I am planning my first trip to Italy. I want to see Rome, Florence and Venice. I plan on arriving in Milan. Friends have told me to quickly bail out of Milan and use it as a place to head out to more historic places. Should I ignore the city and go on my way? --- Susan of Portland, OR

Like many North Americans I grew-up eating lasagna. I recalled how my grandmother, who hailed from Genoa, would explain that lasagna was the name of a pasta, not a dish. Her style of preparing lasagna was to boil the pasta, then layer it with a Tucco sauce (dialect) and Parmigiano–Reggiano cheese, with no baking in the oven.