Day 23: Movies

This morning after breakfast I did English with Federico using the duolingo language app. He hadn't done it for a long time, so he had a lot of sections to catch up on but we got up to date.

After that I did another section of English with Bea. We used her comprehension book and then also used the culture book they have in which you learn about the cultures of English speaking countries. Whilst we did this Fede carried on writing his motorcycle story on the laptop occasionally switching to the internet to research the next motorbike he wants. One with a more powerful engine. 

Once I had finished English with Bea, and Fede had done his guitar practice Bea practiced the piano while I played chess with Fede. I won both games - checkmate. 

After chess I read Hansel and Gretel in English with Fede his pronunciation improves every time he reads as he rememebrs words he has read before, also his fluency is becoming better. 

Then lunch. 

After lunch I did some more English using the picture dictionary they have it has a whole section on adjectives so we worked on that. 

Then went over to tutor at Elga's. Today she asked if she could record me speaking out a list of words she had compiled so after I leave she knows how to pronounce them. So we spent some time doing that. I got out of breath quite a bit, but it was fun. 

When we'd finished Alessandra came over with Bea and then we all went to the park. Whilst we were there one of Elga's friends came in with her son. They were English! She was called Helen and her son Edward and they were from London. So it was nice to talk English to an English person again. She married and Italian and he must have an amazing job because both their children go to the English private school in Milan which is €10,000 a year, per head. 

We came back and had tea, afterwards Stefano and Bea wanted to watch The Hostel. A scary movie. So me Fede and Alessandra watched The Adventures of Despereaux in her room. We were going to watch it in English with Italian subtitles but Fede refused to watch it so we switched it to Italian with English subtitles. 

Ciao. 

Day 16: Naviglie - or The Canals

This morning we "took a trip on a boat down the seine" just kidding though points to you if you got the song reference! No what we actually did was go look at the boats on Milan's naviglie. One naviglia (canal) two naviglie (canals).

They are quite a way from the aparmtent, so we used publics transport. You used to be able to get a tram the whole way their, but roadworks meant we had to swap to a bus when the tram route ended early. 

There used to be a lot of water in Milan but now it's all pushed to the south east side into two canals. They are very long and if you cycle down the path alongside it you would arrive at Piacenza. They had lots of boats on and also a floating football pitch. One of the boats was a restaurant which I thought was pretty cool. 

It's like triple decker!

Alongside the canals are the old painters quarters and the houses are in old traditional style with long internal balconies providing access to different flats. 

All the buildings are highly decorative and in different colours. 

The old painters quarters was very nice. Smaller houses in a reddy pink with external balconies and hanging plants. 

The sun makes me look like I have no hair!

For some bizarre reason their was a fake cow with a bicycle seat on it's back?

After looking at the painters quarters Alessandra showed us a really old bit of Milan. Some stones where women used to wash their clothes. The stones she said were from like the 800s and used up until the 1950s but the timber frame will be newer and replaced often. Still it was very cool. They would scrub the clothes on the stone then dunk it in the river and re scrub. 

The stones are set at 45 degrees

Timber roof structure 

Close up of one of the many stones

Covered and uncovered areas 

As we carried on the down the street we came across a church. We thought it was really old as the architecture hinted that it was quite ancient. However we discovered dorm what disappointingly that it was dedicated 1909. We also discovered that a wedding was about to take place so we hurried on quickly. 

Face of church above the doorway

Doorway

We also saw anther church. The church of Saint Eustorgio. 

Doorway

One thing have noticed is that the churches are all very wide. 

When the weather gets very warm the pavement melts slightly. Anyone someone had clearly taken advantage of it in that state and spelt a word out in bottle tops. I can't remember what it was MEZZ*N** something like that. 

The new street art!

We came back for lunch and then after that went to tutor Alessandro and Francesco. We finished Snow White with Alessandro and began Peter Rabbit with Francesco. 

Once home me and Fede finished watching Puss and Boots. It's an okay movie one worth watching but not buying it's not one I'd watch over and over. Then we played chess - I won check mate. My queen, king, castle, bishop and pawn against Fede's king! 

This evening I laughed and cringed myself through 'Meet the Mormons'. Nice to see some familiar faces but the woman who narrated needs to stop making her voice sound so biased. Her whole tone was 'oh these poor young men forbidden any cultural activity and contact with the normal world how are we letting people do this to them? However I'd like you all to note I'm half speaking in a professional voice so as not to appear out rightly disgusted' with another tone of 'and because they are in pairs they have no privacy they must only pretend to like serving a mission'. Yeah okay, just because you don't understand something doesn't mean that the people who do can't enjoy doing it. I hate watching football mainly because I don't have a clue what's going on yet if I bothered to educate myself I'd probably find it very interesting. If you haven't watched it yet take it with a pinch of salt. If you have watched it and have some weird ideas about Mormons take it with a pinch of salt and please ask someone (preferably a Mormon) about it - ask me! 

Important fact about Mormons: We are normal people, just like you. 

Ciao. 

Day 10: Buses, Trains and Trams

Last night it was throwing it down with rain and this morning it still was. It was so heavy and thick it was like a wall. We had planned to explore Milan in the morning but it was too wet and thundery and lightningy so it wasn't very safe.

Instead we spent the morning inside. I plaed chess with Fede and read English books with both Fede and Bea to help with their pronunciation. I taught Fede how to tell the time in English and quizzed him on it throughout the day also. 

After lunch it had brightnened up, we went to tutor Elga's boys but only Alessandro today. After the tutoring we went into the centre of Milan to sight see. 

We took a bus to San Androgomo which is a Romanesque style church from the 900's. Parts of it are much newer though. They expanded it during the renaissance and their are baroque side chapels and tombs in other styles.

You can use the tickets for bus, train and tram. When you get on transport your ticket is dated and timed by a machine and it is valid for use an hour and a half after your first use. 

San Androgomo

I couldn't decide if this ceiling was painted or stone worked?

Mosaic behind the altar

Medieval fresco

In the church you could go down into the crypt. They have the skeletons of three saints buried there it was a little freaky they were in a glass coffin so you could see all their bones. 

After the church Alessandra took us to the university she studied law it, it was opposite. Also nearby was the Milano monument for the dead unknown soldiers of World War II there are about 5 thousand soldiers buried in it.

We arrived there too late because sometimes it is open and you can go in and look round it.

After that we walked into the centre of Milan. They have a huge shopping centre full of extremely posh shops. I saw Louis Vuitton, Versace, Cartier, Prada etc. they also have Abercrombie and Fitch and more high street shops like H and M. 

The buildings of the shopping centre were very big and beautiful. There were frescoes above the shops and huge mosaic floors. 

Glass roof and a fresco

The crest of Milan as a mosaic on the floor.

After looking at the shops we went to see the remains of a Roman Imperial Palace that was once here. The diagrams show it to be huge but all that is left is pretty much rubble. 

Also, like at the castle we visited last week there were lots of the protected cats around enjoying the sun.

We went into a bookshop to pick up something for Bea to read. They had an English section! After much deliberation I chose to get the Book Thief over the Fault in our Stars. It promises to be a good read! My first purchase in Milan. 

After the bookshop they took me to see a famous theatre and opera house called the Scala. It's well known for it's ballets and orchestra but it has been clasped for two years or so for renovations to the inside. Opposite the Scala there was a statue of Leonardo da Vinci who helped design and build it. 

Leo

The Scala. 

In the evening lots of Mosquitos come out, so they put out boxes with candles I to keep them away they also look very pretty. 

Buonanotte