I had hoped that some common sense would have reigned during EXPO, but...another strike: Friday, May 15

Italy Public strike affecting local transport (bus, tram, subway, metro, light rail...), Friday May 15; Milan 8:45AM-3PM (break) 6PM-end.

OH GOODIE, JUST IN TIME FOR EXPO ... THX HEAPS GUYS

13 MAY 2015: BREAKING NEWS...the prefect has forbidden permission for the Milanese area, only, thanks to Expo, so--unless the drivers et al. get struck with an epidemic of colds--all should be OK in Milan, only. The rest of the country will still have local public transportation strikes

EXTENDED HOURS for Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper (Cenacolo)

Didn't reserve your ticket for Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" (in Italian, Cenacolo) before arriving in Milan? Good news breaking: extended hours are now available.

Don't miss this opportunity to see one of the world's greatest masterpieces.

For the "how to" AND a suggestion for how to enjoy the (10 minute) experience to the max, see my previous post.

Enjoy!

Public transportation news in Milan (wonderful...finally)

Post after post after post about public transportation strikes in Milan and Italy...you thought this was going to be another one, didn't you?...More......

I confess, when the original article's title caught my eye, I did, too...then hope began warring with disbelief, until good triumphed over evil: there will be public transportation in Milan 24 hours a day during Expo.

Wait...wait...don't get too excited.

The entire daytime network won't be running all night long. The much reduced late hours service of Friday and Saturday will be extended:

--bus 151 (substitutes M1-metro line 1)
--bus 152 (substitutes M2)
--bus 153 (substitutes M3)
--N42 (Bicocca-Central Train Station)
--N6, N15, N24, N27, N50, N54, N57, N80, N95
--the trams 90 and 91


This is as good a time as any to encourage ATM to extend service every day of the week by at least an hour or two. I'm no night owl, but if I want to go out for dinner and a movie, it's a scary proposition to play beat the public transportation clock in order to be able to watch, eat, chat and get home before the clanging of the clock shortly after midnight turns the ATM employees back into Cindarella's mice.

Enjoy!

April 12th - Marathon in Milan (again)

There are marathons in Milan, so it must be spring.

This Sunday the 12th of April the town will be paralyzed for the Swisse Gas Marathon.

Stay indoors and play video games or read, get out in support, or get out early, period.

It's pretty useless to try to make your way around town.

Another strike on the way...Tuesday, April 14, 8:45 AM - 3 PM

Yet another public transportation strike in Italy. In Milan, the times on Tuesday the 14th of April will be from 8:45 AM to 3 PM.

Could have been worse.

Massive amount of additions to my "Art in Milan" pages on the "Where Milan" site...check 'em out!

In honor of Expo, I've finally got the better of distractions, and spent HOURS writing out quick summaries for almost all of Milan's principal museums (and there are quite a few). Still have a couple to go, but am pooped. Will finish tomorrow. In the meantime, here's link, so you can have that info on hand, too.

Enjoy!

Free entry to SOME Italian state-owned museums on Easter and Easter Monday (2015)

Hope this becomes a nice habit: this year's free entry to state-owned museums in Italy on Easter and Easter Monday.

The bad news is that the official web site for the cultural patrimony ministry is only in Italian.

The good news is that the coverage of this possibility is pretty self-explanatory: a region by region, museum by museum list.

In Milan? Leonardo's "Last Supper" (by reservation only...so what's the point?!) and the Brera Pinacoteca.

Enjoy!

April 10. What's up? Another public transportation strike, of course.

Could be worse.

This time it's "just" the new train company, Italo.

24 hours. April 10, 2015.

Info from "Milano Today" (in Italian).

Forewarned is forearmed.

More art for sale in Milan: MIART, 10-12 April, 2015

You can't buy just one...MIART is back at Fiera Milano City (the in-town convention center), 10-12 April 2015, with vibrant pieces to tempt you just before Expo 2015 explodes.

Want more info about when, where and how much? Go to their web site in English.

Then come back, and let us know what you bought!

Enjoy!

Handy ATM news in time for a reminder about the strike, tonight...

You're wandering around Milan, enjoying the city, but you're pooped, and ready to head back to the creature comforts of your hotel and a hot meal...without a valid ATM ticket, and no ticket vendor or machine in sight.

What to do?...More......

If you have TIM, Wind, Vodaphone or H3G and a smart phone, now you can buy your ticket via SMS!

BEFORE BOARDING, send an SMS to ATM at this number: 48444. You will receive an SMS with a normal urban ticket validated in that moment (so the seconds are ticking...you have 90 minutes).

"Normal urban" means that the ticket is *not* valid for the metro stops outside of the city limits (that includes the Rho-Pera convention center).

Cost? Ticket: Euro 1,50 + whatever charges your carrier imposes.

How can you use it to ride on the metro, or on the TreNord and "passante" services? Go to one of the ATM ticket vending machines, press "ticket with SMS," input the PNR code (Personal Reservation Number), and print out the ticket. It automatically will have only the time remaining on the ticket.

Want more info in English? Too bad. I only found it in Italian, so you'll just have to trust me. :-)

Enjoy!

P.S., about the public transportation strike in Milan, today, it's from 6 P.M. to 10 P.M.

