Life on the street is one thing. Life above it is something else. I have to remind myself, when charging off to complete some errand or other, that looking up may be every bit as gratifying as looking straight ahead. The exteriors of Milanese buildings are often adorned with elaborate decorative patterns just beneath the overhang of the roof or with balconies heavy with wrought iron and sculpted turnings. Some wear penthouse gardens like plumed hats or stacks of satellite dishes like multiple hearing aids.

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As many of the buildings were constructed when curves were most definitely preferred over straight lines, and roads followed the lines of radii instead of grids, their four exterior walls fall along trapezoidal paths instead of rectangular ones, making for spectacular negative and positive spaces when one looks skyward. This morning’s sky was electric, backlighting the palazzi with a relentless blue. There was nothing to do but look, admire and pass it on.

My thanks to Ann Moore for copy-editing this post.

[If you enjoyed this post, you might also like: The Street #1: Via Palermo.]