"Pizza Hunters" - Day 2: Milan to Modena
The hunt for pizza is on. *Spoilers* We find one! Also, contains some pretty mild bashing of religion. Read at your own discretion.
Journal Entry Day 2: Milan to Modena
08.52 - "Hotel New York" - Milan
Not a great night. It seems that the hotel ran out of pillows to we got slabs of granite. Pretty loud outside too, with the Centrale Stazione right there. Italian driving is something else; they don't hold back on the horn and it's just constant bedlam. Also, pedestrian crossings are more risky over here, as it's more of a "go for it" mentality for both driver and pedestrian. Breakfast was delicioso, but we had to settle for a couple of sweetened peaches for Kara. Here's hoping today's outing goes better.
17.50 - Centrale Stazione - Milan
So we've seen the Dumo and some more of Milano. The Duomo is impressive from the outside and quite lavish on the inside. Many of the features inside are geared towards tourists, but there is a confessional that was in operation during our visit.
As well as still being an active church, there are two embalmed bishops/cardinals that lie in one of the corners of the church itself. There was also the remains of a 16th century saint, interred in a crypt underneath. It was a bit odd; walking past an old glass coffin with a dead guy in it. The whole thing is somewhat tarnished by my views on the Catholic church, as there was the traditional "collection for the poor" while they charge for everything. I understand that it's not free to keep a church in good repair, but it bothers me to see such opulence next to such poverty.
We rode the Milan metro to get into town, after yesterday's fiasco and a bad night's sleep. It was pretty damn toasty, what with Mr Jesus' "no shorts, no shoulders" rule taking effect. Kara and I also went into the Ferrari shop, as it just didn't feel right not to. We both looked at lots of very expensive stuff, as well as quite a lot of utter tat...which was also quite pricey now that I consider it.
Milan seems to be a city under renovation. So many crane arms can be seen in the skyline, while many older buildings are covered with dustsheets and scaffolding. We saw a fair amount of Milan's skyline and despite a few steeples, it's mostly boring office blocks and highrise flats. Even the roof of the Duomo is being fixed and it's easy to see the "new " and "old" bits as they are positioned right next to each other. I think I was most impressed from the street level, looking up at Il Duomo. Every sculpture is exquisitely crafted, the doors themselves being works of art.
After Il Duomo, we headed for "San Bernardino Alle Ossa": an old church with an ossuary in the wings. Kara was beside herself with joy at the sight of what must be 1,000 skulls. There are what looks like arm and leg bones in with them, and they form a macabre but impressive sight. I think Kara was able to move Milan from "not for me" to "OMG!", at least for a little while.
We also were able to find Kara gluten free pizza. Sadly, after yesterday's stomach shrinking food shortage, she wasn't able to finish it. I tried to help, but to no avail. After a wee walk on the grounds of the Castello Sforzesco, we took a train back to Stazione Centrale, where I am writing this. I was in the mood to experiment, so I paid €6 for an "aperitivo". Basically, you buy a drink and get a free buffet. I had some amazing antipasti and reminded myself that I don't like beer. Kara looked folorn and hungry, so I went to pick up some crisps so she could pinch them from my plate. They looked just like kettle chips, but they were these incredible hand made gourmet crisps. There was a moment when we both into into a new batch to discover they were still warm and we just locked eyes and went "mmmm!"
Ok, so I apologise that I am complaining about a bad night's sleep. For the sake of a blog, it's not strictly relevant, but it was very much on my mind at the time. The point about Italian driving being a crazy free-for-all certainly holds true throughout all of the cities we visited. I will mention it in later posts, but Italian drivers are all auditioning to be racecar drivers. This extends to the motorbike and scooter riders who whizz past buses at full speed, often with pillion passengers. It makes crossing the road a potentially terrifying experience. A red or green light doesn't mean quite the same over here. It's more of a "if you're gonna go, go now" or "for the love of God, do not even attempt to cross now" kind of deal. This applies to both driver and pedestrian, so you need to be assertive but cautious when crossing the road. For the first few days, I still had a hard time trying to predict Italian traffic, partly due to them driving on the opposite side to the UK, but also because they have tiny little offshoot roads, and Milan seemed to have places where the road was actually two roads next to each other (as in traffic going left, right, left right if you were looking from one pavement across to the other).
