Arrivederci Milano

I forgot to mention that a few days ago I was bitten on the arm  by a big dog while we were walking along the footpath near our hotel I was lucky that it was very cold and that I was wearing lots of layers and had on a puffy coat so that the dog  didn't really hurt me. The dog's owner just said "scusi" and took off -didn't check to see if I was ok.   There are so many big dogs here, and lots of stand offs in the street between dogs as owner try to rein them in.  No sign of muzzles anymore.

The weather has been fairly cold but fine and  manageable and today it was warm -10C max -with a clear blue sky, the warmest it has been since we've been here.

These photos were taken from the top of the Duomo a few days ago -you can see how cold it was from Rob's clothes :)

Among other things, today we went to see and exhibition of Artemesia Gentileschi's work on loan from around the world.   I was so happy to have the chance to see it.  I've read quite a bit about her and have only ever seen one of her paintings before at the Uffizi in Firenze.  She was an artist in the 1600s and was recognized as an accomplished artist in her lifetime -she painted women as strong characters.  It was interesting to see an exhibition in which nearly all of the central subjects were women.

The curators didn't really go into great depth about the controversies in her life but let her work speak for her.  There was also an installation with audio about her rape trial  and a selection of her letters.  

http://www.mostrartemisia.it/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_Gentileschi

In Milano even the police stand around looking stylish :)

Inside the Gallerie at night

We leave for Rome tomorrow -we'll be home in just over two weeks

Mantova

We were very lucky to have a guided tour of Mantova with cugino Michele and his suocero.  It was a great day and we visited  heaps of interesting places and learned much about this beautiful place.  It was very foggy (for us, but apparently it is often much worse) and in Palazzo Ducale it was very cold.  It wasn't just us who felt the cold -the staff were dressed in puffy coats, hats, gloves etc so I'd didn't feel like we were exaggerating.

For those of you interested in opera, in September last year there was a fantastic live telecast of Rigoletto, filmed over two days and set in  Mantova, it was an amazing technical feat.  There had been talk about a dvd being released but it never appeared.

http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/09/rigoletto_live_.php
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/rigoletto-from-mantua/about-the-operatic-film/1148/

The approach to Mantova looked stunning in the fog

The house of the character Sparafucile in the Rigoletto live telecast

Rob with the Mantova experts

Mantova has a round church -the Rotonda di San Lorenzo built in the 1080s

Palazzo Ducale

Palazzo Te'

Mantova is a beautiful place and it was very quiet -we were able to see everything without heaps of people around. Thanks to our expert guides!

Milano

We arrived in Milano yesterday and are adjusting to the change in weather -extremely cold (for us anyway :) ) and a tiny, very basic hotel room.
It has been great wandering around Milano again.  It is incredibly busy -I guess that it is because it is the weekend. The piazza in front of the Duomo, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and stores such as Rinascente are absolutely packed with people -we had to shuffle along in parts of the Galleria.

 There is quite a different atmosphere than Torino, it is buzzy and people look as though they are having fun -even if it is really cold.  We've enjoyed walking around in the cold though Rob had to get a new scarf and beanie.  We're so glad that we bought puffy coats, they are brilliant even though we will never wear them at home.

We did a bit of shopping -well it is Milano :) and have found some good places to eat. We're only here until Thursday so will be wandering around as much as we can besides, it's warmer when you keep moving. Ciao ciao

Zuppa di cima de rapa e guancia di maiale

Shoes made from chocolate in Rinasciente

Shoes made from chocolate in Rinasciente

A snack at the mozzarella bar

How to ruin a perfect risotto: we went to a restaurant near to our hotel which now occupies the place where the Georgio Fedon shop was last time we were in Milano (the home of beautiful bags etc)

The risotto was well cooked and tasty but was served on a base of fried cheese.  At first that seemed ok, but the risotto was a large serve and quickly melted the cheese so the bottom of the risotto was swimming in oily cheese.

Risotto alla milanese

Risotto con funghi porcini