I’m Too Sexy For Milan

Michael and I flew out of Dublin on Easter Saturday bound for Italy.  The act of flying itself has become so mundane and with it the routine of going through security, boarding and disembarking that you rarely give it much thought.  It was therefore a shock when I experienced chronic ear pain during the flight, something that I hadn’t felt since I was a 12 year old flying domestic in Australia. The plane appeared to be badly pressurised with many people complaining, however I experienced very bad pain and pretty much the total loss of hearing in one ear for the next two days.  It wasn’t very pleasant and I hope that I won’t have to experience that again for another 40 years!

We landed in Milan, cleared customs and made our way onto the comfortable coach that would take us for the hour-long journey to the heart of the city.  The city is large with impressive buildings and beautiful parks, which we lost no time setting off to explore.

When we booked our trip, we were fully aware that we wouldn’t be able to do our usual “visit every attraction in sight” routine as, being Easter, a number of places would be closed or in use.  We had tried to obtain tickets to see the Last Supper at the Basilica di Santa Maria dell Grazie however they had sold out months in advance.  Michael and I decided to visit Milan anyway, to get a feel for the city, in the hope that we would one day return.  This meant that we spent a very relaxing couple of days just enjoying the city as it presented.

The main city square in Milan is the Piazza del Duomo, which is named after the magnificent cathedral dominating the square.  It is one of the largest cathedrals in the world and took over 600 years to complete. Naturally there were a number of religious services taking place throughout the day, so we were unable to visit the inside however we enjoyed walking around the outside of the pink and grey marble structure.  There was a heavy security presence around the cathedral, which was to be expected at such a significant monument attracting large crowds.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele is absolutely stunning.  It is a four-story double arcade full of designer boutiques and high-end shops. It is topped with a huge glass dome in the centre and there are four beautiful mosaics on the floor portraying the coats of arms of Turin, Florence, Rome and Milan.  We saw many people spinning around in one spot and discovered that they were spinning around with one heel on the genitals of the bull from the Turin coat of arms.

 
Apparently this act brings good luck (but not to the mosaic, as all the spinning has caused a hole to develop on the place of the bull’s genitals).  I expected to see many glamorous women walking about the fashion capital however, apart from one or two well-dressed ladies, most women were dressed for comfort not style.  The young men though, were very stylish indeed.  Almost without exception they appeared groomed to within an inch of their lives with impressive hairstyles and clad in the latest clothes.

On one of our walks around the city, we came across the impressive Sforza Castle.  It was built in the 15^thcentury and has been renovated and enlarged over the years and now houses several museums and art collections.  We didn’t enter the castle however, once again it was interesting just walking along the outside and perhaps we will have a chance to visit there in the future.

The weather was absolutely glorious for us – a very pleasant 18 degrees – and we took every opportunity that we could to enjoy our meals, coffees and drinks al fresco.  It was so nice to escape the freezing weather of Dublin and we could literally feel our bodies soaking up the sunshine.  The flowers and trees were in full bloom with magnolia trees everywhere covered with huge flowers.  We weren’t the only people fascinated with the magnolias – many people were taking photos and admiring them. 

Genoa by Night 

A quick and comfortable train journey took us to our next port of call, Genoa (Genova).  Michael had originally intended to do some diving here however, he changed his mind and we decided to visit the city anyway.  Our hotel was on the other side of the town away from the tourist area.  

Genoa is the capital of Liguria and is the sixth largest city in Italy and an important port on the Mediterranean.  Unfortunately the magnificent weather of Milan deserted us, and we spent the next couple of days exploring the city accompanied by an almost continual drizzle. It didn’t stop us although it did put a bit of a dampener on things (pardon the pun).  The old town is a maze of narrow alleyways with a number of large palaces along the way.  Many of the palaces date back to the late 16^thcentury and formed part of a system of public lodging, hosting notable guests on State visits.  Forty-two of the palaces are now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

We took a ride on the Zecca-Righi funicular, a 7 station journey of 1,428 metres up the slope of the Righi hill.  The funicular is part of the public transport system and we joined the commuters in a ride to the top.  The view was lovely and we had a little bit of a walk around before making the return journey. We probably would have walked down the hill had the weather been a little kinder.

It is hard to give an accurate picture of Genoa, as the weather meant that we really didn’t get to experience all that it had to offer.  It certainly doesn’t have the beauty of some of the other cities that we have visited however we felt safe and I am glad that we were able to experience a large port town.