Bulls in a china shop

Since we are trying to squeeze in tourist acts in any moment possible, we decided it was time to take the bulls by the horns and visit a museum in Milan.  We generally avoid museums.  I am presuming they have a similar motto to shops regarding valuables, "You break it, you pay".  Therefore entering the china shop wearing red with two juvinille bulls would not be in our best interests.  I am not even quite sure how you would go about replacing a vase from the 5th Century, "Do you take VISA?"

The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum is a not-for-profit historic house museum in downtown Milan. The Italian Renaissance art and decorative arts collections of the barons Bagatti Valsecchi are displayed in their home and visitors may view not only particular pieces of art, but also the house's authentic ambiances, expressive of late 19th century aristocratic Milanese taste.  The children are told not to touch, but as we enter the first room they both run to climb up onto an old chair.  From this point on, we are followed extremely closely by security in each room, (I can even let you know that the security man in the study had bad breath), they were definitely near-at-hand and not stealth.  Bit hard to blend in really; clumsy family of four enters and my husband's whispering louder than a scream "Don't touch" to the bulls.  Waste of time really.  Bulls obviously don't understand english, or italian.

The building was designed in Neo-Renaissance style, it has an elegant facade and is furnished with works of art and imitation Renaissance furniture.

15th to 17th century furniture for children

The rooms feature tapestries, ivory work, ceramics and arms, and important art works.



16th and 17th Century porcelain vases



Found next to a bed, alarm clocks have definitely changed over time

Bath tub

16th century wood paneling furniture concealing a piano

Private ballroom for princess to perform her ballet

Potty training anyone?



16th century bed with Christ ascending Calvary and scenes
from the old testament carved in the bedstead.

We managed to escape without having to pay for anything, and the non-smiling guards even managed a smile at us as we were leaving.  Hang on a minute... was it because we were leaving?  I wish we had taken the opportunity to visit a few more places like this sooner, it is a great way to educate the children and I relish in the history.  I love old stuff!

"Hey Cremona, ohhhh Cremona!"

Cremona is a city in northern Italy famous for its production of high-quality violins. We had decided that Cremona would be a good destination for a day trip for two reasons; its travel time from Milan was under my prerequisite of 1 and a half hours, and Cremona rhymes with Mona. Sounds like a silly reason?  Not really since I have had  "Hey Mona" sang by Craig McLachlan (ex-Neighbours actor) stuck in my head all week. http://youtu.be/e2ZW_uTlhEQ  So luckily for my family the entire car trip to Cremona went with me singing a little like this....

"Hey Cremona, ohhhhh Cremona, hey Cremona, ohhhh Cremona,
Tell you Cremona, what I'm going to do, (add air guitar and Billy Idol lip raise here)
I'm going to take my family and come visit you, (add air guitar and Billy Idol lip raise here)
We'll eat gelati and drink your wine, (add air guitar and Billy Idol lip raise here)
Climb a big tower and have a great time, (add air guitar and Billy Idol lip raise here)
Hey Cremona, ohhhhh Cremona, hey Cremona, ohhhh Cremona!"

My husband will have you believe otherwise, but his humming turned into singing, and we had more than 4 verses to our song by the time we arrived.


Beautiful buildings

 We are still finding hidden treasures in Italy, I thought it would not be possible to find anymore great destinations.  Seriously, I'm like Christopher Columbus on a good day.  Cremona is a modest sort of place that has some fine Renaissance and medieval buildings, and its cobbled streets make for some pleasurable wandering.  We were greeted by markets spread out over two large piazzas and in several streets; this is a great start to the day for me, I think markets always create a friendly atmosphere. It offered the same general fare we are accustomed to, with clothes, bags, underwear, fruit and vege, with the occassional odds and ends stall. 

Cremona has a picturesque historic center with most sights clustered around the main square, Piazza del Comune. It was interesting to see how quickly this space was transformed from a busy market place, to an outdoor eating area for the local bars.



