Milan has many different districts, each of which with its special purpose and focus.
San Siro is very close to my heart. It is a very beautiful residential area of the city, full of parks and with most of the sports’ entertainment buildings.
You can reach this district by subway MM1 getting off at Lotto. Head down Viale Federico Caprilli. You will see gorgeous apartment buildings on your left and a long wall on your right. On the other side of the wall there is a very big racetrack (Ippodromo), where hundreds of people go to watch the horses run and maybe…get a little money out of it!
I always thought that this long wall was a good raw material to make art out of it. It was always vandalized by junkies, who left really nice and warming notes to the friendly residents. Not long ago, my prayers were heard and answered. But, not exactly like I had expected. The Commune of Milano organized an event: smart move, that one. Several artists of Milan’s crews – the “Stadio Street Players” – were invited to spend the day in front of their selected piece of wall and blast loud music and spray paint one-of-a-kind murals. Coincidently, I was running that day and there is a running track right between the wall and the road. Every 10 feet there was a pick-up truck playing different music. San Siro, who has always been known as the quietest district, was suddenly the loudest in the middle of the day. It took the “Stadio Street Players” a couple of days to finish up their work. The wall sure is full of color and life now, but the things/people portayed are not so full of life. There is one guy doing drugs, another covered in blood. Hey, but what do I know about art?
Here are some pictures of San Siro’s Murals with the snow…the ones that stood out to me, of course.
Via Federico Caprilli
Crazy, Colorful and Cheerful.
This is the small piazza at the end of the long wall. It gets better. The level of art just rises to 4348895677486328495434783213o2 feet higher. In fact, a giant size replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s horse is standing strong in front of the Ippodromo’s entrance.
Last but not least, sports. This is what you will see if you turn your head from the giant horse: Stadium Meazza of San Siro. This is home of A.C. Milan and F.C. Inter soccer teams. They duel in this very stadium and it is an experience every traveler should have. Check it out!
Milan has recently “welcomed” a new reinforcement to prevent and lower the pollution level in the city: Area C. This is a limited portion of the city, the historic city center, in which every vehicle must pay 5 € to enter, from 7.30am to 7.30pm during the weekdays.
You may think that this area is very small and home only to historic monuments, churches and museums. Who cares, other than the tourists?
The truth is that this area is where all major business have offices and where workers of all kinds head every morning and leave every night. Imposing this tax to those who work in Area C is unacceptable. For example, why should a sale associate inside H&M have to pay 5 € to go earn a living? Even more unacceptable is the fact that residents have to undertake the same treatment. Not only do they pay high taxes to live in such a beautiful residential area, now they have to pay to go home or to go food shopping. In fairness, the residents have to pay 2 € every day and they have 40 free passes. So, two months off a lifetime of paying to go to their own home. Nothing fair about that.
This is one of the not-so-clever ideas that Milan’s new mayor has come up with. Mister Giuliano Pisapia, this Area C is not working.
In fact none of your ideas are working.
Area C has the sole purpose to gently paralyze your citizens and extract money from their pockets, knowing that they have no other choice. This is their home, their work, their life. It’s not a luxurious vacation you can splurge on. I would love to ask you, Mr. Mayor, if you have to pay every time you want to go home? Oh yes, you probably never leave your house!
Unfortunately, this enforcement isn’t a one man idea. It is the choice of democracy. The citizens were called to vote YES or NO last year. The majority has spoken, probably pushed by an “environmental” conscience.
The results of Area C are ambiguos. But it sure has pushed citizens to drastic measures. Milan has now witnessed many attempts of people trying to enter center city by backing up inside streets or simply driving in a wrong way street. The so called “environmental” measure has radically changed the traffic level in center city, pushing the public transportation service to an unbearable and unsustainable capacity limit and doubling the traffic just outside the borders.
Blocking a whole area won’t reduce the number of polluting cars in the city, it will just move them to the borders.
Picture by Goldmund100
Until now, my focus has been on the nothern part of Italy, mostly because that is where I live and what I know the most about. Living in Milan has been very convienent for me because of its great opportunities, but something is missing. And that something is missing from every major city in the world: peace and quiet.
Abruzzo – not Abruzzi – is one of Italy’s hidden regions. Everybody knows where it is, but very few manage to get away and relax in front of its beautiful scenery. My mother’s family is originally from there, and I’m sure there are plenty of other family trees that lead back to this place. Back in time, when World War I and II were slowly disintegrating Italy, Abruzzo’s families were brave enough to move and start somewhere fresh. But now, it is time to go back. For some, it is time to discover your family’s land , and for others, to get some piece and quiet.
Italia Sweet Italia is a genuine and family oriented tour operator able to guide you – and me – to discover a beautiful land, where trees and grass are truly green and the people are welcoming – not like those busy bees up North! Point taken.
