Today I had to kill time in a rather squallid part of Sesto San Giovanni. An area seemingly lacking in everything except mechanics ,funeral homes and Chinese emporia full of tacky Christmas plastic. I found a spartan bar manned by two ladies (then maybe womanned ?) from Eastern Europe. One of them was having fun… Continue reading Time to kill.
Category: My Diary
From the Darkness to the Light
mde An interesting title, an interesting concert. Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain", who doesn't remember the Witches Sabbath in Walt Disney's Fantasia? Probably based on Slavic folk legends concerning the summer solstice on St John's Eve...or was it? Some believe that it relates to the composer's stay in Italy. Mussorgsky was inspired by the folk… Continue reading From the Darkness to the Light
Giulio Cesare in Egitto ( Julius Caesar in Eygypt)
Monday evening at La Scala they put on a performance of Haendel's "Julius Caesar in Egypt", rare in Italy but popular in the rest of Europe,and unsurprisingly so , being such a perfect fusion of dramatic action and musical inventivity. Companies tend no longer to meddle with casting, the days they substituted the counter tenors… Continue reading Giulio Cesare in Egitto ( Julius Caesar in Eygypt)
Nordic Walking
My friend Catherine in a valiant but probably doomed attempt to keep us both fit invited me to go to try nordic walking. Luckily the day we were supposed to try, it rained so we had a week's grace, Unfortunately the next Sunday we woke up bright and early because we had put the clocks… Continue reading Nordic Walking
Nothing!
Can you really write about nothing? Daft question because people are doing it all the time nowadays. I could probably write a paragraph about its synonyms! Naught, nil, nix, zero, scratch, nul ,fuck-all...... My second idea for a title was"disappointment". What does that mean? You've dissed your appointments? I'd been looking forward to Friday like… Continue reading Nothing!
Grazzano Visconti
Last Sunday, Monza Garden Club went to Grazzano Visconti for a plant show. It was held in the grounds of the castle, a medieval structure built by Giovanni Anguissola in 1395 for his wife Beatrice Visconti and it is still in the hands of the Visconti family . It looks very much as you would… Continue reading Grazzano Visconti
Orticolario and good intentions
In Monza parking tariffs were awful as usual and train information was obscure. in fact we mysteriously paid a different price to go from the one we paid to come back. bst The journey is always a pleasure, but we arrived in Como, not Como lake or Como San Giovanni which we had asked for… Continue reading Orticolario and good intentions
Bonsai
There was an important international event at Crespi Bonsai Parabiago. I like to decide on things at the last minute which of course is great for me, but I need to get my head round the fact that not everyone is as free and available as I am, so sometimes it's difficult to find company.… Continue reading Bonsai
Cambridge University Botanic Gardens
Every time I go back home I go to the Botanic Gardens. A wonderful place beautifully laid out: you know it's a Botanic garden because of all the labelling, but it's also a park which people have loved so much that they've left money in their wills for benches for present users. It's laid out… Continue reading Cambridge University Botanic Gardens
Train tripper
I love trains. So yesterday we spent getting on and off trains all round East Anglia. Lovely flat land as far as the eye can see. And the English countryside! And the cloudscapes! Green green green! There's also a lot of water because we were on the edge of the Norfolk Broads where a lot… Continue reading Train tripper
English that grows 