Getting to know Milano

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I had a ten-hour layover in Milano on my way from Amsterdam to Prague, so of course I went into town for a looksy. From the Malpensa Airport, I took an express train to the center of town. I had heard from everyone who had been in Milano that the city does not have much to offer and that it is just a modern Italian city known for its graffiti (which if you have not guessed it is an Italian word). In fact it is Italy’s largest city, but my experience was actually different from what I heard from people. True, there isn’t much to do in Milano except shopping. Unless you’re a fashion fanatic, the top sight in Milan is either the Last Supper painting or the Duomo (the cathedral). Since I didn’t reserve to see the Last Supper, my top choice was the Duomo. Unfortunately, it is undergoing major repairs. The front façade was nearly all covered up, and the tower could not be ascended. The inside was not unlikely the other cathedrals I have seen in Europe, though the floor was particularly beautiful in the Milano Duomo.

Next to the Duomo is a posh covered shopping gallery, featuring such stores as Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci, which has its own café (though it’s always empty as the coffee is very expensive). Next to these stores is, quietly sadly, McDonalds. Seems that tourists would rather eat burgers than the usually delicious Italian food. Though to be honest, the food in Milano was not quite as good as elsewhere in Italy. I did enjoy roasted chestnuts, especially given the cold winter weather. People seem to love pizza in Milano, whereas I couldn’t eat it more than a few times a year (pizza reminds me of school cafeteria food). I had to try pizza in Milano of course, and my prociutto, artichoke, and mushroom pizza was fairly good. I still prefer the veal I had in Roma. But at least the Italian wine was good. The most popular eatery I saw was one featuring a sort of fold-over pizza. I think I was not where fine dining was to be found.

After lunch and the Duomo, I went to the urban planning center. The trip was short though, as it was all in Italian. Next I went to the Palazzo Reale, which the map said featured contemporary art. Turns out it had classical art, which I don’t like so much. After a quick tour of the paintings and the restoration work they were doing to the palace, I left for a walk through the shopping streets, where I had myself a gelati.

Near sunset time, I walked through the Parco Sempione, which was quite nicely landscaped, with a grand arched gate at one end that reminded a lot of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The real gem of the park, though, is the Triennale, the real contemporary art museum. Appropriate for a city known for graffiti, the exhibit was on Keith Haring, who often worked with graffiti artists and in fact had spent some time working in Milano. Previously, I though Keith Haring’s art was fun but not serious. After seeing his less known pieces, I have not come to consider Keith Haring one of my favorite artists. Actually his artwork tended to have social messages, and though not as pain-staking to create, it nonetheless took years of work to perfect and was built on the work of previous masters like Picasso and Jack Pollock. His lesser known works were actually quite complex. The exhibit focused on the personal details of Keith Haring’s life, which was unusual in my experience, since most exhibits try to interpret an artist’s work in consideration of the greater art movement at that time. This more personal exhibit made me feel like I have a special connection with him, though I could never have had met him (he passed away from AIDS in the early 1990s). I saw many elements in his work that reflected my own artwork, which were not inspired by him as they were created before I ever saw Keith Haring’s. More likely, it is that our artwork reflected the human collective conscience. Anyway, I think it’s too bad Keith Haring passed away so soon. I am glad I accidentally got to known his work and his life in Milano.

After the exhibit, I went back to the Malpensa airport and was soon on my way to Prague.

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