Paradiso Milano; mais ce n’est pas pour les pauvres étudiants.

Europe is currently experiencing the coldest winter that it has had in years; it’s all over the news here. And Milan has had snow for the first time since eons, probably the ice age or something…that gives you a good idea how cold it is here. Rome and Florence are positively tropical when compared to the freezing temperatures here in Milan. The day we arrived, temperatures were around 4 degrees, and this was in the mid-afternoon. The rain didn’t help things either; it dropped to below zero at night. It was a rather miserable start to Milan. The minute we stepped out of the Terminus to the streets, the chill hit us full on the face; even underground in the Metro was no comfort. The cold wind found its way underground. In such chill temperatures, it’s amazing how anyone can get anything done at all. We had to drag ourselves out of the hostel room, and that very much reluctantly, to wander around the sights of Milan.

Our hostel was located near this metro station, Zara. With a name like that, how bad could it be?

Mmm…the hostel this time round was…well…dodgy. The mattress was terrible; even the one in Brunei was slightly better than this. And I’m not joking. The hostel was run by this Chinese family, so they spoke Mandarin and Italian. It was nice to speak a native tongue that I have almost not heard in almost a week. Oh and an observation that we made when watching an Italian television talk show thingy; if you hear it long enough, Italian starts to sound like Hindi. Bloody fast and unintelligible. And really irritating.

Milan, unlike the rest of the other two cities, has fewer historical sites of interest. The buildings are much less ruinous and largely more modern edifices. By modern of course I mean 18^th-19^th century pieces and not like our monstrosities in the CBD. We had just two places of historical interest to go to:

The Duomo likes at the heart of the city. Almost all Italian cities have a Duomo; it is like the central basilica for all cities and most cities grew up around them. This Duomo unfortunately was undergoing some restoration works so there’s nothing much to be seen here. Just us posing in the freezing rain.

And a compulsory statue of Napoleon sitting astride his horse.

Its style and architecture was very much different from the typical dome cathedrals that we are used to seeing. This one was a miasma of spires and turnpikes. Rather scary looking actually; back then if they could not convince you in believing in God, they’d scare you into believing. It looked like gargoyles would be right at home on it. Come to think of it, the cathedral in Strasbourg looked rather much like this as well.

After the Duomo, we headed to the Castella Sforza. An ancient fortress, it lies directly down the road from Duomo. These two buildings form the centre of ancient Milan; the walls of Milan were built with these two sites forming its core and the rest of the city growing around them.

Unfortunately by this time, we were too tired, cold and unwilling to part with more euros to enter the castle and walk inside it. We just wandered around the forum and took some pictures. It’s not terribly interesting; I guess it’s probably one ruin too many for us and the weather isn’t exactly the greatest motivator.

Milan however is fantastic for shopping. I must admit, the concept of shopping here is so much more attractive than back home in Singapore. There are no mega malls where shops are squeezed upon floors and floors of sterile compartments. Instead, shops are lined up along the streets, each window display made up with immaculate care with the most attractive fashions. Think of Paragon, the ground floor which we have to walk past, where Chanel and all the rest are. Now imagine streets and streets of that. That is truly window shopping; which given our budget, all we could afford to do. Prada, Gucci, Ferragamo, Ferrari, upmarket brands galore. The suits are really well cut and look so good, the shoes and bags…haha…think most of you would drool over it as much as I have. But it is for all the nouveaux riches and socialites of this world, not for us humble folk…maybe one day will return here with a vengeance…not likely, but maybe.

It’s also the Milan Fashion Week this week as well. Unfortunately we were not able to catch any of the shows but there were large screens around that were broadcasting them. Mmm…Italian models are so pretty…could just sit, sip my petit tasse du café and watch them strut down the catwalk the whole day. Suddenly it isn’t so cold anymore… =)

Will be leaving for Venice, which is the last leg of this Italian tour before returning to start school in Paris. It is Mardi Gras now, thus Lent is about to begin, another season of fasting and self-reflection. But before that, it’s time to party! Mmm…or sort of lah….hope it isn’t as cold there as it was in Milan.

Gute, ist alles. Auf Wiedersehen.