Milano! Che Bello!
The most important part of the trip first:A truly lovely time reconnecting with childhood friends and family-friends I haven't seen in 18 years! Sharing old memories with Francesco and Giovanni Riva, refreshing others (as Franz puts it, his brother has "an elephant's memory" - his memories of details was shocking!), and picking up where we had left
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Fortunately Zac's parents had visited Milan earlier this year and had left us some photos, and a diligent search of the internet yielded some additional images, otherwise we would have had to recognize him going by some almost 20-year-old Halloween photos with Zac dressed as a gangster and smoking a cigar (luckily he repented before starting to work for EPA).
Of course we also got to meet Larissa, Zac's world-famous (almost) Swiss girlfriend!
And both of these people were much much better in person than in the photos!!!!
(photos do not talk after all)
Zac was his usual self, funny and witty ... we really had a good time. And he spoke so well and so fondly of San Francisco that the desire to visit that city is taking root into us; we might have to hurry though, as that window of opportunity might or might not be closing...
Let's only hope we don't have to wait another 18 years for the next reunion... :-)))
Side note 1: Milan as you may, or may not, have noticed, isn't exactly a driver's town, especially the city center: the streets were built when the horse ruled and cars were not even a dream, and so are narrow, without a place to park, and full of turns and twists. Choosing the Smart was really wise; a bike would have been even better, but riding a bike from Basel to Milan would be a bit of an adventure (you can try it next time should you feel up to this challenge - I certainly don't)
Side note 2: It is humanly impossible to come to Milan and not be satisfied by the wine! Italy is a wine country and sports enough varieties to satisfy even the most fussy drinkers. I demand to know which restaurants /pizzerias/places were the culprits, the lowly scum who committed the abominable crime of selling some smelly broth saying it was the nectar of the gods. I need to rid my city of their presence by burning their dens to the ground and scattering the ashes to the wind.
Side note 3: One very necessary correction:
Vittelo Emanuele = Vittorio Emanuele
(name of the king of Savoy who unified Italy and also - alas! - of his current and unworthy heir - luckily no longer king)
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SN1 - Milano may not have originally been designed for motorcars, but I found the wise use of avenues, piazze, and Metro & trams particularly good. Alas, if only there were better (and better respected) cycle paths/bike lanes.
SN2 - Alas culprit Uno was that Piccolo pizzeria place Franz recommended ... I'm sure they had better wines, and it was Larissa's & my error for selecting the "table" option. The pizzeria from the night before also presented a disappointing wine experience, again with the "table" option.* So please, no violence is necessary! ;-)
SN3 - Tut mir leid! Sorry! I've been making errors like that the whole weekend, e.g. Bellizona became Bellinoza; Materazzi became Mazzerati. ;-) I clearly read things too quickly.
Incidentally - exactly what happened with the Italian royalty anyway? Do they still even bother at pureblood pretensions? Also, I thought Garibaldi was the great Italian unifier? I clearly don't know my Italian history.
*Not that I want to drive your rage even further Giovanni, but I would have to describe the wine as a vinegar cut by a portion of alchohol that presented a flavour that quickly went 4 different ways at the first sip. It also left a slightly chalky aftertaste.
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Last comment: I forgot that the piazza Il Duce and Patacci were strung up in was in Milano!
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Note on SN1: Do you know that most people criticize Milan's public transportation system and the entire road network? I find it mostly adequate though there are a lot of cars in Milan, many more than the city can comfortably handle, and they do create parking and traffic problems and hamper public transportation.
I'm surprised you even saw a bicycle path as they are (sadly) exceedingly rare. To tell you the truth, bicycle paths become often extra parking spaces for cars or additional sidewalks for pedestrians, and the riders themselves are despised by the car drivers who consider them a nuisance as they get in the way of their quest for speed and loathed by pedestrians who accuse them of invading their spaces. The real problem is that we Italians are too fond of cars (VROOOM, as you say) and other means of transportation are clearly beneath us - this is the reason administrators do not consider the basic bicycle rider's needs; but for a guy like me that would rather walk barefoot on hot coal than be trapped in a can of sardines on wheels it is a struggle to avoid the four wheeled and reckless automobile maniacs that plague our city.
