San Simpliciano

I was thinking today that I needed to blog about something, anything. And then I realized I haven't talked about a church in, what is it, days? So I remembered this photo of San Simpliciano, which I took weeks ago during my "Hey, it's another Ambrosian church!" phase. Isn't it lovely? Especially considering it's been around since the third century AD?

Happy, happy things

My friend Jill, the reigning queen of the Foreign Service Blog Roundup, wants links to things that make us happy at our current post. I've got all kinds of happy posts on here, of course, but I figured I'd do a roundup of happy things in Milan. You know, a roundup for the roundup.
So, just in case you were wondering:
We've got tons of things to see! Churches (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here) and museums (here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here) and a castle (here, although there are lots of other posts on it) and ancient ruins (here and here) and tons of other things. I'm not even linking to the posts that don't fit easily into one of these categories or include a combination of all of these and thus aren't easily classified.
We've got tons of things to eat! Gelato is a big one. And you can buy it in the grocery store if you feel so inclined.
It's easy to get other places, especially by train! We've been to Turin, Rome (here and here), Como, Vicenza (here and here), Genova, Paris, Lodi, Bergamo, Florence (here and here), Cremona, Venice (here, here and here), Pisa and London.
There also are many things I haven't blogged about, at least not as much. Such as that it's possible (though admittedly not preferable) to live here without a car, even with kids. That we can get random American food products, including decent tortillas and peanut butter, at the commissary in Vicenza. And that walking down the street on any given day, I hear a combination of Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Tagalog and Chinese being spoken.
This is my 1,000th blog post and, although many of those have nothing to do with Milan, it's amazing to think about the things we've done here. Thank goodness we still have time left for more.

Italian adventures with friends

A few months ago, my friend Melissa e-mailed to say she and our friend Jeanae were coming to Rome with their daughters Cambree and Aubree in February and to ask whether Laura and I would like to join them. (We all knew each other through church in Virginia before heading for Milan and Jerusalem and Skopje.) As the time grew nearer, the part of the plan involving us shifted to a meeting in Florence for a day. That day was yesterday, and since Kevin had to travel back to the U.S., it turned out Owen got to tag along, too.
It was great fun. Our trains arrived within minutes of each other, and we went to the market at San Lorenzo. Then we visited part of the Laurentian Library (although not the coolest parts, which were closed) and San Lorenzo:
Afterward we headed toward the Duomo complex, at which time we happened upon a carnivale parade:
Inside the Duomo, much of the floor was blocked off for an event, so I didn't get to take my classic inside-of-the-dome shot. Not that I don't have plenty of those of this particular church already, of course. Back outside, we looked around the Campanile:
And the exterior of the Baptistery (the interior didn't open until later in the day:
Our guests had climbed the cupola at St. Peter's on Friday, so we passed on the top of the Duomo (not that Owen would have been able to go up anyway). We made a trek back to the market to buy some more things, at which time we saw the parade again:
After lots of cool items were purchased, we headed over for lunch at Pallottino and gelato at Vivoli.
Then it was on to Santa Croce:
The weather, after a few drops of rain on our initial walk from the train station, wasn't bad. It was warmer outside than inside all of the churches, but Santa Croce was by far the coldest. Owen demanded to wear his mittens inside, and Jeanae had problems adjusting the zoom on her camera because her fingers were so stiff.
The girls didn't seem too bothered by the cold. In fact, at that point they weren't too interested in sightseeing, either:
I found myself taking quite a few photos of the funerary monuments, especially the ones inbedded in the floor:
Oh, and stained-glass windows. I do love those:
Then we retreated back to the relatively warm outdoors and visited the "romantic graves gallery." No, I have no idea what the English translation really should be, but that's what the signs say:
We went in the Pazzi Chapel, where I've always been a fan of the della Robbias:
Oh, and the stained glass:
The girls were nice enough to pose for a photo in the cloisters:
And of course I had to get a photo of the little museum's Cimabue:
We walked over to Ponte delle Grazie to get some photos of the Ponte Vecchio:
And a few group photos (although I didn't get any of the whole group):
We crossed the Arno and were hoping for a visit (and some purchases) at Il Torchio, but I hadn't done enough research to know it closes at 1 p.m. on Saturdays. At least it was along the way.
The girls did some more posing:
We "shopped" for jewelry on the Ponte Vecchio, and I got this photo of Ponte Santa Trinita:
We made our way to the Palazzo Vecchio:
Said hi to the copy of naked David and the other statues:
And headed back toward the train station. Along the way, we stopped in H&M and then happened upon a parade flag corps performance in Piazza delle Republica. Unfortunately my photos aren't great:
But it was pretty cool.
Then all of the fun was at a sad end, and they went back to Rome and we came home to Milan. Boo hoo!

