Gelato, aperitivo and brunch. And more gelato.

My first visitor to Milan - enter Aislin!  After a slight struggle with the sleeper train, only arriving in Milan a mere 9 hours late (thanks Eurostar for your delayed train, meaning missing the sleeper...), I threw my keys at Aislin at around 3pm and met up with her for dinner.  Weirdly, my first dinner out in Milan.  Friday passed in a day of lunch (bufala con crudo, obvs) and aperitivi (in Corso Sempione and Corso Como).  Saturday, we took a day trip to Lake Como, taking the furnicular up to Brunate for stunning views.  Lunch was in a tiny osteria and we later had gelato whilst sitting on the edge of the lake.  Sunday was brunch at California Bakery (what can I say, I love that place!!) before Aislin had to get on a bus to Linate after an all-too-brief sejour.

Photos are, as ever, included.  Enjoy and don't be too jealous - I understand it was pretty nasty this weekend in London at least.

Mmmm sunny Lago di Como

Antique Aislin

Just hanging at the Lake

Snow in the distance (probably Switzerland)

Epic views

Osteria even had red and white tablecloths

Lake Como

Vintage shots of Como stazione.

Festa della Liberazione

WHOA there.  After several years of using Blogger, Gmail changes and then Blogger does too?  I apologise if the formatting of this post is therefore somewhat strange.

I feel, currently, like it is a Sunday evening.  The very good reason for this is the Italian concept of a mid-week Bank Holiday.  Some of Italy's Bank Holidays are on specific dates, meaning that if it falls on a weekend, you don't get the day off, but if it's mid-week, hello mid-week mini-break.  Today, 25 April, is taken as the anniversary of the Liberation of Italy, when the Nazi army left Northern Italy.  Hence, there were several Communist demonstrations around the Duomo.  How this makes sense, I don't really know (last time I checked, not being a right-wing fascist doesn't automatically make one a Communist) but this isn't my country.

ANYWAY, I celebrated the day by firstly getting up late after a terrible night's sleep, then choosing to wear a red dress (I couldn't quite get green and white in as well), followed by icecream at Grom for a secondee's birthday, exploring bookshops, sitting in bookshop caffès reading the Sex and the City novel in Italian (awesome - it's quite easy, and surely it's useful vocab?) and then going for aperitivo at Bar Bianco and on the Corso Sempione with a friend from uni.   The aim of getting to know different types of Prosecco and discovering the best has fallen by the wayside since I discovered the Aperol Spritz.  Best early evening drink ever.

Aislin is arriving tomorrow - she was supposed to be taking the sleeper train from Paris to Milan, but unfortunately her Eurostar was delayed, meaning she missed it.  Damn you Eurostar!!  So she's in Paris and will be arriving tomorrow around 3pm.  Must check train station!!

Regarding the level of Italian, things continue to improve.  I'm certainly speaking it more in the office (I think people have realised that I tend to understand the gist and can also read/write it relatively well) and I spent a whole Italian lesson basically talking in a monologue about York, what there is to do there, why I went to a sixth form college, what I studied, etc.   Quite proud of myself, actually.  Shame my tongue hurt at the end of it, think it's the shapes that the words form.  Also a shame my accent is still shockingly bad.

To finish, I attach a mini-montage of my outfit below.   Ciao ciao.

An expensive weekend

Can I say "un weekend caro"? One mobile phone, one food shop, one general Zara visit, one brunch, one visit to Biffi boutique (OH MY - thanks for nothing, @Acnestudios for tweeting me about this place)... oh well, at least I have pretty things to show for it and it was an excellent weekend. Which I keep having....

Sensible purchases - both cream, both studded... And flat-ish shoes too

Lovely lace back t-shirt - molto Milanese

By the end, the saleswoman had me down. Lovely jumper.

PS I've started a Tumblr, mostly for photos and quotations, partly in Italian. It's called Fuoco e Elettricità (Fire and Electricity) and can be found here.

It's like being a teenager again

It has been many years (since approx 2nd year at university, so since I was 19) since I have owned a pay as you go phone. It has also been a long time since I've texted using the actual buttons and not using an iPhone/Blackberry. Nevertheless, today, I managed to purchase a Vodafone PAYG Nokia phone, which for topping up €5 per month should give me unlimited texts. Bravo Vodafone. Of course, my rudimentary Italian may not be functioning and I may have to pay more like €5 every time I want to text someone. But hopefully not. Please email/message me if you want the number.

In other news this week, I was planning on going to Venice for the day on Sunday, but as there are train strikes and the trains will thus be somewhat more temperamental than usual, I have decided not to risk it and perhaps go on 25 April (public holiday FTW). Instead, I am probably meeting up with a couple of the secondees for brunch in the Navigli. Today, I feel like I've achieved a sufficiently large amount to continue (doing both a phone shop and a food shop) but I'm planning on: a) going shopping; b) meeting up with a person for conversation exchange; and c) going out for dinner, alone, because I've yet to go to any restaurants for dinner!!

