Artsy Sunday

This past weekend we had the most amazing sunny Sunday in Milan, especially if you consider it has been snowing non-stop today, actually it still is while I'm writing this. A clear blue sky isn't something we get to see often, especially during colder months. The total absence of wind leaves the sky covered with clouds and smog so when you get a nice sunny day, you have to take advantage of it.

It seemed like a perfect time to go and see Tomas Saraceno's "On space time foam" installation that I've heard so much about. Unfortunately by the time I got there all the 360 places were taken (I didn't know you have to go there in the morning and sign up for that day because it is that popular).
I still got a chance to see what it was like, although it is completely different if you actually get inside the bubbles (my flatmate managed and said it was an amazing experience, quite similar to trampoline).

This is where it took place

Don't they remind you of spider-man?

 We also got to see Amsel Kiefer's "The seven heavenly palaces", basically seven towers made from cement slabs that represent the metaphysical principles corresponding to the various levels of human participation in the divine. This is a permanent installations in Hangar Biocca.

 Milan is famous for having quite inefficient public transportation, so we were very happy when we found out that the opening of the seven stops of the new subway line was on Sunday and that one of these was Bicocca, exactly the place we were going at. In the end we ended up walking more than half an hour to the exhibition place because the stop turned out to be so far from where we were going, but it was a nice walk in the sun so we didn't mind. We did take the regular regional train back downtown though.

  I was so excited when I saw you can actually see where the train is going since there is no driver's cabin.

Have a nice week!

Farmers market

 After a few weeks of grey, rainy days the sun came back to Milan. I've been enjoying these last days of nice weather because once it's gone we won't be seeing it here that soon. I'm so not ready to embrace fog and humidity yet!

 I love going to the farmers market, seeing so many natural colors in one place, in so many shapes and sizes inspires me and fills me with positive energy. Close to where I live there is a market on Saturday morning, they block the traffic in two perpendicular streets, take the stands out and the games begin!

Variety of flavors

Dough products, mostly from the south

Cheese and salami stand

Mushrooms, asparagus

One more reason to look forward to the weekend!

Flea market Milan

 

 Flea markets or second hand shops aren't such a big thing in Milan, people go more for brand new. I guess it feels more posh, and that's such a big deal in here. When you go to the flea markets in London or Paris, it's such a nice feeling, even if you're just "window" shopping and don't plan on buying anything. They're packed with positive energy and it feels like everything they sell is valuable, only for the fact that it is there.
 In Milan, the situation is a bit different, here it seems that the value of the items is already lowered just for the fact that there are there. You don't go to the flea market in Milan unless you really need anything and can't get it anywhere else.
 I think it's such a pity because I love a good market's vibe.
 I made some pics even though the weather was so bad, very cloudy and dark.

A lot of moka pots

This is Porta Genova flea market, you can visit every Sunday morning from 7-14. It has been here since April 2012, the old location was Bonola, so not that many people know about it yet.

The city of ghosts

 Milan is one of those cities that gets emptied out in the summer, especially in August. The city becomes a desert. No people, no cars, no noise, no stress, just an empty city and peaceful silence. People run away from the city not only because in Italy you are supposed to go on holidays in August, but because of the unbearable heat. The city is like a boiling pot in the summer. The level of sultriness goes far above one can stand and it seems that the only ones who don't mind are mosquitoes.

Closed for the holidays sign on the shops outside of the city center

  I was lucky enough to be on the seaside during the annual heatwave, though this past few days that I've been here were more that enough for me. Yesterday I went out for a walk and wanted to take advantage of the empty stores. It was great not having to queue up for fitting rooms but it was so sad to see those streets so empty. Maybe I am too used to seeing them packed, but it felt like I got into a scene of the day after of the Independence day movie (minus all the things crashed). Well, like it or not this is the weekend when most of the population comes back and things start getting normal again.

 Have a nice beginning of the school year!

Be aware: summer burglaries

 Last night burglars broke into my house. It was empty and some windows were open. They climbed up an outdoor gas pipe to second floor and came in through the bathroom window. My flatmate came back home around 1 a.m. and found them while trying to escape. They were actually running away because they heard someone was at the door. She shut the window while one of them was still getting out, scared to death, I guess, I know I definitely would be. They haven't had enough time to take anything with them, or they haven't found anything that pleased them, but they did dig through my drawers, especially the jewelry drawer...

So I thought.

Milanese Chinatown

 Chinatown in Milan isn't big. To be precise, just one street represents Chinatown, but here it is more about the state of mind than about the area,  it's borders, limits or magnitude. I like to go there for a walk, a shopping spree or just to relax. There are lots of small shops selling absolutely everything, international stores and Chinese food. Nothing special or that can't be found in any other place you would say, but no, here it is different, the time gets another shape. Not that it stops, in a Spanish way, it simply loses its relevance. At first it might be annoying because we are used to want everything now, immediately, but if it gets to you, you are saved, no stress.

 

 I got into a shoe store asking if I could try on a pair of shoes, and the shop assistant told me that they have my size in the warehouse and to come back tomorrow to try them on.

 When I wanted to try a T-shirt in another store they told me it is not allowed to try the clothes on.

 I would like to know who buys there under these circumstances, and how these shops survive. The prices there are a bit lower than in the shops in the other parts of the town and the shops are usually run by a family whose members work and help to keep the business going, so there are no high labor costs. But they have to live out of something, pay for the rent (I doubt that all of them own the retail spaces), pay for the taxes.
How they manage to keep the business running remains a mystery to me.

Who would buy it

 

Is it me or is something wrong with this picture, a flowery swim cap, € 25!?!

I have to highlight that I saw this on the way back home from Chinatown, aka everything seems bloody expensive compared to the prices there.

I might not be retro enough, so I won't even consider explaining why I would never think of wearing it outside the movie set/ theater play about the bourgeoisie wives in the 60s in the South of France who drink champagne from a coupe glasses by the pool while their husbands are somewhere in the bush with one another, their maid or maybe a golf caddy, with the excuse they went hunting. Yes, the revelation scene would be when one of the wives gets out of the pool with the 25€ cap and discovers her husband's secrets. For me that would be the only reasonable, justified, worthy  reason to spend that much money on this cap. Her shocked face would be something like mine when I saw the price tag.

Ok, ok, i might have lost myself in the scenario somewhere between champagne and Cote d'Azur but it wasn't my intention to comment on the fact that they sell this item in a shop in the central Milan, but the fact that they are actually asking that kind of money for something like this. I might be ignorant about fashion and style, but I sure ain't one when we talk about common sense.

Have a lovely day beauties

My Milan Design Week 2012

 The show, also known as Milan Furniture Fair is THE event of the year in Milan. Fashion weeks are important, but since not attainable to the masses, are not as fun, as innovative, as animated and ironically, because something exclusive and only for the privileged, are too commercial, unlike the design week.
 It is that one week in spring when the streets of an already fast-paced city become home for everyone, from the street artists to the big names of design (and not only), and most importantly, to the common people. Originally it started as the furniture fair but nowadays it has transformed in a week of joy on the streets of Milan. There is art, music, food and beverage on every corner of the city and you can choose whether to participate actively (a lot of workshops) or just as an observer.

I bring you bits and pieces of my Design Week:

Tortona area:
- if I would have to choose only one place to visit during design week it would definitely be this area.

 Exhibitions and installations during the day and parties in the late hours.

Salami t-shirts, anyone?