Milan Day 3

Funky lights and sounds for the metro turnstiles

Duomo - the cathedral of Milan

We climbed to the top of the roof terraces at Duomo

Some beautiful flying buttresses

Workmen fixing parts of the cathedral

Inside Duomo

Chiesa Santa Maria Presso San Satiro. The unique part is the painted choir which gives the false appearance of depth.

Shell sculpture

The choir section from the side - now it doesn't look so deep.

The way the lighting works the shadow almost makes another cross.

Pinacoteca Ambrosiana Art Gallery. A cartoon from around the 15th century.

This dog had to be removed by the painter due to complaints by the patron; more recently, the gallery had it restored to its original condition.

Jesus, the real king of England.

Joseph looking very pleased with himself.

Rafael's sketch of many well known philosophers. He used this as the basis for his painting in the Vatican.

Enrico VIII

Courtyard of Pinacoteca Ambrosiana

Sad that they were too late to make it to school.

Name this person.

Bernardino Luini's "Christ Crowned with Thorns," created in 1522.

The Ambrosian Library

We visited a balsamic vinegar shop and tasted several. The most expensive is below. We bought a white wine vinegar and the red label version below.

Lunch from All'Antico Vinaio - a large foccacia sandwich with a selection of fillings

Mortadella, pistachio cream stracciatella cheese and chopped pistachios; ham, potato cream, creamed truffle and smoked scarmorza cheese

Piazza Mercanti

Duomo

16th century well at Piazza Mercanti

Vanilla custard filled cannoncini

Visiting the church of Santuario di San Bernardino alle Ossa.

A scary looking statue that looked as though he would come to life any moment and start attacking!

The most interesting part of the church was the skull room - full of neatly arranged human bones. It was first built in 1210 because the adjacent cemetery, which was next to a hospital, was getting full. The church was later added to the skull room.

Sistine-esque painted ceiling

The ad wall we pass whenever we catch the metro.

Taking simultaneously photographs at the start of a wine tasting tutorial, hosted by an old Italian sommelier.

We had to assess various elements of each wine and assess whether the wine made a good pairing for each accompanying dish.

To make sure sparkling wine is appropriately bubbly, you need a glass with a small cut/imperfection in the bottle to make the bubbles rise in columns properly.

White wines smell and taste of white and green fruits only e.g apple, pear and peach. They always smell of apple as the dominant fragrance.

White wines come in a yellow or green hue. Green wines are younger.

Red wines smell and taste of only black and red fruits: cherry, raspberry and blackberry. They predominantly smell of cherry.

Red wines have a purple or ruby hue. Purple wines are younger.

To tell whether a red wine can be aged in the bottle, buy a few of the same wines then smell the aroma as normal. Then swill it around in the glass and smell. If the aroma is quite different, it means it can be aged

If you swill the wine around in a glass a few times, you will see what look like tears. The more tears, the higher the alcohol content.

Once the cork is removed from the bottle, if the bottom side is moist the wine is good. If the bottom of the cork smells of wine it is good, if it smells of the cork itself, the wine is off.

To better smell the aroma of the wine, tip it until it is close to falling out of the glass, you intake far more aromas that way. Also the aroma changes the higher up the glass you smell.

To best pair wine and food match the sweetness the food and wine and intensity of the aroma of the food and wine but contrast fat and acidity. E.g. fatty pork with acidic white wine.

If you have a strong aroma in the wine, and the food is delicate, it will overpower the food.

Tiramisu in a jar from Mascherpa - nutella and forest fruits.