Technology Conquered & A Splash of Culture

Aha! Ahahahahahahaha!!

They said it couldn't be done. They said I was mad to even think about it, let alone attempt such a feat. But I've done it. (Well assuming this actually works of course - I may end up being encased in an oversized humble pie and baked for all eternity should I fail to pull this off...)



This is the aforementioned largest Gothic cathedral in the whole wide world. Known to the locals as il Duomo, it is the third largest Roman Catholic church in the world, not quite surpassing St Peter's in Rome and the leviathon in Seville.

And this...

is, and I quote from the Rough Guide, 'the gaudily opulent Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II' which is now a big gallery full of shops and cafes. But it used to be a big gallery full of not much which served as a walkway to La Scala. It was built by some chap in the 1800s and tragically he fell to his death from the roof a few days before the opening ceremony. Who knows what he was doing up there - surely it was finished by that time and where was the Health & Safety red tape preventing such an untimely death? Ah yes it was in Italy...I understand now.

This is another picture of said gallery. It's opulent and possibly even a bit gaudy too. I have more pictures of it but I'm sure I've talked about it too much by now already.

Well that's enough technology (and culture) for me for the time being. I need a lie down before a day's beer drinking at the Beer Festival, or perhaps la festa delle birre, whatever suits.

Learnings

The Milanese (and perhaps all Italians) wear sunglasses come what may - day, night, sun, shade, they have them on.

The locals try to confuse travellers such as I by speaking English then Italian then English then Italian. Then English. Fact. They do this deliberately I'm quite sure.

If you go to a bar between around 5:30 and 8 and order a drink (which is customary), it unlocks the doors to free food.

The Milanese wear coats and scarves and sometimes gloves when it is 17+ degrees C and sunny. Maybe they paid so much for their designer clobber that they can't bring themselves to remove them. Or maybe they are just very cold people.

I didn't bother getting my permesso di soggiorno yesterday and the police didn't kick me out or shoot me. I think taking the laidback attitude and not bothering is the way forward.

The unfriendly person who was neither Italian or English turns out in actual fact to be Italian. I was sure he said he didn't speak Italian or English and then I heard him speak perfect Italian later in the day to someone else. I'm still shunning him.

The Milan Beer Festival starts today. Here in Milan, a festival of beer! A festival, featuring beer, in Milan, in a meatsuit? Surely not...

Seeing as I'm here in Milan and like beer I might have to go along. Although I don't have a meatsuit, but my inside sources tell me it's a red herring. And what's more, it's not just today but the whole weekend.

That's enough learning for the moment. But I do need to learn some Italian football words, pronto, in order to improve the football watching, beer drinking experience. (I admit the football and beer parts are the main bit but I'm aiming for the top.)

From now on I'll be wearing sunglasses and going to bars in the early evening much more. I think this fitting into the culture thing is going to work out just fine.

Day 1 - It's gripped, sorted - let's travel Italy...

OK, so it's day 2 now but that's hardly a good way to start a blog is it. Hmm, hmm?

Don Adriano (or rather me to brutally honest), successfully arrived on The Peninsula using fare means and foul, tried his hand (so that's my hand really - do you see what I've done there) at the ol' lingo and navigated his way to the hostel of choice for the first three days, namely Ostello La Cordata. The guidebook recommended it as the numero uno whic means the rest of the bunch must be pretty bad indeed.

Still I do have free internet. Free I tells yer, free!

I had a wander in to the centro and saw a huge Gothic cathedral (it's the world's largest you know), various piazze and a lot of shops. And then some more shops, ans then a shopping arcade and then some tree lined avenues containing shops. OK so they weren't tree-lined but they had shops on them all the same.

I also found the main police station which was to find out if I needed a permesso di soggiorno in order to avoid being kicked out of the country. The policeman seemed impressed with my pigeon Italian and didn't shoot me so I take that as a victory. But I do have to go back this morning so who knows what might happen.

Then a bit of supermarket food and back to the hostel whereupon I encountered my dorm-mates. They murmured a response to my perfect 'Ciao' but that was it, so I shunned them. Haha! That'll teach them to mess with Don Adriano.

I found a better area of town later in the evening for eating and drinking and again survived without being shot (which I see as a positive boon) and then opted for an early night considering the recent lack of sleep I'd had in preparation for this whole escapade.

And having spent a night and morning in the company of my friendly dorm mates I conclude that they are not Italian or English, they snore a fair bit, and spend half an hour in the bathroom expectorating. All of them.

Well that's it for now. I have to use the facilities before the cleaners kick me out and then it's off for more exploration and such with the continued aim of not getting shot.