HK Independent Traveller Blog

19 April 2015 After the visit to the roofed belvedere of the Palazzo Lombardia, Milan in the morning and consumption of sumptuous homemade ginger pear muffins, we headed to Trezzo sull'Adda .  It is located 30 km northeast of Milan.  We parked near an enormous church, S. Gervaso e Protaso , dated from 15th century.  Inside is Giotto frescoes - Crucifix. Unfortunately we could not see it as our visit was on a Sunday afternoon.  Nearby is a milk machine. First, I paid 20 cents to get a bottle. Then I inserted 50 cents for 500ml  milk. Just place the bottle under the tap.  Milk freshly produced in the morning was then in my stomach. Rich flavour! We arrived at the Town Villa .  It is in the late Renaissance style.  Today, it is the town library and surrounded by a large park with a view of Adda down under. From there we walked towards a bridge via the cafe of Villa Appiani (Best Western group nowadays).  There was busy...

24 November 2014 (Mon) Our stay at Milan in 2014 was not blessed with sunshine. The visit to Crema was on one out of six days of sunshine during my half month's stay.  We were in Milan on the rest days with sunshine.  No harm.  Let's talk about Crema.  It is a historic town in Lombardy , about 40 kilometers from Milan. Dating back it was primarily an agricultural town with cattle raising.  Today it produces cheese, iron products, textile, etc.  And the prosperity finances the renovation of the town.  For example, the cathedral was closed for some years.  Now, it appears fresh and awesome in the town centre. It was cold in the morning.  Our first stop was Santa Maria della Croc e, 15-20 minutes by walking.  The church was build in Lombardy Renaissance style.  One piece of arts is Caterina meets Our Lady .  She was from a wealthy family.  Her husband axed her hand and attempted to kill her.  She pray...

11 April 2015 It's Saturday morning in mid-April, sunny and warm.  We visited Vercelli for its layback atmosphere and an exhibition at Museum Borgogna .  Close to the railway station is the first highlight of the town,  Basilica of Sant’Andrea .  It has awesome exterior and interior.  Art inside is a treasure, both the frescoes and sculptures. The elegant facade is built with different stones and combined with the red brickwork and white cotto of the upper part of the two side bell towers.The architecture style is Lombard-Emilian Romanesque: wide gable of the central section, two blind arcades and a big rose window in the middle. The entrance is through three Romanesque portals.  The lunette of the central portal has a relief depicting the martyrdom of St. Andrew .  The left portal shows Cardinal Bicchieri offering the Church to St. Andrew.  The sculptures are likely from one or more of the pupils from Benedetto Antelami...