Travellady MagazineTM


Famous People are dying to get into this place

By Madelyn Miller, the TravelLady

If you are reading this article, you won’t get in. At least not right away. Because in order to remain at this historic place, you have to meet two qualifications. You have to be rich. And you have to be dead.

In Milan, everything is done with style. And the Milan Monumental Cemetary might be considered the final achievement for a select few famous and very lucky people.

Located in the Northwest part of town, at the end of Ceresio street, it is the most fabulous cemetery I have ever seen. (not that I visit that many, but some people make a career of this—and there are some cemetery guidebooks if you have a morbid fascination with this topic)

Designed by Carlo Maciachni(1818-1899) who won a competition for this job. The result was eclecticincluding Pisano Gothic and Lumbard Roamesque style with some inserts imitating the Byzantine style.

The entrance square is dominated by the Memorial Cahpel (Famedio), a successful neologism indicating the temple dedicated to fame and giving hospitality to famous and well-deserving men for the endless future.

The sculptures and buildings of the Monumental Cemetery show Milan’s historical events and its artistic history from realism and ecelectisim of the late 19th century, to liberty and symbolism of the early 29th century, from the 30’s to the contemporary ages, as if it were a real museum in the open air.

    

Best Way to Get To Italy

US’s seventh-largest airline, serving 181 communities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America, US Airways, US Airways Shuttle and the US Airways Express partner carriers operate approximately 3,400 flights per day.  For more information on US Airways flight schedules and fares, visit US Airways online at
WWW.USairways.com or call US Airways Reservations at 1-800-428-4322

Best Way to Get Around in Italy

RailEurope offers a Trenitalia Pass network which covers 16,000 km (10,000 miles) running daily through beautiful landscapes to connect big cities and small towns, all famous for their art and history. The trains are comfortable and quick and easy to navigate.
www.raileurope.com
1-888-382-RAIL.

Best Way to Get to the Airport in Italy

WWW.airportshuttle.it

Great Guidebooks

Gelato
Finding Italy’s best Gelaterias

Happy Belly Guide
Fancy Pants Press
www.happybellyguides.com
info@happybellyguides.com

more about Gelato from Travellady’s expert http://www.travellady.com/Issues/January05/1178Gelatos.htm

GREAT SLEEPS ITALY
By Sandra Gustafson
Florence. Rome. Venice
www.chroniclebooks.com

GREAT EATS ITALY
By Sandra Gustafson
Florence. Rome, Venice
www.chroniclebooks.com

Italy: INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE*
By Nan McElroy
*when all else fails, read the instructions
The personal, on-site assistant for the enthusiastic but inexperienced traveler
www.Italyinstuctions.com

Fodor’s see it Italy
Detailed maps and lots of color pictures
www.fodors.com

THE COMPLETE IDOIT’S GUIDE to ITALIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE
By Gabrielle Euvino with Michael San Filippo
www.idiotsguides.com

ITALY
INSIGHT GUIDES
www.insightguides.com

FODOR’S 04 ITALY
Shows you the way on and off the beaten path
WWW.fodors.com

Rick Steves Italy 2005
Avalon Publishing
www.ricksteves.com

BERLITZ POCKET GUIDE ITALY
www.berlitzpublishing.com

SPEAK LIKE AN ITALIAN
THE COMPLETE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO LEARNING ITALIAN
By Gabrielle Euvino
www.idiotsguides.com

THE POCKET IDIOT’S GUIDE to Italian
By Gabrielle Euvino
www.idiotsguides.com

Rick Steve’s ITALIAN PHRASEBOOK AND DICTIONARY
Avalon Travel Publishing
www.Ricksteves.com

BERLITZ Surviving in Italian
A handy mini phrase book with maximum information
www.berlitzpublishing.com

BERLITZ Shopping in Italian
Pocket-size with easy to read pronunciation
www.berlitzpublishing.com

EAT LIKE AN ITALIAN

LA DISPENSA DI FIE
By Stefan Pramstrahler
Hugendubel
www.hugendubel.de

BERLITZ Eating and Drinking in Italian
Convenient pocket size
www.berlitzpublishing.com

How to Pronounce French, German and Italian Wine Names
By Dianna Bellucci
They also include a bonus of Austrian, Spanish and Portugese Wine Names
Luminosa Publishing
www.howtopronounce.com

LANGENSCHEIDT’S POCKET MENU READER ITALY
A gastronomic dictionary, phrasebook and guide

EUROPE’S TOP RESTAURANTS 2004
Zagat Survey
www.zagat.com

SHOP LIKE AN ITALIAN
Suzy Gershon’s Born to Shop Italy
The Ultimate Guide for People Who Love to Shop
www.frommers.com

COOK LIKE AN ITALIAN
Order your own set of The Best of Ciao Italia..in Umbria and The Best of Cias Italia..in Tuscany. You can enjoy four of Mary Ann’s favorite programs that capture the hearat and soul of Umbria, a delightful, unspoiled and undiscovered region of Italy known for taste-tempting food markets, glorious street festivals, aroma-filled kitchens, fine art, friendships and more. The sets include interactive menus and printable PDF recipes.

