The writer, journalist, and wife of the late and great Ettore Sottsass—whose Milan apartment features in the first issue of August—shares a personal memo on her home city.

Things:
The narrow streets in the center of town.
The winter sky, with that special color that you find only in Lombardia.
The treacherous cobblestones, also in the old part of town.

Smells:
The smell of fog, and smell of lindens and prunus in the spring.

Architecture:
Sant'Ambrogio TOP

High:
Leonardo’s Last Supper or in the Brera Museum, Mantegna’s Dead Christ.
The original Prada store in Galleria.
The original Pasticceria Marchesi in Via Santa Maria alla Porta.
Ice cream at Toldo in via Ponte Vetero 9 (sublime).
Trattoria la Nuova Arena in Piazza Lega Lombarda (a traditional menu).
Fresh egg pasta at Pasta Fresca Brambilla, on Via Melzo 2.

Low:
Greenmarket in Via San Marco, Monday and Thursday mornings.
Chinatown around via Bramante e via Giusti.