MY EUROPE TRIP: PART THREE - MILAN

MY EUROPE TRIP: PART THREE - MILAN

 

Hey everyone! Welcome back to my Europe Diaries.

As you would remember, my last escapade was in the French city Nice. Now, it was time to say goodbye to Nice as well as to France as I was heading to one of the most beautiful and glamorous countries in the world – Italy.

My first stop in Italy was the fashion capital of the world – Milan.

Honestly speaking I was not as excited for Milan as I had been for Nice and Paris. I hadn’t heard much about this city either. Generally, one would visit Pisa and Florence apart from Rome when in Italy. But me and my parents decided to do something different. And boy was it worth it!

I was also a little scared as this time I had to change trains to reach Italy. I had to take a train from Nice to Ventimiglia and then from Ventimiglia to Milan. I had had some experience of changing trains at Dadar station in Mumbai but one could obviously not compare that with this.

Nevertheless, the train ride went pretty smoothly. No hitches like last time. In fact no one actually even checked my visa! Essentially I was going from one country to another, so I was naturally expecting to go through some official paperwork. But none of that was involved. I don’t remember quite well but I think no one even checked my ticket. So that was a surprise.

Also, I passed through Monaco in between the train ride. So next time onwards if anyone is ever going to ask me, how many European countries have I seen, I will add Monaco to the list.

When I reached Milan, I was expecting something different. I had been expecting ancient architecture and small storey apartments. But instead what I saw were tall glass buildings everywhere. It was a good blend of modern architecture with the ancient times. At one side I saw a skyscraper while at the other side I saw archaic Italian structures. I fell in love with that city on the spot. Trams on the road and trains under the roads, Milan was a fascinating amalgam that I couldn’t wait to explore.

This time once more I was staying in a hotel but the only difference being that it was not really near to the city centre. I don’t think I did much the day I arrived. I just searched for a nearby restaurant which served Halal food and went there to eat.

When I reached the restaurant, it was almost empty with no customers. This is probably the first time I interacted with someone on my entire trip. The reason was that the restaurant owner was a Muslim himself and he looked like he was from the Indian subcontinent. When I entered he said the Islamic greeting to me and I returned his reply. He then went on to take my order and ask me general questions. Turns out he was the owner of the restaurant and originally was from Bangladesh. I don’t think we spoke much after that as I, being a quiet and shy person, could not continue the conversation anymore.

The food was good and as I was enjoying it. But then, unexpectedly, out of the blue, it started pouring outside. And I am not talking a light shower but rather heavy rain that you would see in Mumbai. Heavy rains accompanied by thunderstorms.

Unfortunately, I had to wait back in the restaurant due to this reason. It had been around 20 minutes and the rain had not died down. I even considered calling a taxi but there were almost no cars on the street outside. Along with me around 4 to 5 other people had come into the restaurant to take shelter from the rain. One of them was a young guy in his 20s, he looked kind of stressed. We locked eyes and he asked me for directions (I am proud to say that I dress so well that he might have thought that I am an Italian). But unfortunately for him I did not speak Italian. I felt sorry for him but I could not do anything.

Ultimately the rain died down a little bit and I packed my meal and my phone along with my passport in a plastic bag that I borrowed from the owner. The young guy saw me struggling trying to tie the plastic bag shut so he helped me. Then, I felt even more sorry for him. Nevertheless, I decided to go back to my hotel room as I was obviously useless to anyone back at the restaurant. On the way back my shoes got really wet so I was a little afraid that I’d spoiled them. But thankfully when I woke up the next morning they had properly dried up.

Now it was time to find out the real beauty of Milan. I was awaiting to see what the fashion capital of the world had in store for me. Spoiler alert, I had a lot of fun.

I first decided to visit the obvious place. Duomo di Milano. In case you don’t know, Duomo di Milano is the most famous tourist spot in Milan. It is a very large cathedral built right next to the most famous mall, Gallerio Vittorio Emanuele. Also, the reader would be proud to know that since I was roaming around in the fashion capital of the world, I was also dressed fashionably. I wore a sleek black shirt and a slim fit blue denim jeans, with a black belt and black round shades complimenting the entire outfit. I was ready to blend in with the Milanese crowd and go for a sightseeing tour on my own.