Markets




nuts, olives, dried fruits



Delicious grilled prawn and squid

Once again we had a lovely lunch in a restaurant found down a little alley, but still retaining the duomo as the backdrop.  I am silently starting to panic that these weekend lunches are coming to an end.  Children seem to be in rhythm and routine; toys out, dispersed between two, extra cushion requested for kneeling on the chair, and juice ordered; next, scout nearby patrons for some attention.  On this particular occassion there was a little boy behind us, so he unknowingly provided entertainment, and it proved to be a successful meal with only 3 toilet trips.



Our lunch stop



The Torrazzo houses the world's
 largest astronomical clock.



The Cathedral bell tower, (Torrazzo), is the second tallest brick tower in Europe and Europe's oldest surviving tower over 100 meters tall. It was completed in 1309 and is 112.7 meters.  The tower was going to be a challenge.  Foolishly I have been running the stairs in our apartment for the last few mornings as well as a few gym sessions, feeling fragile would be an understatement.   Truth be told my calfs and thighs quiver even trying to get on and off the toilet at the moment. There is an impressive 500 stairs to be climbed to reach the top of the tower  for magnificent views of the city and countryside, (I get in early and register interest in the lighter child for when their legs decide not to work).  Needless to say my children are warriors.  500 stairs unassisted.  "Oh yeh, go baby!"  (imagine me double pumping like Beyonce right now).  We had to be extremeley quiet as to not scare the dragon away, but what ever works right?  Parenting has had me doing some bizarre things, like waving goodbye to bodily functions, and eating air cake, (which apparently I took a bite too big the other day), so an imaginary dragon hunt between tourists is not so embarassing really. We had to help a little with the last few steps which were cramped and spiral; and vertigo was setting in for me, it would of been nice to have my husband carry me also.  (Am I expecting too much out of our marriage?)  The view was worth the effort. Town planning intrigues me in Europe how things appeared centred around the church, then neatly cobwebs out from there.  Princess and Prince had a quick little run, (about 1 minutes worth).  "We are ready to go now!"  What goes up, must come down, only with half the man power.  The children are carried the entire way down, but I am not bothered as I am proud of there 'up' efforts, (and I had already reserved the light weight).



500 stairs and over 100 meters tall



"I do it!"



Amazing views

The duomo was closed for lunch break, yes even the devout need some downtime.  We filled in some time with gelati on the steps and a game of chase around some statues.  The early 12th century cathedral, or duomo, is Romanesque in style with Gothic and Baroque elements that were added later. The facade holds many sculptures and inside the Cathedral are 14th to 16th century frescoes and other important artworks.  I thought it was beautiful.  I told hubby that it may even be the most beautiful duomo we have visited.  He responds by letting me know that apparently I say this everytime we leave a church.  I must really start paying a bit more attention to myself.

Duomo and tower

Baptistry



Every bowl was out of holy water? Alot of weekend visitors.  This particular one had a lizard at its base.




Every wall was covered in frescos, marble or gold trimmings





Ummmm, pretty sure the priests cloak room and computer was supposed to be out of bounds.



Floor to ceiling, just amazing!

Quick play before going inside



Always time for gelati

 The Palazzo Comunale, or town hall, was constructed in the early 13th century. 13th century frescoes can be seen under the portico while other frescoes are from the Renaissance period. Inside there are decorated rooms of the palazzo and an exhibit of string instruments, (we did not enter the violin museum as my son is currently obsessed with "rocking out on his guitar", I had a vision of him smashing a violin on any platform he may find).


Town Hall





Also on the main square, the Loggia dei Militi dates from the 13th century and is a good example of Lombard-Gothic architecture. Under the portico you'll see Hercules holding the city emblem as according to legend, Hercules founded the city.



Cremona has been a famous music center since the 16th century and is still known for its artisan workshops producing high-quality stringed instruments. Antonio Stradivari was a famous luthier, producing over 1100 violins and his violins are some of the best in the world. Today there is a a luthier school and many small workshops producing stringed instruments.  They even have a large violin on the roundabout as you enter the town, I guess similar to the Big Banana and Big Pineapple.  Small towns love to glorify themselves with big things.

