Monday Market

I will start with two interesting tidbits that I wanted to share yesterday and forgot.

The first one concerns power. We were washing clothes and tried to cook our lunch in the oven, also electric. Popped breaker. The entire kichen went out. We forgot about the golden electrical rule in Italy: Never run two major appliances at the same time.

The second item also has to do with power, but this time battery power in the car. Unlike our cars back home, we have to turn the radio off before we get out of the car. It does not turn off automatically and will drain the battery. We learned this from being told about not, not from actually draining the battery - thank goodness.

Brandon and Katrina walked to school early this morning. Brandon's class was going on an all day field trip to the weather station in Linate. His class has been doing a unit on weather over the past couple of weeks.

My allergies hit me hard today. Ugh! I am miserable. I think that allergies suck!!



Katrina and I walked over to the Lunedi (Monday) market about 4 blocks from our apartment. We both thought it was a farmers market. It was more. Most of the market vendors were selling goods - clothing, shoes, books, art, bags, et. About 1/3 of the market was fresh fruit, veggies, flowers, cheese, fish, coffee, meats, etc. It was interesting to check it out and see how it might fit into future shopping plans. Katrina bought a new bag for e10 and I bought a large umbrella for e5.



To all of our 'green' friends, here is an apartment building that has almost totally gone 'green'.

I just swept and mopped the floors. We have a medium dark grey slate tiled floor. It seems to show all of Stevie's hair and seems to attract dirt. The first week we were here our socks were black at the end of the day. Now they are just light grey. Its taken three moppings so far.

The forecast called for scattered showers today with a high of 23c (76 degrees). It was very pleasant and sunny when Katrina and I walked to the market this morning. Now the skies are dark and I can hear thunder in the distance.

It was raining when I walked over to school to pickup Brandon. I stopped in the office to make sure Brandon was registered for the 2nd and 3rd grade overnight fieldtrip in June. They will be going to a castle and will spend the days learning about ecology and farming while spending the 2 nights sleeping in a castle. It will cost us extra money, but it sounded like a trip of a lifetime for Brandon. I'll write more about it at a future date.

Brandon's class had a fieldtrip to the Linate weather station today. It's located at the Milan - Linate airport military zone. They launched a weather balloon that will reach an altitude of 30,000 meters. It collects windspeed and direction, altitude temperature, air pressure and more. They looked at a week term barometer, thermometers, a hygrometer and much more. He was also very impressed with the motor coach they rode in to get there.

Tonight we had Pollo al Limone alla Franca e il risotto alla Milanese for dinner, with bread and wine of course. It turned out pretty good considering I missed the step of marinating the chicken for an hour before I cooked it.

Sunday at Home

I slept in a bit today, waking up around 9am. Its another sunny day in Vedano al Lambro. The forecast calls for sunny skies and a high of 26c (82 degrees).

First thing this morning was grocery shopping. Its been two weeks since I've been to Auchan to stock up, so our cabinets and fridge are pretty bare. I decided that Sunday morning might be a bit less busy at the supermarket. I was right, but also found that the store shelves had night were not quite fully restocked from the big Saturday shopping day. It's still very interesting to grocery shop. I find new items each time I go the the supermarket.



Katrina spent the morning doing laundry and ironing some of her summer clothes, as well as a few of my shirts. Brandon played with his Legos, made a cat apartment for Stevie on one of the shelves under his bed (Stevie is actually sleeping in it!) and put together a wooden train he got for his birthday. Overall its just a normal day hanging out at home.



This afternoon we had some 'premade' spinach stuffed chicken patties for lunch, followed by what we thought would be a quick trip to the toy store. We made a wrong turn and ended up on the autostada with very few exits. We finally did get turned around after many kilometers of driving. The toy store was pretty fun. We found the largest display of Legos we have seen anywhere, except for maybe the Lego store in Anaheim. Brandon ended up buying an airport set to go with all the airplanes he's been collecting lately. After the toy store we decided to make a quick run over to Esselunga (local supermarket) where we were told we could buy a recorder (the instrument). First off, we got lost again. Out came the GPS. Once we got there we did not find a recorder. We did find taco seasoning!!

After arriving home Brandon and Katrina decided we were due for another walk to the gelattaria. Can you guess what Brandon had?...limone and amarena. I had fruiti di bosca and fragula (strawberry). Katrina had fruiti di bosca and something with vanilla and chocolate chips.



Brandon and I finished off the evening with some playtime at Parco di Matteotti.

Once again, for more pics of our weekend go to Katrina's blog.

Gelato count after two weeks in Italy: 11
Wine count after two weeks in Italy: 2 bottles

Lago di Como

We are heading up to Lago di Como today. Its another beautiful sunny day in Italy. Its supposed to hit 78 in Como today.

It took us about an hour to reach Como. I was a bit suprised. Its a pretty big town, or a small city. Its not the village that I thought it would be. We found parking and walked several blocks down to the waterfront.



First stop was a park on the waterfront. We checked out a steam locomotive on display, then walked along the waterfront towards the boat docks. There was a long line for boat tickets. I think we ended up waiting about 15 min to buy tickets for the 3:45 trip.



We had about 3 hours until our trip. We were hungry and thirsty, so our first stop was food. Brandon bought a gelato...limone and amerena (cherry). Katrina and I were hungry for real food, so we walked a little farther down the waterfront. We found a bar with sandwiches. I had a tonno panino (tuna sandwich) and Katrina had a piadina (almost like a tortilla with procuitto and provolone). Both were very yummy. Brandon ate several bits of each.





