Milan Day Trip, 06/09/2013

Once again, hello.

So on an overcast Sunday last week, I decided to finally make the trip into Milan, the nearest major city to the airport I'm cooped up in. The main motivation for heading out was nothing other than sheer boredom in my room. Since this place is literally connected to the airport there is NOTHING worth seeing within a 3km radius of where I am sitting right now. I want to get out and see things, but I had been largely hesitant to go places since I would be going by myself. As I expected, being a tourist alone is much different than exploring with friends and family.

Anyhow, I wake up late after working Saturday (around 10:00) and laze out of bed and prepare for the day. The other great thing about my location is that I have a train 20 feet from the hotel, making Milan a quick nap away. A "quick nap" is the only unit of measurement I have to reference the trip, since I slept each way.

The train ends and I leave the station. The hazy fog of sleep finally wears off and I realize I am in Milan, and I have no idea where I am. No map. No reference point. No prior research made going on the train. I whip out my handy-dandy iPhone to load up a map. Cannot connect to a server, but I can still access Twitter, Facebook, and email with a charm. So I had to use my cub scouts orienteering which I am never good at (for reference, I tried to take I-95 SOUTH to try to get to the Granite Run Mall before). I happen onto a large map on a street corner and find out I am a block away from Castello Sforzesco (Photo below not by me, I am not that skilled):

 

 

Its pretty amazing, and from my brief look into where to go before I left for Europe, this was one of the three things I wanted to see in the city. Score! But there is a good reason why I do not have pictures of my own for this beautifully restored 14th century castle. Walking inside, I was quickly identified as a tourist (my generally confused look certainly didn't help, along with the backpack and camera I had) and was ambushed by the wonderful peddlers found across Milan. I had no idea this was a common occurrence in the city, and being alone, I was happy to see a smiling face walking towards me. I was able to socialize with him for a little before he shakes my hand after exchanging names and then puts a piece of yarn on my hand. "It's for good luck, from Africa," he tells me, tying it tightly to my wrist. He then explains that since he gave me a wristband I should "...give money for Africa." Some others head over and begin huddling around. I decide to throw some money his way and get out. Less than 10 minutes in the city I was targeted and schemed into giving my money out to people for no good reason.

 

Leaving the castle I stretched the sleeve of my coat over my arm as much as possible. This yarn-band or whatever was not only my shame, it was my cue to everyone that I am the patsy that falls for anything. I head down via Dante towards the famous Duomo di Milano, finding plenty more yarn peddlers along the way. Some are much more persistent than others, and I eventually resorted to showing my shame-wrist and telling him "I've already got plenty of luck, buddy" to get him to back off. I finally make it to Piazza Dumo and find this:

 

 

It was truly amazing. Construction for the cathedral began in 1386 which makes the scale and intricacy of this building astounding. There has been plenty of restoration and additions made over the 400+ years this has existed, but the giant columns inside show how grandiose it was even upon its completion:

 

 

 

If you are ever in Milan, religious or not, this is a mandatory stop. There's plenty to places to eat just outside in the piazza, as well as fulfilling the social habit of people watching, since this area is always mobbed. The other good reason to visit the Duomo is due to what's right next door, Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II, the world's oldest shopping mall:

 

 The gigantic arched entrance

 

 Yep, the inside is a big glass ceiling

 

 Not to mention art all along the ceiling

 

The center domed area branches out in four directions

 

It may be hard to see in the photos, but all the prominent fashion retailers are there. Prada, Louis Vuitton, you name it. There are also very fancy -- and of course expensive -- restaurants dispersed among the four humongous hallways. I of course did not go in any of them, since I do not care for high fashion and I did not feel like paying over 40 euros for a meal. It was amazing enough to go inside, take some pictures, look at the store displays, see others experiencing the location the same as me, and generally soaking in this culture attacking my senses.

 

By this time, it was getting later in the afternoon, and a storm was expected to run through the area around dinner time (and boy was it a big one, a lightning strike that night sounded like an explosion from my room). I hoofed it back to the train station and took another trip to slumberland on my voyage home. It was an excellent first trip, all in all. It was close by, I was given a quick lesson on people trying to make a quick buck off of visitors, and I got to see everything I wanted to see before heading home. There was still that missing element of experiencing with someone else, which I found to be a big part of travelling on this excursion. When there is nobody with you to react with from the sights, parts of you wonder what you may have missed. Maybe that's just me, but I think Milan could only get better when with another person to enjoy the sights.