It was Hot in Italy.

I know that I mention the heat a lot but, seriously, that is thing that is most seared (HA!) in my memory about that trip to Italy and Albania.  Also, in my little travel notebook, where I took notes about what happened and what I saw, I mostly just have pages of notes that said things like: 

"train. sooo hot" 

"hot hot hot hot hot" 

"Rome. hot." 

"Bari.  very, very hot." 

"Bari. 104 degrees.  In the shade. AT 10 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING!" 

"It is so hot." 

"How did these people take over the world when it is SO HOT!?"  

"I bet it was because they were all trying to find some place to live that wasn't SO HOT!!!"

So, to set the record straight, it was very, very, extremely hot in Italy, in an objective sense.  

I was not acclimated to the heat at all, which made it worse, in a subjective sense.  

And this is an accurate reflection of my personal experiences in Italy.  Which were primarily characterized by super, unrelenting, unbelievable heat.

(For a slightly more positive view of Italy, along with some pretty spiffy pictures of some creepy secret-church artwork, check out this blog post here.)

Milan Central Station and Italian Night Trains

A view up the Via Vettor Pisani, toward the Milan Central Station.
Vettor Pisani was a medieval Venetian sea admiral who was very popular.
(Venice was one of the Italian city-state power centers.)

Eventually, I made my way back to the Milan Central Station to wait for the night train from Milan to Rome.  Fortunately, there were some stores in the Station.  I spent a lot of time browsing through shelves of books in Italian that I couldn't read and staring at bizarre Italian fashions.   Then I sat on a bench and watched Italians, which was kind of depressing.  It is very, very warm in Italy, as I may have mentioned before.  There are also lots and lots of homeless people.  As a result, there appeared to be people living on all of the grassy areas around station.  You literally couldn't have walked in a straight line across the grass anywhere around the station without stepping on somebody or their bags.  Loads of homeless people would also come and sit on all of the benches in the train station.  There were very few seats or benches in the station and I think that this was designed to try to limit homeless folks squatting in the terminals.  It did make it super inconvenient for folks who were waiting for trains.  For supper, I had something that was like a cross between a pizza hot-pocket and calzone at an outdoor kiosk, which wasn't too bad, and a gigantic bottle of water (it was really, really hot and thirsty work out there).

The very beautiful facade of the Milan Central Station.  I like the . . . Pegasus?  Pegasuses?  Pegasi? . . . winged horsies.

I went back to the train station a bit early for the train departure.  I was very hot and also very tired--I had gotten up  at 4 in the morning to catch the train, to get to another train, to get to the airport, to get to Milan.  I was also a bit worried about being able to find my way back because the the city was a bit confusing.  So I wandered around the station for a couple of hours.   The train was supposed to leave at a little after 10 pm.  However, as I walked around the station, I noticed that the departures/arrivals board had a lot of delays.  Then, my train got delayed.  Every half-an-hour or so, my train's estimated departure changed and the departure track changed three times.  I don't think that Italians are known as much for their strict punctuality and devotion to time-tables as the Dutch are.  My train eventually left after midnight.  One unfortunate aspect of waiting around all that extra time was having to use the restrooms.  They charged a couple of euros (a bit over $3) just to go in to them, which just seemed exorbitant.  One positive thing, while I was waiting, was that there was a Burger King in the station.  About midnight I was very hungry, and very bored, and I got a hamburger before I left, which was nice and homey and really hit the spot.

The interior of the station.  It is really beautiful in there and the ceilings were incredibly tall.

The night train was a really old model.  You had to sit in a little cubicle, with two facing bench seats that fit three across and were so close together that, when you sat across from someone, your knees touched.  It made for kind of a cramped nine hour trip.  Also (and I may have mentioned this before) it was very, very, very warm in the train.  I didn't take any pictures in the train so I thought that I would try to find a picture online, just to give you an idea of what they looked like.  However, when I looked up Italian night train pictures, there were loads (loads and loads!) of pictures of train wrecks, which I am glad that I didn't see before I took the trip!  I would have been extremely nervous, as well as hot, with a crick in my neck, and stiff knees.  I was in a little cubicle with five other people who, I gathered, were a married couple and their three adult/teenage daughters.  They were pleasant enough, but it sort of felt like I was crashing their party.  On the plus side, it was super cheap to take the train--it only cost about $55 dollars to take the night train, which meant (theoretically) that I got dropped in Rome at a super convenient time for my schedule and it also meant that I didn't have to pay for a hotel room and then waste a half-day traveling.

One of the exits from the Milan station.  Everything, but everything, was marbel.  Unfortunately, it was a bit dim in the station and my camera isn't very good, so all of my pictures were pretty blurry.