There are so many choices to pick from and each and every one is built around your personal and unique interests. My personal favorite has to be the “Cooking Holiday“. All-inclusive 4 days or 7 days is what we all need. Cooking typical dishes using the oldest and most authentic traditional recipes is a dream come true. These are the recipes that are handed down from mother to daughter for many generations and have become better with time – like my grandmom can prove. You can master these recipes! In fact, becoming a world renowned chef is not the only pro. Every tour is filled with numerous other activities that will help you get in touch with nature and your origins. Visits to wineries (a great side to those delicious dishes you will learn to cook), olive oil mills (one of the secret ingredients), and cheese factories are in store for Abruzzo’s visitors! How do these activities sound? If you are planning on a trip to Italy, not making a stop to enjoy some genuine food in the making is a sin. The Italian Insider police won’t allow it!
In fact, Your Italian Insider can provide you a discounted price on a tour, if you find out that Abruzzo is the place for you! Take a look at the website and, when booking, mention you read about the tour here. This is the code: 1024. Pictures always do the trick…
By Peter Forster [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
Idéfix from nl [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)
Are you convinced yet?
This is the last supermarket post and I am still hungry!
21) Wine or Vino. No you don’t think Italian wine is delicious because you are drunk. It is outstanding because it is Italian and you can buy it in a supermarket. Unfortunately, this can be tricky in a suitcase.
22) Nutella. I have had a love/hate relationship with it. Should I eat more NOW? I’m hungry – did I say this already? I know Nutella is sold in the US, yes, the company has factories there and makes it, but the raw ingredients are not the same. It is a different Nutella! I am not sure how but the bubble on top of the big jar says that you can win it!
23) Mostarda. It is typical from Cremona, in the Northern part of Italy, and it is fruit made with a special mixture of mustard and sugar, making it extra spicy. It’s great with chicken and turkey since it spices up your meal! They sell huge jars with all kinds of fruit, like cherries, apricots, oranges…
24) Polenta. This is what you buy to make yourself the comforting polenta at home. Polenta is made with cornmeal and it is served with veal, melted cheese on top or mushrooms. If you want to try it before you buy, go up the mountains in a chalet. They will have the best one!
25) Gianduia. It is a kind of hazelnut chocolate from Piedmont, Italy and it comes in a rectangular candy shape. Warning: it will melt in your mouth and become addicting!
26) Lavazza. It is one of the most famous Italian coffees and it is served in many coffee shops. Why not bring it home and give it a try? Zip lock it to avoid getting your clothes smelling like intense coffee!
27) Parmigiano Reggiano. This is the cheese that you always need to have in your fridge, but this is so good that you won’t want to start eating it, because you’re afraid you’ll finish it all.
28) Focaccia. It is a soft, yet firm, fried bread. You can make incredible sandwiches, but by the time you get back home it will be rock hard. Buy it the day you leave, stuff it with prosciutto and bring it as a snack on the plane!
Which one is your favorite?
Are you eager to find out 10 more reasons why you should visit Italy’s supermarkets? Here are number 11 to 20!
11) Pasta all’Uovo. Literally, egg pasta. It isn’t anything funky. It is the key ingredient to so many Italian first courses.
12) Pasta De Cecco. Number 12 and 13 are the two best pasta brands and I am confident that they have every type and length of pasta you could ever imagine. Yes they have butterflies. And yes they have wheels.
13) Pasta Barilla. Same as number 12.
14) Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Any brand is good if it is extra virgin. Outside the supermarket, you can go to Tuscany and drive in the countryside and find plenty of oil factories. You get to taste it and follow its making.
15) Lenticchie beans. These giant beans are usually cooked for the last dinner of the year with a juicy tomato sauce. They give the bean category a new meaning.
16) Pesto sauce. This is homemade pasta sauce made with pine nuts and basil. It is typical of the Italian region Liguria and delicious with the typical pasta called trofie. It is sounding more complicated than it is, just buy it and get back to me.
17) Barilla Regional Pasta. If you are trying to recreate a typical dish from one of Italy’s regions you will find what you are looking for in this collection. Read the recipes in the back!
18) Chiacchere. Literally, chats. Trust me and not the name, because you won’t have a second to open your mouth and chat. This February dessert is the most addicting fried sweet ever.
19) Panettone and Pandoro. These are the two Traditional Christmas cakes. Pastry shops will have better, but these boxes are perfect to pack in your suitcase to surprise your friends. Don’t forget to grab some bubbly!
20) Sbrisolona Cake. This is also perfect for your suitcase. It is dry and hard, but filled with butter, nuts and sugar. You will love how crunchy it is! It is originally from Northern Italy and it’s name means “makes crumbs”!
