La Gioia d' Italia

On our first full day in Milan, Italy we encountered (and enjoyed) many of the wonderful, quintessential qualities of this always-beautiful country. With Milan’s museums closed on Monday and excellent 75 degree weather on our side we eagerly toured three of this city’s churches and ate lunch at a sidewalk wine bar with excellent people watching, but the simple walk to these churches and around the city, equally reminded us of the sensory experience that is Italy—from carefully arranged clothing store windows, to fruit stands to the constant mix of the ancient, very old and modern—all of this is what makes Italy lovable!

SAN LORENZO, MILAN

(Above) The Piazza with the remains of an ancient temple

(At right) Inside the nave

The 4^th C. church of San Lorenzo, was breathtaking—and for me—the highlight of our mini architectural tour. The scale, space and light are impossible to capture with film, which explains why I’ve been teaching with such mediocre images of this structure. A gorgeous and amazingly well preserved mosaic of Christ as Teacher is also here, tucked away in an octagonal structure, probably an early 4^th C. mausoleum (Sant’ Aquilino).

En route...we walked past a fruit stand where the smell of ripe berries caught our attention, as did the display--the ordinary made extraordinary.

Lunch! Bufala mozzarella, prosciutto with melon and arugula with olive oil and vino della casa! (And homemade bread, of course.)

SANT' AMBROGIO

(At right) One of the two Romanesque towers. See Dave's post below for the unique facade of this striking building.

Sant’ Ambrogio, originally built in the 4^th C., rebuilt at the start of the Romanesque period and added to in subsequent centuries. The minute we walked through the doors the smell of candle wax immediately reminded me of Italy trips past…it is an unmistakable, and at least to me, Italian, smell.

 DUOMO OF MILAN