Milan, Italy

     One of the incredible things about visiting certain places in Europe is learning about just how much history they have. Milan is a contemporary city that is famous for its fashion scene and fashion weeks. The city itself has a history that dates back to the 4th century BC and a Celtic tribe called the Insubres. They were a mix of several tribes living in the area and they established the settlement of Milan. Two centuries later, they were incorporated into the kingdom of the Romans after failing to stop the advancements north. It eventually became the capital of the Western Roman Empire during the 3rd century AD. Again, two centuries later, another group conquered Milan and the surrounding area and they called it Lombardy, the name it has maintained up to modern day.

     We started our journey in Milan at the train station in the northern part of the city. We landed quite early and took a bus into the city. While we were having a coffee at a small stand outside the station, a couple of cops asked to see our paperwork. A friend later told us that the flood of immigrants from northern Africa has caused the police to start questioning most people standing around transport points like train stations. Afterwards, we wandered around to some of the hotels in search of a map. We found a nice girl at one of them who gave us a map and pointed us in the direction of the city center. We walked through the city and eventually found our hostel.

     We settled in and headed out to see the city. Our first stop was Il Duomo in the middle of the city. The Duomo sits on a huge plaza in the middle of the city. Off to the right is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. It's named for the first king of Italy after the unification and was built in the late 19th century. The design and the paintings inside have a baroque feel and the sense of being there is overwhelming. One of the things we found to be odd and funny at the same time was the juxtaposition of certain shops. For instance, in the center there are four shops. Since the galleria is high end, its not strange to see Prada on one corner, Louis Vuitton on another, or a Mercedes store on the third. What's strange is that the fourth shop is a McDonald's. It sits in the space of one of the four premier shops in the galleria and shares a common space with some cafes that have been open since the 1860's.

     North of the Galleria is the famous La Scala Theater. It's Milan's famous Opera House and is regarded as one of the premier Opera House's in the world. It was constructed in the late 18th century after the previous theater burned down and a group of wealthy patrons who owned box seats asked the Archduke of Austria for a new one to be built. The current name was taken from the church that stood on the site but was torn down in order to build the new theater. It surprised us to learn that the theater serves as a place of gambling as well and this has caused problems with performers in the past. The top sitting area is famous for its intense fans who booed a performer off stage as recently as 2006.

     The most famous landmark in Milan is Il Duomo, or Milan Cathedral. The Cathedral took six centuries to build and is the fourth(or fifth depending on the source. Some cite the Cathedral in NYC as bigger) largest in the world. The first stone was laid in 1386 and construction of some form continued until 1965. The style is Gothic as most of the Cathedrals designed in the 14th and 15th centuries are. The construction was slow through the first couple of centuries due to the sheer size of the project and, with the kingdom of Milan changing hands, some people tried to change the designs. At one point, Carlo Borromeo tried to redesign the Cathedral so that it was more Renaissance like and Italian instead of Gothic, a foreign concept. In the 19th century, Napolean took over the kingdom of Italy and had the Cathedral nearly finished for his coronation ceremony that took place there in 1805. The inside is incredible and we spent a long time walking around. The stained glass windows have dozens and dozens of small pictures within the whole frame. As we were leaving, we saw a man leading the police to a strange bag he had found in the church. Apparently someone left some souvenirs behind.

     We spent Saturday afternoon wandering around with our friends Babak and Chiara. They took us down to the Porta Genova area to see a small canal that makes Milan look a bit like Venice. The area is full of small artisan shops and tons of people selling knick knacks and clothing from small stalls lining the canal. Some of the restaurants are quite old and traditional and have some really interesting areas around them like the area where women used to wash clothes.

     On Sunday, we walked through the area of the Royal Palace. The palace is free to get into but as the line was long and we didn't have a lot of free time, we just walked around the courtyards and outside area. They had a large art exhibition out front and an old guy was walking through the area with his cat. It drove the little kids wild and they clamored to pet it. The Royal Palace once held high importance as a seat of government but now its a cultural center for the city. From the Duomo plaza, we walked up a pedestrian street lined with cafes and shops to the Sforzesco Castle. It was built in the 14th and 15th centuries and housed the Duchy of Milan. It has four large towers at the corners and what is left over of a moat that once provided protection. Behind the castle is Sempione Park, Milan's largest park in the city limits. We walked through it twice. There are some small cafes, sport courts for basketball and lots of paths with benches, lakes, and tons of open areas to sit and enjoy a beautiful day.

     Behind Sempione Park is the Peace Arch. It was started by Napoleon but after his defeat at Waterloo, the construction stopped until the emperor of Austria ordered it completed. It was dedicated to the peace treaty signed at Vienna in 1815. It looks like a smaller version of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The arch is an icon of Milan because Milan's famous fashion week is held there. Behind it are many of the bars that offer apertivi, a snack buffet available from 6-9 daily with a drink. We all ate dinner at one of the bars Saturday night and food was delicious. Overall, we had a great time and we hope that when we return in August, we might be able to get in line to the see the famous Last Supper painting at the Santa Maria delle Grazie Church. Apparently, you have to reserve a spot to see it up to two months in advance.

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