city walk: milano: cimitero monumentale

i won't lie, i saved this post for halloween... whahahahahahhaha!

seriously though and oddly enough, i think my favorite part of all of Milano was the cemetery.  there is something about the way the italians honor the dead, their families.  they build monuments that tell stories, family history, blips in time.  they are romantic, sad, arrogant, humble, contemporary, and historical.

football... the non-american kind

i can't take credit for being the instigator of this portion of my trip, but i have to say it was quite the experience!

San Siro: Inter Milan v. Tottenham

it so happened that the person traveling with me was hugely excited that his team, Tottenham, was playing Inter Milan while we were in town.  so one evening we ventured into the city, parked our car, and walked through the streets nearing the stadium where vendors were selling all sorts of sports paraphernalia.  my favorite is the scarf that is a "half and half" it has one team on one end and the opposing team on the other.

i don't know much about soccer (football, i'm american ok, to me it's soccer)...  only what i pick up during world cup every few years and quickly forget...  but apparently the match i saw was one of the beginning matches of the Champion's League, which from what i understand is like the world series of soccer.  and last year, Inter won the whole thing!

these fans mean business, and of course because they are Italians they are passionate about it!  

check it out:

 

 it was a pretty full house!

they are also take exiting the stadium after the match pretty seriously... they ask you to stay in your seats until they instruct you to exit by section!  none of the guys i was with were to keen on this and we left a little early to avoid it... in doing so missing my personal favorite part of the match at the end where the players swap jerseys!

city walk: milano: terza parte

 

galleria vittorio emanuele II

 

home to the flagship Prada store

castello sforzesco: if you fancy a day of museum going, this is your place, it houses multiple museums and offers a day pass that gets you into all of them! 

 

i chose to stroll through the courtyard instead, it was just too nice a day for inside activities!

there were enough relics lying around that courtyard to entertain me...

behind the castello sforzesco is a gorgeous park full of walking paths, it reminded me a little of central park, so i took a stroll to the other side where i found this:  

the arco della pace in the piazza Sempione

tired of walking?... rent one of these for a couple of hours!

city walk: milano: duomo

once i had downed my first cappuccino of the day and was seeing the world through more caffeinated glasses, i realized that the light that day was perfect. there were soft diffused clouds that filtered the sunlight in a way that it lit the buildings without creating harsh shadows. it was a perfect fall day, the leaves were colorful and falling and the air was just cool enough for a jacket and boots (a rare treat now that i live in the land of eternal sunshine and heat).

the first thing i wanted to see before the day was too bustling with people was the duomo.  

they just don't make doors that look like this anymore. 

 

i am an interior designer, but i always love the outside of these buildings more...

you could take the elevator to the top... but did the building have an elevator in the beginning?  

NO.  don't be lazy, you will totally miss these amazing stairwells.  

i love the windows inside them. their depth shows how solid the building is, you really get a feel for its mass and can better appreciate the intricacies of its construction. 

i love gargoyles.  

 views from the top. 

right next door and my next stop is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

city walk: milano

there are few things i love more than a truly walkable city.  there is something magical about getting up in the morning, getting a coffee and a map, and walking a city you've never been to before. 

i like to peruse the map while sitting in a cafe with my coffee, get a general lay of the land, the points i think i'd like to see, and the general direction i need to go from there.  then, i put the map away.  don't be afraid of getting lost.  trying to talk to locals for directions is half of the experience, and looking back this is usually when i stumble upon some of my favorite parts of the city. 


here was the start of this walk: 

leave the hotel at a decent hour: 

i love sleep so this is always difficult for me, but the unique 

experience of the morning light and the emptiness of the city

are worth a an hour or so less sleep!

 

scout out coffee.

perfection

there are some places in the world of which dreams are made. places that are so real they are impossible to recreate.  they have a certain magic.  they are perfection.

i discovered one of these nestled into the countryside of italy in a town called Carate Brianza. 

Ristorante Camp di Cent Pertigh

the saffron risotto with sauage in a parmesan bowl and the veal milanese are simply to die for!

 

continuing education

you will never know everything there is to know; therefore there is always something to be learned. 

in the professional world, it is easy to get caught up in the day to day or the next deadline, and we often miss opportunities to learn, we often say we don't have the time.  or maybe the last thing we want to do after a long day at work is use our lunch hour to hear about the latest technology, product, or gizmo... even if this knowledge might help us do our jobs more efficiently in the future... or for us designers and creative types to get that warm fuzzy feeling that we get when we see something new something that inspires us. 

lesson:  stop.  listen.  be inspired.  recognize the opportunity to learn.

in italy my job specific mission was to see the facilities where some of our furniture pieces are being manufactured and asses how our pieces are being constructed.   a lot goes into furniture, more than you would think.  wood pieces, foam pieces, metal pieces, fabric pieces... and then there is the hand-craft of assembling all of these made goods into one piece of custom furniture that not only looks good, but is comfortable and functions the way we need it to.  there really should be (if there isn't already) a furniture episode of how it's made!

all of that knowledge can only help you to appreciate beautiful design when you see it off of the paper and in the real world.  designer's get especially hyped about it... which is why i was like a kid at the north pole when our furniture manufacturer took me to Poliform (one of my favorite furniture companies for which they do some of the upholstery work)!
   
here is a glimpse of their showroom in the italian countryside north of milano... drool. 

 

 

 

 

 

just lovely. 

re:work

last week my job took me to italy.  yes, that's right, italy.  i have a special love for this country; maybe it is because they understand and share my love for cheese, coffee, cured meats, pizza, wine, fashion, history, and design! 

a few facts: life is short. we spend a lot of time working. 

if your job takes you to italy, by all means do your work, but when all is said and done, please stop and taste the vino! the best way to get the most out of a business trip is to simply plan the trip adjacent to a weekend and book your flight back at the end of that weekend.  this way, you have time "off the clock" to see and appreciate the world around you. what is worse than telling people your job took you somewhere amazing and you didn't have the time to leave the conference room?!  best of both worlds:  you'll be more focused on the job at hand when you know you have the weekend to explore the city. both you and the boss will be happier. win win. 

snapped this while sipping a cappuccino between factory visits!