into Venice each day. We knew by 4-5 each day, Murano would be given back to the locals and people living there. The streets would be empty again. And we could stroll along them for hours.

Besides a walking tour, we had nothing else do to the next day. Sadly the walking tour was terrible (the only free walking tour to ever not be fantastic). The tour provided little information about Venice’s past and focused more on what typifies  modern Venice. Nevertheless, we carried on.

During the day we wandered around the street, piddling here and there, ate gelato, went to an old rundown bookstore, and found the famous Venetian mask shop. Suffice to say the mask shop was much smaller than we expected and difficult to find. Upon arriving, we were met with a small selection of handmade masks, the most beautiful out of our price range. We chose not to purchase any and left a bit sad that it didn’t work out.

Enjoying a treat on the walking tour.

Elizabeth was begging to have her picture where Indiana Jones once stood.

We learned that Venice has its own dialect that does not use the double constant. Vandals have taken to the street to remove the doubles in these non Venetian-Italian signs.

Remnants of older architecture can be seen inbetween the current windows.

This was common to see on nearly every corner.

Gelato challenge.

We knew where we wanted to eat dinner, but it was still early so to kill some time before dinner we headed to a cichetti place. It’s the Italian, specifically Venetian, version of tapas. I had read some great things about this spot and we endeavored to find it. Elizabeth wanted to use a paper map (stone age) instead of google maps. Granted google maps isn’t great in Venice as the streets are narrow, but the idea of us walking around actually looking like tourists was too much for me to bear.

Nevertheless, she got us there (with discreet glances at her map). Even if the doorway looked to lead to certain death, inside was another story. It was a nice open space with a dozen or so different cichetti and a nice little bar area. The food was cheap and getting a cocktail (Aperol spritz) and a glass of prosecco for only $2.50 each felt like stealing. Sure the places to stay in Venice are outrageous, but you can find plenty of great places to eat and drink in the city that will keep the pocketbook in decent shape.

As we enjoyed our much needed beverages, we realized the deals were only the second best thing at the bar. The music selection was finally not terrible. Not only was it not terrible, it was excellent. We had been suffering through top 40 every where we went, except Morocco (which only seemed to play late 80’s/early 90’s pop rock or Adele).  The music here was Motown, the big hits too. Nothing obscure, just hit after hit you could sing along too.

We left Bacarando on a high note and headed to dinner to close out another beautiful day in Italy.

The next morning we decided to visit Burano and pick up a souvenir or two. Before Burano though, we needed to experience Murano and the glass blowing.

We were up a little too early to catch most places putting in work and the place’s that were open felt the need to charge to watch a guy breath into a long tube. We left the area disappointed, but determined to find a place making glass. We found two that were free to watch. It was impressive and hot.

America

The first group we watched were making larger shapes so they were consonantly working the glass without us ever getting to see a final product. The second we visited was making medium to large animal figures. Within 20-30 seconds of pulling the “glass” out of the furnace, the craftsman began pulling, tugging, and adjusting the malleable goop to turn it into a horse or tiger or whatever was being produced that day.

It was quite impressive. It also took a sad turn. The same gentleman went to place one of his works into the final fire to set the shape and his hook got caught, allowing the figurine to come plummeting to the ground, fracturing into many pieces. He looked a bit dejected, but everyone who had watched was even more sad. The piece was no more though, and he began to replicate what he had just lost.

Catching a vaporetto to Burano, we hoped the clouds would hold off so we could enjoy the colorful island. The weather did not cooperate. We walked a bit and visited the shops on the main drag. We grabbed lunch and watched the rain fall on the cruise ship crowd who had mere minutes on the island before having to head straight back on their boats.

We did buy some small lace items on Burano, dropped them at our place on Murano, and headed back out for one last afternoon in Venice.

We made it to the cathedral, St. Marco, and enjoyed the free entry. The terrace of St. Marco provided great views of the mass of humanity constantly crowding the piazza nearby. The church itself is amazing. The mosaics are incredible. The craftsmanship is astounding. They just don’t make things like the used to.

To commemorate our time in Venice we bought some art, haggling the entire time for a good deal. How I can haggle over art without crumbling is weird considering my inability to do the same in Morocco. I think it’s because it starts at a reasonable price everywhere else but in Morocco where they start by asking for your first born.

Sadly we had to leave to get back to dinner on Murano.  The meal was ok, but the impending thunderstorm pushed us inside earlier than planned. We Bologna was up next, a city not near as many people visit, although they should.

We were starting to love Milan, an expression that few share due to its focus on business, finance, and normally terrible weather. Before meeting our guide we made one quick stop at the Milan opera house – Teatro alla Scala.

Beautiful on the inside.

Average on the outside.

The opera house has a museum attached that included costumes and design sketches. This was the first opera house that we have visited and it was lovely.

After more walking around in the amazing weather and clean streets, we met our guide for the only planned event of Milan, a craftsman tour.

