Tochi's Hut

If there was one city on our Europe trip that I would consider the most interesting, Milan would be my pick.  We got to experience the highest of highs, the lowest of lows, the thrills of surprise and the bitter taste of disappointment.  Perhaps the most insightful aspect is that Milan, of all places, gave us unique glimpses into our different characters.

The story must start from our train ride from Monaco to Milan.  The journey from Nice to the French Italian border was very pleasant.  However, once we crossed into Italy, it was as if we had crossed a heavenly-worldly divide.  During the stop in Ventimiglia, Segamatic needed to get tickets for the Italian leg of the trip.  The conductor from whom we supposedly could buy tickets could not care less about us.  Segamatic ended up running into the train station to buy his ticket.  For a few tense moments, I was not sure if Segamatic would be able to make it back onto the train in time! 

Despite being on the same train, the Italian railway system was remarkably rundown.  From out of nowhere, the train became packed with people.  Not to be class-biased, but it seemed like all the peasant families from the rural parts of Northern Italia decided to move to Milan today.  That’s what it really felt like.  From the paradise and comforts that was the French Riviera, this experience was a sharp contrast.  Segamatic and I were soon relegated to these pull-down seats in the train’s tight hallway.  My backpack became a major obstacle for anyone trying to pass, especially those who were pulling their worldly belongings down that corridor.

After quite an uncomfortable ride (I’m writing this off as part of the backpacking experience), we finally arrived into Milano Centrale.   The air felt sticky as we stepped off the train.  Everyone else rushed by with a sense of direction that in ensemble was more like a chaotic mess.  I felt like a little boy visiting the big city for the first time.  Just from her train station, Milan was truly a city.  The train station sported some fancy modern Romanesque architecture, but I was a bit bummed by the constant construction in half the station.  In retrospect, the construction has now become an integral part of my vivid imagery of Milan - a busy metropolis that is constantly moving and constantly evolving.  In such places, there is always construction noises in the background.

From the train station, we took the subway to our hotel.  The subway map reminded me of the tube in the sense that there seems to always be more than one way to get between any two stations.  The subway system was showing signs of its age.  However, we were pleasantly surprised by a musician on the train entertaining the crowds with his accordion.  I always love these impromptu performances on subways – a raw sense of Milan’s vibrant culture.

Our hotel ended up being very interesting.  Every guest had to fill out forms stating our nationality and passport information.  Except for the person who made the reservations, I’ve never had to fill forms like this before.  Our room was probably one of the biggest surprises on the entire trip.  It was pretty much a bedroom conjoined with a bathroom with no wall separation!  True Roman style!  Good thing there was a real bathroom outside, otherwise, I’m not sure what BlueOrca would have done.  The other quirky aspect was the plastic blinds covering the window.  They looked like something to keep robbers out rather than light, though it does a wonderful job at both.  The drawing mechanism was also quite primitive, but I guess it’s pretty effective.

We stumbled a bit getting out of the main gate of our hotel complex.  You had to push a button on the side wall to unlock the gate.  Seeing our difficulties with the door, a lady behind us pointed out the button.  She then said one statement that epitomized Milan for me - “This is Milan.”  It was the way she said it; her matter-of-fact tone really resonated with me, and made me see the city in a new light.

We took a stroll towards Duomo square, stopping by a small cafe restaurant for dinner.  BlueOrca and Segamatic had to satisfy their Italian Pizza cravings, while I went with a lighter pasta dish.  We found out while eating that pigeons were both slow and dumb.  The early bird doesn’t always get the worm, especially if there’s a faster bird nearby. 

We fed more pigeons at the piazza in front of Duomo.  Lots of scalpers were handing out seeds to feed the pigeons.  We each took our turn feeding some birds.  Afterwards, these seed guys demanded some compensation for their goods and service.  I was almost going to give them a Euro until I saw Orca starring down at her naggers.  First time I witnessed the Don’t-mess-with-the-Orca look, and even I, felt a shiver down my spine.

Right off the Duomo piazza is an indoor promenade, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which is lined with fancy shops and boutiques.  There was also the most lavish McDonald’s I have ever visited.  We spent the rest of the evening exploring other parts of downtown Milan.  Geocaching does take you to places you won’t otherwise see or even thing of visiting.  I saw a Banco d’Italia and snapped a picture for my coworkers.  After searching futilely for a geocache in some windy street, we stumbled onto a National Geographic exhibit showcasing a variety of beautiful scenic shots.  My favourite was a sunrise shot of the city at the base of Mount Vesuvius in Naples, Italy.  Another memorable shot was a winter roof-top view of west Toronto! :)

Segamatic wanted to visit some parks in the area.  It was a nice evening stroll through the peaceful neighbourhood.  In our one and only find in Milan, we searched quite a bit in a slug and snail infested wall.  Good thing BlueOrca had her wireless internet and was able to acquire a description of the cache container, because once she said it, I immediately knew that piece of “garbage” I had discarded was the cache itself!  We finished off the first night with our first gelato – in what would become a daily ritual during our time in Italy.  We also picked up a bag of sour oranges and a giant loaf of bread /cake that Segamatic and I struggled mightily hard to finish.  While at Milan, I also picked up a bottle of my favourite red, the Barolo, which was only one of two selections to earn a Tochi-certified 11 / 10 from Wines.

Our plan for the next morning was Duomo Cathedral, Castello Sforzesco, Last Supper Chapel, and Lake Como.  After getting up bright and early, we passed by a lively market on our way to the subway station.  In a scene that I will always remember, Segamatic turned back towards me as we travelled up an escalator at the Duomo stop.  “My wallet is gone”.  I paused for a second to absorb what he had just said.  “You’re kidding me.  I hope you’re not serious.”  I was totally expecting him to be kidding.  With half a forced laugh, “It’s gone. I don’t have it anymore.”  Two subway stops and we were down one wallet.  It was hard to believe.

So here we were, standing in front of Duomo.  All of us were carrying a mixed bag of emotions at the moment, but there was really only one proper thing for us to do.  After a short debate filled with disappointment and frustration, we asked our way to an internet cafe for Segamatic to look up the contact information to report his credit and ID card losses.  After that, we again, asked our way to the Police Station to file a report (in case Segamatic needed to claim insurance, etc).  I couldn’t believe how hard it was to locate a police station in a foreign country.  Fortunately, after finding the station, we only had to wait a short time before Segamatic filled out the paper work and we were back on our merry way.  Segamatic definitely got the best souvenir of all – the police papers covered  with half a dozen of different Milan cancellation stamps!

Duomo Cathedral was, without a doubt, my favourite church on the entire trip and one of the coolest I’ve ever visited.  I usually have a hard time visiting churches (or any places of worship) for the sake of visiting them.  Although I’m not a religious person by any means, I have on certain occasions felt the real collective power of worship in bringing inner peace.  So whenever I visit places of worship, I would be cool with sitting there mediating or participating in religious ceremonies.  However, I am typically uncomfortable going around taking pictures (*click click click*) and viewing these scared places as an attraction. 

Duomo was different.  Besides having such a cool name, I could not help but be amazed at the its architectural marvel.  The inner sanctum is supported by these 45m gigantic pillars that are just wonders of the engineering achievement of the 14th century.  It is, after all, the world’s largest Gothic cathedral.

In the past, Duomo was very dark inside.  In order to support the spires and statues on its stone roof, the walls could not structurally afford as many stained glass windows as its other smaller, less intricate contemporaries.  Unfortunately, with men’s ability to harness electricity, we now have spot lights illuminating the inside of Duomo.  I would have loved to see Duomo in its natural lighting – perhaps a little creepy.  These photos are probably two times brighter than the true lighting inside the hall.

The best part about Duomo has to be its roof.  The ability to go up to the top terrace and view the spires up close is an added bonus!  Only at the top do you realize how many and intricate some of these patterns are.  It is as if the entire building is yearning and stretching for the sky.

The repeating patterns and geometric constellations are a dream for photographers too.  The top terrace totally felt like I was walking through the setting of a Final Fantasy city.  I wouldn’t have been surprised if an airship descended towards the cathedral at any moment.

After Duomo, we stopped at Castello Sforzesco.  This castle used to be one of the fortified centers of Milan, where the Dukes resided.  The castello is essentially a giant square barracks with a giant corner tower and keep just west of city center.  The history was quite interesting, as in its storied past, the castle has been burnt, ransacked, demolished several times.  Yet, it has been restored for cultural prosperity.  It was quite cool that as I walked around the different quadrants of the castle, to imagine that back in the days of the knights and lords - this square in the keep would have housed the stables, the blacksmith would be housed in this other quarter in the back, and all the soldiers and guards would just be lounging around in the center (what is now the garden).  BlueOrca and I acquired some new hairdos with the stone sculptures in the garden.  We spotted a couple taking some wedding photos in the garden.  The walls do make an interesting backdrop for these photos I guess.

The one time on this trip where earlier planning would have paid off was getting tickets to he Church and Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, which houses Da Vinci’s Last Supper mural.  You literally have to book a month in advance in order to visit.  Perhaps influenced by Da Vinci’s Code, it would have been quite cool to see the real painting in person.  Apparently, during WWII, the church got bombed but somehow, as if by the grace of God, the wall with the Last Supper was the one of the few things left standing.  We toured the church and confirmed that if you didn’t have tickets beforehand, it doesn’t matter that you travelled a million miles to Milan, you are not getting in.  I tried to bribe one of the ladies at the entrance to get ONE ticket, so that BlueOrca could visit (and cheer her up in the process).  I offered up to 75 Euros and that lady still denied me!! pfft.  Anyway, we’ll catch the last supper next time (if ever).  After some consoling, we took the train to Lake Como.

During this visit, we arrived into Lake Como from the south.  Besides the shore line and a cool gelato shop, there wasn’t that much to see in this town.  The skies were still gloomy, so that took away from some of the atmosphere.  Instead of feeding the pigeons, BlueOrca started chasing them.  I’m not sure what the Como variants ever did to BlueOrca. 

We took a funicular (we are very familiar with these now) up to village of Brunate to get a better view of the Lake Como and walked around the quiet streets up above.  When we got back to the take, we also witnessed a bunch of ducks ganging up on one in the lake.  Yeah.  We got pwned by the intercity train back to Milan.  We ended up wasting a day of our Euro Pass AND having to fork out 30 odd Euros to cover the fare.

Lake Como was the most disappointing aspect of Milan for me.  The last time I had visited, I came from Switzerland and visited the northern shores of this lake.  That was one of highlights on that trip for me, as I was captivated by her most tranquil waters, picturesque shores and white peacocks.  The visit this time was nothing too special.  Maybe we should have done some water sports or taken a cruise on the lake.

We had dinner back in a southern district of Milan, Ascanio Sforza, a neighbourhood filled with more pubs and youths.  Segamatic and I feasted on a mega large pizza and risotto (it has been a long day, to say the least).  Also tried one of the two local beers – Birra Moretti.  A light beer that I suspect I’m allergic to.  I woke up the next morning with my hands all red. :|

Final morning in Milan, we stopped again at Duomo square so BlueOrca can feed pigeons yet again.  She got caught this time by a little old lady on patrol. lol. 

In retrospect, I had expected that Milan, being a fashion capital of the Western world, to be a really fancy and refreshing city.  Heck, Milano is my favourite Pepperidge Farm cookies, so I had really high expectations.  However, what I saw of Milan was totally different.  The best way to describe my impression would be… if I visited Milan in the 18th century, the city would have been what I expected.  Now, it’s like a busy metropolis from the 18th century with some 20th century furnishings.  I won’t be at all surprised if I saw some homeless huddled around a fire inside a metal barrel under bridges. I also did not see too much of the fashion elements for which Milan is famous.

After leaving Milan with quite the negative impression, I was surprised to meet the most wonderful ambassadors of Milan in Trieste later on in the trip.  During the walk to Miramare, I discovered the couple I met on the bus were visiting from Milano.  All my ill-grievances that welled up inside just came spewing out.  Instead of apologizing for my experiences, which I would have done if I were in their shoes, they laughed and said I had the true Milan experience.  They went on telling me of other places to visit in the city, some of the cool festivals that the city hosts and where to find the more youthful crowd to have a good time.  After chatting with them, I really wanted to visit the city once again, as I totally did not get to experience all there were to discover in Milan. 

Milan gets a 3.5/5 on Tochi meter.  Onward bound to Venice!