riding on the metroooooo ooo

extra points to you if you read the title to the tune of the berlin song.

sophia keeps asking to go on the train. luckily to her that's the same thing as the metro. she wanted me to take a picture too. this is what comes out when you put night setting instead of action on the camera:


In order not to seem like gypsies and just ride the metro back and forth all day long, we got off at San Babila and walked to the Duomo. This is a picture of the duomo's tooshy. The front, as usual, is being renovated. you can actually see the gold madonnina on the top from CM on a clear day (need i say it's usually smoggy?). though i've lived here for almost 8 years now, i've never actually been to the top. it's like alcatraz or the mystery spot to bay area folks. its always gonna be there and one day i will go... (needless to say, after i moved to italy, i actually did go and visit the rock and the spot).

and no visit to the duomo is complete without feeding the flying rats, er i mean pigeons.

The day after...

Still recuperating from yesterday.
Party was fun, but tiring!! Cleaned and organized the house from yesterday's chaos left over from party preparation. Uncle Willie occupied Sophia. They watered the plants (ALOT!!) Then they did puzzles. And legos. And etch-a-sketch. etc etc etc

Then it was bubble time.

What kid doesnt love bubbles?? Sophia screamed and screamed and had a good time. And now I can wash my floors without using any detergent, they are pre-soaped! thanks guys :o)

After lunch we went into the city. Had a walk around the Duomo. Unbelievably it is half-uncovered in the front!! the top half isnt being cleaned-the bottom half still has scaffolding. Couldnt walk inside much because its sunday and altho there wasnt mass going on when we went inside, things were blocked off and you couldnt walk all the way around. Then it was down Via Torino (since I was with Willie there was no 'accidental' stop over to Promod like we did with Holly). Passed the Columns of San Lorenzo and then a peek into the church, where apparently there was a mass - in Tagalog! luckily we are asian - and all those asians looked alike, so we kind of blended in. At least we didnt look like tourists barging in during mass!! Of course we couldnt find the exit to get out, so we had to keep walking past the same doors till we figured out which one was the entrance/exit. Then out the Porta di Ticinese doors and over to the Navigli where the pic above was taken. Walked down the small canal and then over to the big one. And then it was over to Sant'Ambrogio area. Stopped at Orso gelateria - good strawberry ice cream. Got Sophia a small cone, but she takes small licks and it just drips down her arm and on to the stroller. She gets peeved when i try to take licks to clean up the melting goo - 'e mio, mio, mio' she cries! it was so hot, and the ice cream sooo sticky that when i tried to clean her face after she finished her cone- the waxy paper napkin clung to her face! We looked for the davinci museum - which we found 21 San Vittore, thanks to a phone call to Max- and which apparently closes at 6.30 -about 10 minutes after we got there. So we just went home.

If was a good thing anyways because we were supposed to meet Khatia, Mauro, Oliver and Greta for an 'addio khatia dinner'. she is going back to georgia - for who knows how long-could be 2 weeks could be 2 months, depending on the visa. But apparently we got our wires crossed and so the guest of honor didnt come. We celebrated and and drank and cheered a farewell to Khatia anyways!



19,200 steps (not including house cleaning before leaving to the city and cooking and party clean up after).

the Pretty Woman Scene

Last full day for H and ML. First we walked around the town market here in CM. Got some yarn to knit Irene a shawl for her 80th bday, which is Sat. I hope it gets finished in time. Then, grabbed some focaccia at the Focacceria in the center, they always have a line going out the door - and with good reason!) Then went around Milan to do last minute shopping. (I hate getting on the Metro during the summer. The bad hygiene that is covered up layers of winter clothes and heavy jackets - unleashes itself and flourishes in the stuffy dirty cars of the Metro. And the smell just gets worse as the day goes on.)
ML and I went to Santa Della Grazia to see if she could get in on a cancellation to see the Last Supper, but no dice. Had to book at least a month or 2 in advance. So it was off to meet H and get some panzerotti - finally (ps TammyJo- they are like small calzone but deep fried, and stinkin good. There is always a line out the door to get them and then there is no where to sit, so you have to stand and eat them or go and stake out a seat on the steps of the Duomo). H had already eaten by the time we got there, so she went off to see if she could find some ties for Mike at one of the stores in the Galleria. ML and I finished up and went to go and meet her. Just as we got to the store, H walked out and you could see that she was perturbed, so of course we asked what was wrong. She said that when the store finally opened after the lunch break, she went in. She was in for at least 10 minutes, the 2 sales people did nothing other the gab about ice cream, and tho she neared them they didnt help her and she couldnt get a word in edgewise. So she started browsing and touching the ties. It wasnt until then that the salesman acknowledged her existence by yelling at her, 'Cant you read the sign, it says dont touch.' So thats when she walked out and ran into us. I asked her if she wanted me to say something about it, because visibly angry. And she said 'Would you?' So back in we went, I wasnt mean at all, honestly, even though I was hopping mad for H. I just calmly said 'You know you just lost a customer because instead of helping her all you did was gab with each other. Compliments!'. And there were customers by this time, so they started trying to explain themselves, so we just turned on our heels and walked out. Then we went to Andrew's Ties and got some nice things there instead. Walking out we had to pass the store again and I bet H a gelato to go and knock on the window, flash her Andrew's Tie bag (that is easily recognizable because it has a gigantic tie on the front) and wag her finger in that condescending 'tut tut' sort of way.

Needless to say, I owe Holly a gelato.

Holly and I went to Promod to do a little shopping for ourselves. (ML was awesome being our personal assistant and getting stuff for us, thanks MaryLou!!). Got back and went to get Soph from preschool. H and ML went to do a little souvenir grocery shopping, taking back some of the ingredients of the recipes they learned here.

And then we had our own Last Supper at Baja Sardigna - (which has the best and freshest seafood. and Ignazio the waiter is never less than happy and smiling despite how busy it is all the time! and its really inexpensive!)