Everyone should have a number one son like yours, Clazza, he's number one Numero Uno #1 by me. I believe the Fours Seasons are a bit special.
Sounds excellent.
But. Did you have Xmas pud flamed in brandy like what we did?
I loved the Galleria... though I wasn't there long. Took some photos of the incredible display of silver in the Georg Jensen window, and several others of the galleria itself. Ah, to get my scanner working. Maybe this week...
Four Seasons Hotel Milano
No. Christmas pud definitely NOT on the menu - mercifully. A millefeuille of panatoni, zabaglione and delicious fruit coulis was rich but not heavy - followed by marrons glacés. No turkey either, saddle of lamb with rosemary and artichokes, preceded by a tiny lasagna, which was preceded by a tiny but perfectly formed paté of duck liver with parma ham and radicchio, which in turn was preceded by a tiny cup of capon broth with truffles and a couple of capellete
Breakfast in 15 minutes, yummy!
But wow am I glad I wasn't in Thailand or any of those other poor suffering countries last night. A just and merciful act of God?
The weather forecast said that it would snow heavily tonight.
wow
, the first snow of this winter
Happy Christmas to you, Clare, you lucky, lucky girl!
^JB^ wrote:The weather forecast said that it would snow heavily tonight.
wow
, the first snow of this winter
Here also in like wise, it snowed yesterday.
The neighbours' children were entranced, and soon made a mess of it, galumphing around.
The bookies lose, of course, shame.
So I missed a white Christmas... we have fog and rain in northern Italy but I like the fact that all the Chrizzie decorations are white lights, no coloured ones - very tasteful and frosty.
As a complete contrast to the 4 Seasons, Rustom and I are staying in one bed in a sleazy stationside b and b, run by a Lebanese. It smells of smoke and has a shared bathroom but is only 50 Euros including breakfast! And tomorrow we have found some good bargains in the 3* category so for 70 Euros we can have single beds, tv etc - I love travel for its infinite variety!
Clary, Is that 70 Euros with or without tax?
all included, and breakfast
c.i.
You don't pay more here in May - if you want to stay in a hotel - but even less:wink:
I think I may say, without giving too much away, that Walter's breakfasts are better than anything.
I'm interested in your 70 euro hotels, Clary... that's about my speed...
this is suddenly reminding me that I liked Cremona, which is fairly near Milano. A non touristy town. I stayed there for about 70 euro, the hotel was fine, right in the heart of things. Cremona is where there is a Stradivarius museum - I was the lone visitor when a well dressed fellow came in the principal display room and played each of the (priceless) violins in what I gather is a daily tune-up.
osso, Your mention of the "daily tuneup" should be expanded to include why they require regular playing of these instruments. It would be "educational" for us folks not educated on these things.
I don't know the answer to that, CI. It might not be daily, I just took it to be part of a routine operation of the Museo. It was an ordinary day when I was there. Do they do it every day, or (say) Wednesdays, or once a month?
I'm not a musician; the music-math-physics part of my brain is quite blunt instrument! One of my thoughts as I left the museum was what a joy hearing what I had would have been for someone who had an attuned ear for violin sound from various different violins. Not that I didn't enjoy it, I very much did, but that my 'ears' are clumsy for the elegance of the sound.
I tried to speak a little to the museum personnel, but I don't speak italian at all well, and they didn't speak english, or seem to. The people who ran my hotel - I am wracking my brain for the name - seemed to all speak german as well as italian.
As to a conjecture on why the tuning - the violins are, I have little doubt, kept in correct humidity and temperature in special cases. Tuning may be a way to check for wood expansion, or some such thing. Or maybe it is part of good care for some other reason.
Perhaps JLNobody will come along and tell us.
This link explains quite a bit about stringed instruments, but it doesn't mention anything about "regular" use/play.
http://www.geocities.com/stringphysics/parts.html
This link explains quite a bit about stringed instruments, but it doesn't mention anything about "regular" use/play.
http://www.geocities.com/stringphysics/parts.html
This link provides a nearly unintelligible (to me) translation that has great charm after a bit of study - I chose this, of the ones I looked at in google so far, because of the link's clear enthusiasm for Il Violino in Cremona.
I have figured out that the museo Stradivariano has moved from 17 Palestris to 4 Ugolino since I was in Cremona in 1999.
On Museo Stradivariano in Cremona
Yes, that Stradivarian Museum site is more intelligible, and is probably more useful than the one I like above - which I found let a certain human exuberance bubble up through the written text.
I like both links; they offer different perspective of the same museum.
