Rome and Milan Differences

After my brief jaunt to Rome, I thought I’d write a little about some of the differences I’ve noticed between Italy’s largest two cities.

First of all you should know that Milan is very much the business capital of Italy, whereas Rome is more of centre for administration.  Italians regard Milan as being well organised by Italian standards, with Rome being more typically Italian, in that there are pockets of organisation but these are often blurred by inconsistencies.  Some Romans admitted to me that their city was more chaotic than Milan.

Up to now I’ve been to Rome three times.  The first time was very much as a tourist and was in around 2000.  The other two times I was there on business, although on my trip before last week’s, I did not go to the centre, indeed, I really do not know to this day just where exactly I went in Italy’s Eternal City as I had no time to wander the surrounding area.

On the other hand, after more than ten years in Milan, I think I know it quite well.

Last week, however, I was able to have a quick look around the centre, mainly because I had opted to stay overnight.  As a result, I noticed one or two differences between Rome and Milan.  Some good, so not so.

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Surfing on the Red Line

Travelling boldly around Milan, as I do, I often find myself on the city’s red underground line.  This tube line is quite sophisticated technologically.

What you can do while sitting on one of these underground trains is surf the Internet.  Well, you can if you happen to have a mobile phone which can access the world wide web, like my Blackberry Bold 9000.

This means that cumbersome papers may become a thing of the past for me, as I hook myself up and check the latest news in Italy on the mobile web friendly website of the Italian newspapers La Republica and Corriere della Sera.  So, what’s the mobile web surfing experience like on my Blackberry smart phone in Milan? Read more

To Boldly Go Blackberrying in Italy

Those nice people from the Italian arm of RIM, the Blackberry makers, have kindly supplied me with a shiny new Blackberry Bold 9000.

I thought it might be interesting to hear how the Blackberry experience is going so far, even if I’ve only had this mobile email receiving handset for a couple of days.  First though, a few comments on the Bold itself, and I’ll also mention the Vodafone data connection plan I’ve hooked the Bold up to.

Finally, I’ll be offering a little warning with regard to picking up used Bold’s and, most probably other RIM Blackberry handsets.

Right let’s Boldly go on, says he naughtily splitting his infinitives before starting this trek around one of the star players in RIM’s current galaxy of products. Read more

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