THE BEST OF GOURMET
Featuring the Flavors of Rome
From the editors of Gourmet Magazine.
Random House
www.randomhouse.com

MANGIAMO  Let’s Eat!
A collection of family recipes by Sylvia Sebastiani
Sebastiani Vineyards

TASTE ITALIAN FOOD AT HOME
Try Sacla’s Classic Basil Pesto Sauce on your pasta at home. Robust bail leaves, fresh Grana Padano and Pecorino Romano cheese, ripened pine nuts, biting garlic and pure olive oil.

LISTEN TO ITALIAN MUSIC
Italian Café Music
Putumayo World Music
www.putumayo.com

BEST SPAS IN ITALY
Terme di Saturnia
Saturnia, Grosseto 58050, Italy
www.termedisaturnia.com
http://www.travellady.com/Issues/December04/1025TermediSaturnia.htm

Romantik Hotel Turm
Kichplatz - P.zza della Chiesa 9
I - 39050 Völs a. Schlern/Fiè allo Sciliar
Tel:  0039 0471 725014
Fax: 0039 0471 725474
turm@romantikhotels.com
www.hotelturm.it
www.romantikhotels.com

Most Socially Correct Souvenir

Orphange Africa Love Beads
Sexy e Solidali
By Missoni
Made in Ghana, all profits from this lovely necklace or belt (if your waist is small enough) go to an African orphanage. Made from thin, flexible tubes filled with colorful little beads, each piece of jewelry also has three bells inside in accordance with some African superstituion. You can buy this jewelry in any Missoni store or at www.oafrica.org

Madelyn’s favorite Italian wines

Rosa Regale by Castello Banfi
Prosecco
Brachetto

Milan

WHERE TO STAY
I discovered the wonderful Starhotels on this trip to Italy. Many of them in Milan are near the railroad station, others in particularly convenient locations.
I stayed at the very spiffy and stylish Starhotels Anderson. The staff was outstanding and my room was extremely well thought out. Late in my trip, I stayed at another four star hotel (not mentioned in the story—in fact, I would rate that other hotel unmentionable) and I could not believe how much better the Starhotels Anderson was. Starhotels Anderson is a great value and at the top of its category.

STARHOTELS S.p.A.
Telephone:   +39 055 3692.619
Fax:                 +39 055 3692.4
http://www.starhotels.com

WHERE TO EAT IN MILAN
FOUR SEASONS HOTEL MILANO
Cognoscenti all gather at the Four Seasons for power meals, whether they be in fashion, finance, or just in Milan to have fun.

(0294)

I had dinner at La Verandah the first night I was in town and it certainly set the standard. Zucchini blossoms where in season, so I had the zucchini in blossom stuffed with ricotta cheese and mint. A feast for the eyes and the palate, this delicious dish is the only food dish pictured on the menu. Wise choice. I tasted my companion’s Zibello ham with ( 0295)spring salad and melon pearls and although it was delicious, the zucchini blossoms make my must-order-this-whenever-I-am-in-Milan list.

Our next course was a whole-wheat “cannelloni” pasta with burrata fresh cheese and mozzarella, dried and fresh cherry tomatoes and arugola. I barely had room for the typical Veal cutlet, Milanese style.

When I told the maitre d that my favorite Italian wine was Rosa Reglia from BAnfi Costello, he suggested a local wine from the “Po” River (70 miles from Milan) Cabanon Rose was a wonderful choice.

L’OPERA in the Hotel de Ville is the place for a power lunch when you are in the downtown financial district. The elegantly traditional room serves classical Italian cuisine (picture 0375)and I had my best risotto Milanese here. Another standout dish is the smoked tuna with yogurt sauce and melon pearls, a daily special on the afternoon I dined there.