Note on SN2:
Now that all the facts are known here is a small guide to avoid bad wine in Italy in the future.
First of all some basic theorems:
1) Pizza and wine do not mix well (dining on pizza when drinking wine is a barbaric practice)
2) "Table" or "house" wine is usually A) a mixture of leftover wines from previous customers' meals (this is what having a friend who worked as a waiter is for) or B) an atrocious mass produced wine-colored liquid stored in cartons or C) a mixture of A) and B). However, in all cases, the wine is also cut with some other horrifying substance that makes it even more unsavory and unfit to drink.
3) Good wines are usually as expensive as they are good.
4) Cheap wines are usually as bad as they are cheap.
and here are the corollaries:
a) Pizzerias usually have a poor selection of wines and the wines are cheap.
b) Asking for a "table" or "house" wine in a pizzeria is suicidal and marks you as man ready to given the most horrendous concoctions to drink. (should the pizzeria double also as a restaurant, you could get off a bit more lightly, but not by much).
I do not know if you noticed, but at the Piccola Ischia (the name of the offending pizzeria) both me and Francesco did not even remotely consider going for wine...
That being said, it is now necessary we rectify as soon as possible your disastrous Italian wine experience. Should (or better, when) you come back to Milan, we will proceed and take you to a wine bar (there are a lot of such places in Milan) to imbibe the best nectar Italy has to offer.
P.S. It is true, no violence is necessary: it will be my pleasure to avenge you!
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A STORY OF POLITICS, WAR, CORRUPTTON AND BETRAYAL (not suitable for children under age of 10)
It is a strory with some very heroic parts, and also some treachureous and shadowy ones; if you want more information - I will provide it to you.
1848-1849 - First independence war - Volunteers and troops from the kingdom of Sardinia (house of Savoy) attack the Austrians in Lombardy, but after initial successes, are repelled.
1859 - Second Independence war - The house of Savoy provokes the Austrian empire into declaring war and, with the help of France, wins numerous battles and obtains a favorable peace treaty: Lombardy, Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna are added to the kingdom of Sardinia. The king of Savoy is Vittorio Emanuele II (the king that gave the name to the Galleria).
1860 - Garibaldi's Expedition - Giuseppe Garibaldi (which had taken part as a leader of a specialized volunteer corps in the previous two wars) lands in Sicily with an arnìmy of 1000 men and fights his way through the southern part of the peninsula until he reaches Naples. His military victories and the insurrections that sprang up in his wake topple the Borbon kingdom. Meanwhile Vittorio Emanuele marches his troops into the papal states and conquers Marche and Umbria. By (probably rigged) popular vote the southern part of Italy becomes also part of the kingdom of Sardinia, and, in 1861 the kingdom of Italy is officially born; Vittorio Emanuele II is the first king.
1866 - Third Independence war - The house of Savoy, now ruling house of Italy, joins forces with Prussia and attacks the Austrian empire. The Italians do not fare particularly well, but the Prussians triumph, and Veneto is conquered and added to the kingdom of Italy.
1870 - After previous tries by Garibaldi, the Italian army invades the papal states and conquers Rome, driving the Pope into Vatican city. The region of Lazio is annexed and Italy's capital is moved to Rome.
1914 - 1918 - First World War - Italy fights against Austria and Germany in the war - Austria is forced to hand over to Italy the regions of Trentino Alto Adige and Friuli Venezia Giulia. Italy is unified.
So, as you see, Garibaldi did play a greta role in the unification, especially as a military commander, but Vittorio Emanuele II was the first king of unified Italy and a key figure from 1859 to 1870.
After the second world war the Italians were asked to choose between monarchy and republic, and the majority voted for the latter. The king and his family were exiled and the males of the family could not set foot on Italian soil , but that ban has been lifted no more than 2 years ago.
