July 16-17 A Weekend in Milan

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 DUOMO

Stunning details - it was certainly a huge undertaking. We got a chance to see the sculptures that were submitted as applications to work on the Duomo, so there were definitely many artists involved. The inside was not as glamorous as St. Peter's Basilica (I would be surprised if anything could compare), but the intricate stained glass definitely caught my attention.



Clara: "Does Jesus have goggles?"

PANZEROTTI LUINI
Panzerotti are typical of Apulia but popular throughout. Based on the panzerotti I've had in the past, I expected this to be like mini empanadas, but it was actually much larger and closer to the fried pizza I had in Naples. The outside of the dough is crisp and slightly flaky, pulling away slightly from the rest of the dough. Filled with mozzarella and tomato, but not very saucy- most of the filling is mozzarella brushed with a bit of tomato. Overall, fragrant and delicious.


LEONARDO DA VINCI MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Having gone to various art museums, I was looking for something a little different. Indeed, this museum fulfilled that role, but the content wasn't super coherent. There was some exhibits related to da Vinci's drawings and life, as well as a hanger filled with old trains and planes.

MERCATO POPULARE
At first, I wanted to come here because I heard there were some local foods to try. While there were some stalls selling cooked foods and outdoor seating, it was mostly a market. The style reminded me a bit of Porta Palazzo in Torino. So we decided to find somewhere else for lunch...

SIGNORVINO
Both a restaurant and wine store. The greeted us with some white wine they were promoting that week haha - it was semi-dry to me with some aroma but nothing too complex, probably standard for white wine but not as good as what we had in Genova.

  • Fried appetizers
    • fiori di zucca (zucchini flowers) - unfilled, slightly nutty flavor, a bit of savoriness that made me think there was some sort of fish inside, but probably not
    • arancini filled with lots of cheese
    • olives filled with meat - the meat definitely cut the sharpness of the olives
  • Tortelli basilico e pinoli - filled pasta. dough has basil, filling is cheese. wasn't exactly (exclusively) pesto, but fresh flavor overall - from both the dough, filling, and sauce. harmonious bite.
  • Taglietelle al barolo - pasta made with wine, with ground rabbit sauce. couldn't really taste rabbit flavor since it was ground and no skin etc but it was meaty and gamey. couldn't really taste wine flavor though it added to the "meatiness" of the dish. when adding some cheese, wine flavor was brought out slightly. cool that cheese mellowed out the stronger flavors even though it is strong itself.

IL BOLLITO E LAMPREDOTTO, MERCATO CENTRALE
I had a sandiwch of lampredotto al sugo, which is common Florentine dish. It is made of the fourth stomach of the cow and cooked with tomato, celery, carrots, onions, and potato. The flavor was pretty mild, with the flavor of the cow not super pungent and the acidity of tomato mellowed out by the meat. Meat was pretty tender and all the sauce soaked into the crusty bread, which would have been too hard on its own. Overall, I appreciated the texture and simple flavors.


TEATRO ALLA SCALA - GISELLE
Clara and I were separated at the entrance; I had gotten a seat in the second gallery while she had gotten one in a box on the first level. There were separate entrances for the two areas. And we were kept apart during intermission. There was rope keeping apart the galleries from the rest of the theater. Perhaps that was to prevent people from switching to better seats. If that was the case however, they could have rechecked tickets in between the levels instead of physically blocking it off. So it is more likely class division, stopping (historically) different classes from interacting with each other and sharing the same space. The drawbacks of tradition are underscored in Italy.

On the bright side, no one stopped me (until the end of intermission) from playing the upright piano in the reception area. Some one would have likely stopped me if I tried to play the grand piano in the classier reception area.

Furthermore, the frailness of Giselle and her willingness to defend the man that betrayed her and cause her death made me rather uncomfortable. Yet this is what people pay big bucks and dress up to see. It is what entrances the upper ranks of society and worse yet, forms the fantasies of children watching the ballet. We need better repertoire that represent the values that we wish to our society to have, rather than instill the views of nineteenth century Europe. Even though these values are only prominent in a single venue, the glamour of the establishment makes the values presented ever more important. Yes, there are certainly newer ballets that aren't based on archaic beliefs, but they should be part of theater's canon, in that people would be willing to be just as much money to see them.

Nevertheless, the dancing was beautiful. It was Martina Arduino's skill at portraying Giselle that evoked feelings of disgust in me. In addition, I was enraptured by how together the corps de ballet was, even more so than more prominent ballet companies such as ABT.

My very good view from the cheapest seats


QUADRILATERO DI MODA (FASHION DISTRICT)
Too intimidated by the designer shops, we wandered into some lower key stores. Among the first shops was the Lego store, where I was surprised to see a model piano that could be played. There were also other Lego sets geared towards 18+, such as flower bouquets. When we walked into the Gap store, I was expected a sea of grays and blues. Instead, we were met with many bright colors, with hoodies in hot pink and lime. In addition, Zara had a different selection, with a much wider selection for men (eg many floral shirts).
Expansion of Lego market

CHINATOWN
  • Some all around good unprocessed, slightly sweetened soy milk from a place that makes tofu
  • I tried a "mo" for the first time. The bun was crisp / cracker like on the outside and didn't seem to have too much leavening. Filled with lean, shredded beef that tastes more or less like beef noodle soup
  • Some causal restaurant, where we had cumin beef, sweet and sour pork, bok choy

ANTICA GELATERIA SARTORI
Just outside Central Station. Overall slightly less heavy (higher water content?) than some of the other gelatos I've had, but still creamy due to the lack of air pockets.
Nocciole (hazelnut) - both the flavor and some toasted whole ones.
Stracciatella - vanilla with chocolate chips, exactly what it sounds like.







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