Missing the tram in Milan

Now it is odd just what you can miss on a visit to Milan.

Crossing under the Porta Nuova 2013

Some of our family live just a little north of the city in Varese and we sometimes take the train to Milan, but although I see them in the distance I have never caught a Milan tram.

The service began in 1881 and now extends to 170 km with 17 urban lines and one interurban line and about half of the tram lines pass by, or terminate near Piazza del Duomo.

So given that the piazza is a favourite spot you would think we would have hopped on one but no, and I don’t think I have even got a picture.

So there you are.

Location; Milan

Picture; Trams numbers 1754 and 1582 of the ATM of Milan under the Arches of Porta Nuova, 2013,  Giorgio Stagni, who as the creator has licensed the picture under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

A posh bag and an even posher meal ......... it just has to be the Gallieria

Now I have to say I don’t think there is any way you can do justice to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan.

Milan, 2009

It is too big and too popular a place for an amateur like me to get a good picture.

It was built between 1865 and 1877 and so is a contemporary of our own Barton Arcade.

Both are shopping malls with lots of glass and iron tracery but there the comparison ends for the Galleria is huge and packed full of the leading names in retailing with many of them at the very posh end selling the sort of stuff that costs an arm and a leg.

There also loads of restaurants and so the place is pretty much one of the meeting places in Milan.

That said on any one day most of the

Manchester, 2007

people wandering through are tourists, which of course was what we were.

Having done the Duomo it is but a short walk across Piazza del Duomo to the Galleria which has the added bonus that when you come out at the other end you are faced with La Scala.

I hadn’t been prepared for the sheer size of either the cathedral or the shopping mall and spent the hour  it took us to get back home to Varese pondering on when would be the best time to do a return visit.

We had got there just before midday and the piazza and surrounding buildings were already full of people and I guess that is how it always is.

Location; Milan

Picture; Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, 2009 and Barton Arcade, 2010, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

"With affection" ……. in celebration of the picture postcard……the one from Sardinia via Milan

Now we don’t get many picture postcards through the door anymore.

There would have been a time when through the holiday season we would receive a shed load, from destinations as enticing as Greece, and Spain through to a host of British seaside resorts and the odd cultural one of a cathedral, a stately home with more than a few of bridges, and museums.

Go back a few more decades and there would have been those which were sent to arrange a meet up, announce a return from a holiday, or just to apologise for not writing regularly.

Of course, back then there were frequent postal deliveries and collections, making it easy to send a card in the morning arranging to meet at midday or ask for something special for tea.

Today it would be a simple text or a message on Facebook or WhatsApp.

All of which is an introduction to the card from Sardinia which arrived yesterday.

And like so many cards it arrived a full week after Rosa, Simone and Virginia had arrived home.

The delay may have had something to do with the Milano Roserio CMP which is the postal centre devoted to forwarding and sorting mail, including international mail.

In the past the centre had a bad reputation for quickly processing mail*, but I suspect that the late delivery of our card is just that inevitable result of a busy holiday period.

That said it was still a pleasant surprise, and has an old-fashioned charm, made all the more interesting for the addition of a bar card, which as we all know separates it from all those that have arrived over the years.

Location, Sardinia, Milan, Manchester

Picture; Saluti da Golfo Aranci, 2019, from the collection of Andrew Simpson


*Caos Poste, a Roserio si cambia, la Republica, August, 2nd, 2008, https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2008/02/08/caos-poste-roserio-si-cambia.html

Today ..... Discovering Milan ….. without leaving Manchester.

Now here is one to do.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan 2009

Today -  4.30pm for 4.45pm start.

Cross Street Chapel, Cross Street, Manchester M2 1NL.

The Dante Society, is hosting a talk by Angelo Farnetano, who will offer a description of this fascinating and dynamic Italian city featuring its “main treasures, its life and its secrets, all accompanied with a selection of popular music. 

The lecture will take us for an imaginary tour around the city discovering its main treasures, its life and its secrets. Some songs will be played during this walk to add a bit of flavour to the visit.

 Some of the places which will be visited are:

Piazza Duomo, piazza dei Mercanti, piazza S. Alessandro, Chiesa di San Satiro and Castello Sforzesco.

 The talk will be followed by a social gathering with a glass of wine and nibbles.

With the Dante Society, Manchester, 2017

Admission: £ 2.00 members – £ 3.50 non-members”*

 To better arrange the necessary refreshments, it would be helpful if you could book in advance by emailing us at dante@newfuture.org 

Pictures;  Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, 2009, and he Dante Society does St Anns' Square, 2017 from the collection of Andrew Simpson


*SOCIETA' DANTE ALIGHIERI – MANCHESTER
Il mondo in italiano – Promoting Italian Culture in the world since 1889

Email: dante@newfuture.org    



Website: www.dantemanchester.org.uk

Discovering Milan ….. without leaving Manchester.

Now here is one to do.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan 2009

Sunday 19 January 2020 -  4.30pm for 4.45pm start.

Cross Street Chapel, Cross Street, Manchester M2 1NL.

The Dante Society, is hosting a talk by Angelo Farnetano, who will offer a description of this fascinating and dynamic Italian city featuring its “main treasures, its life and its secrets, all accompanied with a selection of popular music. 

The lecture will take us for an imaginary tour around the city discovering its main treasures, its life and its secrets. Some songs will be played during this walk to add a bit of flavour to the visit.

 Some of the places which will be visited are:

Piazza Duomo, piazza dei Mercanti, piazza S. Alessandro, Chiesa di San Satiro and Castello Sforzesco.

 The talk will be followed by a social gathering with a glass of wine and nibbles.

With the Dante Society, Manchester, 2017

Admission: £ 2.00 members – £ 3.50 non-members”*

 To better arrange the necessary refreshments, it would be helpful if you could book in advance by emailing us at dante@newfuture.org "*

So, that just leaves me to to go back to Milan Milan, because just after this story went live, Dave Wilkinson sent over his own picture of Milan.

Adding, "Literally in Milan right now!"

And because you can never get enough pictures of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II, I just had to include it.

Dave commented, "This was taken with my phone, I have loads more I have taken with my DSLR camera that I’ll be editing once I’m home today".

Now I bet we would all like to see them.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan, 2020

Location; Milan




Pictures;  Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, 2009, the Dante Society does St Anns' Square, 2017 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, 2020, courtesy of Dave Wilkinson


*SOCIETA' DANTE ALIGHIERI – MANCHESTER
Il mondo in italiano – Promoting Italian Culture in the world since 1889

Email: dante@newfuture.org    



Website: www.dantemanchester.org.uk