View Full Version : Milan – Nightsky’s Riviera trip part 9


Nightsky
October 9th, 2008, 08:23 PM
Population: 1 302 000 (4 052 000)
Regione: Lombardia

Milano (Milan in English) is the 2nd largest city in Italy, Lombardy's largest, Italy's financial center and the world's fashion capital. Milano doesn't feel like a typical Italian city; the streets are clean, the traffic is slow, the streets are not too crowded, there are police officers everywhere and it feels pretty safe. Milano feels like a really good city, not very exciting but definately enjoyable and a very nice and calm place to be in. Milano is also a city of design and new inventions: you can find rotating sushi bars, big TV screens in the metro and self service supermarkets. The architecture in general is average, there are no really old buildings, most buildings are either modern or just a hundred years old. But there are some really impressive churches, one of the world's most beautiful cemetaries and a few modern skyscrapers, like the famous Pirelli Tower, but more are under construction as a part of the new development program of the city. You can find many exclusive brand stores in Milano, especially for fashion, and Milano feels like a rich city. There is a large football team in the city. The setting of Milano is not the most beautiful: it is situated in the inland in Lombardia with no big river or lake nearby (2 rivers and a creek runs outside the city center though), it is completely flat and the mountains are quite far even though it can be seen on clear days (something we didn't experience). The streets are in general not very big, even though there are a few avenues, but they are not so small either. One think that makes you recognize the city is economically important is when you see guys in suits everywhere. The most important part of Milano is Piazza Duomo, the square where both the world's largest gothic cathedral and the world's first shopping galleria is. The absolute city center is pretty compact, but the whole central area is too large to be walkable. There is a good metro system, buses, trolleybuses and a nice tram system with both brandnew and antique trams in the city. We went to the huge main station of Milan after a 2 hour train trip from Genoa. It was hot (about 30 degrees) and sunny all the time. We stayed for almost 3 days at a hotel.

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The links to the rest of the pics are on World Travel Images:

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/Milano.html

Shezan
October 10th, 2008, 03:22 AM
thanks for sharing :okay:

Nightsky
October 22nd, 2008, 02:07 PM
More skyline pics of Milan, taken from Torre Branca (108m)

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060489.JPG

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http://www.worldtravelimages.net/Milano_skylines.html

Nightsky
October 22nd, 2008, 02:09 PM
Piazza Duomo/La Scala:

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060217.JPG

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The largest Gothic Cathedral in the world

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060219.JPG

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060206.JPG
Galleria Emmanuelle Vittorio II

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060241.JPG

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060234.JPG
La Scala

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060293.JPG

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060357.JPG

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/Milano_Duomo.html

christos-greece
October 22nd, 2008, 06:24 PM
Milan is very nice indeed :)

Tony Resta
October 22nd, 2008, 08:21 PM
Clean? Safe? Ok, i dont know where you've been in Milan but its none of those, sure, not as dangerous as London maybe but still not safe.

Tony Resta
October 22nd, 2008, 08:31 PM
Clean? Safe? Ok, i dont know where you've been in Milan but its none of those, sure, not as dangerous as London maybe but still not safe.

Nightsky
October 27th, 2008, 12:16 AM
We were mostly in downtown Milan and it felt very safe daytime except for the area at Piazza Duomo with the extremely annoying guys from Africa.
We only went out after dark twice for short walks outside the hotel at Corso Buenos Aires, so I actually don't know much about how safe the city is after dark.

Nightsky
November 8th, 2008, 02:50 PM
Around the railway station and Pirelli Tower:

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060187.JPG

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Central station

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060190.JPG
Pirelli Tower

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060508.JPG

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Torre Velasca

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060263.JPG

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Ferrari Store with 8 floors!

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060384.JPG
The exclusive Via Montenapoleone

Our hotel:

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060286.JPG

More pictures from this part of Milan:
http://www.worldtravelimages.net/Milano_Central.html

THINK€R
November 8th, 2008, 05:25 PM
Lovely pics! :applause:
Hope u enjoyed ur stay! :)

Taller, Better
November 8th, 2008, 09:37 PM
The Gothic cathedral of Milan is one of the most beautiful that I have seen.. thanks for your excellent photos!

Nightsky
November 10th, 2008, 12:17 PM
Around Parco Sempione, a park in central Milan.

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060301.JPG
Castello Sforzesco

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Torre Branco, a 108 m high tower that we went up to with an external elevator to see great views of Milano.

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/P1060491.JPG
View from Torre Branco.

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Arch of Peace and Torre Branco from Piazza Sempione.

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Parco Sempione.

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Via Nicolini is Milan’s Chinatown.


More pictures from this part of Milan:
http://www.worldtravelimages.net/Milano_Sempione.html

ww_lodz
November 10th, 2008, 03:44 PM
I heard from many people Milan is boring and ugly but now, by these pics, I see it`s not true :cheers:

Nightsky
November 12th, 2008, 04:15 PM
I also heard that and believed it until I was there. Milan doesn't have as much history as Rome and it is not the most exciting city in the world, but there is a lot to see, buildings, museums, shopping etc and it is a true worldclass city.
One thing that surprised me was that there were not so much traffic and the cars drive pretty slow, not at all as you would expect from a large Italian city.

Nightsky
November 12th, 2008, 04:17 PM
Cimitero Monumentale is probably the most beautiful cemetery I have been to, since there tend to be too many tourists at the more famous Pere Lachaise in Paris. It was really hot the day we visited the cemetery, but it is highly recommended, few tourists seem to be aware of it, and that is probably a good thing. It is located just north of downtown Milan and many famous Italians are buried here. The cemetert us filled with elaborate pavilions, Greek temples, obelisks and columns and there is a certain melancholic and beautiful feeling in this churchyard that you rarely see elsewhere. Some of Milan's tallest buildings can also be seen from the cemetery, that also has a skyline of its own...

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http://www.worldtravelimages.net/Milano_Cemetery.html

Fab87
November 13th, 2008, 11:02 AM
Most people in Italy consider Milan as an horrible city, quite aggressive too. I don't agree but IMHO Milan is not beautiful. It can be interesting, it's charming, but nowadays it's neither a wonderful city like Florence or Rome nor a modern and green city like Munich. It's just Milan, lights and shadows, with its own characteristics. I expect Milan to become cleaner and more livable with Expo 2015

GENIUS LOCI
November 13th, 2008, 08:14 PM
One thing that surprised me was that there were not so much traffic
Probably because you mostly have been in historical city center: you must pay a kind of pollution charge (Ecopass) to enter by car, so car traffic decreased

GENIUS LOCI
November 13th, 2008, 09:26 PM
Via Nicolini is Milan’s Chinatown
Actually via Paolo Sarpi is the main street of Chinatown: via Nicolini is one of the dozen of streets nearby

Anyway: when have you been in Milan? In August?
Streets seem not crowded as usual: in August most of people is on vacancy somewhere else then Milan is quite empty