In the industrial north, Milan is a bit like the Glasgow of Italy (at least in my opinion),
it may not be as pretty as Rome to look at, but it's a lot of fun. It's the economic centre of Italy
and the workhorse of the country, but it's also the centre of the fashion industry and has accordingly
exclusive shops!
We had a long weekend break in Milan simply because we felt like going somewhere different for a weekend,
and it was cheap with Ryanair from Prestwick. We stayed at the Hotel Arno, a fine establishment of
one-star rating near to Centrale Stazione, central enough to be within walking distance of the city
centre. We had nights out in the Navigli district, Corso Como and Corso Sempione, and managed to eat
just about every variety of Italian nosh in the meantime.
Il Duomo di Milano, the main cathedral in the city centre, this is a close up of the cacophony
of architectural details, with more than 3000 statues on its exterior.
A view down from the roof of the Duomo to the shopping centre across the square.
The Piazza del Duomo as viewed from the roof of the cathedral, people walking around
like pigeons.
The city of Milan may not be the prettiest place to look at architecturaly when compared
with Rome or Florence, but the people more than make up for that with their own appearance.
Everyone, young and old, takes pride in their appearance, there are models everywhere and nary a
ned nor chav to be seen! It was such a disappointment to be back in Scotland where the tracksuit-clad
population walk around with their miserable faces tripping them.
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, an exquisite shopping centre off the Piazza del Duomo, filled with
posh shops guarded by bears with earpieces employed to keep the likes of me out.
Detail of the inside of the Galleria, with the famous glass dome.
Still inside the Galleria, these are presumably either apartments or offices which look
out over the shopping concourse.
From the roof of the cathdral, I managed to get one of the statues in with this odd top-heavy
brutalist concrete edifice.
Some of the posh shops on Via Alessandro Manzoni, I didn't dare step inside for fear of making the
place look less stylish.
Another posh shop's window display, taken about 3am on the way back from a club, remarkably
steady all things considered don't you think?
This street busker has opted for something a bit more upmarket than a guitar...
A view up Via Dante towards the Castello Sforzesco.
We came to the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie for the last supper, but they didn't
have any tables (boom! boom!) Unfortunately, in order to view Da Vinci's masterpiece, it seems
you need to book months in advance - we were there in September and the next available slot
wasn't until November.
A view of streets in the centre of Milan, with those orange trams going around. We never
did figure out where and how you were meant to get your ticket, it certainly wasn't on board.
Stazione Centrale, not too far from our hotel, very much a "larger than life" type of building.
A triumphal arch in the Roman style, this one near to Sempione and undergoing renovations.
Our first night out was down at the Navilgi canal district, it was very pleasant to sit
on sun loungers by the water and drink amaretto.
Corso Como to the north of the city centre is another nightlife centre, very civilised
with no lager louts, shouting, rubbish or general misbehaviour, it was such a breath of fresh air
from the standard British night out!
In the Corso Sempione district we went to some fancy style bars, one of them so fancy that
a chap drove along the pavement in his Ferarri and just parked it there outside the bar to go in
for a drink.
On a totally different theme, this is the Pirelli building near the Stazione Centrale, a local
landmark in Milan which came to the fore when a small aircraft crashed into the top section of it
shortly after September 11th, 2001.
