Will it always be Christmas in Milan?
It’s not just me, there are more Christmas lights than ever before here in Milan. Apparently the reason behind this festive splurge on pretty lights is rising crime levels in the city and some kind of pact the city’s politicos have made with the residents. Well lit streets reduce the probability of people ending up being the victims of crime. Yes, I suppose there is some truth in that.
However, this worthy attempt at keeping us all safe during the festive season raises the question ‘What happens after Christmas, when all these pretty safety lights go?’. Post Christmas crime levels may spiral. Unless of course, the powers that be are planning to make Christmas a permanent thing.
This interesting thought begs a few more questions. Such as ‘Will we be subjected to Xmas ads all year round on the telly?’ and ‘Will we get to see a plethora of Santa movies all year long?’. I suppose calming Christmas music could be piped throughout the city in an attempt to keep crime levels down. And ‘Will reds and greens become the next seasons favourite colours of choice for the Milanese fashion industry?’ .
‘Will mayoress Moratti sport a Santa costume all year round?’.
The mind boggles.
End of some frighteningly festive food for thought from me at Blog from Italy. Someone is off their baubles, if you ask me. Too much festive spirit, most probably Grappa.
Christmas is a coming
It is. For some reason there seem to me more Christmas lights than ever this year. OK, so they are not the colourful Oxford Street type of lights, but they do add a little something. Even Corso Sempione - the wide avenue that points towards the Castello, has lights in the trees lining the road. Very pretty.
Then, last weekend there was the famous Milanese Oh Bej Oh Bej (”Bej” is pronounced rather like ‘bay) street fair/open air market. More the latter than the former. Technically this is not a Christmas fair, as it relates to the celebration of the patron saint of Milan, St. Ambrogio. However, because it held so close to Christmas, it had come to be associated with the festive season.
For the second time now, this fair has encircled Milan’s Castle, which seemed to be a better place for this huge street market than it’s former location down near the Catholic University. Only this year, the unofficial, but tolerated, unlicensed stands occupied the road in front of the Arena. This caused total traffic chaos last Thursday. One slight black mark against Oh Bej Oh Bej.
The other slightly negative aspect is the crowds. It would appear as though just about everyone in Milan, and most places around Milan, visit this fair. This is wonderful, and a shame at the same time. It is wonderful, because it is nice to see everyone there, but, on the other hand, it is a shame, because browsing the stands becomes just about impossible. This is a further shame, seeing as there is some interesting stuff, and plenty of Christmas present ideas.
On the subject of Christmas prezzies, Milan is a fabulous place for Christmas shopping - if you know where to go. There are so many interesting shops, selling interesting things that it is almost impossible not to find something, well, interesting, even for those ‘you never know what to get for Xmas’ types. The only trouble is that the choice can be baffling, and not knowing the city does not help either. So, to reduce the baffle-factor a wee bit, one shop which I have used on more than one occasion is De Wan, which is a minute away from San Babila.
De Wan looks as though it might be terrifyingly expensive, but it is not. It’s not cheap either, but the prices will not make your eyes water, unless that is, they have gone very upmarket recently. Although I don’t know, because I have not been there for a while. Anyway, if you are looking for stuff for wives, mothers, aunts, and grandmums, then it is well worth checking out. I like it because the things they sell are imaginative, and different from what you can find elsewhere. Their costume jewellery is well worth looking at, but then again quite a few things may well catch your eye.
If any other shops spring to mind, I’ll scribble something here.
Search lights over Milan
I don’t know if anyone else noticed, but the night sky was lit up by around four searchlights on Sunday and Monday night. When I first saw these beams of light, I thought it was something to do with Ferrari winning the F1 championship, but I don’t know why the lights continued to shine on Monday. Maybe Milan is expecting an alien invasion or something. Then again, the local power company may have been trying to burn off a few excess watts of energy production. Who knows. Well I don’t. If someone could ‘enlighten’ me, I’d be all ears.
Note for your diary - 6th December - Design Museum Opens in Milan
Apparently, on the 6th of December a new museum of Italian Design will open in Milan. The only trouble is that I cannot find the address! I’m not sure whether the new design museum will be located near Parco Sempione close to the city centre, or out in the Bovisa area of Milan.
When I do manage to pin down the exact location, I will post it here.
Why bother visiting an Italian design museum? Easy. Italian design is about as innovative as design gets. And Milan is filled with shops showing off what Italian designers can do. There are spectacular kitchens, brilliant bathrooms and intriguing bathroom fittings, and then there is the fabulous furniture. Not to mention all the ornaments, lights, kitchenware and a host of other stuff.
I shall be writing about various examples in future posts.
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