Duomo di Milano was a good memory. I had never seen such a giant cathedral before in my life. The architecture was very detailed, the entire structure looked like an engineering marvel that was hard to believe that it was created hundreds of years ago. Just like the Eiffel Tower, I bought the cheapest ticket to the rooftop that included me climbing many flights of stairs. Although it was certainly worth it. The stairway itself had a very gothic look and resembled a typical church lobby. In fact, had one seen this place at night, you’d probably think that you had been transported to 17^th century England.

And when I reached the rooftop, the view was to die for. On one side you could see the entire city of Milan, spread out across miles. And on the other side you could see the Milanese skyline scattered with large skyscrapers.

Another surprise that was waiting in store for me was someone from the motherland. Quite frankly, some time ago I saw a man downstairs and thought to myself, “oh, he looks like an Indian”. Maybe he saw me too and thought the same. Later on when I saw him again on the rooftop, I thought, “Yep, he is definitely an Indian”. And at the same time he saw me once again. I am assuming he thought the same thing, because a few minutes later he actually approached me and greeted me in Hindi. I was happy and disappointed. Happy because I finally found someone to hangout with, and disappointed because I really thought people would look at me and think that I looked like an Italian mafia gangster.

Nevertheless, the guy who introduced himself was an Indian and he had come to Milan for a business trip. For privacy reasons I will not reveal where he lived and what company he worked for, but he seemed like a good guy. Not once did he ask my name (neither did I) nor tried doing something funny. We just hung out on the rooftop and clicked some pictures for each other. Later on he wanted to visit the church inside the cathedral while I wanted to go to the mall, so we bid each other goodbye and went on our separate ways. Never saw him again but it was a good experience.

Next, I decided to go to one of the most expensive malls in the world – Gallerio Vittorio Emanuele. And it was not like your regular malls that you see in India. It had a gothic architecture from outside but from the inside it was totally swanky and fancy. It held big brands such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Dior, etc. Obviously, I was not here to buy anything (I did not have that kind of budget) and I am pretty sure that the mall was entirely filled with tourists rather than actual people who wanted to buy something.  

Next, to relax myself, I went to a nice garden, known as Sempione park. Certainly, the entire environment was very relaxing and there were very few people in the park. The best thing about these European parks was that you were allowed to roam around on the grass and sit anywhere you liked. I actually just went there and lied down for a bit. I kept my bag close to me and I rested my head near the trunk of a tree; sleeping under its shade. I also visited a palace nearby. This was probably the first time I encountered a scammer. I had heard about these people and I knew their tactics. They would come to you and offer you a ‘free’ wristband and say ‘peace’. But then they would demand high amounts of money from you and if you would refuse to give it to them, they’d come to blows with you.

As I was walking out of the palace, a guy saw me and tried to sell me the ‘free’ band. He was constantly saying, “Brother free band, brother. Peace brother” in broken English. I just ignored him and went straight ahead. He stopped bothering me and left me alone. It wasn’t a dangerous experience as I was in a public place surrounded by people but it was irritating nevertheless.

The next and final destination that I was going to go was Bosco Verticale. Now, this place was not a park or a church or anything like that. Rather it was a residential apartment building. But the interesting thing about this building was that it was an architectural marvel. It was actually a sort of a mini forest that was integrated with modern constructions. In fact it literally translates to ‘vertical forest’. Imagine living in a forest in the sky, in the middle of a metropolitan city.

One thing that the reader must know about me is that I am really fond of skyscrapers. So this was a field day for me as Milan’s entire skyline was concentrated in one place – near Bosco Verticale. It was the same place that I saw from Duomo di Milano. But oh, to see it in person, looking up, gazing along the tall structures! I loved that experience. I just roamed around and clicked some pictures. The good thing about European countries was that you’d find a park or a garden at every corner of the city. So just like that, I sat down under the tree and feasted my eyes on the tall skyscrapers around me.

Later on, it was almost close to 6 PM so I decided to leave and get back to my hotel. All in all, I was expecting to have a very boring experience in Milan but instead it gave me some very fabulous memories to remember for years to come. Stay tuned as the next chapter will be my last in the Europe Diaries!