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Benvenuto a Milano

Hi, and welcome to the all new ProjecTravel Milan Blog where you can get the most in the know information on this trendsetting Italian city.

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The Ancient, Or The Modern?

If you still haven’t decided whether to prefer the historical Milan or the modern one, I will add some clues to solve the everlasting contrast between these two souls of the city. There is some chance you will leave the post with even more confusion, but that’s not my intent.

Hanging around in Brera means definitely ancient. You will find lots of places here. Don’t miss “Corso Garibaldi” and the Brera Art Academy. Nice surroundings and interesting shops in a historical setting.. …argh, I wanted to dedicate a specific post for that area. Too bad, take it as an anticipation of what might follow in my next posts.

One of the reasons you would like to visit Brera is “San Marco” church. 13th or 14th century, I especially like the outer square and the facade carrying three statues exposed in it:

San Marco1

Mozart has been hosted here when he was a young teenager. It happened to me to go there and assist to concert, just hoping that I somehow would receive a magic touch to turn me into a great musician.. which would be qualified as a rock star nowadays, in Modern Times. I know, I am a naive idealist dreamer… I was also younger when I did that. Needless to say, I stayed with the same musical skills. ah… what a merciless destiny.

When I realized my little naive dream was indeed so naive, I returned back to that same church and found some solace in staring at that mosaic underneath the statues.

San Marco4

Years and years later I found out the mosaic is a copy of another artist’s fresco.. …In bloody arts you never know who is copying who. Tends to be slightly messed up, and the same applies to modern arts as well.

If this thing about ancient / modern mixture and comparison caught your attention, I can leave you with an advice to come here in April, when we have a major Design fair. It’s called “Salone del Mobile”: basically a furniture exhibition….. But what an exhibition!

Hundreds of thousands of people fly in to Milan to attend it. Just be careful with hotel prices when we have these kinds of fair. In fact, it would be wise to check the fairs program here: www.fieramilano.it before booking a hotel in Milano. Prices tend to triplicate if you have an important one.

So far so good, what about a modern sofa right in the middle of the Galleria?
A comfortable place to contemplate about modern times:

DSCN1778_small

….ancient or modern, which one do you choose?

Nov 03, 2009 | Categories: Design, Photo shoot, Tourism, Wandering | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

The Ancient & The Modern

I don’t want to look like an obsess of monuments & co, so I will try to enlarge the scope by adding some modern content in this post.

I know you’re not coming here to visit modern buildings, but I think the contrast between old and modern that you encounter in some corners are strange… not to say weird.

One of the surroundings in which you can find this mixture, is around “Corso Italia” or “Corso di Porta Romana”. The city suffered some bombings in that area during WWII, so you may observe a mix of new and ancient buildings put together somewhat frequently.

I leave it to you finding the ways to visit the places around. If you look for “Corso di Porta Romana” – literally Roman Door’s Street, a street that starts from Piazza Missori and runs outwards from city center towards Rome – there are good chances you will turn left in via Santa Sofia. You have the tiny San Calimero church. It’s in a pedestrian alley, sideways to traffic. Not so easy to find.
This is the entrance. First foundations go back to Vth – yes, fifth century:

San Calimero2

…and then, this is what you see some hundred meters away by walking in via Santa Sofia:
Palazzo via S. Sofia

Surprised? I never got to know what sort of experiment do they conduct in those buildings, …but perhaps it’s just some innocent banking business…. or I guess so. If not, please leave me believing in that..

While you are hanging around wandering on the purpose of such things, there are some chances you will stumble upon “Sant’Eufemia”, a church on “Corso Italia”. …Again a church founded in Vth century and rebuilt in the XVth one. All surrounded by modern buildings:

Condominio di fianco Sant'Eufemia

I know you are confused about whether to look at the church walls, or at those nice apartments (no I am not in a real estate business, relax)… But that’s not uncommon here in Milan.
Want to really see that small church? Here it is:

Sant' Eufemia 2

You might think these two are  sole survivors in modern times… …but there are others like that. We will check them at sometime, in the upcoming posts. Stay tuned.