I had found this tour online, but with almost no online presence, we were unsure of how it would play out. Turned out, we had nothing to fear. It has been the best tour we have done on the entire trip.

We met in the piazza by the Duomo and headed straight for a cafe. Italians love their coffee/espresso/cappuccino/macchiato. A locals’ only cafe right near all the tourists, but hidden away after a turn or two off the main square. We exchanged bits of info about one another, enjoyed the jolt of caffeine and headed not to the first craftsman spot, but to other highlights of the city.

Our guide (aware that we weren’t able to go on the regular walking tour) made sure we got to see as much of Milan as possible, all within the area we would be walking. We had checked a few off her list on our own, but one we had not was the bone chapel. It is as odd at sounds. Your mortality is ever apparent upon crossing its threshold.

Just a normal church from the inside.

Mementos of prayer requests.

We didn’t stay too long (thankfully) and moved on to our first craftsman stop, a confectioner’s shop. A family run business since its inception, it originated in Milan when the first owner came back from learning about making such delights in France. We enjoyed the treats, and I enjoyed talking the current owner about American sports, particularly college basketball and football.

Yum!

The most beautiful confessional I have seen.

Another church we took a jaunt to.

From there we headed to the jewelry maker, the milliner, and the sunglass designer. Each provided a brief glimpse into the work involved with creating a product.

The jewelry designer/makers was a relatively short encounter with the creator and head designer of a trendy Milanese brand. The main designer was in and provided us with info on how they design and how much she loves the US. We watched women come and go for their appointments to try on and purchase new items from this lovely boutique.

The milliner was a much less lively affair. It was a glimpse into a man and a business that will end soon and cease to exist. He and his wife run the store basically alone. They take orders and make hats. He made hats for the Queen of England and her friends. If you want a special hat made to your size, this is where you go.

Letter from the Queen.

We were able to see his workshop, where he keeps the lasts for the molding of each design, touch the fabrics, talk to his wife about how he comes about the designs and try on a couple of hats only there as examples. We were even told a story about when the city tried to tax him for his use of an espresso machine in his workshop. He explained to the city the machine was not used to make coffee. When the city showed up, they learned he had reconfigured the machine in order to steam the hats to shape each properly. It could no longer make coffee, and he was not taxed. The hats were beautiful and it’s a terrible loss that one day it will fade away.

The infamous coffee machine.

As we were about to leave, he looked at me and told me my hat size. He said either 61 or 62 centimeters. Not knowing my head size in European measurements, I took his word for it. He then commenced to measure my head. When he pulled the tape back it was at 61.5 centimeters. You have to be impressed when someone knows their craft that well.

We closed the craftsman section with sunglass designer. They didn’t just design sunglasses. They sold other brands and had the largest private collection of glasses in Italy. Most of them are at the owners house, but many are displayed all about the store or in cabinets ready to try on. We tried on many pair and almost bought a couple.

Our guide wasn’t done though. She also wanted to take us to a local bar serving a traditional buffet with drinks. The idea is to swing by a bar on your way home, have a glass of wine, and indulge in a few small plates of antipasto. We sat and talked for a while. She wanted to know about us and our trip.

We continued talking as she directed us to our final destination, the canals of Milan. Yes Milan has a couple of canals. Our guide told us about the shops and restaurants along the canal and gave us a few suggestions. After sampling a few beverages, we finished the night at a restaurant that served some type and form of cheese in every dish. It was a very rich meal and quite delicious.

We headed to bed later than planned, but we were excited. Venice was next.

Italy = Picture Overload.

Elizabeth spent the first night/morning of Italy doing laundry. From the hours of 1-3 AM, the time right after we arrived by taxi to Milan, she was up and cleaning clothes that had not been washed for around two months.  We were both very excited about this development.

So to celebrate, we slept in and arrived at our 10 AM walking tour at 9:55. Upon arriving in the correct location and early, we are made aware that our reservation was not in fact a reservation. It was more of a head count type thing. The tour was now full and we were SOL.

I had been standing a distance away from this, taking pictures, but caught enough to figure it out. Elizabeth was devastated. We had reconfigured the morning to get a few extra hours of sleep, per my request, and it had bit us in the ass.

I told her we should stay with the tour anyway. Who cares if it’s full, they couldn’t stop us from walking with them if we want. But she is too angry, too upset to give the tour the satisfaction.

Instead, we walk to the other side of the piazza to figure out what to do. This has been our first tour that didn’t work out. Everything we had booked on the trip this far had gone off without a hitch. Not everything was great, but at least it happened. Our daily schedules were built around tours like this.

As Elizabeth began to tear up, I ran off to the nearest hotel in hopes of finding us another tour. Turns out every Milan walking tour for the next two days was booked solid. 