My very favorite person in all of Italy was the very kind, very helpful, pharmacist in one of the shops in the train station.  At about 10 pm Saturday night, I decided that dying from drug reactions as a result of translation errors was preferable to trying to survive through a whole week of allergy related misery.  Then that wonderful lady showed me which drugs were antihistamines and then told me how many pills to take when I came back five minutes later after I realized I couldn't read the directions in Italian.  I still don't know what I had an allergy to (or what drugs I took, or in what amounts, for that matter), but I was very, very grateful for those antihistamines.  They made all the difference in the world.  Now if only they had had anti-heat pills, it would have been perfect!  

Walking Through Milan, Part II

Just north of the Galleria, there was a little square called the Piazza della Scala, with a statue of Leonardo da Vinci.  The Milan tourism board has a website about the statute.  It has a little bit of a history of it, although it mostly has a picture with an address but you can see it here.  You can see more about the whole square, including the famous theater which it fronts, here.
























The statues at each corner are da Vinci's favorite students, although I couldn't find the specific names.


Each of the friezes on the sides shows one of da Vinci's accomplishment in art and science.

An old bank building which now serves as an art gallery.  I especially liked the two tone facade.
You can see the English version of the Gallerie d'Italia, Piazza della Scala location, here.

After I left the Piazza della Scala, I started walking north-ish, and then got a bit lost and wandered around for a while before I found where I was getting to.  Part of the problem was that my city guide was in Dutch (because I found the most adorable little booklets with maps and information about Milan and Rome, for only $2, at a big bookstore in Rotterdam).  While I was able to read up on the sights without too much trouble, it was more difficult, when walking down various streets, to read signs in Italian and then to find those names in Dutch on a tiny map.

While I was walking through the city, I saw loads of little restaurants with windows onto the street, so you could walk up to the window and order pizza or ice cream.  As far as I could tell, a lot of them didn't have any seating--they only cooked the food and served it to passers-by.  It was way too hot to get any pizza but I did stop and get a gelato--which is like super creamy Italian ice cream.  It was really excellent--it came in a very delicious, home-made, waffle cone.  However, as I started to walk away, a little old lady, who probably came up to my shoulder, held out her hand, with a coin in it, and started talking to me in Italian.  I thought at first that she was telling me I had dropped the coin, so I shook my head "no" and said thank you, and started to walk away.  Then she started to talk louder, and stepped in front of me and kept getting louder and louder and visibly more irate.  I finally slipped around her but then she kept hollering at me as I walked away.  I still don't know what she wanted.  The only thing I can guess is that she either 1) wanted me to make up the difference so that she could buy her own gelato or 2) just had a coin in her hand to demonstrate that she wanted more coins.

Milan is known as one of the fashion capitols of the world.  Practically every street I crossed,
 was full of stores selling clothes, or shoes, or scarves, or jackets.  There were lots of people
who seemed fascinated by it.  If I appreciated expensive Italian clothes more, I might have
gotten more out of it. 

You could tell that Milan was fancier than Wal-mart, say, because their mannequins were black instead of white.

Out of the blue, while I was walking down the street, I came upon this archway across the street.  It wasn't a bridge so I wasn't sure what it was at first.  It turns out that it is the Porta Nuova, one of the two remaining medieval gates to the city.  The city has grown out quite a bit since then.  The exact provenance and age of the gate are a bit mysterious.  Some websites say that it is actually part of the wall and just managed to survive WWII.   If this is true, the wall is about 800 or 900 years old.  Other websites say that it is a replica, built on the original place of the wall, on across the Via Manzoni, which is an original Roman road, in the mid-1800s.  This makes it both less old and less authentic.  These sites explain the wear on the busts in the wall as a result of them being made out of sandstone.  However, making it more confusing, "Porta Nuova" is also used to mean the neighboring business and fashion district, which may well have begun in the 1800s, which might explain the discrepancy.  

I took pictures of the busts in the wall, with the plan of trying to figure out the inscriptions.  However, the shadows and angles make it difficult and so I have been unable to do so.  However, they do look old, so I am inclined to decide the gate is original and authentic.  It is more fun that way.

Eventually, I found my way back to the Central Train Station but, since I had loads of time before my train, I decided to stroll around the area near the station and to find some place to eat.  The area around the station is, not unnaturally, full of hotels and restaurants.  Most of the restaurants seemed like the Italian version of fast food, plus there were loads of McDonalds (the Italians really seem to enjoy their McDonalds for some reason).  I stopped at the

I also found this church, while I was out walking.  It is the Santuario di San Camillo de Lellis, or the Shrine of St. Camillus de Lellis.  It is quite modern, as it was built in 1902, but it is quite classical looking--it is gothic revival.  I didn't go inside, since it was fairly late when I walked by, but if you click here you can see some pictures of the interior.  The building itself is a very interesting shape.  From the front it just looks rectangular but from the top it is a bulbous cross shape.  It is quite pretty.