PS: is it evening or do you want a nice restaurant in the surroundings? “Buone cose Bistrot”, via San Martino 8. …Truly speaking you are close to Parco delle Basiliche and Colonne di San Lorenzo. But that’s another story.

Oct 30, 2009 | Categories: Tourism, Wandering | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

The Canals

I know what you think… “Am I supposed to travel 50 km out of town to feel myself in countryside?”.

The answer is: not really. You have some alternatives here in city center.

Apart from the usual gardens and parks, Milan had water canals coming in from surrounding rivers since 12th century. You should know that in 15th century, Leonardo Da Vinci had great plans about enhancing these and turning Milan into a new Venice, a rival city of canals. His plans remained partially unrealized, but he managed to add some significant enhancements to those waterways obtained from rivers around.
Long story short, Milan was full of water canals until last century, when they covered almost all of them because of mosquito problems. They used to arrive until the Duomo, but now only a few were left open: you can take a look at them and enjoy an especially rich nightlife. Lots of bars, pubs and restaurants of every kind… from the most basic up to the dressy ones, I leave you to enjoy them.

At some point you might spot a public wash house that women from Milan used to use in past times:

Naviglio Grande - vecchio lavatoio

Nice to see but I would like to thank here Mr. Jacob Christian Schäffern, the German guy who invented washing-machines back in 18th century. Thanks to him I don’t have to bring my clothes there to get washed.

You will notice the surroundings are quite artistic-hip style. So you might encounter original exhibitions, sometimes even placed insude courtyards. I felt strange getting into the courtyard to take these pictures. I even have been upstairs. I felt like breaking privacy, so I didn’t insist: hard to tell if I was doing something wrong or not.

Naviglio Grande - mostra dipinti in cortile

The remaining, uncovered “Naviglio” s -this is what they are called- are basically two: the Great Naviglio and the “Pavese” Naviglio, the one that goes to Pavia – a city 40 km south of Milan. Want to follow it up until Pavia? I did it once by bike, a nice trip you might to try:

NaviglioPavese2

Asked about feeling countryside in the middle of the town, right? What about some wildlife in there:

NaviglioPavese3

Don’t you notice those little ducks hanging around in the canal? Come on! Encourage me: I feel like a national geographic reporter, applied to a city blog…

Oct 27, 2009 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

The Lake

I like going out of Milan, once in a while. So speaking of Italian snow and mountains in the previous post, how not to mention a lake standing in pre-alpine territory….

45 km North of Milan you have a town called Como. 30 minute ride if you take the highway, even though the simplest way is to go by train: “Cadorna” train station, catch the first train to Como and you’re on the lake.

I recommend enjoying the Duomo: take a seat in one of the restobars facing the church and admire:

PICT0008

You will surely take a walk on the lakeside, watching the surrounding hills. There is a funicular climbing up on the left side hill facing the lake. It goes up to Brunate, the village in top of that hill. It’s not obvious to spot it from the land… …but it will be more clear from the boat.

Yep, boat. One of the main reasons reason why you would like to go there….. is taking a trip on the Como lake itself. So what about checking that little ticket office on the lakeside, right in front of the main square? Two courses for tourist trips: long version and short version. Approximately a boat each half hour, reasonable price… Take your sweater, k-way and jump on board.

You will be delightfully carried through villas between steep shorelines and hills gazing from the top. You will certainly notice small details such as semi-visible pathways all along the coast, between one villa and the other:

PICT0030

Wonder about George Clooney’s villa? Hah…. I leave you with the challenge of spotting it. It’s in Brienno, one of the tiny villages on the shore.

Don’t miss the chance to stopover at one of these towns. Take a tour, eat ice-cream or have your aperitivo – and then take one of the next boats.. You will have the chance to relax, gazing around and wandering through small docks:

Dock

As a last step, if you came here by car, take the road to Bellagio. No, not the Casino. That is in Las Vegas….. Bellagio is actually a town on Como lake. You will enjoy both the road and, once you are there, a nice view on the lake with Alp mountains in the background.

PICT0048

Are you too lazy to drive or just want some particular experience? Want to “hitchhike” an airplane? ….Yes, we have that on the lake. You might want to check if George is in there too..

Air Taxi

Air Taxi

I never tried to make a thumb up sign to one of those…. I should, one day.

