Days in Monza

It seems that we usually drop in on Gauss's Uncle Eduardo and Aunt Anna, but since Gauss didn’t have the energy for our planned trip to the mountains, we imposed on them for the last three days of our visit instead. Gianni insisted on driving us out to Monza, so we had a short family reunion on Eduardo and Anna's patio. Anna made strawberry gelato and a cake with dried sambuco flowers for us...there was no end to the eating adventures on this trip.

Adriana and Costanza watch as Gauss looks at old photos with Eduardo and Anna
Gauss and Adriana before the Papagnos leave us off in Monza
Gianni with ready to drive back to Milan after dropping us in Monza
Gauss and his cousin Costanza outside Eduardo and Anna's house
In Monza, we spent a lot of time just sitting around, napping, gabbing, and eating. Eduardo and Anna are relaxed and playful, so it’s easy to just hang with them without feeling like we must go somewhere or do something.

Anna in the kitchen
Years ago when we visited, I made crisp corn flapjacks for them for breakfast, and Anna wanted them again. Anna doesn’t mind having me in her kitchen, so one morning while she showered, I made breakfast. We brought maple syrup from Minnesota to serve with the pancakes. I had rehearsed the recipe in Sardinia with Leo and Marzia, so it was quick to do it this time. 

Eduardo and Anna's rooftop vegetable garden, accessible by ladder
Like Leo and Marzia, Eduardo and Anna do a lot of gardening. They maintain compost bins started in three different years so they have a good supply of rich soil. They have created a vegetable garden atop their flat-roofed garage, where they grow tomatoes, cucumbers, greens, and herbs. 

Eduardo and Anna's patio under the rose-covered pergola
The window to our bedroom. The fragrance of the white roses filled the house.
Roses and jasmine climb the pergola and surround the house, and sitting on the terrace—or even in the bedroom—is one of earth’s delightful experiences. The scent of roses fills the air whether you are indoors or out.

Anna is an architect by profession so their traditional Italian house has some interesting features, including a shower over the stairwell that can only be accessed by a ladder. Although Anna no longer uses it, at age 83 Eduardo still does (and Gauss and I did on this visit, too.) The attic room where I stayed on my 2012 visit also bears the stamp of Anna: a bright red color scheme and doors cut at angles to fit the slant of the roof.
The shower half a story up off the main floor bathroom 
I can’t finish the post without a note about food. Anna is an excellent cook. We joked about the emphatically non-kosher nature of one meal that she simply called “carne con latte” (meat with milk.) That alone violates the principles of kosher eating, but when Gauss asked what kind of meat, she told him it was pork. (No biggie, we got over any pork hangups living in China.) Another day she served the Italian version of a cheese dog: sausages slit down the middle and filled with taleggio, then wrapped with pancetta and broiled. Mmmm! Good thing we were doing a lot of walking. 

Eduardo power-grinds Parmesan cheese
Anna's Venetian specialty, risi i bisi
Homemade strawberry and crema gelato
Our last day with them, she made us “risi e bisi” (rice and peas) for lunch, a specialty from her hometown of Venice, using a special variety of peas with edible pods grown there. While she cooked, Eduardo used a power grater for the Parmesan cheese. The rice was accompanied by whole onions seasoned simply with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and broiled until they were soft and caramelized. All our meals ended with fruit or Anna’s homemade strawberry sorbetto. It was so delicious that I asked for the recipe and have put an ice cream maker on my birthday wish list.

Shopping one morning in downtown Monza with the church tower in the background
I had to take a picture of these 3 kilogram tins of Illy espresso.
On our last day in Monza, Gauss and I headed downtown to do some shopping. It's a classic, pretty town with narrow streets and a central piazza with a church.





Comments

Sue Narayan said…
Your post gave me an idea: I could grow vegetables on my garage-top deck!
May 23, 2014 at 5:59 AM
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