I suppose I should elaborate on my thoughts regarding the Catholic church. As we booked our flights and trains etc, I knew that many of the sites we'd want to visit were owned by the Catholic church. My criticisms were undoubtedly nothing that your average Catholic hasn't heard before and I don't want to upset anyone who's reading this. It boils down to me being a cynic about the goings on behind closed doors. I don't think being a Catholic is bad, and I don't universally condemn religion, but the real-life outcome is brought into sharp focus when you visit a country that still feels very Catholic. While we were visiting, we were able to gleam a little bit of the debate in the news regarding the Catholic church's stance on homosexuality. The outcome didn't seem particularly positive, but I suppose it's good to see that the current Pope (who becomes a much more prominent figure once we get to Rome) is trying to discuss it publicly, giving it acknowledgement. I think my cynicism really came to a head when I saw the juxtaposition of the poverty on the streets of Milan, paired with the Duomo's "poor box" right next to the "restoration of the Duomo" box, while we were charged just to climb some stairs to the roof. It just seemed to coalesce with the stories of priests who drive Ferraris but extoll the virtues of modesty and a simple life to form a picture that gets under my skin. I know it's my choice to go in there, and I know there are good and bad examples for every faith (or atheism for that matter) but looking up at the astonishing Duomo and knowing that I was about to give money to an organisation I neither trust nor support gave me pause for thought.
The shops of Milan are many, but from my point of view, there's only maybe 5 or 6 major themes to the shops. We weren't really interested in any of them, as we were on a pretty tight budget (which we only really appreciated in the last couple of days) and we had little to no space at all in our luggage. It felt like walking around a procedurally generated videogame world, filled with the same storefronts. You have gelato counters, bars/restaurants, super-expensive designer clothes that mostly seem to look like they're for old ladies, slightly less expensive clothes shop that sell leather everything (which is ironic, as all of the people in there looked like they had leather skin), sandwich shops that taunted my girlfriend that just wanted a gluten-free cheese toastie and last of all; shoe shops. The only one of these we were interested in was the gelato counter, and Kara's lactose-free diet meant we were looking out for those that sold sorbet (or "granite" in Italian).
San Bernardino Alle Ossa was incredible. Creepy as hell, mind you, but a real marvel. Italy's churches don't hold back the macabre elements of the faith they teach. From the hundreds of skulls on display in the ossuary to the entombed bodies we saw at the Duomo, it's evident that the death element of Catholicism is not overlooked in the slightest in Italy.
The place we went for lunch in Milan was a restaurant that was a little out of the way called Cookwindow at Amatore Sciesa. Kara was pleasantly surprised with her first taste of Italian gluten-free pizza. It gave us some hope for our future travels.
By the end of this day, we had travelled to Modena as well, but for reasons that will be fairly apparent in the next post, I wasn't able to address them until what was technically day 4. I guess the outcome of our trip to Milan was that we made the best of it, and that if you are eating gluten-free then plan ahead for Milan as the city centre makes no accommodations for coeliacs.
"But I've been places!" - Day 1: Edinburgh To Milan
We fly out to Milan. It's...not the best part of the trip.
Journal EntryDay 1: Edinburgh To Milano
10.36 PM - "Hotel New York" - Milan
A red letter day! Kara's first ever flight and my first time abroad in almost 15 years! Kara was visibly bouncing with excitement as the bus approached the airport. Seeing the planes taking off and landing appeared to be too much for her.
Once we got to the concourse, I was hit in the face with the smell of perfume. I'm guessing that it's the smell of "international air travel." After today, neither Kara nor I smell like perfume! At security, Kara's excitement transformed into anxiety as she was faced with rules that were new and scary, but I guess that after a short while, she was fine. Her shipping job has prepared her for this kinda thing.
Once we were aboard, the excitement returned. I was happy just to watch Kara bounce in her chair. She got the window seat, so she had her face stuck to the glass, watching other planes take off. When it was our turn, it was great to see the grin on her face. I had forgotten how it feels to lift off like that. The flight wasn't too bad and we arrived about twenty minutes early. We went through passport control but to our disappointment, we didn't get our passports stamped. Kinda sad about that one. Kara exclaimed "But I've been places!" Still, we're here in Milan now.