Beware the 29th of March...it's open season for city marathons in Milan, again...beginning with StraMilano

There are a handful of foot race and biking marathons that paralyze Milan a few times a year, and one is about to break on us, again:


StraMilano, Sunday, March 29.

The activities start at around 8:30 A.M., and are supposed to finish around 1 P.M.-ish. In the meantime, it will be practically impossible to drive or take surface transportation, or even sometimes walk, if where you need to go is on the other side of the race course. As the organizers kindly reminded me last year, 'Please encourage people to come out in support of the run.'

O.K., I've done it.

Or sleep in.

It's the morning after the time change in Italy, after all.

Want more info in English about just where it will be run and, heavens you're full of energy, how to participate? Click here.

Enjoy!

P.S., I snapped this photo during the StraMilano a couple of years ago, for your non-profit personal pleasure.

Beware the 30th of March...public transport strike in Milan from 6 PM to 10 PM

Protests against the sacrifices requested of its workers by ATM, Milan's public transport system, for EXPO 2015 have generated a strike on Monday the 30th of March. Services will halt from 6 PM to 10 PM.

At least one of the requests seem perfectly reasonable to me: no vacations.

For Pete's sake, people, it's only for 6 months, and the chance to get the world to see what a super city for tourism Milan is comes once only 100 or so years. (Yes, yes, yes, there are problems particularly because life in Italy is still pretty much organized around almost everything shutting down in August, and schools aren't organized on a year-round program, I see all this, but I repeat...it's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to bring our city to the attention of world travellers with a good chance of positive trickle down for you, whatever your job.)

Other complaints, longer working hours without breaks, for example, do sound legitimate, because the situations created could be a bit dangerous for all involved. Fix these...now.

What to do?

If you can't leave work to get home before 6 PM, go out to dinner, a movie, a loooooong cup of tea with friends or a book, near where you work, if you can.

(Info source, in Italian)

I can hardly say my usual "Enjoy!," can I?

Good taste, but shallow pockets? It's time, again, for the "Affordable Art Fair" in Milan, 19-22 March 2015

Everything for sale, they promise, is for Euro 6,000.00 or less.





March 19-22, Milan, Italy, at the Superstudio Più, via Tortona, 27.

By subway
Green line MM2 P.ta Genova or S.Agostino

By bus
Lines 47- 59 – 68 – 74 – 90/91

By tram
Lines 14 – 29/30

For times and ticket information...yes...you have to pay to get in (which I find rather silly for a place that wants to SELL you something), go to their website in English.

Then let us know what you bought!

Enjoy!

Coming to Expo? Here's how to get to the site

Practicalities, dear Expo-ing friends: how to get there from here.

Thankfully, the page is in English, but it's abysmally hard to find on the official Expo web site...at least right now...so keep this link handy.

Enjoy!

Go to a Civic Museum in Italy, today, and get in free...it doesn't get better than this!

On the first Sunday of the month (at least until April 2015), entering some CIVIC museums in Italy is free. The entry fee for civic museums often is quite reasonable to begin with, but it's an especially lovely gesture for struggling families....More......

So, no excuse, the weather's nice in Milan, and the civic museums are varied and sure to have something of interest for everyone. In Milan:

Museo Archeologico, a marvelous Goldilocks museum...not too big, not too small, it's juuuuussssst right...that gives you a good overview of Milan's ancient past and gives you a chance to see what remains of Milan's ancient Roman imperial city walls, this is always high on my "don't miss" list. See here for the my post written during a previous round of freebie entry. Go here for the museum's web site, alas, only in Italian.

Cenacolo Vinciano, aka da Vinci's "Last Supper"...one usually needs reservations for this...see my previous post.

Museo della Storia Naturale (minerals, dioramas, stuffed animals, informative didactics,...see my previous post; or the web site only in Italian)

Musei del Castello Sforzesco (the variegated museums in the city's lovely castle, including the collection of historial things Milanese and the ancient Celtic and Egyptian collections; web site in English)

Palazzo Morando (fascinating glimpses of the Milan of yesteryear seen in period paintings; the rooms are punctuated with displays of period dress; web site only in Italian)

Acquario civico (refurbished a few short years ago, the acquarium, similar to Goldilock's bowl of porridge, is "just right"...neither too big to bore non-enthusiasts, nor too small to bore fans...and there's a fun tub-tunnel...for a general look...scroll down...see this post)

GAM-Galleria d'arte moderna (go here for your 19th century art background before you head off to see the modern stuff...not so interested in 19th century art? GO ANYWAY...the early 19th century palazzo is gorgeous...stay out of the park in the back, though...it's reserved for families with young children; web site only in Italian)

Museo del Risorgimento (dedicated to the peninsula's finally successful attempt to become a single independent nation, it also has other delightful surprises: the coronation robe Napoleon wore in Milan's Duomo, the bell cracked by hammering during the 1848 insurrection, paintings whose content can surprise and move...; web site only in Italian)

A word to the wise: check out the individual museum's web site and/or call in advance to make sure that last minute problems or required advance reservations don't leave you disappointed.

Are you elsewhere in Italy? Then go here for the entire list...sigh, only in Italian...and be sure to note any caveats at the beginning of the page before you scroll down to find the region and city of interest.

Oh, before I close, do you come often to Milan, or maybe even live here? Don't forget that you can buy a museum card pretty cheaply that has a lot of benefits. See my previous post.

Enjoy!