Last night I made it out for drinks with one of the secondees. It's the middle of the Salone di Mobile (sp?) festival here in Milan, so it was somewhat more crowded than usual. I was asked for directions three times. Twice in Italian, once in a mixture of Italian and English (by a French chappie from Paris, who asked where I was from, and then was like "but WHYYYYY did you leave London?!?").

Allora, vado al centro di Milano. Ciao ciao!

A softer side to the city

A follow-up to the previous post, this post shows some of the less hard elements of Milan. I'm afraid I've not got a huge amount to add...

Globe upon globe - Via Canonica

Italy and the EU - Via della Moscova

Fabulous uniform - Via della Moscova

"Nothing new" - Via Canonica

Gritty and urban

One of the things that I'm growing to love about Milan is its urban edge. I wrote in one of my first Milan posts that Milan feels like it has an air of neglect about it, and that I was surprised by the amount of grafitti. Whilst I'm still quite shocked by the bad (boring, spray painted letters, no artistic talent whatsoever), the air of neglect has grown on me somewhat. Milan is a city full of surprises.

Below, I've published some of my urban photos from various walks around Milan - edited, of course.

Contrasting a derelict house with the shiny glass of UniCredit in Porta Nuova

Vanilla in the rain - Via Turati

City rain

More city rain... Repubblica

Perspective, somewhere near Bastioni di Porta Volta

Straordinaria

I've had a marvellous week. I think this has been a week in which I've felt settled - I've had work (always good), I'm definitely improving my comprehension (if not my speaking yet), I've been irritated (because one can't be happy all the time!) and I've done fun things.

After a discussion with a partner about exploring Milan and how much I love exploring new places, he gave me a gift the following day of a guidebook to Milan, with hidden places (google Milano Straordinaria) - so thoughtful! Absolutely lovely and I can't wait to explore the places.

In other news, I have been to La Scala! I went on the website, principally to try to book cheap tickets for something, but saw the last ticket available for Le Nozze di Figaro for the following evening. €90 later and I was off! It was lovely. Amazing singing, beautiful theatre, long (I left the theatre at 11.30pm), prosecco, stylish people.. just incredible.

Today I went to an "affordable" art show (Arte Accessibile) with a friend, going for aperitivo in Corso Sempione afterwards. Also managed to find (thanks to advice of aforementioned friend!) a department store which sold everything I needed, such as hair serum and tights.

I now intend to eat a homemade gf pizza and read Italian and watch trashy dubbed TV. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for X Factor USA!

Notes on Italian Style (women)

The main thing that I've noticed about the stylish Italian women is that they manage to make trousers always look good. Even when they wear jeans, they are styled impeccably. I've noticed that skirts (certainly short ones) aren't worn as often.

Shirts and blazers are very much worn in a casual setting. I clearly need more.

Things I think I need to complete my wardrobe for summer include:

- tights which aren't opaque - this is fine for now, whilst the Milanese are wearing tights still. But I will need to invest at Calzedonia;
- summer shoes - ballet flats in light colours (including my requirements for arch support and a slight slight heel) and wedges/low heels;
- good quality plain tops;
- some (navy?) cropped trousers; and
- a coloured jacket (I'd love a turquoise biker style jacket but that might be a little specific).


Realistically, either I a) go back to London, in which case I need to make sure I have an amazing wardrobe from my time in Italy, or b) I stay in Milan, in which case I need to make sure I have an amazing wardrobe because I'll be living here. Oh no. Trauma.



Notable Italian things

- All women who ride Vespas ride them when wearing heels. AWESOME.
- Today was the first day I didn't see anyone wearing sunglasses. Today was the day it utterly tipped it down. Even the Milanese didn't wear sunglasses today.

Riflessioni

Two of the Milan associates have commented that I don't seem to like London that much. This is very much an accidental impression (and one which probably derived from me saying that I wasn't going back to the UK for Easter). It's very much something I've been considering in the last three weeks.

I can't quite put my finger on it. There is the obvious - fashion, food, lovely people, good weather, beautiful places. The people are more direct, which I love. I am taller, slimmer (even though the Italian women are waifs. Waifs, I tell you), more attractive. I am forced to have blowdried hair (because the curls don't come out properly here) and am thus more glamourous. I want to ride a Vespa (and I've never wanted to, really, before). Everything in Italy, pretty much, smells better than in the UK (food, moisturiser, washing powder, people, including the ones who smoke, who just don't smell as bad as people who do in the UK (how??)). The language is more beautiful, softer, complicated - "cos'hai fatto di bello?" sort of means "how was your day?" but the literal translation is "what beautiful things did you do?". In short, I feel more content here.

This is not to say that Italy does not have its problems (general and specifically for me). There are mosquitoes. My God, I have been bitten IN THE FACE. The aforementioned hair not curling. The aforementioned waif-like women. The fact that my strengths in law have always been the thinking, and I would be more transactional here (although a lot of regulatory work is based on EU legislation ...). I don't speak Italian yet.

I worry that London, much as I love it when I am there, will destroy me, gradually until I burn out entirely. I can see the two paths to take, yet I'm uncertain. I'd always assumed my long-term future was in London (I'll be English-law qualified, it's where so much financial and corporate activity takes place, even where those deals are foreign, my friends are all here) and had never really thought I might stay beyond a secondment to anywhere else.

