Train delays of more than a few minutes are rare in Europe, so we were very confused by our hour plus wait when boarding in Desenzano del Garda for Milan. This was our introduction to the rolling train transportation worker’s strike in Northern Italy. We made it to Milan, arriving to a striking, gigantic Facist era train station. This same train station, around the back at Track 21, was used for deporting Jews to concentration camps and in that location there is now a memorial museum. As we walked there, we stumbled on these on the walls, https://designyoutrust.com/2023/01/simpsons-characters-portrayed-as-holocaust-victims-at-the-milan-shoah-memorial/ painted just days before we got there, and sadly recently vandalized and defaced (on 4/23/23).
These were not commissioned, rather they just appeared as has much of the artist’s other works https://www.instagram.com/alexsandropalombo/?hl=en (worth looking at).
After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we covered as much ground as we could before settling in the next day with our dog sit. Milan, the second largest Italian city and the center of most of Italy’s industry was one of the heaviest bombed cities during WW2, and that legacy is pretty clear. Rows of classic turn of the century (20th) style buildings were interrupted by post war buildings, and bordered by some pretty outstanding modernist architecture.
Our jaunt through the city was slightly complicated by the transportation strike which resulted in a rainy night crosstown walk with no phone battery left for directions. It was actually fortuitous so we could see the huge cathedral lit up .(more on this Cathedral https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/19/world/europe/milan-italy-duomo-cathedral.html )
The next day we headed out to the edge of town where Olive and Odin, two skittish dogs rescued from the streets in India and brought to Milan, were waiting for us.
It was interesting staying in a big apartment building, feeling very local, as we walked the dogs every few hours through an agricultural area just behind the buildings. It was an odd area, with either very spooky or very pretty misty fields spread out under the cackling electricity towers.
We did take some dog-free excursions through Milan’s very distinct neighborhoods.
Due to its proximity, some areas of Milan felt very German, while other neighborhood’s character and ambience were partially dictated by the degree of bombing and rebuilding.
Visually, depending on where you are standing, Milan is a really beautiful city, or is not.
We thought our sight-seeing might be slowed down by photographers, because it was fashion week, but, alas no interest in our street fashion. Maybe it was because we have been alternating the same 5 outfits for the past 11 unfashionable weeks. For our trip we tried to pack lightly, even still, our backpacks felt fairly heavy with all our walking. So, anytime we could shed weight was a win. Throwing away our nightly used dental floss was always the best part of the day. So, Nick was very delighted when he was able to locate an E-waste center to recycle his dead Kindle. However, it required him standing in front of a Milan library for half an hour repeatedly trying to ask locals to open the locked E-waste bin that required a specific neighborhood resident keycard to open the bin. Mission accomplished, a huge weight lifted off his back.
We said ciao to the dogs, and then made one last attempt at Italian pizza, although this time we were reduced to eating it while we walked, again, in the rain back to our classically 1950’s hotel. It was not great (the pizza, the hotel was). With that after 9 days in Milan, 6 weeks in Italy, it was ciao to Milan and Italy.
Chosen Fugue 