Saturday, October 13, 2012

A Streetcar Named 4721

So much for good intentions.

I had planned on walking all the way back home from my afternoon appointment, yesterday, even if it was a bit gray.

As the appointed time got nearer and nearer, the prospect sounded less and less inviting, and Fate decided for me by having a tram pull up just then, so......More......

...here are some shots snapped on the way home.

Our poor Madonna all bundled up with scaffolding, awaiting many Prince (and Princess) Charmings to buy those blue snails to finance her repair.


Streets busy with people and fashion ads.

Bicyclists taking advantage of pedestrian zones (we're sadly lacking in bike lanes).

People smoking and shopping. (It doesn't seem like as many people are smoking these days as before, but there still are some, and it always surprises me when I see young people smoking...how could they not know what it does?!)

Inviting pastry shops...(that man had only moved closer to the window then stood there transfixed during the whole time the tram was stopped).

And finally, a relatively new gourmet take-out place. Intrigued before I saw the prices, I popped in...and popped right back out. Can go to a restaurant, enjoy the ambiance, and get table service for that.

A pretty typical peek at life in downtown Milan. It's not all sophistication and sparkle, though. The streets always need sweeping, there's more and more graffiti (I won't ennoble it by showing it), and fewer and fewer people are dressing nicely...one of the things I liked so much about Milan. Sigh. The times they are a-changin'.

2 comments:

RobertaK said...

Thanks for this story! On the smoking front, have you noticed how people have taken to those electronic "cigarette" thingies? Are these people who had stopped but have started again now this smoke-free option has come on the market? or are they regular smokers who have decided to switch? Either way, silly, as you say: no indication that this new product is any less harmful than the original "burning leaves that you stick in your mouth"

Star said...

Hi, Roberta! Thanks for stopping by! I hadn't noticed the smokeless cigarettes, but I'll look for them, now. I had to look them up quickly on the internet to see what they look like and to see what was what. Hmmm, liquid nicotine and gylcol...how can inhaling that be good for you? At least there won't be cigarette butts tossed in the street (did you know that they can take from 5 to 10 years to dissolve in the street...if ever?! The filter part now is out of filaments in a kind of plastic, and we all know how fast that biodegrades), if these prevail. Then again, the long white part is a battery that itself is a dangerous kind of waste.

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