A Stay Dry Wednesday

Wednesday, 24 April, 2019

Last night I spent about four hours in a driving rainstorm while coaching the Skorpions that left me wet to the bone.

During the 2018 season here in Varese, these conditions were the norm. This year we have had little rain at our practices.

The local weather forecast called for rain all day today, tomorrow and Friday. The same type of weather is forecast in Brescia where we play on Saturday night.

As of now, the Italian meteorologists all say that Saturday will be a sunny day both here in Varese and in Brescia about 90 miles to the east of us.

Taking all of these factors into account and knowing that we'll all be in the eye of the storm for four hours again at Thursday night's Skorpions practices, I opted to just stay in the Villa Skorpion II to do some laundry and reading today.

There was but one exception, I just had to get my morning cappuccino and pistachio brioche fix at the Pasticceria Marabelli in the morning.

It was there that . . .

. . . I saw this frightening picture

on the front page of the

Gazzetta dello Sport

It is of an angry AC Milan Head Coach Gennaro Gattuso who has still not gotten over last Saturday's 1-1 tie with Parma in a Series A contest that Michael and I witnessed thanks to the efforts of Pietro Caprioli.

Tonight AC Milan hosts Lazio at 8:45 p.m. in a Coppa Italia semi-final game. This is the return semi-final match. The two teams tied 0-0 in Lazio the first time they played.

The winner tonight will play the winner of tomorrow night's other semi-final second leg match-up featuring Fiorentina at Atalanta for the Coppa Italia championship.

FIRE THEM UP

COACH GATTUSO!

At mid-afternoon, here is how

our weather sounded outside

of my balcony facing a courtyard

made up of building erected in the 1600s

Tomorrow is the XXV Aprile, 1945 National Holiday. This holiday, also known as Liberation Day, celebrates the end of Nazi German occupation and Fascist control of Italy during World War II.

For a few die-hard, far right leaning Italians, this may not be such a big day of celebrating. 

Old beliefs are still with us, just like in the USA.