KEY WEST LOU / MILAN IS MAGNIFICENT

Milan is magnificent!

So sayeth I. Many however underrate the city. List it as low as number 6 as an Italian city to see.

True, Rome is incomparable. Following which Milan, Venice, Naples, Florence and Pisa jointly run a second.

I have visited Milan often. It is one of the four fashion capitals of the world. The other three London, New York and Paris. The people of Milan dress fashionably. Men and women alike. A pleasure to watch them walk the streets of Milan in their daily attire.

Milan is the home of da Vinci’s The Last Supper. Painted on a huge concrete wall . Overwhelming!

Then there is the Cathedral Duomo di Milano. The Cathedral is Italy’s second or third largest Church. Holds over 40,000 people.

The Cathedral is located on the Piazza del Duomo. The Piazza itself huge.

One of my visits was in the heart of July. I intentionally went into the Cathedral to escape the sun. European cathedrals are naturally cool.

I fell asleep. Two hours. An attendant woke me to advise “no sleeping.” Embarrassing.

The shopping arcades surrounding certain parts of the Piazza feature the finest stores in the world. Milan’s Fifth Avenue.

Restaurants the very best. In the summer, tables outside.

There is the La Scala Opera House. One of Pavarotti’s favorite places to perform. The Opera House is also well known as having hosted the world premiere of Madame Butterfly.

Another European city is worthy of note today. Santorini.

The USA Today ran a series of pictures of Santorini itself titled The Magical Island of Santorini, Greece. Forty five photos.

The sixth was where I stayed on Oia, Santorini’s special community.

I stayed there 3 consecutive years some 20 years ago. I stayed at the Filotera Suites. A series of caves transformed into a hotel on the side of a tall cliff.

The photo shows wide steps running down to the suites. The cliff faced the volcanic island I tried to climb. The steps to my suite were torture. Even going down. Some 50 to my abode.

The place was beautiful.

The older couple who owned and ran it the best. I stayed 1-2 weeks each time.. The wife treated me like royalty. Fresh fruit and a bottle of their own wine on the table each day. Special foods she cooked for her own family. She even took pity on me and washed and ironed my clothes each day. All at no additional cost.

The couple were typical of Greeks I met. Warm hearted and good.

I am ashamed I cannot remember their names.

We need more Socrates and Plato taught in college. We fell off the cliff when colleges began cutting back on the arts and increased technical studies. Time to readjust a bit. Technical majors make the brain work. Arts make the brain think.

Art majors can handle technical problems. A thinking brain is capable of expanding.

I was a history major. I became an extremely successful environmental attorney. What can be more technical than environmental law?  My mind handled some of the biggest environmental disasters which were loaded with tons of scientific and engineering problems. A field that required a significant understanding of chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics. Courses I had limited exposure to in college. My history developed mind handled them all. Difficult at first. Became second nature in due course.

What is going on? Red Lobster going under. Closing 100 restaurants and applying for bankruptcy protection.  Now revealed Applebee is closing 35 locations. It closed 46 restaurants last year.

Sometimes it takes a long time to reveal a truthful interesting factor.

This one is 96 years old. Involves Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse.

Walt Disney was a struggling producer. Hurting money wise. Early in May 1928, Disney “took a shot.” No one had ever heard of Mickey Mouse. He ran a short film of Mickey Mouse called “Plane Crazy” wherein Mickey was learning to be an aviator. The short film was unannounced. It saved Disney’s financial ass. Unbeknownst to the public, he had been suffering for 2 months to come up with a winner. Those 2 months have been described as “frantic” involving betrayal and secrecy as Disney struggled to save his company.

It worked! God bless Mickey Mouse! God less Walt Disney for all he joy he brought us!

Xander Schauffele won the PGA. He won by draining a dramatic birdie on 18 to win his first major.

Enjoy your day!

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