Unfortunately the last descendants of this house that played such a part in the fate of Italy are not exactly exemplary characters. The current head of the house has been involved in scandals, corruption cases, and other despicable activities both in Italy and abroad - he also killed a person after an altercation, or so it seems. The rest of the house is not much better than him, but they provide excellent subjects for paparazzi and scandalistic magazines (it appears people have a lot of curiosity about how royals, or former royals, live).
So, I personally think it is better to be a republic than a kingdom, because monarchies are only as good as the king at their head, and the descendants of the house of Savoy would now not be the best of kings; there are people (a small but noisy and bothersome number) that think otherwise though, and would love the house of Savoy to rule again. Most are nobles or descendants of noble families that have not given completely up on their "noble blood" pretensions; the same could be said for house Savoy, that stills dream of climbing back to the heights they once knew.
LAST NOTE: after having being executed, the bodies of the Duce and Claretta Petacci (his lover) were hung upside down in Piazzale Loreto, from a gas station sign; I think this episode is not particularly honorable or commendable, even if the Duce was a criminal. You should have seen this piazza on your way back from our house to Bellinzona, even if the gas station isn't there any more and a lot has changed.
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Regarding public transport - bad as you may find Milano, San Francisco is in some ways better and worse. Motorist loathing of cyclists seems a universal feature though...I hear the habit is taking root in China even.
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Your second visit to Milan will be remembered for ages to come!
About transportation... you scare me and make me wonder... how is San Francisco?
I must also say that in Rome or in Naples public transportation is much much much much much much much worse than in Milan.
A good way to imagine it: picture a bus driver in San Francisco or Milan after a bad day at work, make him drunk, feed him the worst possible foods and wines :-), have him watch 5 hours of repellent TV shows and listen to the worst possible music you can think of, and then have him have a nightmare - this is public transportation in Naples.
We cyclists must band together and overthrow the tyranny of the car drivers before they run us over and put all of us two feet under - it's already happening, everywhere, I can feel it... these news from China mean that our doom is upon us! (why would they hate cyclists so?)
Or else we can start riding bikes with bazookas slung over our shoulders.... that would be a solution and also a satisfying one!
Motorists beware!
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San Francisco - well, it's a mixed bag really. On the one hand, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (google it) is very well organised and politically active. They have succeeded in getting in all manner of bike-friendly features: from cycle lanes, to bike parking at BART stations (though unguarded), to bike racks on MUNI buses, to a culture of cycling acceptance in business (most government offices support cycling commuters, with shower & locker opportunities at the work site).
Likewise, every 3rd Thursday of the month there is a cyclist rally through the city during the evening commute, with a particularly dramatic larger "Critical Mass" (also known as "Critical Mess" by the public-transit and motoring grumbly masses) once every year...pretty much brings the city to a standstill.
The Downsides:
There are still more cars than residents in SF (far too many people commute through SF to get to their third destination, even with the bridge tolls), the number of residents with cars is increasing (though on a shallower growth curve), and the quality of driver is decreasing (a particularly nasty downward curve).
The geography of SF is difficult, where one-way streets, large avenues, and hills all play a role in decided the actual optimum path to destination by bike.
Motorists tend not to comprehend bike lanes, or cyclist needs, especially though suburban drivers already nervous by the tighter conditions of SF's streets.
MUNI bus drivers are a law unto themselves. I don't care to recall how many pedestrians, cyclists, motorists have been hit by busses, even when they were in the right, and MUNI (and the responsible driver) has faced NO repercussions.
Cyclists themselves - cycling being something of a form of urban warfare, it shouldn't come as a surprise that many take liberties with traffic laws...sometimes nothing less than one's own survival is at stake. Nevertheless, there are many who wilfully ignore the laws, enraging all roadusers, and generally making it worse for everyone.
In case you are wondering where the law fits into this - the rules are loosely enforced, and there are precious few insurance protections for cyclists, their property, or their health. Especially where the other advantaged road-users are compared.
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