Chapter 9
I let my glance run over the fields and along the ditches, flanked by rows of poplars which stood like silent sentries. I wondered if I would miss that vast, untroubled countryside, that land of water and fog, with its walled cities and endless cultivated fields, punctuated by churches, farmhouses and solitary stone towers.
Once through the ancient Porta Romana and over the bridge across the Naviglio, Milan stretched before me with its hustle and bustle worthy of a real capital city. Along the far-reaching network of waterways glided boats laden with merchandise. As we neared the centre the streets were full of comings and goings, of carts and carriages, people and traders, patrons of taverns, street musicians, hawkers and craftsmen. The heat had forced them all outside their s
