Milan

Milan was a wonderful surprise to us as previously we had only been to the railway station. We know that Milan is the fashion capital of the world (shared with Paris) but  the architecture here is also stunning. Yesterday we talked about 10 kms to see all the places on my list, today we did the on- off bus routes to see what we had missed.

The star attraction is the Duomo, Santa Maria Nascente, a frothy conglomerate of marble with 135 spires and about 3700 statues on the exterior. Started in 1386, it took hundreds of years to be finished. Inside it is very dark and rather drab.

Late in the afternoon we had a booking to see Leonardo da Vinci's 'The Last Supper' in the refectory at the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. This work dates from 1495 so it is absolutely amazing that it still exists, especially when you see photos of war damage to the building.
It is forbidden to take photos so I am posting this one which I found on the web.

For us the highlight was the Basilica de Sant' Ambrogio - Saint Ambrose. He is the patron saint of Milan and the basilica was built in 379-386AD. Built in the Romanesque style, the frescoes were beautiful, the place looked well cared for and had great feeling ... and very 
few tourists!

Lunch was at the hottest lunch venue in Milan - Luini. The queues stretched way out into the street but efficient staff moved the customers through with speed and a smile. Guess where we ate our panzerotto?

Andiamo! Let's go!

Andiamo! Let's go!

Finally it is almost time to go.
The roses have been pruned and the garden readied for spring growth, despite all the rain we have had this month.

The cases are almost packed,

the house is clean and the refrigerator is empty,

the nails have been done and the passports are ready,

and the family has arrived to take us to the airport early tomorrow morning.

Tutti per ora.

It's not Italy, it's Lygon Street, Carlton

The days leading up to an overseas trip are quite stressful. This is especially so when you are all ready to go but the days just won't pass quickly enough.

We were feeling like that so we took an over night trip to Melbourne. We rode on the Melbourne Star Observation Wheel then we went for dinner in Lygon Street.

Lygon St, Carlton has been the centre of the Italian community in Melbourne since the 1920s. It is our favourite place to eat and enjoy things Italian in Melbourne. Of course, we are not the only ones who appreciate the joys of Lygon Street, it is a popular tourist destination also.

There are an amazing number of restaurants,

lots of wonderful Italian food, 

gelati, wheels of grana padana cheese, legs of prosciutto, 

other things Italian,

but nothing, absolutely nothing, beats the Brunetti pasticceria!

Marvellous Melbourne

Last night we took a flight on the Melbourne Star Observation Wheel at Harbour Town. It was a spectacular experience giving wonderful night light views over the city.

It is one of only three giant observation wheels in the world, it is as tall as a forty storey building and is held together by 21,000 bolts!

There are 15 million different LED lighting combinations adding great colour to the night skies of inner city Melbourne.

The term 'Marvellous Melbourne' was coined around the 1860s -1880s when Melbourne was growing from the gold boom. Today Melbourne has a population of 4.24 million people with 140 different cultural groups. It is consistently voted the world's most liveable city, it is the world's number 1 sporting city and one of its great obsessions is coffee!

Did you know that Melbourne is the largest Italian city outside Italy? It is also the third biggest Greek city in the world.

Melbourne is one of the great cities of the world - visit with the eyes of a tourist and you will agree too.

Sunday night is pizza night

Sunday night is pizza night at our place. Sometimes we get takeaway but more and more I make them myself.This is tonight's effort, in pictures.

The dough has to be kneaded for about ten minutes.

Then it has to sit and rise for 30 minutes.

A punch down, a soft knead and then the dough is rolled out, placed on trays and the topping added.

Whilst it is in a hot oven, get a glass of red and then 'buon appetito'

Did you know that the response to 'Buon appetito' is 'Grazie, altrettanto!'?

Buen viaje! Gute reuse! Buon viaggio!

We are looking forward to a buon viaggio, 'good trip' and as time draws closer we become more excited. Today was Long Lunch day when we got together with our friends Sue & Noel and Jenny & Kevin to celebrate and anticipate our various European trips. We each brought food to the table from one of our destinations. Jenny made German food, Sue made Spanish and my food was Italian. Of course, the men found appropriate wines -- from Prosecco to Riesling to Marsala.

                                                 Pickled herrings and Margherita pizza

                                               Tuscan chicken and beef & chicken tortillas

                                                 Drunken oranges & black forest cake

We had a wonderful long lunch, a midday meal to do justice to the Mediterranean way. In fact, our long lunch lasted six hours!

                                                                               

Carciofi or artichokes

Yesterday we bought two artichokes. 

Kel is a keen fan of artichokes but we have never tried to prepare them ourselves.
What would we do without Google and YouTube? After watching how to prepare carciofi the Italian way, I set to with lemon juice and a sharp knife.
Then it was into the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and some garlic.

They were quite delicious, but next time I will look for smaller and younger artichokes.