After packing, we went back to Artisanal Bread for more croissants for breakfast. I received an email from my genealogy buddy, Umberto, who said that his wife, Roberta, an artist, recommended that we go to Pinocoteca Ambrosiana, and the four of us liked that idea. Pinocoteca Ambrosiana is the  oldest museum in Milan,  having been established in 1618 to house Charles Borromeo’s art collection. It contains works by Caravaggio, Botticelli, Titian, Raphael, and Leonardo DaVinci. Also, the collection has a room dedicated to the works of Jan Bruegel and other Flemish artists, because Bruegel and Borromeo were friends. The collection was spectacular.

One of our favorites was Raphael’s Cartoon, that was an outline for his famous School of Athens fresco in the Vatican Museum.

The last room  room was dedicated to Leonardo. When it became obvious that The Last Supper was fading, Andrea Bianchi was commissioned to paint a replica of it so that the public could continue to appreciate the original colors of the masterpiece.  We knew that it would be impossible for us to get tickets for the original Last Supper. Jose-Maria and Agnès had seen the original many years ago, but  for us, the copy was amazing.

When Nick and I first began traveling, we would order meals “uno per due,” meaning one for two, because one lunch order was enough for both of us. That is not so now. I tried to order uno per due, but our waitress explained that my order was definitely not enough for two people, and she was right. After lunch the four of us returned to Grom where we tried different flavors of gelato.

We walked back to our hotel, retrieved our bags,  and said our farewells to Jose-Maria and Agnès. Then we walked  across town to our next hotel. We learned that the Italian Grand Prix at Monza was being held nearby, and that’s what was causing the shortage of rooms.  We were lucky to get a room at Castello Guest House.  This was a “new age” room, with a passcode instead of a key and no one on duty at the front desk. Nevertheless, it was comfortable, clean and quiet.

Soon we received a message from Umberto telling us where and what time he would meet us for gelato. We were so happy that we would finally meet one another! We recognized each other immediately. Umberto had told me years ago that if we were  ever in Milan, he would take us to the best gelateria. My flavors were mango and cream, while Nick’s was chocolate.

Then  the three of us a walked around the center of the city, Umberto using his very good English, and me using my weak Italian. My maiden name, Nucatola, is Sicilian, with the accent on “to.” However, in Italy, is is pronounced  with the accent on “ca”. I loved hearing it pronounced the way my ancestors would have said it!

Umberto had to catch a train, and exhaustion caught up with me  and Nick. We   tried to find a place  for dinner that was close to the Guest House. The restaurant we wanted was fully booked, but we found a pleasant pizzeria and shared a Four Seasons pizza that was topped with olives, artichokes, mushrooms, and ham. Our waiter wanted to come to New York!

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