~ the day after Christmas ~
we had seen the line snaking into
the square across from La Scala
& heard there were some sensational
pieces of art on timed (free) admission...
so, we partook!
...waiting in line for more than an hour
in a very light drizzle,
gaining ground when those less committed
left the line & we advanced
(occasionally)
at more than a snail's pace
we had some conversation with the couple
in front of us - retired Italians -
managing the exchange in
Italian/French/Spanish
between me and the wife,
a former French teacher
(each of us translating for the hubbies),
who pointed out that, in Spanish,
the word for retirement is
& below...
a street scene on our way,
walking from our apartment
to the Piazza della Scala -
Room With a View music!
(just happens to be my all-time
favorite movie 😍)
just a handful of pieces in the exhibit
with a tour completely in....
very, very fast Italian!
but it gave us the opportunity
to simply enjoy
the art
(& completely ignore
what we couldn't understand)
this exhibit was in the Palazzo Marino,
which is Milan's City Hall
but was a 16th-century palace
it seems they have an annual art exhibit
with free admission every Christmas -
and this year it was "Charity & Beauty,"
featuring works by Botticelli, Fra' Angelico,
Filippo Lippi's Mother & Child -
completed on the reverse
of an existing sketch!
white fabric streamers used to separate
the Salone dell'Alessi
to highlight the art
the hall is beautiful enough
to be an art museum, itself!
Botticelli's Mother & Child
(love her translucent veil
& Jesus' radiant halo)
because we were unable to understand
the fast Italian tour narrative,
we were free to go through the art
in our own sequence
Fra' Angelico,
whose art we encountered
more than 25 years ago
in Cortona
(ah, sigh...highly recommend
that wee town)
so lovely!
(did i already tell you,
i inherited my paternal grandmother's
affection for angels?)
we held onto our admission brochure,
as it was to get us a discount
the next day at the nearby
Gallerie d'Italia!
deciding to take a bit of a wander,
we walked ourselves through
a more modern part of downtown
(as well as high fashion shops!),
ended up crossing through
the large city park called
and stumbled upon
a Christmas Village!
quite a cross-section of Milanese families
enjoying the day after Christmas!
Italian Frozen? Mish-mash?
Hard for me to tell
main attraction!
the star appeared to be
the caped, red-nosed elf
right of center
how to ride a bike
and the aforementioned
fashion district,
with all The Names
that i recognize
but don't care
a whit
about
all on fancy-schmancy street,
with a Christmas backdrop
for photo opportunities
sparkly Moschino, again
lots of people walking & looking
but few going inside
& that 'in' thing right now...pleather!
what's old is new again!
more fancy-schmancy street
which really should have
come home with me, obv.
we did find a couple of
fashion "outlets"
where clothing & accessories
were more in our price-range,
and i found this
great lavender pom-pom hat!
what one discovers upon
return from Europe to the US
is that (sorry, i'm just going to say it)
European fashion is quite a bit ahead
of US fashion...so i anticipate seeing
tons of these pom-pom hats
next winter
(except for the sad fact
that we had such a balmy one
this year...no snow at all!)
but the pom-pom hat suited quite well
inside all the old cathedrals in Italy,
...such as these
(which will remain largely unnamed,
as i did not record it
& cannot figure most of them out
from the map)...
basically, if a church door opened,
we went inside!
& were met with the warm glow of candles
and the heady smell of incense
these murals (above) appear to be layered,
with an older one somehow revealed below the newer
& i was intrigued by the expression
on the monk below
altar panorama
there was generally
a nativity or creche,
and it was lovely to see
how each church presented theirs
this one was a little too baroque
for my taste
but some of the side chapels
were quite impressive!
church panorama
just like the mosques in Istanbul,
these churches were such a lovely
flanked by what remains of
two towers from the
medieval city walls
shops were now closed,
as we meandered our way
back home
but church doors were still open!
a little bit of vespers
& just a quick pop into
a pastry shop
before we called it a day
one of this, one of that,
& so on until...
which, of course,
necessitated more milk!
to find the lactose-free one!
happy meal of cheese & crackers
(and yummy apricot juice!)
