Ciao ciao Milano

After breathtaking views of the Alps, I touch down in Malpensa and head into the historic center of Milan, one concentric ring of urban development after another,  via autobus.  I know I’ve left a more northern Europe because informalities begin to filter back into the daily routine.  Road-side Gypsies are offering to wash the windshields of cars, beggars are positioned outside of Stazione Cadorna, drivers neglect any hint at separate or organized lanes or traffic signals, and there are more motorized scooters and 2-wheeled vehicles on the street than bicycles.  We pass construction on former industrial sites.  The largest I see is around Fiera.
Somewhere along the way, the coffee got a whole lot stronger….which is completely acceptable to me.

Milan is my prime research spot in Italy due to the immense amount of urban redevelopment happening around the city.  Plans for the next week include a trip to Verona, Vincenza, Venice for mandatory architecture and urban sites, some documentation in the old planned city of Palmanova to see how it is being inhabited today, and a wrap up in Naples (to visit cousins) and Architecture in Rome.