Thursday, June 19th

Another day of good weather - today was even warmer than yesterday! I would guess the temperature was in the mid 80's, which is great compared to the 50 and 60 degree temperatures from the first few days. Today, we wanted to explore someplace new, so first we checked out this department store called "Coin" which is about 2 blocks from our apartment. Coin is a nice sized, three-level department store with a decent selection of just about everything you would expect from a department store. They particularly have a nice cosmetics section which included Italian, French and US brands. I have been searching for the perfect mascara for a long time and think I may have found it in Dior's Backstage mascara. At a price of 23.90 euros, I made it the first item on my wish list, which is not to be touched until July, when I allow myself to begin shopping. I also found a beautiful, red, hand-painted sugar bowl that I intend to buy for my apartment in Minneapolis. That was item number 2 on my wish list.
After visiting Coin, we walked the length of two train stops to Cadorna plaza, which is where the Malpensa Express trains run to and from the airport (among other places). I staked out the trains, and planned my route for my return trip to London at the end of my stay in Milan. I managed to get a train schedule and ask the woman at the ticket booth where the early trains leave from by asking "parli inglese?" (do you speak english?) then speaking english when she responded she knew a little - yes, this is one of the few Italian phrases I've managed to master in my five days here, lol. The others include "cuanto costa?" (how much does this cost?) and "grazie" (thank you). Lol. There are a few others - I've managed to cover the basics.
We left the train station and followed Rita's handy street map until we found La Triennale di Milano, which seems like Milan's museum of modern design and architecture (yes, first the Tate in London, now the Triennale - so I have an affection for modern art and design). It was a beautiful building - the problem, however, was that they charge you admission (we're talking at least 5 euros) for EVERY exhibit you want to see. In one visit they can easily make a good 40 euros off of one person just from viewing the exhibits. They did have a few exhibits on the first floor which were free, so we checked those out. They also had a very provocative exhibit outside behind the museum called "Good 50 x 70", which consisted of a variety of posters lined side by side, intended to ignite communication regarding social and environmental issues such as child mortality, war, global warming, STDs, and human rights. The posters were all different - some very direct and others more subliminal. They were all very eye catching though, and I wanted to take photos but the museum did not allow any photos to be taken.
According to "Hello Milano" (the local newspaper for English speaking people), the Just Cavalli cafe was located near La Triennale, at the base of the Torre Branca - a really high tower, which supposedly has some architectural significance. The cafe itself is supposed to be a trendy bar owned by designer Roberto Cavalli, which he tends to frequent himself. So, Rita and I walked over there only to be told by the police that it was closed. Since we don't speak or understand Italian well enough, we weren't sure if the cafe was really closed, or if it was just closed to the public since it was 6:30 in the evening - how can any cafe that wants to make money be closed during prime dinner hours? We walked through Parco Sempione to the backside of the cafe to get a glimpse, and it looked like they were setting up for a private event, which would explain why we couldn't go in. No worries, we'll be back.
Since we were already in the park, we decided to explore the neighborhood on the other side of the park. It was a section of town we hadn't been to yet - the main street was Corsa Sempione. There were a number of American style lounges on the main street. We found one called "Deseo" which looked like a very posh spot, straight out of NYC. Since Rita is in the process of launching her own lounge/entertainment venue, she was taking notes on the place - from the decor to the drink list. We decided we would return before we leave Milan. After exploring the area, we hopped on the tram and returned to Cadorna. We peeked into a "confetteria" (pastry shop) to drool over the desserts on the walk home but resisted the temptation to buy any of the dozens of sweets in the windows. We also made a quick stop at Pam - one of the gazillion supermarkets in our area - to pick up some basic foods. We were back at the apartment by 8:30 and it was still bright and sunny outside. It doesn't start getting dark until 9:30/10pm here which is why my sense of time is so off. Anyway, until next time...