Bittersweet Memories of Milan

Monday AM, I woke up and went to bring Mom coffee and breakfast in bed. She did that for me every morning in high school (I hated getting up in the morning in high school...before we had aways eaten at the table, but I guess my teenageness interfered) and so I look for opportunities to do it for her now.

Britt and Sandy had left earlier that AM to fly to Paris, so it was just the two of us now.

Mom and I walked around Genoa a bit more to check out a rug she had seen the evening before but the store was still closed. We hopped the 11:19 train to Milan and arrived just before 1pm. We didn’t have reservations but I had seen the Hotel Mercanto near the City Center on Trip Advisor so that is where we headed. After dropping our bags at the room, we walked to the Piazza Republica and then split a quick salad of orzo, corn, tomatoes, and olives with coffee. We walked to Milan’s main shopping avenues, Via della Spiga and Via Montenapoleone to stroll and browse. Most of the storefronts were very recognizable: Prada, Armani, Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana, Miu Miu, Versace, Louis Vuitton, etc. Interestingly, Santo, Donatello, and Gianni Versace are all from Milan and surrounding environs, as are Miuccia Prada and Stefano Gabbana. This is a serious, serious shopping capital. When I was asking the front desk man for directions to the Duomo, I inquired as to how long it would take to walk there. Knowing we would pass the shopping district, he said, “Hmmm, 15 minutes, but…best shopping in the world!” I know what he meant. We would never make it to the Duomo in 15 minutes, and he was right.

Milan definitely has it’s share of historic sites, but it is also a very modern city, Italy’s cultural and economic capital. It doesn’t have the tourists that Rome has; it actually fees ike a real Italian city, with actual Italian people going about their business.

I had done a bit of research about some shops and found 2 good ones: DMagazine right alongside the major design houses on Via Montenapoleone, and Il Salvagente on Via Fratelli Bronzetti. DMagazine carried secondhand items, secondhand meaning that a model donned it for 6 minutes during a Milanese fashion show. It was fun to look and try.

We walked down to see La Scala, the famous opera house. I looked into the performances but there was no opera tonight.

Maria Callas, Pavarotti...yep, they've performed here.

Then we walked through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, named for the former king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel. It is a beautiful shopping arcade.

I wasn’t exactly sure how far the Duomo was but knew we needed to walk to the right. Thus, when we exited the arcade and I saw this breathtaking marble structure that looked like I could snap it in half, my feet stopped moving. I literally just stopped.

The Duomo is one of the most beautiful, beautiful structures I have ever seen. It is also HUGE…12,000 square feet, to be exact, and is quite an imposing structure. I read it is the fourth largest cathedral in the world. It was constructed in the 14th century in the Gothic style.

Inside, there are lots of paintings and, between the inside and outside, over 3500 statues. The stained glass inside is so vibrant. The tallest of the spires has a Madonnina at it’s crown, which is covered in 3900 pieces of gold leaf.

After shopping (and buying) some things at Il Savagente, Mom and I popped into a cab to go to the Navigli for dinner.

Navigli is an area of Milan with a series of man-made canals constructed between 1179 and the 16th century to move goods through the city, and particularly to transport marble for the building of the Duomo. It is a great area of town with lots of café and restaurants. We went to have an aperitivo at Luca and Andrea and realized this was aperitivo hour, something very popular in Italy. Essentially one buys a drink anytime between 6-8PM, and you have access to a buffet of pastas, bread, cheese, olives, bruschetta, risotto, etc. I had wanted to do this during the trip, and given the copious amounts of food we have consumed over the past week and a half I was ready for a light meal. So, Mom and I each had a bellini for 6 Euro each, and enjoyed the small buffet for dinner. Delicious, light, easy and fun. This place was filled with locals and the young woman beside us was celebrating her 25th birthday with friends.

Mom and I were having a good time and I thought about how much I was enjoying spending time with her.

After walking up to the main street we began looking for a cab. I saw one and ran up to grab it. I looked behind me and was horrified. Mom was face down on the concrete.

I yelled, “Mom!” and saw her look up and roll over onto her right hip. I immediately felt a bit better after just seeing her move. She was clutching her knee and asking about her chin. She had tripped on a little concrete step and landed on her chin, her knee, and her hand. She didn’t want to move and I was very worried. The very sweet bartender from inside the nearest café came over to help her into a chair and offered to get ice. He kept asking if we wanted him to call an ambulance but Mom said no. He called a cab for us and we waited for about ten minutes. She just wanted to get back to the hotel. At one point she tried to put some weight on it and it buckled under her. We made it back to the hotel and the cab driver and I helped her out. Most Italians we have encountered, especially the men, have been very kind and helpful. She couldn’t go through the rotating door and so the man opened the door for us so she could take her time. We got her upstairs and onto the bed before I went back downstairs for ice. Her knee is very swollen and her chin is already bruising. Her hand is fine. I’m very concerned about her and am just waiting to see how she will do in the morning. Saying prayers for a speedy recovery.

PS: By now, Mom has been to a doctor in the US. She broke her kneecap. OUCH. She is doing fine and will be in a brace for a few months. She was such a trooper during this whole ordeal. I just hated seeing her in pain.