I love New York – and coincidentally, Milan and New York share more than you’d think. Milan has always looked up to New York (as well as to London and Paris) in many ways, like a brash disciple striving to surpass the master. Milan is an adorable brat you can’t help falling in love with; it is creative, open-minded, free-spirited, laid-back, yet ambitious and hard working—just like New York.
Siena is not a Renaissance city, it’s a beautifully preserved medieval gem. Its ancient Via Cassia leads south, toward Rome. It is well tarmacked but full of curves, forcing you to slow down and enjoy the surroundings. Local people used to complain about main railroads and highways being too far away, afraid it would slow down the development of the region. Today they are happy about it and they wouldn’t have it any other way: People from all around the world come here to admire pristine nature, traditional crafts and agriculture.
This Italian video reveals 10 Chique fun facts about Italy and about Milan.
1. Italian, such as Spanish or French, is a Romance language that developed from Latin. Of all Romance languages, Italian is actually the closest to Latin, and shares about 85% of vocabulary similarities with Spanish and French. 60 million people speak Italian as a mother tongue, and 125 million people speak Italian as a foreign language.
Emiglia Romagna got its name from Via Aemilia, an ancient road connecting Piacenza and Rimini. As you probably know, Rimini is a famous seaside and spa resort on the Adriatic coast, together with Riccione and Cattolica.
But Emiglia Romagna is not just beaches and nightclubs. Its skiing resorts are just as good, the most popular being Cimone, Corno alle Scale and Cerreto Laghi.
Bologna is the capital of Emiglia Romagna. A beautiful city and a cultural center of Italy with a prestigious university.
Peppuccio is a Milanese legend. His little tobacco shop and tiny bar between Naviglio Grande and Naviglio Pavese, open 24/7, has been serving customers for over 30 years. It’s a family business and Peppuccio can be found sitting on his wooden chair and selling smokes and drinks every single night after 9pm. The only bright light in the middle of a dark street, jazz music playing softly into the night.
Milan is a city that dates day and night. Which means that your hair must be perfect all the time – you don’t want to miss a hot date, do you? No wonder Milanese hairdressers thrive; Italian women take pride in their hair and most of them go to their hairdresser every week. Why bother washing and blowing your hair at home when the city is full of salons where haircare is easier and more fun? Milan is not your usual city, and even its hairdressers are hip and extravagant. I have compiled a list of the most peculiar salons in the city. Try them, experiment, have fun, and let your hair have some serious pampering!
Friuli-Venezia Giulia (FVG) is a northern Italian region that borders on Austria and Slovenia. This region has everything – high mountains (the Alps and Dolomites) in the north, and beautiful Adriatic beaches in the south.
I love flea markets (mercati delle pulci in Italian) with their uselful and useless trinkets and adorable atmosphere. London has Portobello Road, Rome has Porta Portese, and Milan has Fiera di Sinigaglia that has been an inseparable part of Milanese Saturday mornings for more than a hundred years. The market was named after Sinigaglia, or Senigaglia, the only Franconian port in Italy that used to host a huge market. It was created quite spontaneously in Bastioni di Porta Genova where tramps and the poor met to exchange whatever they currently possessed for what they needed. In a couple of years, this exchange place turned into a vibrant flea market that the Milanese fell in love with.
Barbara Conelli is a travel writer, polyglot and lifelong nomad. Blessed with ample enthusiasm, energy and stamina, she is always on the move, embracing her free spirit … [Read More...]
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