The church (and the square it is on: Piazza San Camillo de Lellis) are named after a 16th century Italian priest and military man who became a medic and whose religious order was known for its care of the sick and for serving as army medics.  That's not too bad a legacy.

I kept looking for some place to eat but it was very, very hot and none of the restaurants seemed to have air conditioning.  Also, many of them were busy and very confusing looking.  A lot of the restaurants were cafeteria style and, from my experience, those kinds of places in Europe can be super difficult to navigate, especially in a foreign language.  There are loads of different counters, where prices are not clearly labeled and it seemed like too much to handle in the heat, in Italian, and while barely being able to see or breath because of the massive hay-fever like attack.  Plus, a fair number of places had sushi, and that just seemed dangerous in 100 degree heat and un-air-conditioned premises.

If you go here, you can see a collection of photos of Milan, by a really good photographer.  They are quite spectacular.

If you go here, you can see a 15 minute video of a walking tour through Milan.  It is a pretty long video but the music background isn't bad and it was kind of fun to see all of the things that I saw before from air-conditioned comfort.  What is especially nice is that it has labels which explain all of the things that you are looking at, which is quite useful.

The Giardini Pubblici

While I was walking through Milan, from the Duomo to the Centrale station, I walked through the Giardini Pubblici--the Milan public gardens.  It was extremely restful.  Having spent hours walking through city streets, or standing on top of a giant building, in triple digit heat, it was very pleasant to be in some green space.  It was also markedly cooler.  I sat on a bench in the shade for a while and then walked on to another one, a ways away, because a very affectionate teenage couple sat down across from me and a very old, very groady old man, sat down next to me and stared creepily at them.

If you go here, you can see a very detailed history of the building of the park.  It is in Italian, but if you use Google Chrome, when you open the webpage, you can click the translate button at the top and it is pretty easy to read, although the print is quite small.



There were a loads of statutes all over the place.


This statue, in the Piazza Cavour, is just outside one of the entrances to the Gardens is a statue of Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour.  Cavour served as Prime Minister of the united kingdom of Italy under Victor Emanuel II and was a significant force in the creation of the united Italy.  He died a few months after accomplishing this.  Interestingly enough, like George Washington, overly enthusiastic bleeding was a contributing factor to his death.

Cavour is standing on the top of the pillar and the lady at the bottom represents the goddess Fame, who is writing Cavour's name on the pillar with her finger.

This is a political cartoon from the time which shows Cavour and Garibaldi cobbling Italy together from scratch.

This gold statue is of Indro Montanelli, an Italian journalist and historian during the 20th century.  He was imprisoned and condemned to death by the Nazis during World War II but was snuck out of prison and into Switzerland, saving his life. Montanelli used to sit in the park, which was near his office and, in 1977, he was shot four times in the legs by some members of the Communist Youth organization, the Red Brigades.  After he died in 2001, they renamed the park in his honor and built this statue right near where he was shot.

This is a statue of Antonio Rosmini, an Italian theologian and philosopher.

Lemon trees in the garden

The pretty gates around the Garden.

If you click here, you can go to the Wikipedia page for the Garden.  It includes a video of the Garden Zoo from the '70s.  The animals looked kind of sad and like they were in tiny little cages.  The zoo is closed down now and most of the buildings have been torn down.

There was also a restaurant in the park, where you could sit and eat.  It was kind of a cafeteria set-up and there were lots of things to choose from.  It looked like a lot of fun.

As I was just walking out of the gardens, there was a huge swarm of Italian police that came roaring into the park.  I don't know what happened or what the problem was but there were at least a dozen cop cars.  I was just as happy to be escaping before whatever it was went down.

This is where, unfortunately, I have to admit a huge failing as an aunt.  Apparently, there is a large collection of very interesting dinosaur statues in the Gardens and I totally missed them.  I did, however, find some pictures of them and it looks like the display is pretty terrific, even including a Tyrannosaurus Rex that is half-way through eating a little Triceratops.  (If you click here, and click through, the next few pictures are all dinosaurs.)

The Mall--Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

The first place I checked out after leaving the Duomo was to a massive, cross-shaped, covered pedestrian mall.  I think that Uncle Tony and Aunt Gail talked about visiting this mall when they visited Christie while she was teaching in Europe.  You can see the very large Piazza del Duomo--or the cathedral square--below.  Just to the north of the  square, you can see the mall--which is silver, with a large dome in the center and you can get an idea of just how big it is.

