After my time in Africa I went to Milan for a couple of days. Why you ask? Well, it’s all about using my free frequent flyer ticket- in my case from United’s Mileageplus program. When I attempted to book my 7/4/15 flight from San Diego to Lilongwe, Malawi, East Africa (the closest airport to Rafiki’s Mzuzu village), I had no problem. But trying to book my return flight from Cape Town to San Diego was problematic. I could not seem to find any available flight combinations to get home. Researching it a bit, I discovered that United allows one international stop-over. The options were very broad. Where would I spend my international stop-over? Istanbul? Paris? London? Frankfurt? I was able to find a flight from Cape Town to Milan, then three days later, get a flight from Milan to San Diego. Problem solved. And why Milan? Because that’s where the 2015 World’s Fair would be. So it’s a couple of days in Milan. Now, I’ve been to Milan a few times. My first time was in 1990 for a couple of hours as I joined a tour of Italy there late. The next time was many years later where I saw the famous Duomo, Da Vinci’s Last Supper painting, and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the world’s oldest shopping mall. So this time it just for the World’s Fair. But, one can’t come to Milan and not spend at least a bit of time admiring the Duomo.
As with my Africa post, here’s some Signs of the Times – in Milan
This being an Italian based event, Expo 2015 Milan had two large buildings full of authentic restaurants from every region in Italy. Amazing food.
The American pavilion was focused on food (not surprising as that was the fair’s theme). I thought the flag logo was clever.
Finally, sign-wise, I present the Austrian Pavilion. The entrance was just a dense forest. Suddenly you could see the sign presented at various locations come into coherence: breathe. Clever.
This poster was sighted in a subway station. So this is what Italians think of America? (sorry for the quality- taken with my old iPhone 4)
One morning I took the subway to the southern part of Milan to visit the new Prada Foundation museum, renovated buildings that were once a distillery. The cafe in the museum was designed by American film director Wes Anderson (Grand Budapest, Moonrise Kingdom, etc.). Despite the interior being very stylized (think Italy in the 1950s as only Wes Anderson could imagine), the exterior is very minimalistic, just a small neon “bar” sign.
Above: outside with sign (btw, the tallish building is part of the museum and completely clan in 24-karat gold leaf). Below: Inside- much more lively and interesting. Drank a cappuccino and people watched:
So what did this little Milanese trip cost? flight: free; hotel: free (cashed in Hilton points); subway/tram tickets for three days $15; two days at Expo 2015: $80 (thanks dollar/euro exchange rate), plus food at $50. Total: $145. Not bad for three days to experience the World’s Fair and a bit of Milan.
The Adventure Continues … in Florida
The Adventures of Rafiki Steve 