If it makes sense to those who know me, in London, I am "Harrop". Here, I am definitely "Claire".

To be considered further. Whatever happens, I won't be closing off the doors to relocating to either in the future.

La Pasqua Parfetta

California (Bakery) dreaming

Happy Easter everyone! I have spent the day thus far wandering and then going for brunch at California Bakery (the branch near Porta Venezia, although I expect to visit the others soon). I must say, despite me loving the espresso out here and the coffee being incredible (even in the office, sorprendamente), it was SO nice to have an americano or two.

Incidentally, if someone could explain to me why the espresso (short quick coffee, no time taken to drink) is Italian and the Americano is American (a longer coffee, which obviously isn't as "now now now" as the espresso), I would be very much obliged.

I realised that all I really want to do today (and most Sundays, if I'm honest) is to sit somewhere, preferably comfortable, and read or watch the world go by, preferably with a good soundtrack. So I have returned home after exploring the streets between California Bakery and my flat.

And now, I think I shall retire to my sun trap of a balcony to read the rest of the new Vogue Italia and maybe do a cheeky bit of Italian grammar with a homemade Aperol Spritz (senza prosecco). Gentle jazz is the order of the day.

Ciao ciao.

Myyyyyy Verona

Couldn't be more Italian.

As it is the Easter Weekend, many of Milan's fine young things escaped to their hometown (and for those whose hometown *is* Milan, there are mountains to which to escape). I decided to take a day trip and had heard good things about the Cinque Terre (failing that, the idea was to go to Genoa). However, given the mass exodus, there were problems with me buying tickets to Liguria on the fast ticket machine, so I went for Plan C. Verona.

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene...

Verona is delightful. It's a small city (?) with the centro storico built within the loop of the river. My impression of Verona is that unlike Naples or Milan, there is much less grafitti and as a result, it feels far less like a neglected centre of glory and much more like a destination in itself. I s

Tourist trap? Probably.

After struggling to find the centre (needs better signposting and the Rough Guide needs a more extensive map), I checked out these market stalls for a bit of a nibble of delightful (wheat free!!) almond biscuits. After the "sit in piazza, eating biscuits", I meandered the side streets - narrow, mostly shades of orange, with an almost indescribable Italian feel to the architecture. The perfect place to get lost and take photos.

I quite like the effect of my dirty lens

Of course, it did start raining later in the afternoon. I took full advantage of this by hopping into a large book store, which I think was independent one. Books purchased were classic tomes: "Le Petit Prince" in French, and the Sex and the City novella, in Italian, which I've not read in English. It was still raining when I'd finished perusing the selection of books on offer, so I sat in the cafe, with jazz music playing in the background and read some of "Le Petit Prince". I definitely should have read this before!! It is really rather funny. I feel guilty (!) for not reading the Italian version, but I've wanted it for ages and it is a French book. It is quite amazing how, even though I've not been an active French-speaker for a few years now, it's just easier to read than Italian right now. I'm quite glad - in 5 months' time, I will want to be better at Italian, given I live here, but for now, I did study French for 9 years, I ought to be able to read a children's book!

Verona Arena - a Roman building which is huge and still used today.

Eventually, the time came for my train home. A 5 mile explore, 2 foreign language books and a 1.5 hour train journey later, a tired yet happy Claire landed in the flat.

Given the men all dress like this, can you blame me for wanting to stay?

"I would talk to you, but I've got half of a buffalo mozzarella in the kitchen..."

All I can say is "sorry Dad!" for the title. Buffalo mozzarella, whilst I've always known it is good, I have developed a new love for. Note - not normal mozzarella, not half-fat (I don't think low fat mozzarella should be allowed).

ANYWAY I am surviving work. More than surviving. I can feel my Italian improving, certainly on an understanding level. I could, in some ways, see me staying here. I mean, they have great style, they care about good food, the country is beautiful, the language is beautiful, they love ginger people... Haha. I'd have no money, working round here. But it's a thought and not merely a passing one.

Speaking of no money, see below. I finally bought some summer shoes (one pair does not a summer make, but one must start somewhere). And I have put photos of the lovely Moschino dress. Note to self - don't eat so much buffalo mozzarella that you no longer fit the dress...


I knew this already, but I think I have found heaven on earth. 10 Corso Como ("Dieci Corso Como"). It's a shop/gallery/cafe/restaurant/bar/hotel/homeware shop/bookshop all in one where everything is curated (i.e. well-chosen) and amazing and just beautiful. I sat in the cafe and had the most delicious affogato I ever had and people-watched (it is full of Beautiful Fashionable People). Amazing. Reasons to live in Milan - number three thousand??

M'dress!

A more accurate reflection of the colour

Gareth Pugh for Melissa flats (yey 10 Corso Como).

L'appartamento

At least two weeks after promising such a thing, I have finally got round to taking a few photos of the flat and getting them onto my computer...

Living area is massive, with two windows/mini balconies.




Kitchen:


Bedroom (slightly messy):

And would it be a flat of mine if shoes weren't on display?