Milano

My favourite places in Bella Italia - part 1

After I passed my sailing exam I decided to treat myself to a city trip to Milan. Clare was doing yoga in Mallorca and I took the opportunity to enhance my portfolio of Italy. A supposed to be easy trip of 300 km ended as a small nightmare because one traffic jam followed by the next. In the end, the trip took me 5.5 hours and I was so tired that I decided to go to bed early and start the next day before sunrise.

My first target was the famous dome - the third biggest church in the world! It took about 450 years to finish this masterpiece and it was Napoleon, who was crowned King of Italy in this dome in 1805, who ordered to finish the construction. Just opposite the dome lies the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele - a beautiful shopping mall with splendid architecture and frescoes. The blue morning hours are the perfect time to be there: the dark blue sky behind the glass roof was a beautiful contrast to the white marble. And the mall was still empty!

At 7.30 am I finished my shots and thought that it was time for a cappuccino on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II - the shopping street with the big department stores. From here I planned for the rest of the day. I decided to walk next to the beautiful Basilica di Sant‘ Ambrogio. I was just taking a photo when suddenly someone saidnext to me: ‚Isn‘t this a beautiful place?‘ I looked aside and it was an elderly nun who started our conversation. We had a nice little chat and she then continued walking to the basilica - this gave me a great photo opportunity :-)

Afterwards I walked to the Navigli Canals. Yes: canals in Milan. OK, there are not that many of those left but I learnt that they were first built in the Antiques and were rebuilt around 1000 AC which made Milan again an important hub in Lombardia. I learned that the marble from the dome was transported from the Alps through these canals in days where transport by road was not that efficient. The colourful houses and their reflections in the water were a great photo motive.

The next walk to the other end of the old city lead to the impressive Castello Sforzesco where many architects were involved including Leonardo da Vinci. This place is very popular with tourists. The castle was built in 1450 and the walk through the park to the Arco della Pace - a triumphal arch - is a great way to escape the busy city.

From here I walked through Chinatown and reached the new Milan with its high buildings and modern architecture. At the shopping mall at Piazza Gae Aulenti there is a hole from the carpark to the top and this fabulous view of modern art was visible! A really strange place for art!

Just outside again you find another two unique buildings: the Bosco Verticale - which means vertical forest! What a unique concept: the idea is that the plants mitigate the noise and dust and moderate the heat. There are about 20'000 plants and trees on these buildings.

It was lunch time now and I had walked about 15 km already. I enjoyed a pizza on Corso Como. Walking back to the dome I passed many restaurants and bars. Certainly a good area to spend an evening with good food and drinks. But the day before and the marathon walk through the city didn’t leave me with any spare energy so I went back to my hotel and decided to sleep very early again. The next day though, I got up at 3am and drove back to Switzerland without any traffic problems! :-). A great weekend it was!

"One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name"

(The Call - Thomas Osbert Morsdaunt, 1730-1809)

© Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker

#Italy