L’Opera
Via Hoepli, 6
20121 Milano
02 805 1231

BEST ICE CREAM
Italians love their gelatos, and tourists also find them a treat. One of my favorite guidebooks, Knopf Mapguides, lists the best ice cream stores in each region. Although I would have loved to have done that research, I will share with you the most unique ice-creams and sorbets that I found. They were at the Four Seasons Milan. Just a few of the fabulous flavors include: yogurt and broad bean, fennel (these are the two I tried and both were much more delicious than they sounded). Other times you can try saffron, basil-tomato, oil oil, mandarin and mint, mandarin and rosemary and red hot chili pepper sorbet.

DESIGNING PALATES
There seems to be a trend for designers and top stores to have restaurants. Try some of these delicious designer restaurants but don’t eat too much or you will never fit into the Italian clothes.
10 Corso Como Café
02 6592015

Just Cavalli
Via Camonens Torre
Branca Milano
02 311817

Bozart Café
Look for the jewelry on the first floor in the Bozart corner.
02 76316153

MOST EROTIC RESTAURANT NAME
69. This small restaurant is a refined, exclusive place that unites the best in the latest rends in design, music and high cuisine. The garden is a strong point for romantics. The bar is an imposing island faced in onyx marble and back lighted.

BEST CHOCOLATE DESSERT
L’Opera in Hotel de Ville has the richest, most decadent chocolate dessert in Milan (although I will continue on researching this project). A chocolate soufflé-like cake with a thick, creamy center that flows out over the surrounding fresh strawberries, blackberries and raspberries.
L’Opera
Via Hoepli, 6
20121 Milano
02 805 1231

BEST COFFEE SERVICE
Individual shots are served at Café Noir in the Gray Hotel. Choose your coffee from an impressive presentation and then sit back and sip in the most sensual coffee lounge in town.

Café Noir
Via San Raffaele, 6
20121 Milano, Italy
39 02 720 89 5.50

MOST EROTIC ROOM AMMENITY
Both the hotels I stayed in offered Delicate Wash in a bottle in the bathroom. I finally discovered this was for washing your private parts, not your underwear or cleaning the bidet.

BEST CEMETERY
People in Milan do everything with Style. Even their cemeteries are worth touring.  Milan  Monumental Cemetery is worth an hour or two if you appreciate architecture and design.
Cimitero Monumental
P.le Cimitero Monumentale
02 6599938
Open Tuesday to Sunday 8:30 to 17:30
Closed on Monday
Underground line 2. Stop Garibaldi FS (seems appropriate to take the underground to a cemetery)

BEST GUIDE
Paola’s English is better than mine. And she knows everything imaginable about Italian art and artist. She could teach a history of art class in her spare time. What I liked best about her was her responsiveness, when she learned I was interested in theatre and music, she added a stop to La Scala and the museum.
Paola Vignolo
39-02-4692-690
Mobile 39-338-621-5165

MILAN
KNOPF MAPGUIDES
The city in section by section maps
www.aaknopf.com

ITALIAN LITERATURE TO GET YOU IN THE MOOD
VENETIAN STORIES
By Jane Turner Ruylands
Pantheon Books
www.pantheon.com

The thoroughly engaging characters who are the focus of these stories are from different backgrounds and various Venetian neighborhoods, but their lives—and the stories—overlap and intersect in surprising and playful ways.

CASA ROSA
By Francesca Marciano
(author of Rules of the Wild)
Pantheon Books
www.pantheonbooks.com

A mesmerizing story of three generations of a twentieth-century Italian family who lived in a farmous in Puglia.

JOHN PAUL II
A personal portrait of the Pope and the Man
By Ray Flynn
St. Martin’s Press
www.stmartins.com

BEHIND LOCKED DOORS
By Frederic Baumgartner
The author is a former president of the American Catholic Historical Association and takes readers behind the scenes and offers an insider’s view on the highly secretive Papal Conclave.
Palgrave Macmillan
www.palgrave-usa.com

DANCES WITH LUIGI
By Paul Paolicelli
A moving an intimate memoir of award-winning television journalist Paul Paolicelli’s ancestral search.

UNDER THE SOUTHERN SUN
By Paul Paolicelli
Stories of the Real Italy and the Americans it Created
Part Travelogue, part journalism and part sociological study, this book follows Paolicelli as he explores Southern Italy dealing with the concept of heritage.
Thomas Dunne Books
A division of St Martin’s press
www.stmartins.com

VENICE AGAINST THE SEA
A city Besieged
By John Keahy
In a few years, much of Venice may be under water...can this beautiful city be saved?
Thomas Dunne Books
A division of St Martin’s press
www.stmartins.com

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