the cadys

Italian Mardi Gras

The forecast in Verona was nothing but rain for tomorrow, so we bailed out and decided to stay home this weekend. Speaking of home, here's a shot of Francois in our little modern kitchen; last night he scored some fresh homemade pasta from the grocery store, deli-style. Pick your pasta and tell the folks behind the counter how much you want, in grams.

This morning we walked a few blocks to the church Sant' Ambrogio. St. Ambrose is the patron saint of Milan and had the honor of baptising St. Augustine, in spite of the fact that when he became bishop he hadn't even been baptised himself! The basilica was originally built in the 4th century AD, but has been added to and reconstructed several times. The main altar is golden and was built in the 9th century to hold St. Ambrose, and you can see his dressed-up skeleton between two martyrs through glass from behind the altar. The sight freaked out Francois and I a bit, but fortunately Simeon didn't seem to notice.

Out in the courtyard:

A sixth century sarcophagus for some 3rd century martyrs:

Next, we had a picnic lunch on a bench by the Duomo, the huge gothic cathedral in the center of town, and walked around looking for a parade. Apparently today is the last day of Carnivale in Milan, even though the rest of Italy stopped celebrating last weekend and the good folks of America quit around Fat Tuesday. All week long we've seen confetti covering the streets, balloons for sale, and tons of children dressed up like halloween. The last shot below is of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II which contains shops and cafes (and a McDonalds) and connects two piazzas near the cathedral. The center dome is 154 feet high!