After lunch we walked over to the funiculare. It is a cable pulled tram that heads up the mountian from Como to Brunate. What a great ride. At the top we were rewarded with amazing views. The amazing architecture and the views of the valleys below and the Alps in the distance are just too much to describe. Come travel Italy is all I can say. We walked up some one lane roads to an overlook that Katrina found on her November trip.







After our ride back down the funiculare, we walked back up the waterfront towards the old town center. What a bustling scene. We had about 30 minutes before our boat ride, so we wandered the old town looking at the shops. We ended up at the model shop looking at trains. Hard to believe, I know.

At 3:45 we boarded the boat bound for Urio and all points in between. The boat made stops in Tavernola, Cernobbio, Moltrasio, Torno and finally Urio. Then it turned around and headed back with the same stops. What a beautiful lake and each of the small towns could be a future destination stop.



We arrived back in Como at 4:50. Just enough time to get our car out of the lot before it closed at 5:30. We were tired, thirsty and hungry, so we stopped at a supermarket on the way home for a snack and drinks.

This evening has been a lazy one. Katrina reading on the couch. Brandon reading his book in the kitchen and talking to his good friend Chase on Skype, and me watching some Italian TV.

Another great day in Italy. We are tired...

Holiday

Today is a holiday in Italy - Labour Day. No school and no work. We had planned to head to Venice for the weekend, but because we were trying to make last minute plans, all the hotels were booked. We'll do that trip another time.

Instead we headed into Milan for the day, leaving the house around 10am. Its another glorious day - sunny skies and short sleeve shirts. We drove to Sesta FS to catch the red Metro subway into Milan, exiting at the Duomo station.



Once we got up to street level we entered a sea of people. The Piazza del Duomo was filled with visitors and Italians enjoying the holiday and taking part in Labour Day festivities. We immediately stood in line to enter the Duomo. Police check all bags and you cannot enter in shorts or with bare shoulders. Once inside, I was amazed at the size of the building. A Duomo is the main cathedral in an Italian city. Milan's Duomo was founded in 1386 by Gian Galezzo Visconti who wanted to build the biggest church in all of Italy. It was finished in 1812, under Napoleans rule. The roof is decorated with 2,245 statues, 135 spires and 96 gargoyles. The interior can hold 40,000 people. Thats 4/5 of Corvallis in one place!! The outside is white and amazing to look at, while the inside is gloomy except for the amazing stained glass windows that line the entire cathedral. The Duomo is 515ft long, 108ft wide across the nave and 302ft wide across the transept (front alter area). Inside the Duomo was very crowded. We walked down one side of the nave to the alter area, then backtracked halfway so that we could walk down the other side of the nave toward the side door. Once outside it was very bright on the eyes and took awhile to get adjusted to the sunlight. We walked around the outside of the Duomo looking at the statues and gargoyles, working our way to the stairway entrance that takes you up to the roof. Katrina did this when she visited in November. The guidebook says, 'ascend to the roof for a wonderful view of Milan and, on a clear day (like today), a view of the Alps. Unfortunately, the rooftop was closed today. I guess we'll have to go back again.





After the Duomo we left the piazza and worked our way through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The guidebook says, 'Linking Piazza del Duomo with Piazza della Scala, this elegant glass-roofed arcade (mall) has long been a popular rendevous for the Milanese.' We walked through the arcade, filled with expensive designer shops, to the Piazza della Scala to see the famous statue of Leonard da Vinci and La Scala, the famous opera house.



From there we casually strolled several streets, working our way back towards the Duomo and lunch. We had lunch at Castello Risorante Pizzeria. I has a Nostromo pizza - tuna and onions. Katrina has capricciosa pizza - artichokes, olives and capers. Brandon had pattate fritte - french fries. We had a nice relaxing lunch. I have not had a pizza I have not enjoyed, but this one was my favorite so far.



Next stop on our tour, Castello Sforzesco. The castle was built as a fortress for the Visconti family. It was started in 1358 and completed in 1368. It was pretty much demolished after the downfall of the family. Francesco Sfora, who became Duke of Milan, turned the castle into a Renaissance fort and residence. In the early 19th century Napolean it into soldiers quarters. In 1884 the city of Milan planned to demolish the castle but architect Luca Beltrami turned it into a museum. Today you can stroll the grounds while reading about the history, as well as visit the museums that are contained in the castle halls. We decided to just stroll the grounds on this visit.





Brandon decided it was time for gelato. We worked our way back towards the Duomo and the gelataria we saw at lunch. This was our first gelato in cones. Katrina had pistachio and fruite de bosco. Brandon had limone as usual. I had bacio as usual, although I made an important discovery this time. It is not peanut chocolate. It is hazelnut chocolate.



At this point we were starting to get tired. We roamed around the Piazza del Duomo a little more and took some exterior pictures of the Duomo. It was time to ride the red line back to our car and head home.

For more pics of our trip into Milan, visit Katrina's blog.

This evening Katrina took a little nap. Brandon and I went downstairs to Parco di Matteotti. We also played some Wii. Golf is hard. Bowling is fairly easy.

It was a great day of sightseeing and family time. Tomorrow we head to Lago Como for the day.