A taxi! A taxi! My kingdom for a taxi!...AKA 'Women's Readymade Wear Week' in Milan

You know it's women's fashion week in Milan because it's cold and rainy. No wonder giornalists call Milan a gray city. (What consistently rotten luck they have. It's often gorgeous just before and just after their fashion week, here. What are the weather sprites trying to tell us?)...More......

It isn't crummy all year 'round, though. By tomorrow, all should be able to taste Milan's Curaçao-blue skies and snuggle into its flannel-warm temps.

For the next few days, though, forget flagging a taxi.

Need to get somewhere, and you don't drive? (Once you get there, you'll probably not find a parking spot, anyway, even without the convention center events.) Try the "GiraMilano" feature on the English-language (yeah!) version of ATM's/Milan's public transportation site: http://www.atm.it/en/Pages/default.aspx. Just input your point-of-departure in the top field and your point-of-arrival in the lower field, then press "Calculate." If you'd rather take as few steps as possible (oh dear, oh dear, what terrible English, my friends, "Few short walks" indeed...why, oh why, do companies with big budgets always try to scrimp on English by having the director's uncle's nephew's half-sister's neighbor's hamster do the translations? It's bad for their public image!), or prefer to avoid the metro, or making too many changes, click first on Advanced Search, then make your choices. Use this feature to figure out the schedule to the new convention center (Fiera) in Rho-Pera, a suburb of Milan. Beware: since it's outside Milan's city limits, there is a surcharge on the ticket.

Have umbrella and rainboots, will travel! There's a special charm about Milan when it's rainy.

I shot this fashion snap on the 31st of August, 2010, at around 10:40 on the escalator in front of the Stazione Centrale.

Enjoy!