Arriving in Milan

When I was finally settled in Milan, I figured that it would be too much of a hassle to try to nap now and expect to be comfortable after a short nap, so I decided to try to stay awake, live through the first day in Milan, and after a good night's sleep, all my brain and back pains would go away, and I would be acclimated to the time change. After a light breakfast, I lied down in my bed with my eyes closed. My mind felt like it was so disoriented and damaged that even though it was obvious I needed sleep, it would not allow me sleep. I was wrong, and two hours or so later, I awoke from a nap, feeling no better than earlier. I couldn't be bothered with silly discomforts, so we went out for a stroll to see the cathedral, and that general neighborhood. it was about four subway stops away from where we were, so I asked if they minded walking the distance to the Duomo. I know that not everyone has a passion for walking through cities like I do, so I typically concede to take the train. They did offer me a compromise, though and we walked the distance of one train stop.

The reason I like walking through the city streets to get from one place to the other is that I feel like I get a better idea of the people and the place where I am this way. You get to see the people walking the streets, and the typical layout, shape, and contents of the neighborhoods. Walking over the streets and sidewalks, I feel the shape of the streets, the hills, and composition of the concrete and bricks. One thing that I decided early on was that, counter to many people's judgements, this city is not so ugly as people had told me. Certainly it does not have the sites of Rome or Florence or Venice, but how many cities do? Just as a woman who does not look like a supermodel can still be pretty, a city that does not look like Venice can still have its charm.

We were walking down a main street that leads straight to the Duomo in the center of the city. Many of the buildings that line the streets seem to have a nineteenth century feel to them, much like the buildings in New York. The people walking the streets also seems to also have an element of New York attitude. They walk fast, and if you dare to walk slowly in front of them, they will push past you, but in a polite way. If you happen to stop at a red light at a corner and no cars are crossing, you will also see people walk past you to cross.

Traffic is fun to watch, too. Cars zoom by, but whenever the light first turns green, a group of motorcycles always zooms by first. While the light was red, each of them was sliding in between the cars, making their way to the front. It makes me want to buy a motorcycle.

One interesting phenomenon was the presence of bookstores. In New York, so many have failed and gone out of business for any number of reasons. But there are so many little bookstores along each street, perhaps one every two or three blocks. And they are not like the mega-sized stores that are the final ones standing in New York, but they all seem to be small, independent stores, taking up only a few hundred square meters, if that. It is my habit when traveling abroad to pick up a book or two in the local language. I am not sure which I should get in Italy, but I have a guess.

After a few blocks, I had agreed to take the subway the rest of the way, but they said we could walk back. The station and the train was clean, and not too crowded in the afternoon. Perhaps although it was the center of the city we were headed to, it was not so much the business center, and lacked the hustle and bustle and savagery that I expect in the New York subway.