Lombardy: Do you know where to pick up capers in Milan?

It's 6.30pm - sunset: our tour is starting from the main courtyard of the Castle.

We meet our guide who will take us to discover the underground of the castle even if they are not under the ground but it sounds so interesting. I am not going to show you most of the pictures you can find on the web but I think that these can be quite more beautiful because taken from some spots where no everybody can enter!!!!

The visit starts from the upper part of the castle, from the Rivellino, a terrace from where you can have a view on the surroundings and the nearby Park. It has a square plant and was built in the middle of the moat; it was linked to the defence system of the city and to the undergraounds we are going to discover right now...
There are still a lot of inhabitants in this part: it's full of cats everywhere and this terrace is characterized by different types of plants that grow spontaneously here and there. One of the oddest plant are the capers, from Pantelleria...so strange but so true!
From here the tour is goona starting and we will go out to discover the covered route of the Garland, a route through protected tunnels that allowed soldiers to reach, even riding a horse, the outer defensive outspots or the nearby countryside.

It is possible to walk along the outer perimeter of the castle under the ground level of Sempione Park and to discover its architecture. Our route is enlighted by several windows that overlook the moat itself and that allow us to observe the outer walls of the castle.
We pass through several parts of the castle where there were dedicated rooms that during the II World War were transformed into hiding places for citizens and some of them have been destroyed because of the building of the underground.....it's something ashaming and that's the reason why you should not loose the opportunity of visiting these parts of the castle, at least before they may disappear!!!


If you are interested in such a tour, get in touch with http://www.adartem.it and you will discover how to organize the visit.

If you want to taste something very typical of Milan, just try:

RISOTTO ALLA MILANESE or YELLOW RICE
350g Arborio rice
1 sachet safran
150g Parmesan Cheese
1 onion
1lt broth
1 glass white wine
125g butter

Finely chop the onion, then melt 80g of butter paying attention not to make it fry.
Add the onion and let it fry, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon. Add the rice and toast it, pour the glass of wine and let it evaporate. Start adding some spoons of broth and let the rice adsorb it; as soon as it gets dry, add more broth. Repeat this operation until the rice is cooked, it should take 15-16 minutes, not longer.
During the last 5 minutes of cooking, melt the saffron in the broth and add it to the rice as previously, mixing carefully.
When rice has reached the right cooking, melt the remaining butter and the parmesan, mix everything together and enjoy it!