Oct 22, 2009 | Categories: Photo shoot, Tourism, Transport, Travel, Uncategorized, Wandering | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

The Castle and the snow

Now, this might be perceived as slightly mainstream again..

But a big, nice and wide 14th Century castle in the middle of the town is anyway worth a couple of hours visit. …ending rest in a nice park included, I promise.

Doesn’t matter if you take the subway and pop-out at “Cairoli” stop or walk straight through via Dante. The meeting is beside the fountain right at the entrance. There is some chance you will find North African or Russian residents. I don’t why, but Russian people like the Castle. North Africans apparently like to gather here, hanging around and watching people as time passes ….  Oh, and there are Japanese tourists of course…… try not to fall into a platoon of Japanese tourists, you might be swept away and carried passively around.

No I won’t put one of those great Castle pics I have: go around, take your pics and then go inside. I recommend exploring all the courtyards, you may want to visit the museum as well: there are a couple of sculptures worth to see. You often have some exhibition inside the museum or the Castle, but frankly I never tried..  you will explore and tell me.

The castle’s back door gives access to “Parco Sempione”. Don’t miss the nice view on the gardens from a railing right away.. If the weather is suitable, you will either look around for a place to sit, or perhaps sit on a grass and relax or even play frisbee. Don’t be afraid of the picture I put here, normally we have better weather conditions in Milan. Even though there is some chance to find similar scenes around January…

Snowful Sempione

… surprised? Yes, we’re in Italy and I just put that picture in order to prepare you and myself for the upcoming winter. It’s already surprisingly cold now, to be October  :( ..Look!

Just in case you don’t believe that we might have some snow here in Italy, check out Milan’s Castle under snow:

The Castle under snow

Wonder about the Duomo under snow, …what it might look like? Ha, we have that too:

Snow and Duomo

Keep in mind, finally, that Alp mountains and related ski lifts are a couple of hours ride from Milan. Prepare your ski suits for new season: they apparently opened some runs until May already. …..Check that out here, for Italian readers …

But hopefully I didn’t spoil your ice-cream fantasies with these pictures… Cheer up! Milan’s weather is not that bad, after all.

Oct 19, 2009 | Categories: Sports, Tourism, Transport, Travel, Uncategorized, Wandering, Winter | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

The Walk On

Remember what I suggested in the first article, about being in a hurry to visit Milan? I assume you are not, otherwise you would already be in that hop-on hop-off and not reading this article.

Let’s start from the hop-on hop-off bus stop, in front of Duomo. Cross the street to reach “Piazza dei mercanti”: Merchants’ Square. Self explanatory name for the purpose – it was the old marketplace – but perhaps not for the appearence. The name is slightly erroneous and might cause some confusion because the marketplace is partially placed under a raised ground floor colonnade and partially in the same building’s courtyard. In any case, the street’s name too is “Piazza dei mercanti” regardless of the fact that it’s not a square. Giving your back to Duomo, you will have the building (Palazzo della ragione) and the marketplace on the right.
Palazzo della ragione
This marketplace ceiling is conceived to reflect and concentrate sound waves in such a way, that people standing close in specific spots can clearly hear each other without being easily heard by other people around. This was used for trading prices in a proper way. I guess these spots are designed to be in the center of spheres. There are claims the idea and perhaps the project, was Leonardo da Vinci’s…. might well be.

If you go on walking in the same direction, you end up in piazza Cordusio. This is an oval shaped square, where major Italian Insurance & Banking Groups have their head offices. Some refer the oval square as the heart of Italian capitalism. Personally I find it slightly journalistic, but there might be some basis of truth in it.

Walking along the pedestrian street, you will encounter bars, restaurants, ice-cream vendors and more Banks. If you are lucky enough, you might catch one of those Native American or Gypsy music performances. Or perhaps an open air photography show. It’s “Via Dante”. Dante Street. No, it’s not because Dante used to live here, it’s just the street’s name  :P
Enjoy your walk while approaching the Castle that starts to define itself on the background.