Remembering Jack

My father-in-law died this week. Just typing that hurts. It'd been a while since I'd seen him (I wrote about it here), but luckily Kevin and Laura had been with him more recently. Not that it makes it easier, but I'm glad Laura will remember him. We'll have to work harder to make sure Owen does.
Today I found this photo from our Houston wedding reception in 1999. Wow, we all look young. And skinny.
Rest in peace, Jack. Dad. Paw Paw. We'll miss you.

I'm not the only person obsessively researching Walt Disney World

I do hope I look a little less possessed, though.

Valentine's Day preview: Funny fortune cookies

The January/February issue of American Girl magazine has some great ideas for Valentine's Day. Laura and I agreed on these funny fortune cookie valentines because they looked easy to make, I knew we could get all of the materials easily, and they would work for boys or girls.

If you happen to have the magazine, you can find much better instructions there. You can find the silly fortunes here. I printed them directly from the site -- you can choose the ones you want or it will auto-fill randomly -- and ended up with 22 on a regular-size page. Some examples:
Even if you decide to create your own fortunes, you'll need:
Felt (a thin variety, often labeled "craft felt") in whichever colors you choose
A circle template 3 to 4 inches wide
Double-sided tape
Scissors sharp enough to cut the felt

We ended up with pink, purple, green and blue felt because red wasn't available. We used a 3-inch template, but now that I've done 24 "cookies," I think something to 4 inches actually would make them more realistic-looking.

Basic assembly instructions:

Arrange a felt circle on a flat surface and put a small piece of tape close to the edge on one side.
Fold the felt in half.
Slide in the fortune.I folded the fortunes in half because it seemed like there was too much hanging out the sides. You can avoid this problem if you're using the American Girl fortunes by cutting 4-inch circles. Making sure the fortunes are only 3 inches wide would work, too, I just didn't realize it would be a problem until it was too late.

Put another small piece of tape on the outside of one end of your felt half-moon.
Fold the half-moon in half again so it looks (sort of like) a fortune cookie.
I also created a sort of takeout box to hold the finished cookies. There are tons of patterns out there; Google "takeout box template" and you'll see what I mean.
So, now 24 of Laura's classmates and closest friends will be receiving little felt fortune cookies next week. And I didn't have to buy any candy ...

A Summer in Tuscany by Sandra J. Swanson

Awhile back, I was looking for a Kindle book to fill an afternoon. This was available through Amazon's "loaner" book program for Prime subscribers, and I figured it was worth a look.
The bottom line: I wouldn't pay money for it, and it's definitely not the best-written book about Tuscany out there. But it's quick read, and the diary-like nature of it means there's a lot of detail about things people might care about.
Like shopping. If you read the reviews on Amazon, a lot of them complain that it's a "rich woman goes to Italy" sort of story. And it definitely is, to an almost-maddening degree in some ways. But even if I never go the places she went or buy the things she bought, the stories behind some of them are worthwhile.
The trip this book chronicles was quite a few years ago, before the travel-simplifying magic of the Internet was so all-encompassing. For that reason, the author's planning tips probably won't be of much use even to the rich people who are seeking similar accommodations. But I will say that her family's idea of creating a "base" from which to do some traveling but to really become part of one little area -- in their case a villa outside San Gimignano -- makes perfect sense no matter what kind of time or monetary budget you're working with.

Looks like the shoe car's having a bad week

This car advertises a little boutique near the Pagano metro station, and we see it both driving around and parked quite often. The sign on the windshield asks people to please not climb onto the hood to take photos, and I must admit that never would have occurred to me with or without it being covered in snow.

Snow angels: A tutorial by Owen

Step 1: Have your mother carry you to a nice patch of unspoiled snow and lie you on the ground. Can't have your feet actually touch the stuff, you know.Check.

Step 2: What? I'm supposed to move my legs? You've got to be kidding me. Come over here and move them yourself.Check.

Step 3: These ridiculous mittens you made me wear are weighing down my arms. You'll have to come and move those, too, if you're going to insist on me going through with this.Check.

Step 4: Have your mother lift you off of your lovely creation so it can be properly oooed and ahhed over by your adoring fans.Check.

Step 5: Insist that it's way cooler than your mom's. I mean, seriously, was all of that flailing around really necessary?Check.

Ah, the memories.