On the Bus–Stazione Centrale

But the station is livened–up by the brightly colored statues in front of it.

On the Bus–Stazione Centrale

On the Bus–Stazione Centrale

I had to wait about 1/2 hour for the hop–on hop–off bus to come, then got on it to go to Corsa Buenos Aires to go shopping. This was my last day in Milan, and since Milan is Italy’s fashion center and a true shopping city, what better thing to do than to go shopping. We passed by the Stazione Centrale, Milan’s Central Station. The station was built in 1931 by the facists––huge and stern as described by Rick Steves. The entrance to the trains is all the way around the corner from the front.

On the Bus–Stazione Centrale

On the Bus–Stazione Centrale

More of the statues.

On the Bus–Stazione Centrale

Corso Buenos Aires

I got off at this shopping street. Many moderately priced stores are on Corso Buenos Aires but they were carrying mostly winter not–wearable–in–LA merchandise. However, I found a United Colors of Benetton store. I have seen other stores of theirs in Europe and like their clothes, but, according to their website, they have stores in numerous countries but none in the U.S. I bought a wide–striped turtleneck at the store. After viewing the merchandise in many of the stores, I can tell you that wide stripes are very “in” this year. I also found a reasonably priced pair of Italian suede shoes. Milan is a true shopping city: If you want designer clothes and high–priced goods, you go instead to Via Montenapoleone––for Armani, Cartier, Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Mont Blanc, Omega, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Salvatore Ferragano, Valentino, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, and about 80 other designers. Hugo Boss is on Corso Matteotti; and Guess, on Piazza S. Babila. More designer stores are on Corso Venezia, Via Borgospesso, etc., etc., etc. You can do a lot of shopping in Milan.

Corso Buenos Aires

On the Bus

I hopped back on the hop–on hop–off bus to get off at the Piazza alla Scala stop. Photo: Cafe seen from the bus.

On the Bus

To the Pinacoteca di Brera

On the tourist map, the Pinacoteca di Brera (the Brera Art Gallery) appears to be a short walk from the Piazza alla Scala stop. It was farther than I had wanted to walk, made a bit more difficult as I kept having to change the side of the street I was walking on. It was a one–way street with no room for cars to park on it. But cars did anyway––on the sidewalks, which were barely wide enough for two people.

To the Pinacoteca di Brera

Pinacoteca di Brera

The Pinacoteca di Brera was established in 1809 to house Napoleon’s looted art. The courtyard, shown in this photo, is a former monastery. Your first look into the courtyard is of the statue: a nude “Napoleon with Tinkerbell.”

Pinacoteca di Brera

Pinacoteca di Brera

Close up of Tinkerbell.

Pinacoteca di Brera

Pinacoteca di Brera

The gallery was on the second floor of the museum, reached via a couple of steep staircases. By the time I reached the top of the stairs, I was limping, so I decided just to view two of the paintings I came expressly to see. In Madrid, I had bought a postcard of a Picasso painting to put into a glass frame. My tour book said that it was at this museum––it wasn’t. I also wanted to see Modigliani’s “Woman’s Head.” My tour book was right this time––it was here. It is quite a fascinating painting when actually seen. I hobbled back down the steps, very carefully, and limped back to the Piazza alla Scala.

Pinacoteca di Brera

Piazza alla Scala

I was able to finally take a good photo of the Leonardo di Vinci statue in this piazza.

Piazza alla Scala

Piazza alla Scala

View of the back of the statue.

Piazza alla Scala

Galleria

And again back to the Galleria for lunch.

Galleria

The Duomo

Then a last look at the Duomo. The horses were part of a police event in the Galleria.

The Duomo

The Duomo

And a last look at the Madonnina––How did they ever get the Italian flag up there? Tomorrow Keith and I would leave Milan for Venice. I enjoyed being in Milan, but in a way it was almost a surreal experience for me. Eddie had worked for Boeing in Milan for three weeks in 2002 and he came back absolutely loving this city––I didn’t join him as we didn’t know he would be spending that long here. He was supposed to go two more times and I was planning on going at least one of those times with him, but further trips were canceled. So, being in Milan for a week almost seemed as if it was a trip that someday I was destined to take. I spent a good deal of time trying to figure out why Eddie liked Milan so much: Milan is not an attractive city; in fact, except for its few tourist areas, it is quite unattractive. But it has good food, good shopping, a beautiful center with the Duomo and the Galleria, and it has, surprisingly, for Italy, a very friendly–to–tourists people. I think Eddie just liked being in Italy––I agree, I also liked being here.

The Duomo