So the bus from Malpensa to Milano was kinda depressing. It's very industrial and modern, with lots of factories. Not particularly pleasant. We found our hotel and it's not too bad. It sort of overlooks Centrale Stazione; where we'll be leaving for Modena tomorrow.
Milan itself is...not great, at least for us. We came to Italy for food, art, history and architecture (and Ferrari, some might say). Today's main "quest" was to feed Kara and Milan was extremely disappointing in that regard. I was reminded of the evening early in our relationship where we traveled over most of Edinburgh to feed Kara. Despite the setting, we didn't have a romantic a time as I hadn't eaten since breakfast and Kara had only eaten junk food. We were eventually saved by a young girl who showed Kara she could have...and I'm not joking here; roast beef and potatoes. This is an improvement on the plan that Kara had originally, which was Burger King fries. Milan is a mother-hubbard for coeliacs.
Personally, I had one goal food-wise in Milan: Panzerotti from "Luini's". I achieved that goal...twice! It's a bit like someone made a pizza croissant then fried it. Bellisimo!
While I'm sure Milan has some great art, (The Last Supper is in Milan) I don't think we're going to see it, sadly. I am a tad worried that we never will, as I have no great compulsion to return. As for "history and architecture", the Duomo in Milan is incredible. It is enormously impressive and beautiful. Sadly, it is under renovation in parts which leaves it with scaffolding all over it. To be honest, this pales in comparison to the huge banners for designer shops and perfumes. It's disappointing to see it on such a wonderful structure.
Another unfortunate aspect of Milan which we will undoubtedly encounter again on our trip; is the con-artists and shysters that prowl around the scenic parts, preying on unsuspecting tourists. The like to sell little bits of coloured string by forcing you to take one, then charging you for it. One of them equated me not wanting to take a bracelet to me "hating Africa". The other told me that Glasgow Celtic is his favourite team. I struggle to believe that.
We're back at the hotel now. Kara is trying to sleep so I guess I should too. It's off to see Il Duomo tomorrow, then perhaps a graveyard or a tomb? (Kara would be a curious, if somewhat squeemish Tomb Raider). After Milan, it's Modena as a little "pit-stop" before Maranello. (See what I did there?)
Signing off for day 1. Perhaps I will dream of Panzerotti!
So that was day 1. Looking back now after the trip, I am a tad disappointed that we had such a bad time in Milan. We only ended up visiting as our cheapest flight landed in Milan and we wanted to do something while we were there. I'm glad we went in the end, Il Duomo was beautiful as were some of the other sights that we glimpsed in Milan. We don't have many pictures from the first day, as we were supremely paranoid (and perhaps justifiably so) of someone snatching an iphone or camera from us. I know it makes us sound like typical sheltered tourists, but I want to stress that the worst and most aggressive con-artists we encountered in Italy were working in the square beside Il Duomo. One of them forced us to engage with him by placing a piece of coloured string on Kara's shoulder, meaning she could either shake it off onto the floor or use her hand to pick it up. Before we knew what was happening, the guy had clipped two onto her wrist and was essentially begging for money. These guys hang around in big groups and it was actually impossible to stand still for more than 30 seconds without being harassed by these "string salesmen" as we took to calling them. Combined with a lacklustre dinner and the feeling that eating in Italy might not be so easy, I wrote this journal piece quite downtrodden.
On the other hand, it was nice to reflect on Kara's first flying experience, as well as encountering someone with enough of a brass-neck to claim that Celtic is his favourite football team while he's standing in the middle of Milan (my limited football knowledge tells me that Milan has good football teams) and expect me to believe him. He was from Senegal, apparently. The other positive from day 1 was Panzerotti. Sweet baby Jebus, that is some good food. I did feel bad eating it, especially as Kara was very hungry and we were both in quite a bad mood by this point. When I found this location, I knew I was going to have to stop to have one. Panzerotti is like a miniature calzone, but the ones I had were made from a buttery dough, like a croissant or an Aberdonian "roll". The usual pizza toppings take up the inside, and they taste amazing. Kara must have hated watching me pull away big strings of mozzarella with every bite. I wolfed them down like a starving man.
Apologies that the first post is a bit of a downer, but I promise, things do get better!