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Dooley Noted
Saturday, 10 January 2009
Milan - The Italian Big Apple!
Mood:  happy

This weekend we took our second ITR trip since arriving in Italy.   We arrived dark and early to board the bus enroute to Milan, often described as the “Italian Big Apple,” particularly by those Italians that are proud of Milan, but have never actually been to New York.  –Or the States.  –Or have seen a movie about either…

Seriously, there isn’t much there, unless you want to go name brand shopping, and even then, it’s not like 5th Ave.  We saw plenty of Armani, Gucci, Prada, etc, etc, but they didn’t have the large windows with larger than life displays.  It would be hard to “window shop,” there, but if you knew what you wanted and where to find it, you could pay a small fortune for it, in Milan!  All kidding aside, Milan is the most expensive city in Italy.  It is considered (here, anyway) the fashion capital of the world.

This sort of shopping isn’t really our thing, so we set ourselves to the task of seeing the sites.  We found the Gallaria, separating the Duomo (Cathedral) from the Opera House.  We walked through the Duomo and Piazza surrounding it.  We walked a good distance around Milan, saw the Castle, and then ended up around the Duomo, again, got a small snack and then headed back through the Galleria to the Opera House and found our way to the bus stop for the trip home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is worth noting two things about the Galleria.  First, McDonald’s is directly across from Prada, in the dead center of the Galleria.  That’s just funny.  Next, there is a tile mosaic of a small bull (the ‘Torino’), which you are supposed to step on (someplace thoroughly uncomfortable for the bull) with your left foot and spin in a full circle, also to the left, to bring you good fortune in the next year.  We (all three of us) spun on the bull.  Good fortune should abound…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All and all it was a three hour bus ride, for roughly five hours of time on the ground, a guided tour, and a short bus tour of the city.

Our next trip (the February trip) is to Viareggio, which will be hosting the Carnivale Parade, complete with floats, while we are there.  Carnivale is done big-time in two places in Italy.  Viareggio is the other one.  Then, a few weeks later, we’ll have the opportunity to do Carnivale properly, in the old stomping grounds of Casanova himself, Venice.


Posted by kisajaja at 5:25 PM CET
Updated: Sunday, 25 January 2009 5:43 PM CET
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