Parents on a string; just hold your crutch

Since we are counting down until our life in Italy self-destructs, I have made a very important list.  A few lists actually.  'Wish lists' of places to visit, and 'to do' lists.  The wish list only gets ticked when I have done some of my to do list.  But I can only do so much on my to do list this early before the move, so I have started adding things like; getting rid of old clothes, extra exercise sessions, washing, ironing, brushing my teeth.  Okay so the last few items may seem like cheating, but there is not long to go now, and I have places to see people!!!

 

We agreed that there would be no more plane travel as the 24 hour transit back to Australia seems daunting enough with the children, (and we convinced ourselves that the money saved would be better wasted at the sales).  I have tried to narrow my wish list to travel within 90 minutes of Milan.  First stop is Novara, 45 minutes away.  Novara lies along the Agogna River, west of Milan. It originated as the Roman colony of Novaria, which was founded by Julius Caesar and destroyed in the 5th century; a new commune, established in the 6th century, was burned by the Holy Roman emperor Henry V in 1110. It recovered to become a member of the Lombard League (an alliance of northern Italian towns) in 1167. In other words... it is really, really old.


The city’s notable buildings include the cathedral (rebuilt 1863–69) with an ancient baptistery, the Church of San Gaudenzio (rebuilt 1577–1659), and the ruins of a castle of the medieval Sforza family.

Church of San Guardenzio




Dome that is 121 m tall

  
 





Beautiful alter with priest day bed above???? What the????



Never too early for a confession...




The Sforza castle built in the 14th century under the rule of Galeazzo Visconti, then in 1472 it underwent a restoration and was changed into a fortress. It was also used in later centuries as a prison. It is surrounded by a Renaissance-style Allea park.



Construction of the Novara Cathedral began in the 11th century and was consecrated in 1132.



It was demolished in the mid-19th century to make way for the current structure.

It is still possible to see the mosaic floor of the 12th century, as well as paintings and tapestries in this ancient Romanesque church.

As with any Gonzalez outing, we enjoy a nice lunch to recover and refuel.  We found a lovely little piazza, with a string of restaurants that allowed for the children to run around without too much vespa dodging, which should be treated like an olympic sport by the way.  (Vespa dodging, not children running.)  Prince has been doing pretty well with his toilet training, and has even learnt to use it to his advantage to put his parents on a string like puppets.  All you have to do, is hold your crutch, say '"pee pee", then we jump.  Then you get to go to the toilet, (not do anything in it), wash your hands, climb the stairs, wave at the patrons like a rock star parting a crowded street, and still receive praise; "Good boy, thanks for trying".  Such fun for prince, but a little tiring on the parents by the forth toilet visit in 15 minutes, (5 before we finished our meal), the response slowly turns into "Good boy, thanks for trying me" via gritted teeth, (hopefully prince is too young to understand sarcasm just yet).  The predicament is sort of like the boy who cried wolf, only the wolf wins; if I do not take him to the toilet when he says he needs to go, he will tinkle his pants for sure. Murphy's Law. A risk I am not willing to take. Mr independant must climb each stair up and down on his own too, he screams like I'm trying to sell him to slavery when I try to assist him; I am hoping this all ends soon!

Running space at lunch time piazza, "Why don't you run around the pot...oh hello... that was quick!"



Lunch of mixed vegetables, octopus salad, steak milanese and pesto pizza; YUM!




You would think after all the drink he would REALLY need to pee, (it was all part of his master plan)!



My husband had taken my 'wish list' to his work colleagues to ask for touristy advice.  Out of 5 places, Novara was the only one they had heard of.  And the general response was literally, "Yes, I have heard of Novara".  Thanks for the advice, nothing lost in translation here.  However I can now recommend a fantastic pizzeria if you go to Naples, but we are not, so not much use. (I guess not much forethought in asking advice from people that live in Naples when not in the working office.)  Because we did not have much feedback, we did not have any preconceptions about what Novara would be like, therefore we were pleasantly suprised with the beautiful buildings and clean upkeep.

IF - Interesting Fact

I have been living in Italy for over a year, and I am still shocked when the clock turns half past one and the population vanishes for 2 hours.  Literally vanishes, I am not kidding, even David Copperfield would be impressed.  Best time to walk the streets is in this 2 hours, (less vespas to dodge).