More wandering about Milan. Some photos, some words

We were greeted, as we are every morning, by the Courtyard Tortoise coming running to greet us:

 It is always good to see him.

Then we went to the local church, St Ambrose, which was founded in 376, but most of the building comes from the 12th century.

The loggia was designed by Bramanti:

 It's nice.

St Ambrose and his two martyred friends are still there:

For lunch we went to a farmer's market. There was a little restaurant called Un Posto de Milano. Great, inexpensive food. (a 15 euro set lunch) We have been taking the trams all over town.

For dinner, we went back to Navigli. I had a bowl of risotto (Milanese, of course!) and Doreen had eggplants, which were delicious!

We ended up back at the Duomo square.

and then gave our little buddy a treat, too!

The Navigli Canal, The Prada Foundation, and dinner at Ratanà

I had heard about an area of Milan called the Navigli Canal, where old transportation canals are still exposed. No longer used for barges, of course, but the tow paths are now lined with nice little coffee shops, restaurants, and art stores. It was a pleasant place to wander about.

After Navigli, we took a streetcar to the Fondazioni Prada, which is an old distillery that is being converted into art spaces. The place is fantastic.

They have gold leafed one of the buildings:

They had exhibitions from Robert Gober and Louise Bourgeois in the distillation tower, and an amazing exhibit called "Stolen Images" by Thomas Demand in one of the other buildings. (It was really called L’Image Voleé). "Stolen" was used loosely, including photographs, collages, and stories about stolen art work.

and the art is interspersed among them,

 I love this sign, which warns of "insurmountable danger"

For dinner we metroed up to Ratanà, a local sort of farm to table place in a newly redeveloped part of town.

Those are apartment buildings with many, many, plants coming down their sides:

It was getting dark, but you get the idea:

We ate outside

 It was an old train depot

 Doreen had her favorite, a Kir Royale!

 I tell you, those Milanese are stylin'! A white linen suit with short pants!

 It was a great meal.

In Milan

Flying is never really "fun" although it can at times seem miraculous.

Leaving Houston at 10:00 AM from your house and landing in Milan at 8:30 the next morning (1:30 am body clock time) seems to be something we really take fro granted.

Especially when you wake up and see things like this out the window:

We were met by a driver from the apartment we rented, who had our name down as "Dorsen". Not sure where that came from, but it worked.

The place is nice, large and very quiet. The owner upgraded us because hi didn't have the bigger place rented out. There are a few problems. which I may expound upon later.

We are close to the historic center of Milan, though. You can walk to the Duomo and surrounding area in under 15 minutes.

We had a nice simple lunch at a little bakery on the way. Great quiche and salad.

And you can see the Duomo peeking around the corner.

and then right in front of you. It took 400 years to build this wedding cake!

The Vittorio Emanuel Galleria is right around the corner:

and the Carabinieri were there showing off their old cars:

We did make it to the Sforza castle

 Before we came back to our own courtyard:

Our courtyard has its own tortoise.

She runs up to see you as soon as you open the door. It is sort of cute:

Google loves to make little movies. Here's one: