Welcome to Milan

Had to take a picture of the train station, as Jim said it reminded him of Harry Potter ;)

This is the fantastic budget hotel we stayed at. Clean, comfortable room (although quite tacky, but typical of Euro-lodges), delicious complimentary breakfast, and central location. See me waving outside? In the 100 degree heat? At one point the guy at the desk said that the local gvmn't had told people to go to the nearest supermarket if they didn't have air conditioning at home!

These two pictures pretty much sum up the dirty side of Milan-- graffiti and cigarettes. The graffiti was everywhere and it seemed as though there was not much interest in covering it up. And everyone smoked, everywhere they possibly could, despite the obvious warnings on each pack and carton. Yuck.


Milan had excellent underground transportation. For 3Euros a day, we got to ride unlimited times. Above, Jim waits for a train.
Below, a picture of one of the smaller animals we saw while walking in a back alley.

If you look closely, you can see that this enormous door has a smaller door within. We watched as people crouched down to fit inside some of them! Basically, Milan is filled with enormous buildings, many of which have interior courtyards and one giant door for residents to get in.

Also, one might want to note the fact that July is a horrible time to visit Milan if you really want to get a sense for the buzz of the city. So many people vacation at this time! There were many restaurants and shops that were just closed up for the season! And it was obvious that such a large city was missing out on at least half of its population-- the streets were deserted.

Overall, Milan reminded me a lot of Manhattan. High fashion, high class, high prices... But the food was excellent and our two day trips were worth the visit. Read on...