Milan was an amazing city. I was actually surprised by how much I liked it. I kind of thought it would be like Paris (rich, fashionable, and rude) but it wasn't. Rich? Yes, everything was so nice. Fashionable? Yes, probably the most chic city I've ever been to. Rude? NO! Everyone was so nice! Even when they barely spoke a word of english, they were willing to try and help me. You'd actually be surprised by how much you can say (or understand) with only a few choice words and a lot of gesturing.
I really like Milan. As in, I would definitely live there. It is a pretty modern city, which is why I could live there rather than just visit.
However there are tourists, and with that, come some problems. One, the creeps at the train stations trying to steal from you. And not just pick pocket. They say they will "help" you get a day pass for €10, then they buy a single ticket (for €1.50), and quickly nab the change. Most people don't realize what's happening. It was normal to be tricked in the metro station. You are in a group of people who don't speak Italian and some Italian guy just comes up behind and starts pressing buttons to save the day! Its stressful when you first get there. But at the train station, there were dozens of shady looking men loitering about asking you if you are planning to buy a train ticket. I bet less people fall for that.
In Paris I was pick pocketed and where I would have politely brushed the Milanese con artists off before, I find my self being very firm. I don't like them. I also no longer trust the guys selling trinkets on the street on those blankets or whatever. I saw one guy selling iPhones and I wanted to stamp all over his crappy blanket. It was probably stolen from some tourist like me. Anyway, needless to say I'm still pissed. I hope he has a girlfriend who's really moral and finds out what he does and leaves him and he is sad forever because he lost the love of his life but in the end he gets married to someone he thinks is alright and has a son and teaches that son to be a very good person because he'll never forget the price he paid for being a thief: the love of his life. That little fantasy helps a little.
The coolest thing to see in Milan is by far the Duomo and the piazza it is attached to. Inside, they have the tombs of past Cardinals that came from Milan. Tombs with a nice glass window so you can enjoy the decomposing process. They do have some technique for semi-preserving them so they aren't vomit-inducing. I felt like a kid with my mouth gaping and I think I said something under my breath like, "uuuuugh, gnarly!" I couldn't believe people were going about solemnly. There was this Chinese lady though and we shared a look like "WTF?!" Apparently they don't do that kind of thing in China either so I wasn't alone in my incredulity.
While I was doing my self designed walking tour, I think I accidentally initiated something with a smile and then this guy started talking to me and wanted to walk with me, which we did for a bit before I ditched him. He was nice but like I said, TRUST NO ONE. Plus, I'm a woman traveling alone so I made an excuse that I had to meet friends at my hostel. I think many American female tourists are just so excited to be hit on by a hot Italian guy they forget the existence of the word no. Easy prey.
Food wise, Milan is known for their pizza and it was damn good! Italians eat a LOT of pizza. There are pizza places that face out to the street on ever block. It's cheap too. There are gelato places everywhere also and those are cheap as well.
It was a great place to start. Not as many people spoke English as I thought they would but then again, not as many spoke Italian as I thought! I was asking a question from an Italian guy and he didn't know so he stopped an Italian couple but they only spoke Spanish! So I ended up getting the gist of the directions in Spanish! I thought that was pretty funny.
It was also pretty easy to navigate. Apart from the terrifying train stations full of thieves and sketchy characters, getting around was easy enough. And the hostel was pretty nice too! Always a relief. Most good rated hotels have a few raving reviews, a few "it's good for the price" reviews, and then a total horror story (usually involving bed bugs, mice, and an awful staff). But this place was good and I ended up talking for a few hours with this girl from Brazil and this girl from the Philipines about different cultural differences. I always love doing that. I find that the more I learn about other cultures, the more I understand my own. And I've come to appreciate some of the great things about us. Apparently we smile too much and are excessively cheery. I'll gladly take that stereotype!
All in all, it was a great but stressful time. My introduction to the traveling solo lifestyle.
Milan is underrated and should always be a stop in an Italian itinerary (one day was enough to get done what I wanted). Next stop: Venezia.
No comments:
Post a Comment