It's Design Week!

Spring is in full bloom here in Milan (awesome!), but so are my allergies (not so awesome!). I'm trying to manage my sneezing amidst still enjoying this amazing weather, but it feels like my allergies are winning right now.

Kleenex in hand, I headed out Saturday morning for a quick market run. I wanted to get some fruit for the week and see if I could find some flowers to plant in the flower boxes outside my apartment. They've been looking pretty grim in recent weeks.

I was able to find some inexpensive plants to replace the weeds and add some color to my apartment. I'm sure it is a nicer view for my neighbors as well. Now, to keep all of these plants alive. This is the part that I am not so confident about.

Before:

the weeds had taken over!!

After:

so fresh, so clean!

Later in the day I wanted to check out some of the things happening for Design Week. Initially, I thought that there was just a big show out at Rho, the same place where the Fiera is held in December. But, after talking to several friends, and digging around on several websites I found a little information about some other happenings that I could check out. Here are some of the highlights of my stroll down Via Tortona.

Via Tortona was a great place to check out some shops and designers.

This display of tables and chairs was in a lush, green courtyard. 

I loved these "bowls" and other pieces. 

Lots of leather goods

These lamps were being 3D printed during the event.

You could have these Paperself paper lashes applied.

Funny. 

Some artists were turning Carlsberg bottles into glasses and other things.

A. Strange? B. Unique? C. Interesting? D. All of the above.

Maliparmi

Love it. 

Tokyo Merry Go Round by Asami Kiyokawa

If you had a great Design Week experience, please share it in the comments!

Design Week info can be found at this site:
http://www.designweekfestival.com/

The Fiera. It's a Monstrous Thing.

I heard about the Fiera when first moving to Milan. I was told it was a big festival filled with food and gifts from all over the world.

I was thinking something along the lines of Christmas Made in the South, but I was really not even close.

You have to multiply that by 10-- and then you might have the right idea.

The Fiera is held just outside of Milan in Rho for 10 days right at the beginning of December. It's convenient that you can take the red Metro line straight out there. But, beware, a regular urban ticket won't cut it! You must buy the ticket for Rho, and it's €2.50 each way.

This year I was able to go twice. Caitlin and I went once mainly to eat and snack on delicious foods that are difficult to find here on a regular basis. We had a dinner of German pretzels and beer and snacked on English cheddar cheese. Mmmmmmmm....

Yum!

Cheddar cheese: does not exist in Italy.

I went again on Saturday with the intent of doing a little shopping. The venue gets so crowded that you really have to map out a plan and strategy to avoid being overwhelmed. The last two years I've learned that the European and Italian sections have the best stuff. There is a US section, which seems to indicate that every American is a cowboy and most of the Asian and African stuff is cheap and doesn't feel well made.

But there is good food to be had and fun presents to be bought. Many people come with a suitcase or trolley cart to load up all their purchases. And this year they sold a trolley for €3. It's really unbelievable. There's also live music in different halls.

a Scottish band that was pretty great!

beer garden

salsiccia!

pretzel and strudel

the Hungarian section

The Day to Day

It's always amazing how fast time flies by and I feel like I can't quite believe the holidays are upon us once again. Thanksgiving is really late this year and is the beginning of a very busy few weeks of travel for me. I know, I can hear all the violins playing.

We have a four day weekend for our Thanksgiving Break and I'm off to explore Barcelona. I've wanted to visit there since '92 when our high school Spanish trip dropped it from the itinerary due to the Olympics. We get back to Milan in time for the start of the Fiera, a huge festival of goods from all over the world. For those of you in Savannah, think Christmas in the South times 10. It's really that big. And living in the city means I can go more than once!

After the Fiera, I'll be heading to Stockholm, Sweden for the Google Teacher Academy. I applied in October and was one of only 26 chosen for this group. When finished with the two day workshop I'll be a Google Certified Teacher and this, I think, is super exciting!

You can see my video application here.

Finally, Caitlin and I are making a quick run to Florence for some last minute shopping. I'm taking gift requests...seriously! It's such a shame most of my immediate family lives where scarves at not necessary because otherwise they would each have one in every color.

Anyways, back to the here and now.

I've been collecting some pictures of some odds and ends in recent weeks and thought I would share them!

In early November I was offered a chance to attend a cooking class with Clara, who owns and operates Cook In Milano. Several of us from school met at her place on a Monday night and made gnocchi, a vegetable tort, and a chocolate lava cake. Clara was so nice and welcoming and if you visit Milan I would recommend her cooking classes.

Clara and Jill discussing something important!

Olivier practices his gnocchi rolling skills

Ali gets the lava cake ready to bake...yum!

Found this little gem in Clara's kitchen--

Now that I've settled in to my new place, I've been trying to make it feel like I actually live here and am not just passing through. As I travel, I'm always on the look out for cool things made by locals and have been buying a fair bit of art. So, I set out to take my collection and put it up on the wall of my living room. 

You may have seen on Facebook a few weeks back that I took my Guernica poster to a local frame shop and navigated that whole experience in Italian. It felt like such an accomplishment. I started planning around that large Picasso work by using paper the size of each frame. This way, I was able to rearrange several times before committing! 

My project in action--

Clockwise from the bottom- Verona; San Raphael, France; two of Rome; Venice; Kronborg Castle in Denmark; Amsterdam; London; Siena; and, of course, Picasso's Guernica in the middle

And now, a really random one. On the tram Thursday night I stood by this guy...with his extravagant outfit and winged shoes. I promise I tried to get a good picture of the shoes in action as I stalked him down the street, but no such luck; it was too dark and he was too fast!

His shoes had wings. I was so enthralled by them.
August Alderman, I think you need a pair. 

This morning, Caitlin and I went for breakfast at a place that advertises its "American-ness." This is never a good idea for us, as our expectations are way too high for what we're realistically going to get. But, nonetheless, we tried it out.

Ehhhh, the eggs were a little under done and the hashbrowns were a little sad,
but the bacon was just on the right side of floppy. My Aunt Joni will like that one! 

This place sells a few items they've deemed American.

Please note those RIDICULOUS prices! 

They're serving a Thanksgiving meal this coming week too.

Anyone else notice a slight problem?
Venerdi= Friday. Hmmmm.

I had found a store that I wanted to check out, so we headed there after breakfast.

I found my favorite holiday Yankee candle scent! Happy. Girl.

Let's NOT discuss how much Yankee candles cost here. 

And, Caitlin found this amazing knife holder thing-a-ma-jig that I was in desperate need of. And it is so fun. So I must share.

finally, my knives have a home

I'll be home December 20th in the evening. We'll be headed to the Whitemarsh Jalapeno's around 9 if anyone wants to come for a margarita and some cheese dip! I hope to see a bunch of people while I'm home and would love to plan some of those meetings as walks instead of meals! Send me some dates for my calendar!