Tuesday, January 29, 2019
A long day began with a train ride into Milano to see about purchasing tickets to view Leonardo da Vinci's non-fresco wall painting rendition of The Last Supper.
Along the way and right next to the Cadorna Train Station, I ran into the Croatian Consulate in Milano. It reminded me that Laurie and I might go to Croatia to unwind on one of their splendid beaches come July.
I love Croatia's Bob's Big Boy
inspired plaid national crest
Chiesa Santa Maria delle Grazie
The Last Supper is found in the former dining hall of this church.
Same church, different view
In Milano, often the old sees the new
This is the view from the Chiesa Santa Maria Delle Grazie up towards one of Milano's newest skyscrapers.
I am trying to buy two tickets to view one of Leonardo's many masterpieces for our son Michael's visit this coming April. I was acutely aware that tickets must be purchased months in advance and was afraid that they might already be sold out for the time of his visit.
The lady said that ticket sales for all visits to The Last Supper in the month of April start tomorrow, on-line beginning at 2:30 p.m. local time.
We've got a shot!
Good news in hand, it was time to wander and see some key sights in Milano.
To me . . .
. . . food displays in store windows
ARE key sights in Milano!
Everywhere one walks there is
art to be viewed in the streets
I don't know if this is a good idea
Lobsters?
Because I'm bad . . .
Modesty at all costs
Yep, me again at the Duomo
In the Metro station below
the Duomo
The Super Bowl broadcast kickoff live on Monday, February 4th at 12:15 a.m.
The Skorpions will be watching!
I was headed to the Garibaldi Train Station area to have a look see and to start considering a place to have lunch.
Milano's famed
Vertical Garden buildings
Lots of shiny, new buildings
in the Garibaldi Train Station area
A HUGE steak was a bit
too much for my delicate
appetite today
As of last July, when we headed home
fo California, there were ZERO
Starbucks in Italy
This blight on the Italian coffee culture is spreading quickly as this is the third one that I've spied in Milano alone since my return.
Hopefully Venegono Superiore and Venegono Inferiore have been spared from the attack of this Pacific Northwest giant.
Old and new architecture
No lo so
Giovanni Battista Piatti
A stately Civil Engineer from Milano
Suddenly it hit me, the perfect place for lunch! It was back on the Metro for the short ride to . . .
Milano's Stazione Centrale
Bold statues abound at Milano's
biggest train station
My noontime dining destination was about a five minute walk from the Stazione Centrale.
Once again, no lo so
No lo so is Italian for I do not know.
What I did know was where I was going to dine today as it was recommended by not one but both of my go to guides to Milano and Italy!
Perhaps you recall this fun book from
last year's stay with the Skorpions
In this book my dining spot is listed as attraction . . .
#62 Osteria del Treno
The award-winning railwaymen's trattoria
Via San Gregorio 46
20124 Milano
+39 026 700 479
Back in the day, this is where the old railway employees "after work club" was located. On May 1st, 1898, it became the headquarters of the railway worker's labor movement.
At lunchtime there are no table reservations taken as the manager, one Angelo Bissolotti, wants to preserve the working class spirit of the place.
The menu varies daily and you have to order and retrieve your food from the chef himself at a window in the kitchen facing the dining room.
While lunch is informal and straight forward, at night and on the weekends the vibe changes to one of haute cuisine with rising prices. On Sundays the the main room even becomes a tango dance floor!
My newest Italian tome weighs about
five pounds but it was worth lugging
over on the flight from Los Angeles
And no, they don't have a much easier to use/transport electronic version of it as of yet for my iPhone.
I mentioned the the ever changing daily lunch menu at the Osteria del Treno.
Here is what this book had to say about the possible menu items: "These might include goose products from Mortara, petuccia (a minced-meat sausage from Friuli), smoked eel from Tuscany, almonds from Puglia and Sicily, and so forth."
What the heck, I'M ALL IN!
I found it easily
Unassuming exterior as expected
Simple interior too
I got there at about 12:10 p.m. and was told by an extremely helpful waiter that lunch would not be served for another 20 minutes. The bar was open so I could order a nice glass of red wine while seated at my table for one awaiting the feeding frenzy to commence.
That long, silver colored window
is where one orders and receives
their food directly from the chef
The feeding has begun!
For my primo piatti I enjoyed what was a good rigatoni but it was all about my secondo piatti on this fine day.
My secondo consisted of a large slab of Lombardia's famed, strong gorgonzola cheese on a plate then smothered with warm, delicious polenta!
I was in Italian culinary heaven.
Again.
Great call by both of my books!
In the evening, it was time for four plus hours of American football with the Skorpions.
On Facebook I found this funny
comparison of this Monday's two
Super Bowl QBs
At 6:30 p.m., the Frozen Tundra of
Skorpion Field was ready for our
U16 tackle team's and
Senior Women's flag team's workouts
Senior Women's flag team Head
Coach Dario D'Adelfio looks toasty
GO LADIES!
U16 tackle team working
on their tackling techniques
U16 Angle Tackling
U16 QB throwing under no duress
At 8:15 p.m., we started our Senior team's, or La Prima Squadra as they are called in Italian parlance, practice.
Senior Defense also working on their
most basic of skills, TACKLING
Inside Run Period
A big Third Down scrimmage period
was a part of our schedule tonight
We finished up with a Goal Line
series starting at the ten yard line
Tonight, the Defense had a solid Goal Line Stand to show for their efforts.
Overall, with La Prima Squadra, I was pleased both with the great turnout and the effort on this icy evening. Our techniques and timing are still a long ways away from where our coaches want them but we can attain our desired levels of proficiency if we can continue with the high attendance and solid effort.
Meanwhile, back in the Skorpions cozy, warm locker room area . . .
Tributes of past Skorpions' pilgrimages
to London to see an NFL game
These annual games are HUGE
events for EuroBall loving players,
coaches and fans throughout the continent
Even if it is only to see the Bengals play
Physically, it was a good day
for improving my fitness levels
2 comments:
Here in the original home of the Frozen Tundra, it was minus-23 with a wind chill of minus-50 this morning.
Thankfully, the office (and most businesses) have closed because of the health risk in going outdoors, so I just went back to bed. Eight hours later, it has warmed up to minus-13 with a wind chill of minus-35.
I'll be staying in for dinner.
David,
DIO MIO!
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