Northern Italy Part Uno ~ Milan

Over the last three weeks, I've really enjoyed the "Italy Unpacked" series which was on BBC 2, presented by Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli and Andrew Graham-Dixon. In April last year, we visited Milan and the surrounding area. Seeing more of Northern Italy on the programme, and the enthusiasm of Giorgio, has made me long to go back and explore more of the region.

In my three part series, I'll show you a selection of photos from Milan, Stresa and Como.

Duomo, Milan

The Duomo in Milan is a truly magnificent building. It ought to be as it took nearly 600 years to fully complete it. I love the pink and grey colours of the marble.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Right next to the Duomo, is the most sumptuous shopping mall I've ever seen. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. In here you can find Louis Vuitton, Prada and even a McDonalds which looked like it had marble tables.

The main shopping mecca is the Quadrilatero d'Oro - a quadrangle of streets with some of the best designer shops. What I noticed throughout the city, was the window displays. Just about all of them were stunning and innovative.









Not to mention the window displays of food! Like the ice cream counter below. How could you resist that?

 




The Gothic architecture of the Duomo and the neo-classical style of the Galleria, were stunning, but most of the rest of the city was concrete. The Romans invented concrete and I think that, combined with Italy's troubled history, it has resulted in a lot of the architecture for apartment buildings looking very grey and drab.

Huge walls rise above the pavements with shuttered windows. But, when you walk past the huge apartment doors, and are lucky enough to find an open one, you get a glimpse into another world.

The apartments are built around a central courtyard, so essentially, what you see from the street is kind of the back of the buildings. I guess it's because it gets so hot in summer and the courtyard will be a cool place in between the tall buildings.

It's almost like peeking into a magical world when you see a courtyard like this one pictured.








The city has a rent-a-bike scheme and I loved the repetition of the bikes.

Whilst we were walking through the Porta Ticinese quarter, we went past the Corinthian columns at the basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore. People were sitting in the sun and a violinist was playing. I thought this picture summed up the atmosphere of Milan perfectly.

Violinista by the Columns of San Lorenzo

Thank you for reading.

All of these images can be purchased as prints or greetings cards. Please contact me for details.

Gillian.

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Northern Italy Part Tre ~ Como