I knew Lady Milano was fooling us with such early warm weather in Spring. Over the Easter (Pasqua) long weekend, when Italians flood out of the city Jozi-style, the sun remained but a cold wind crept onto the streets and I was patting myself on the back again for my accurate if extensive Milan Plan packing!
My parents and husband arrived last week to spend time in Milan which was the best gift the Easter bunny could have brought me. This gave me a much relished opportunity to do a few things I haven’t gotten around to yet including a visit to the Cimitero Monumentale di Milan which is a beautiful cemetery on the west side of the city. It is more like a sculpture park for its outdoor beauty. Being a predominantly catholic country, Italians are rather attentive to the look of gravestones and cemeteries and I’m guessing from the elaborate look of various tombs and mausoleums that it’s a costly exercise to get yourself buried here nowadays.
Mostly it was just great to spend time with my parents, who have a child-like wonder and prefer to simply walk around looking at buildings and parks or riding the tram hanging out the window (as per the pic for this post) just to experience everything they can out in the open air.
My parents are big fans of Bevan too so really I just sat back, sipped on several aperol spritzes and enjoyed a steady ebb and flow of deep and light conversation all weekend. I had lots of gelato with my dad and Bevan and the four of us cooked on several occasions in my apartment which meant cost-saving and health-promoting eating.
I’m posting a separate update on the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e Tecnologia because that got me going down another of my philosophical mental wayward paths!
I have to say at this point that my parents are really the ones that have made The Milan Plan possible. They have been so generous and supportive and it couldn’t have happened without them. My mom says it’s all in her own self-interest. Having me less than 2 hours flight away from her for the first time since I was 19 years old. She can always see the bright side of any situation, something I’m glad she was able to teach me, even if I practice that skill with much less patience than she does.