07 September 2015

M I L A N O part uno

On Friday morning, I found myself at the airport once again. This time I was headed for Milan with my family to see the Formula 1 grand prix in Monza. My family has been following F1 since the late 90s, they watch every race and have gone to see some of them live a few times, too. This time they'd invited me to go along. As a complete outsider, I went along for the experience and for sharing it with the others. I am not a fan and know nothing about the sport, which my brother, who had the unfortunate seat next to me at the race, found rather frustrating. On Saturday, while the others went out to the circuit to watch the qualifying rounds, I spent the day wandering around Milan. One day's race was more than enough for me.
Flying into Milan was breathtaking as the city lies just beneath the mountains.
On Friday afternoon, I took the boys into Milan. I had been there 10 years ago with my high school Italian class, and I wanted to show the boys the Duomo. Last time I saw it it was covered in plastic due to construction, so it was impressive to behold it in all its ornamented glory.
Naturally, we had to take some band photos as well...
On Saturday, I started my day with coffee and a croissant at Pavé (27 Via Felice Casati). The coffee was lukewarm at best and had barely any coffee in it, and the croissant was sugary and sticky. It wasn't exactly what I had hoped, but eating it on the street watching the city wake up was alright.
I walked through the old city centre, and it was very beautiful.
I walked down to the canals, also called the Navigli area. It was really pretty and I'm sure it's a hotspot for partying.
It felt a little strange walking around on my own but as I ate a very good and very fresh calzone by the water, the sun and the people made it all right.
I love the city's old trams. I so wish Copenhagen hadn't abandoned that system!
I ended the day at Bar Luce (2 Largo Isarco) which is the bar designed by Wes Anderson at Fondazione Prada. I had been looking forward to that place for months, but I was so disappointed! It didn't seem like Wes Anderson had had anything to do with it at all; all the attention to details and quirkiness that I feel embodies him wasn't there. It looked fake and if somebody had wanted to do a rip off and forgotten his authenticity. Plus, the service was bad and the coffee too. I did some writing while I was there, scribbling away in a notebook, and that felt good, but I walked away thinking it was far too hyped a place. Too bad!

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