Castello da via Dante

You might realize to be in city center, I mean surrounded by offices and everything: it’s usually full of people breaking for lunch. It you want to get lost in small old streets this is definitely a good occasion. Just plunge into a side street, doesn’t matter if left or right.
Remembers me of an internet joke about business in Italy: “… while ambling around you see a beautiful woman. You break for lunch. Life is good.”

Yes, this is Italy most of the times.

Oct 15, 2009 | Categories: Food, Tourism, Uncategorized, Wandering | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

The Rest

In case you still wander around Duomo in the evening, looking for a dinner place – but can’t find any despite the wide offer……

Davanti Palazzo Reale

… I suggest checking Via Gonzaga.

We are talking about a street behind the corner on the left, across piazza Diaz: an anonymous street beside an anonymous square facing the Galleria. Don’t pay attention to a weird beret sculpture in the middle of the square. Provided that you sort out that is actually a beret, so called “great artists” sometimes do mistakes in our cliche field of arts and sculptures.  :)

Anyway: you have a genuine local restaurant (Da Bruno) and a flashy Japanese in that street. If you’re not happy with that, take a few steps more and visit some ancient ruins in piazza Missori. These are literally real ruins, in the sense that an ancient Roman church was progressively dismantled in past centuries.

I leave you to the “average tourist guide” for more information, but it seems the unlucky faith of this square started long ago. You can still notice a confused scenery of recent and ancient architectures as a result of heavy public renovation works in this part of city center.

Tired of visiting Italian mistakes? If it’s dinner time (I tend to be an obsess with my dinners), you may try some Indian or Japanese in a street behind: via Maddalena. They both cook non-Italian food without mistakes. We are full of hints about food & wine, here. If you want another one: check out the small bar on the corner of Sant’Alessandro square. The whole scenery is very Italian here: a church, some steps coming down the facade, an irregular square, old buildings and this nice corner with few tables outside. Enjoy the open air in good weather conditions. You have a restaurant adjacent to the bar: Collina Pistoiese. Strict, old style traditional Italian restaurant. Worth to try if you are looking a rigorous, error-less dinner.

We are near to Torre Velasca. A curious, mushroom-shaped, 26 floor high building. It was built in the fifties as a post-war symbol. I don’t want to classify that as a mistake, …but it surely looks weird nowadays.

Torre Velasca da C.so di P.ta Romana _BW

An interesting “must see” place is State University’s main campus. It’s hosted in a big medieval building: enjoy your walk along the front facade. Enter the campus and check the inner courtyard as well. Don’t be surprised if you encounter crazy youngsters or strange situations, you’re in a campus after all. For some readers coming from the US: campuses here are really inside and part of the city.

Università Statale

If you just want to lay down, have a rest or read your book, Guastalla park gardens are nearby across the street. A small and nice park for those in need of a battery recharge.

Oct 12, 2009 | Categories: Food, Tourism, Wandering | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

The beauty around

Frankly speaking, long sessions of brainstorming and reflection took place in my mind about what to mention and what not. Since Milan is in contrast with Italian stereotypes, I would have preferred mentioning other things rather than historical monuments…

But that sounded like going to New York and not taking pictures of any skyscraper… So let’s start a short unconventional visit to some historical monuments, as you never had explained before.

Some, but not all beauty around the Duomo.

A nice 14th century’s bell tower stands besides the Duomo, you can reach it through the alley facing Duomo’s south facade. It’s San Gottardo church’s bell tower and often remains unnoticed under Duomo’s blinding splendor. Personally I hardly ever been able to shoot a worthy picture of it. I paste here the nicest I have, but I guess we could make a small contest out of it.

San Gottardo bell tower

On the Northern side of piazza del Duomo you will certainly notice the Gallery. “The Gallery”, “La galleria” as we say in Italian, is more precisely Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

Galleria entrance

Its primary functions include but are not limited to:

– Meeting point with friends, at the entrance

– A bridge between Duomo and La Scala

– Cafe or aperitivo

– High end luxury hotels

– Mc Donalds’

– Medium-high level restaurants

– Various kind of shops, ranging from bookshops to luxury or semi-luxury stores

– …so on

Definitely has to be visited in the evening: sunset time of a sunny day is ideal. Wait for nightfall and enjoy an enlightened Galleria. You should also stop at Zucca – the bar in the corner beginning the gallery. This is one of the most historical bars in Milan, also called Camparino Bar Zucca. You might want to try coffee or aperitivo if it’s evening.

