Rainy Days

secret fountain

 Lots of rainy day walks.  I don't even mind that it has been a little chilly.  I mark all the places where I have walked on my map of Milan and yet I still get lost in the center of town.  Sometimes, I can see a landmark or two and still cannot figure where to go.  The other day I was trying to get back to class when I found this over grown garden behind a gate.  I love peeking in doorways.  Just like in New Orleans, there are secrets back there.

There are also a lot of secrets on the outside--altars and balconies and this statue somewhere between my school and the duomo in my new favorite neighborhood for walking.

While in north-east Milan, I spotted this--a backyard.  There are not a lot of houses in Milan, mostly apartments.   I was on the edge of town, off my map, when I found this.

 

In that same part of Milan, there are a lot of new, industrial type buildings, and this skyscraper with a twisted exterior. Even in this part of town, I could see this building as I thought I got more and more lost.  And then I found what I was looking for.

Design Week Milan

Not only are classes nearly over, but it is Design Week in Milan with hundreds of events showcasing designers of all sorts, panels, art shows, and of course, appertivi. Also it has been raining like a fairy tale. The only event I have made it to so far was well worth the long subway ride and confusing directions. When I reached the Spazio MIL, there was a temporary workshop of letterpress workers organized by Milan's own Nove Punti, a group of eight designers and an architect. They have workshops, bring artists to Milan and show this city what type can do.

I met John from Flowers and Fleurons Press in Brighton UK who was printing these black and white graphics. The theme of the workshop was printing without electricity, a post-apocalyptic print world.

While everyone was busy printing, John went outside to start a different kind of type setting--carving letters into marble. I don't have any photos of that but I do intend to return Saturday and see what progress they have made. I got to try chiseling a line into the marble. The display and set up was lovely, people were friendly and having a good time. It was mentioned that we are lucky in the US, to have so much space that people hold onto presses instead of scrapping them, even when they don't know what they are for. I would add, I know see many more lady printers in the US than I saw today, though I was only there for a little bit and there was at least one women working on the presses. More photos Saturday!

In the Neighborhood

Easter. Without any Easter candy. And it is colder outside than I thought. But I have been inside all day writing a paper about an anti-fascist women's group in Italy during the Nazi Occupation. I needed a walk. Somehow in the two months I have lived in this neighborhood, I have never been to the huge park down the street. So off I went, with my camera and my head full of Easter snot.

Something I like about Milan, is that it is only fancy on the surface. A German I met in Prague said Milan smelled like urine and is covered in graffiti. True. And there are tiny dogs and dog poo everywhere. Except, for some reason, in the dog area of the park. Instead there are these lonely benches. I like Milan for its scruffiness for its we're not downtown who cares about cutting the grass. Families walked through the park, a little girl spoke to her dad on a walkie talkie (I can't believe they still make those things).

There is a pedestrian bridge over the busy 4 lane road you have to cross. Later I realized the road is the same Kerry and I used when taking a taxi from the train station. From the top of the bridge, you can see the Alps and downtown. I made it home, now I'm gonna snuggle in and draw all night.

La zuppa della mia nonna

My grandma was not a good cook. Sicilian but she overcooked everything--chicken, rice, you name it. But she made good soup. Probably because it is hard to dry out soup without calling it something else. It is the first thing I learned to cook that was edible and my favorite simple thing to eat in winter.



Last week, my grandma had a massive stroke and a heart attack, the day I arrived in Milan. She is 95 and has signed a "do not resuscitate" form and this is her second stroke. I saw her in November and she was still very clear of mind. Stubborn, but that has nothing to do with her age. At Christmas, I wrote to her in Italian and my Dad she she understood it. Tonight I am making her soup, lots of onions and carrots, no chicken anymore, cheese on top.



After I talked to my sister, I walked around the park again, getting a new view on what is becoming my favorite place in Milan. I listened to an old favorite album, walked over the snow and thought about a hundred things that make time feel long and spread out and good and sad, all at once. Buonanotte, i miei amici.