Milan was our last stop in Italy and we were eager to find out why we couldn’t find any reasonably priced hotels. Well it turns out, it was Design Week!
Instead, we stayed in a quaint little town called Bergamo. About an hour train ride outside of Milan, we found a cute little Bed and Breakfast just behind the Accademia. As well, we found our favourite gelato chain just outside the train station – GROM. GROM makes Vancouver gelato taste like watered-down ice cream. Pear, strawberry, dark chocolate, coconut…delish.
We only stayed in Bergamo for 2 nights, so we only had time to take a day trip to Milan. When we arrived, we ran into a huge red lamp that turned out to be a Citroen display. We only saw it during the day, but I heard it lights up at night. Behind the car is a cushy lounge.
This lounge display was situated right in front of the flagship Armani store – which is to the right in the picture. While we were hanging out in front of the store, Derrick saw THE Giorgio Armani walk out the store with his security guard!
Across the street from this Citroen lamp display was the high-end shopping district. Huge patterned lamp shades were strung from side to side all the way down the street. Like a modern rendition of Chinatown lanterns during Chinese New Year.
Towards the Galleria, one of the major department stores celebrated Design Week with special window displays that featured the art of various designers. I made Derrick take the below picture just for the beautiful patterns.
This next display looked like it could be a really really cool bookshelf. But I think I was more drawn to the sketch on the wall behind. Seeing the sketches behind the design bring more appreciation to the piece (for myself).
But the true masterpiece is still the Duomo. It took about 500 years to build and it’s no wonder why – every single possible element in this church is decorated and detailed. And because the magnificent view puts you in a daze, the piazza is pick pocket central.
By the way, unless you are loaded and obsessed with Chanel and LV, you can do Milan in about a day.
> Christine