If you ask for a cappuccino in the evening, barmen will almost certainly understand you are tourist. In Italy, usually that is for breakfast  :P

There is a seven star rated luxury hotel inside the Galleria. Not everyone is aware of it, and it’s not the one you have on the Western wing. It’s really in the middle. Won’t tell more, the rest is up to you. Go and find it, hopefully you are lucky enough to afford the prices.

Eastern wing

On the other side of the Galleria you have the small square Piazza della Scala. The well known opera building is across the street. Honestly, it’s an average building, seen from outside. Not the most interesting thing to see in the square…. The mayor’s house and a bank’s building are better.. But remember that sometimes the beauty is inside. Especially in Milan.

The statue in the middle of the square is Leonardo Da Vinci, don’t miss the traditional picture under it.

Leonardo

There are nice cafes and venues beside la Scala. Really nice surroundings worth to explore. Trussardi’s place …and if you want some pre-disco, Victoria is not far, Brera quarter as well     ..but that is another story. Argh! I was well-intentioned to write about historical monuments….

For the rest about la Scala, I leave place to the “ACME Tourist Guide”. You might want to check the museum. I am sure you will also check the wall banners on the front facade for the season’s program and upcoming concerts: make sure you don’t miss anything worth to listen.

Oct 08, 2009 | Categories: Luxury, Tourism, Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

The Beauty Inside

The beauty is inside.

First thing to know about Milan is the contrast with Italian stereotypes. This is perhaps why the city  tends to confuse tourists and strangers.

A contrast

You still have nice buildings and ice-cream vendors around, but it’s definitely not on the sea side. Don’t look for bombastic shores or aqua parks, 10% of Italy’s GDP is produced here. It’s about business, finance and commerce… and well, let’s admit it: some streets are literally open air shopping malls, not to forget the quantity of bars and restaurants  ;)

There tends to be a sort of privacy concept in the Milanese philosophy. You will find nice places in unnoticed corners. Remarkable courtyards hidden behind main entrances in apparently average buildings, average streets. The beauty is inside, I would say.

Best time to come is April to June and September to October. You might find July and August slightly suffocating: remember wind and ventilation is unusual, here in Milan.

How to start? Well, skipping the air ticket and arrival processes which I assume good travelers tackle, you will certainly find yourself in the hotel room mumbling about where to go. No problem: start with the Duomo – really mainstream, but the best by first.

The “Italy for Dummies” guide would explain that “Duomo” means Cathedral or Dome. You will easily spot it on the map, right in city center. Name of the subway station? “Duomo” of course… what else.

If you want a big bang effect, you will exit the subway from one of the main gates in the Piazza del Duomo. You will find yourself staring at the front facade and taking pictures.

Pinnacles

Otherwise, if you prefer wandering around and slower approaches to life, exit the subway in piazza San Babila and take the pedestrian street Vittorio Emanuele. You will gently have a swift walk among shop windows and brands, stop in Piazza del Liberty on your right to check the Ferrari store, and approach the Duomo from the back.

Rear

Avoiding trivial information you will easily find on Wikipedia or in your “ACME” Tourist Guide, I will recommend not only to tour all around the Cathedral walls and going inside, but also to go upstairs on the roof. The lift is not immediately visible, but it’s on a rear-corner side. Enjoy your walk among gargoyles, and be sure you are not too much sensitive to dizziness.

Roof dizziness

Once you are finished with the Duomo, you might want to have a seat down in the pedestrian street, right behind the Duomo. As an alternative, try to seek for a free table on Rinascente shopping mall’s terrace. 7th floor, nice view right in front of the gargoyles, beside the Duomo. Shoppers and fashion fans could get lost right away while going up to 7th floor, be careful  ;)

.... it's shopping time!

If you lack free time, walk on to the next spot: the Castle. If you are really pressed or want to have a fast overall look on the city…. well we have hop on-hop offs right in front of the Duomo… but you would miss out on the pleasure of wandering in Italian streets, bars and ice-cream vendors, right?

Oct 05, 2009 | Categories: Shopping, Tourism, Transport, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »