Every single seat taken. Standing ovations already when 91 years old Prêtre slowly walks onto the stage. It’s his concert, celebrating 50 years of conducting at La Scala. Someone breaking the silence before the music starts with “Bentornato Maestro” – “Welcome back, master” – causing another two minute applause. Bravos already after the very first piece. Another “Grazie Maestro, grazie”…
Month: February 2016
A Lucky Saturday
A walk through Milan’s historic center is simply a MUST when you visit the city, so that’s what we opted for on Saturday. The weather was great – clear blue sky, sun and something like 16 °C or more. Lucky Wim got to experience Milan’s charming side. Our first destination was the Palazzo di Brera. It houses the Accademia di…
One Café a Week | No. 13
Italian dolci are so delicious! In the widest sense, “dolci” just means sweet things. However, when an Italian talks about dolci, he is usually referring to chocolates or small pieces of pastry. Often, they are consumed together with a café standing at the bar, reading a newspaper, during lunch break chatting with colleagues or before…
Childhood Friends Reunited
Saturday, I went to the central station to pick up who is probably my oldest friend: Wim! Having known each other since we were four, our friendship literally started in the sand box, but when I left The Netherlands, we almost lost contact. Thanks to Facebook however, we managed to stay in touch. And after…
The Nutcracker – Lo Schiaccianoci
Last Friday, I took my Italian friend Federico to his very first ballet! It was The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky, choreographed by Nacho Duato. Two years ago, I went to a horrible performance of it in Göttingen, and other modern ballet performances here at La Scala hadn’t been very convincing, so I really needed a good performance…
Bo?!
Let my introduce you to bo – the ultimate Italian expression of perplexity and uncertainty, or mental laziness and indifference. Bo is small, but bo is powerful. Would you like to have coffee or rather tea? Bo. What do you want to do next? Bo. Where is Addis Ababa? Bo. Do you think he did…
One Café a Week | No. 12
Aperitivo at Ciu’s Bar – one of Milan’s most popular addresses – with Max and our volunteer friend Lena who came to visit us! Some very pretty cocktails, wide choice of food and a very nice atmosphere. This time (yes, Max and I had been there before), we were seated outside in the tent –…
Home Sweet Home
Italians have a vacation called Settimana Bianca (white week) which is dedicated to skiing! Well, I’ve never been skiing in my life, so I decided to head home instead. Spent wonderful days with my boyfriend in Bielefeld and my family in Göttingen. Cut my hair, met friends, went out for dinner, watched Supernatural, went to a…
Carnival Time!
On the last Friday before my one week vacation, we celebrated carnival in the kindergarten! We spent most of the day playing, fighting each other with party streamers, eating Chiacchere, the Italian carnival cookie, and telling jokes, another Italian tradition. Well, in this case, it’s “jokes”, because, you know, four years olds and jokes don’t…
Taiwanese Turtles On Tour
Living in Milan has supported my opinion that Facebook – when used cleverly – really is a social network in it’s very essence: Social. It has been an amazing tool to meet new people, connect to others and find events. The best current example: X Milan, one of my 2 AM I can’t sleep let’s browse…
Italian Hospital Experience
Two weeks ago (sorry for not blogging), I woke up one morning and realized I could barely hear in my right ear. At first, I thought it might just go away, so I went to work as usual but when I came home, it had only gotten worse. I then googled solutions for water stuck in your…
Clara in Milan 