The southern entrance to the pedestrian mall, from the Piazzo del Duomo.  You get an idea
of the size of the building if you see how tall the people right inside the arch are.

There are paintings on the walls inside the mall, because it is protected from the weather.
Because the roof is glass, it was really light inside but because of the cross-ventilation,
it was surprisingly pleasant inside, despite the heat outside.

In the central area of the Galleria, there were a couple of people walking around with signs that said "Abrazos Gratis!" or "Free Hugs Here!"  I thought that that was weird enough but people seemed to be taking them up on the offer!  It was quite bizarre.  They looked like they might be tourists, so I don't know if it is fair to blame this on the Italians, but I never saw anybody doing this in the Netherlands.

If you go here, you can see a video of the mall area.  It is about 3 minutes long and parts of it are very jouncy, but it does give an idea of what it is like to be inside the Galleria.  It also shows some of the shops that are in there--like Prada.  They are spendy stores.  I didn't buy anything when I was there.

From the Roof of the Duomo

The Duomo is very, very tall, and provides a very nice view over the city.  And also shows how very, very high up you are.  

From the northeast corner of  the Duomo, looking out along the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II.
The street (as well as the Galleria or Mall) are named after the the king of Sardinia (the large
island just west of Italy) who united Italy and named himself "King of Italy" in 1861.

Looking west along the north face of the cathedral, into the Piazza del Duomo.

One of my favorite things about the Milan skyline is the green-space.  Many of the roofs had full-blown gardens, even including trees!  It made such a nice break from the miles and miles of marble and stucco. 

You can see a lot of historical and important city buildings from the top of the Duomo roof.

This building, just south of the cathedral, is the Biblioteca e Archivio del Capitolo Metropolitano, or the Official City Library and Archives of Milan.  It looks very Italian.

This is half of the clock that is on the top of a large shopping mall right next to the cathedral (another giant mall besides the Galleria--folks like to shop in Milan).  The other side of the clock is a lady who is also only slightly clad.  It was funny to be looking down on the top of such a tall building.  

This picture from Google Maps, from the south side of the cathedral and shows all of the different heights of the roof that you could walk around on.  The building on the right is the mall and the very pale green spot in the top middle is the clock.

The tower in the foreground is the Bell Tower of the Saint Gottardo in Corte church.  It is
named after Gotthard of Hildesheim who is best known as the patron saint of gout-sufferers
apparently.  However, he is also prayed to for fever, dropsy, childhood sicknesses, hail-
stones, the pain of childbirth, and by traveling merchants.   You can see more about him here.
The yellow building behind the tower is the Milan City Hall.  

On the Roof of the Duomo

I had the choice of walking to the top of the cathedral for about $8 dollars or of taking an elevator to the top for about $12.  I am afraid that I sprang for the elevator ride.  I didn't think that I would be in much of a position to appreciate the architecture if I had had to climb 300 feet in 100 degree weather.

As it was, I about had a claustrophobia attack in the elevator.  Because the elevator was built within the existing structure, it, along with all of the passageways to get to it, were very narrow.  It was just barely possible for two people to pass each other in most of the corridors.  The elevator was so tiny that they only let three people into it, besides the attendant, and you more or less had to hug everybody just to fit in.  But it was pretty impressive once you got up to the roof.  You could walk around most of the top of the cathedral, on narrow stone walkways, in amongst the statues and gargoyles.

This pictures shows just how narrow the hallways around the roof were.


It does make for very picturesque pathways, though.

The roof of the cathedral was really, really high and there wasn't really anything keeping you from falling off the side except some waist-high stone balustrades.  I spent a lot of time creeping around the inside edges of the walk-ways, staying as close to the wall as I could.  The advice "Be Held by Hand" seemed worth taking.

A lot of the spikes on the Duomo have statues on top of them.  I don't know what they all are but they seem to be of a variety of figures, from saints to standard bearers.

Besides the Spires, there were statues in niches in the wall and on pedestals all over the roof.  A lot of them you couldn't even see from the ground.

Everything that wasn't covered in statues was covered in curlicues and lace.

One of the really beautiful things about the cathedral was its gargoyles and drain-pipes.  They weren't deformed monsters like in the Hunchback of Notre Dame movie.  They were really lovely, carved dragons, and dogs, and angels.

I thought that this one looked like that giant dog-monster from the Never Ending Story.

If you really like one of the gargoyles, you can sponsor it.  Sponsoring helps to pay for the care and protection of the gargoyle and helps to pay for any renovation that needs doing.

This video is long--it is about 8 minutes long--and it is essentially a slide show of pictures of the cathedral.  Some of the pictures are almost exactly the same pictures that I took, but it does have some pictures that show the roof a bit better, including how you could walk up and down the slanted roof, very close to the edge.