Milano

We got up early the morning, to another dodgy “continental breakfast” consisting of a few pieces of stale bread with a sparse amount of jam, then headed back to Venice Island to board a train destined for Milan. The Italian Countryside was lush green, as we snaked our way through the hills, along lakes, towards Milan. It was around lunchtime when we arrived, and quickly found the nearest Tram to take us to the hotel. After some lunch, we headed into the city, stolling through the central park “Parco Sempione”





, through the heavily fortified castle of Castello Sforzesco




and down the main street to the Piazza Duomo.



Here lies the 4th largest catherdral in the world. The Duomo. This enourmous masonry building took around 600 years to build, finally being completed in the early 1800’s and adorns a statue of Napoleon who was the then crowned King of Italy. Entry to the building via an enourmous copper clad doors. Immediately, the stifling heat from outside was no longer an issue. With its copious amounts of thermal mass the building was a very pleasant temperature inside. After a peruse through the catherdral, we then headed toward what my wife considered the main attraction – The fashion quarter. Just off the Piazza Duomo, sits the Galleria Vitt Emanuel.



This arcade consists of a glass vaulted double arcade intersecting with a glass dome covered octagon. This was one of the very first type of covered arcade shopping malls, which paved the way for what we would now consider the common shopping mall. It is quite evident, once you enter the building that this is the mall for the rich and famous. Stores including Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada face the central space, their doors guarded by men dressed in uniform.





The open arcade, with its cross ventilation, again meant that the space was considerably cooler than that of outside. The building is stunningly adorned with paintings, carvings and ironwork. After a little more wandering around the streets of Milan, we headed back towards the hotel. Stopping at a small, but very busy café for Dinner. The Food In Italy is just fantastic. The freshest ingredients, cooked simply!

We wandered the streets afterward, taking in the sites of Milan. So far, Milan seemed very much like a shoppers city. Not really my cup of tea. But I had something interesting planned for tomorrow!

Milan, Day 2

THE HARDEST BED MATRESS EVER!!
The worst nights sleep. I felt like I slept on a slab of concrete!. I literally had to put the one pillow I had for my head, under my shoulders to try to soften the bed.

Hot Tip #10: Take an inflatable pillow with you, you never know when you might need it!

Today I had planned a field trip, an Architectural field trip to the outskirts of Milan to visit the Mondadori, by Oscar Niemeyer. I had seen this building previously in my university studies, and saw a poster of it at Venice, which got me thinking, I really need to go and check it out…. Why not I’m here!.



To get there, I had worked out a route which involved a bit of walking, a train ride on the heavy rail system, and around 2km of walking at the other end. After a long walk to the main train station, and getting lost just trying to find the entry, we managed to get tickets to our destination using what little Italian I know, and the broken English the ticket clerk knew.

We soon boarded what appeared to be a ghost train, and headed west – to the very outskirts of Milan. After around 30 minutes on the train, we got off at a remote location. There was no-one around, no cars, no taxis, nothing. Candice at this stage was freaking out. “Where on earth are we?” I had a dodgy google map that I had printed out back at the hotel, and knew we were close. We soon found the only way across the train tracks, in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.





It wasn’t long until I could see the faint outline of the modernist architecture Neimeyer is famous for. I walked on, in anticipation. And walked, and walked. Until finally we hit a road on which the Mondadori was on, only to find that the entire compound was completely fenced and locked up! Needless to say, I was not impressed, Neither was Candice.





I did manage to convince her to keep walking, and we soon stumbled on a manmade lake, the Lago Idroscalo. Here we found an Oasis in the blistering heat. A cool place to sit under a tree and look out over the lake. An international kayak water polo tournament was taking place on the northern bank. We sat here and ate the lunch we bought back in town. It was so nice, just to sit down and relax!




After a wander around the lake, we headed back into Milan itself. Back across the bridge and onto the next available train to the city. On the way back through, we found a street market bustling with people. Here you could by almost anything, from clothing, shoes, flowers to Fruit.




We spent a most of the afternoon strolling through the markets, and along the streets. Milan had been a bit of a let down for me, I just cant wait to get to Berlin!