Monday 30 April 2012

In Italia


Earlier this year I had the opportunity to come and live (and work) in Milan, so I took it! I've been here about 6 weeks now and I quite like it.
There's alot going on in this fine city, and plenty to see. I've seen a few of the main sights, like the Duomo, La Scala and the Castello Sforzesco. I also saw the start of the Milan-San Remo cycle race, went to a few of the shows for Design Week, and saw the big local half-marathon race here, the StraMilano. (I would have run it but I thought I'd leave it to the Kenyans to show us how it's done!)

But there's alot more going on beneath the surface, and I imagine that in time I will eventually get through the outer stylish veneer and see the real Mediolanum. As with alot of places, visiting a place for pleasure is quite different to living there!
Now that I am set up with my job, a place to live and a codice fiscale (which it seems you need in order to do anything interesting here!) I have found myself going about my business pretty much as I did in London.

Things aren't massively different really. I still have the go to work, go home routine, after work drinks, Monday morning blues when it rains - which it has been doing an awful lot lately! (Milan is one of the wettest major European cities!) There are many things that don't change!
Subtle differences are that Milan is more compact than London, and it is possible for me to walk to work and the city centre fairly easily. The public transportation system is quite efficient - when the workers aren't on strike! Quite a few places like the mobile phone shop, the bank or even the bakery need you to pick up a ticket and queue up (like in large post offices in London). That can make the shopping experience a little tedious. If this system is not in place people don't queue and they just tend to surge forward and the person with the sharpest elbows gets in first - and don't think it's the big burly bloke. Often it's the elegant old lady who gets in first! And the Milanese appear to have a higher tolerance of graffitti. There's alot of it around. For every ornate building, you can be sure that around the corner there's a tag or political slogan of some sort - or maybe the council is pretexting the graffitti as a new artform, thus saving on funds by not cleaning it up! 

I am looking forward to the next few months here, though I don't think Italy will take London out of the girl, so I will be back in Blighty regularly!
But yes, I am drinking more coffee, and the bog standard stuff is nicer than what I get back home. I am also eating more pasta, and having sit-down meals with wine at lunchtime. It might be better to wait for slightly warmer weather before I have a gelatto though! 


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