19. Milano Milano!! April 29 2023.

First the update on Mike: This morning he thought he was on the mend and over the hump, but by late afternoon he was coughing a lot and felt terrible. So we are not going to Geneva (will see if we can go at Xmas).. At this rate, the new baby (Mike’s niece’s third child born in January) will be in college before we see her. But this is for the best, for everyone. After about two hours on the phone with United, we were able to find flights that didn’t require big additions to the cost. We will leave on Wednesday from Milan to Newark and on to SFO; not my preferred route, but it will be fine. Hopefully, by Wednesday Mike will be up for the trip.

In the meantime, I’ve been explouring (or re-exploring) Milan. I headed directly for the Isola neighborhood after a quick stand-up morning snack at a local café. Took a taxi so that I could then walk around that neighborhood. Isola is one of those “up and coming” (translate—gentrifying) neighborhoods that used to be a working class area and is now hip and full of restaurants and galleries and cute boutiques. They compare it to Rome’s Trastverre but it’s not quite there yet. Today was their market day which stretched for blocks and blocks of fresh veggies and fruits and cheeses and meats and also used clothing and kitchen gear and all sorts of goodies from underwear to toys. I strolled and strolled and strolled. The taxi driver was a little confused as to why I was going to “this” market and told me about others that were “nicer.” He didn’t speak much English but I got the message; he also told me that in “this” neighborhood I needed to be sure to hold my phone and my wallet very close.

Along the route to Isola, I spotted the Bosco Verticale so I asked the taxi driver to stop for a minute for me to photograph.. Actually it’s very difficult to photograph this high end apartment complex.. The Verticale is supposedly a successful example of green urban development. The building changes as the seasons change; there are more than 15,000 plants and 90 different species of trees, shrubs and floral vegetation.. and the green which I have read is the equivalent of about 8 acres of forest, which is capable of absorbing 30 tons of carbon dioxide per year. The building of the Verticale is one of many ways that the Isola is changing.

The Isola, like almost every neighborhood in Milan and also throughout the country is filled with murals and graffitti. And Italian cities seem to have absorbed graffitti as a part of life that’s here to stay. After hours bopping around the Isola, I headed to the Metro and took the train back to a stop near the Duomo to visit the Museo del Novecento — an interesting building that is focused on 20th-century Italian art. The museum was designed to show the art works in a linear fashion so that one moves along historically through the different “movements” of the 20th century. The building overlooks the Piazza Duomo and there are great views from each floor.

It’s a good collection and walking through and reading some of the text I was reminded of one of my favorite movies—“Manifesto”—where Cate Blanchett plays 13 different roles—the lead in each of the 13 stories–each of which depicts the writings of 13 different manifestos in the world of politics and art— Futurism, Dadaism, Bauhaus, Communist, etc. It’s a sort of a stew of these artists’ manifestos—and questions the role of artists in society. Among the 13 different personas that Blanchett performs, she’s a school teacher, a puppeteer, a newsreader, a factory worker, and a homeless man. If you haven’t seen this movie and you care about the arts—try to get hold of a copy.

By then it was after 7:00, and I headed back to the hotel. Given Mike’s awful experiences with room service and delivered meals, I went to pick up some sushi for him… The issue about the food is that the hotel is small and doesn’t really have a kitchen or a restaurant. So they bring the food from a “sister hotel” a few blocks away. By the time it gets to the hotel, it’s cold and not so appetizing.

Then I headed for a really late dinner at a family restaurant in the Porta Roman area, which I hope to explore during daylight tomorrow (although the prediction is for rain??!!)

That’s it for me… lots more to tell, but it’s late here (after midnight and time for Wordle) and I’m getting sleepy.
Hope you are doing well.
Fern