Jessica Clark, my former roommate and SCAD volleyball teammate, came to Milan to visit me for five days. She's like a sister to me so it was awesome to get to show here around and explore some new things with her.
When she arrived Friday morning we went to the street market and bought some fruit and cheeses for lunch. We hung out with the boys that afternoon then met up with some of the interns from the US Consulate for "Aperetivo" on Brera Street. Jess loved the concept of aperetivo.....buy a drink and partake in a spread of many appetizers (ranging from pasta to meats, risotto, cheeses, etc.) for free!
On Saturday I took her to the Duomo. We toured the inside of the cathedral then went to the top for a fantastic view of the city and the 3,500 statues.
Jess on top of the Duomo.
We had to stop by the outdoor mall by the Duomo to turn on the bull mosaic for good luck.
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This is a statue of Leonardo DaVinci in front of the famous opera house "Teatro Alla Scala".
Shows don't begin again until September but we got to tour the museum with period costumes and see the opera hall with it's many boxes. The massive chandelier was down for cleaning.
Taking a break in the foyer.
After lunching on some pizza on Via Dante and people watching we put our feet in a fountain by the local castle to cool off.
It's not every day you see a nun sporting a visor!
That night we joined Carmelo and his friends for some local flavor and aperetivo.
On Sunday we went to Lake Como....about an hour north of Milan. Carmelo drove which was nice that we didn't have to coordinate with a train.
There are many towns along Lake Como but we spent the day at the town "Como". This is the Duomo gracefully rising up in the middle of the little town.
We ate a 3 course lunch on a rooftop overlooking the Duomo. It was so peaceful and the food was fantastic. I had a vegetable torte, veggie lasagna, and a beef and potato dish and coffee and white wine to wash it all down. This is the first time I've had multiple courses at a restaurant. Even though we took our time, enjoying each bite, I couldn't make it to dessert. We watched hand gliders off the mountain as we ate. Carmelo's friends joined us there for the rest of the day.
The copper top of the Duomo patina'd beautifully!
Then we decided to take a boat tour of some of the gorgeous villas spotting the lake perimeter. Too bad the tour was in Italian. This is about all I caught of it....."blah, blah, blah, bella.....blah, villa, blah, blah Robert DiNero....George Clooney". But the visual tour was incredible.
Antonio, Carmelo's best friend, and his girlfriend, Marianna (who speaks perfect English and is very nice).
Carmelo taking in the sights and translating for us from time to time.
This hotel is said to be the oldest in the world and costs 6,000 Euro a night (approx. $8,500). Needless to say, it's a celebrity haven.
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One of the many beautiful villas.
Sightseeing, of course.
I wouldn't mind crashing here for a summer. After the tour we joined the sunbathers by the water.
Jess and I took a bike ride to San Lorenzo on Monday night.
We had aperetivo at a bar nearby for dinner. It's eclectic, casual vibe, excellent food selection, and music choice of The Cure made it a fast favorite of mine.
This is not a very good quality picture but Jess and I sat on this bench awhile and had great conversation and people watching. There were tables set up behind us with people playing games of all sorts....connect four (see the giant blue connect four game on the left), checkers, etc.
This Roman colonnade stands proudly in front of the San Lorenzo cathedral and dates back to the 3rdC. It was relocated to this site from an unknown Roman building.
Our visit to the natural history museum....monkeying around:)
They felt inspired...haha!
The last night we met my friend, Amber, for aperetivo in a vibrant part of town near Park Sempione lined with cafe tables and people filling the streets....even on a Tuesday. On Wed., Jess was back to NY:(