At this point, we would normally get into an argument. We both struggle with an inability to be decisive, me more so than Elizabeth. With our tour canceled and the rest of the day also unplanned, we have 8-10 hours with nothing to do. In the past, this empty space would have been crippling to us. Ideas would have been floated up, shot down, and we would have stood there for 30 minutes to an hour before arguing and going our separate ways.

Instead, Elizabeth made a decision, I immediately acquiesced, and we headed over to visit the Duomo of Milan. I changed my mind once we saw the line. Thankfully, Elizabeth was steadfast. She said she would wait, and I could go take pictures around the city. It provided both of us time to grieve about the tour trying to ruin our day.

Once inside the Duomo, it was boring. Another church, lots of columns, stained glass, high roof, quite a bit of beauty, but not particularly original. It was great to not have to look at another moqsue and minaret, but if the only other option was back to churches, I think I’d just stay in the apartment eating prosciutto and drinking prosecco.

The Duomo

David and Golaith

Beautiful Doors

Interior

Interior

Exterior

Exterior

Interior

Interior

Underneath the church is a the ruins from the previous churches that once stood where the Duomo is today. In the 70’s the whole plaza in front of the church was removed and they excavated the area. We thought scaffolding was bad. Can you even imagine showing up and the whole plaza looks like a construction zone?

Previous city church

However, the big thing to do at this church is head to the rooftop. It seems that the roof was built with paths for people to walk around and not just for roofers.

The views were awesome. Milan is no not known for great weather. Typically it is foggy and hazy. The day we ascended the stairs to get views of the city was not indicative of Milan weather we were told.  

You could clearly see the Alps. You could see for miles. As a Gothic cathedral, there were wonderful design elements everywhere. It was difficult to stop taking pictures. The wait was worth it. I should listen to my wife more I suppose.

We left on a high note to go strolling in the city, looking for lunch. I didn’t want our first meal in Italy to be a disappointment, but it was a Sunday at lunch. Not the best time to find nice places open. But I managed to find just such a place. The best dish we had was one of two of the most famous dishes of Milan, risotto Milanese.

It was one of the best risottos we have consumed. A great way to start our food adventure of Italy, but also nerve-wracking since our meals would now be compared to this dish.

With no plans other than finding mass, we strolled around parks and lanes, finding a festival for dogs and also a festival touting individual regions of Italy. These regions were not only for the big areas you know, it was really more for the smaller places to have a venue to brag about their culinary delights, all within a castle from the 1400’s. After buying some Lambrusco, we stopped by a cheap food stand to experience our first Italian gelato.

This first gelato would be the beginning of our gelato challenge. Never one to shirk from an opportunity to go overboard, I told Elizabeth we would be eating gelato every day we were in Italy, twenty eight days in a row. We would see how long we could last.  One week? Two? Could we go four weeks straight, eating at least one scoop of gelato every day?  I didn’t think we could, but I wanted to push us to the brink to see how far we could last.

Day 1 gelato finished, we arrived at mass looking out of place. We were among the few pale faces in the crowd.  The mass was supposed to be in English, but after looking around we were unsure. The crowd was predominantly Asian and based on my limited knowledge, looked to be more from the islands south east of Asia as opposed to the continent itself.

It all became clear when the projector screen showed the mass was to take place in two languages, English and Tagalong, the native language of the Philippines. We understood all of the English parts and none of the other, but it was fun to sing in Tagalong and the youth choir had some great voices to accompany the congregation.

Dinner was another traditional dish, osso buco, at a very traditional restaurant. I had been excited to try the dish in Milan and was able to order it. I will need to revisit Milan though in hopes of having a good version next time. We were later told it was a little silly for us to order it as it is typically a winter dish.

With nothing planned for the next morning (we botched getting tickets for The Last Supper while on the Camino so we had extra free time in Milan), I decided I would make up the tour we were pushed out of the day before.  I found the list of places the tour visited and off we went.

Views from the Arcade

Story is if you spin on your heel on the bull’s testicles you’ll have good luck. People really enjoyed doing this and the mosaic pieces were worn to nothing.

We want all the fancy umbrellas

We visited old building, churches, and Milan University, at one time the most modern hospital in the world during the 1400-1500’s. We spent a fair amount of time walking around the campus, with its history and whatnot. Sadly, with all that walking, we never found a student store peddling team apparel. I knew colleges around the world don’t do sports teams, but I though we could find a sweatshirt with something on it. Nope.

Views of Milan

Views of Milan

Views of Milan

Views of Milan

Views of Milan

Instead, we celebrated our successful morning with lunch at Luini. The most famous cheap eats in Milan, they sell the equivalent of miniature calzones. Adorable, fluffy, delicious little savory (or sweet) turnovers filled with many different things. It was great to not have to alternate between a tajine or couscous.

We were starting to love Milan, an expression that few share due to its focus on business, finance, and normally terrible weather. Our appreciation only grew after our craftsman tour. We took so many pictures and had such a good experience that it deserves it’s own blog post. Stay tuned. Ciao for now.