Sardinia was a tough act to follow, and Gauss developed a cold while we were there. When we arrived in Milan it had turned into an ear infection. We have seen
most of the Milan's sights on past trips, so much of our time was spent visiting family and
resting.
Costanza took us to a couple of stores to look for some souvenirs, indulged my request to walk through the public market, where you can see fruits and vegetables, freshly-caught fish, and a dizzying array of cheeses and meats.
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| Little purple artichokes in the foreground. Wish I had a place to cook here in Milan! |
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| Reddish-purple beans in the foreground, long green squash blossom pods behind, and cherry tomatoes |
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| There aren't enough days in the year to sample all of these cheeses |
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| When they're displayed like this, who can resist vegetables? |
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| Fresh fish! |
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| Heirloom tomatoes. These look so pudgy they remind me of baby cheeks. |
Then we moved onto the neighborhood near the Garibaldi train station, where there has been a lot of new construction. I couldn't miss the "Vertical Forest"— apartment towers with offset balconies to accommodate trees. Here's a link if you want to read more.
Costanza took us to EATALY, a huge gourmet emporium selling food and cooking supplies. The real draw is their fresh mozzarella. You can watch them make it.
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| Front of Eataly, a trendy—and very complete—new culinary store in Milan. They're supposed to open a store in New York, too! |
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| Prosciutto hanging in the salumi/cheese section of Eataly |
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| Nut oils (walnut, hazelnut, pistachio) and balsamic vinegars at Eataly |
Making mozzarella
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| Feeding curd into a shredding machine |
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| Adding warm salt water to the shredded curd |
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| Stirring the water and curd—it's starting to come together |
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| The water and curd come together into a silky mass |
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| Pulling the cheese into a strand and knotting it into the finished product |
Of course, we couldn’t be in town without going to Franca’s
to gossip about people we know and eat her fabulous cooking. Among other
stories, Franca recounted a family story that had Gauss’s father, Aldo,
throwing cheese at his brother in law, Giulio Cesare, over some kind of
dispute.
I know that food takes up a disproportionate amount of real
estate on this blog, but here goes:
We started with some cheese and cold cuts, then moved on to rotolo di spinaci (of course Franca
makes the pasta from scratch) followed by veal cutlets, fresh mozzarella,
tomatoes and watercress, and a scoop of gelato.
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| Franca cuts the spinach roll into slices... |
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| ...pours garlic-infused butter on top, and then sprinkles it with Parmiano-Reggiano. Does it get any better than this? |
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| Fresh greens balance the rich pasta |
“I can’t go to Milan
and not see the duomo!”
Gauss hadn’t been to Milan in almost 13 years, so on our
last day in town, we visited a few tourist spots and some of old haunts. We
skipped the trip to the roof, but checked the exterior for the “Statue of
Liberty” and found her. Here’s the story, abbreviated from Wikipedia:
Fredric-Auguste Bartholdi, who completed the
Statue of Liberty in 1877, was a frequent visitor of Milan's Duomo, and may
have been inspired by the statue that Italian sculptor Camillo Pacetti
completed for the cathedral in 1810.
The figure in the Milan statue holds a
chalice in the right hand and a cross in the left, while the Statue of Liberty
holds a torch and a book.
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| Inspiration for the Statue of Liberty? |
From the duomo, we
walked around the corner to the apartment on Via Silvio Pellico where Gauss’s
parents once lived, a couple blocks further to the piazza della Scala, and then past the
Sforza Castle to Chinatown for a quick lunch. There we picked up a huge duffel
bag (only 10 euros!) to accommodate paintings that we would have to haul home
later.
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| Gauss visits the old homestead |
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