Milan and Lake Como, Italy 2023 Days 5 & 6

The past two days have been busy with trains, boats and lots of walking and exploring. We began Wednesday morning with a breakfast at the Milan Google office – and had a good laugh because I took a whole mango to eat, only upon realizing that when I tried to cut it open – it was hard as a rock. We were both convinced I took a display fruit – however, I investigated further and redeemed myself. This was in fact a fruit to be eaten, just utterly unripe. Golly! Google Milan was nice to see – an office located in what seems to be a newly renovated area it felt similar to the Hudson Yards in NYC for me. Many new business offices open – and nice shops to peruse for lunch or shopping. I had scouted out some chocolatiers to visit so after the Google stop we made our way to two old time Italian chocolate shops and I might have stocked up on some goods:) The highlight of Wednesday was yet to come though – we visited two very different galleries. The first was a recommendation by my brother’s girlfriend, and let me just state this here, Chloë made a few recommendations for us, and we did nearly every one! If anyone needs a new travel agent – she might have some tips for you! Thank you Chloë!

Fondazione Prada our first galley was unlike any gallery I have ever experienced. Just as much thought went into the architecture and how one moved through the space, as the art occupying the space. The gallery houses five different buildings each with their own qualities – to name a few, one is called the Haunted House and another called the Gold building. The Haunted house was home to a few of their permanent installations which made me feel more uneasy then in what I would descried as a traditional haunted house. This was not about blood, guts and gore, but about cold anxiety, the weight of our flesh, bondage, loss, love and abandonment. On one floor there was an arm coming from the wall, positioned in a way that you could brush up against if it were a person standing beside you, and on another floor a small child’s leg coming from the wall wearing a sock and sandals. The motion of the leg appeared to be kicking or stepping long with a boat anchor hanging from it’s ankle. Behind this piece was a room with a sewer drain you had a birds eye view of with running water and a plastic pink heart glowing with red lights. I imagined somehow bound within the concrete of the building was a person, trapped and trying to get out leaving parts of it’s self for others to find. In a different budling, an artist guided it’s visitors through a totally pitch black and dark room – absolutely no light was available. We had to walk through a maze of sorts keeping our right hand on a skinny railing to guide us through – when we made it through the dark maze we entered a room with giant red and white (though realistic) mushrooms attached to the ceiling, spinning. What an experience – entering darkness and having absolutely no idea what is on the other side and to find dancing mushrooms! It was a bit like how I would imagine Alice felt in Alice and Wonderland – or maybe what it’s like taking a hallucinogenic. However the art piece I will never forget was an extremely large piece maybe 20ft x 30ft- and from a distance it simply looks like a giant piece of wood panted black. Solid black. As you near the work, the first thing I noticed was a subtle smell and leaned in to have the truth revealed – the work was covered in flies – once alive flies, now dead, all painted black! I stood at this piece a while, looking so closely at the details of the flies. I could almost hear the buzzing they once made. This grotesque display of thousands of flies made me shudder. I was almost half expecting them to fly off the wall, or for a maggot to be trapped and incubating in the art.

From this surreal experience we made our way to a more traditional gallery in Milan, called Gallerie d’Italia. Here we saw stone carved and marble reliefs of Socrates (Obi’s favorite) for example, and other European painters who left their mark in this world by depicting scenes of life hundreds of years ago. Young children farming in the country side, a tired mother repairing a piece of clothing, soldiers returning from war, a family sitting around one candle sharing food, old wooden tables and chairs, portraits of sisters and brothers or men on boats bringing in their daily catch. This galley also housed on the first floor art – re-imagined – a whole floor dedicated to modern art and newer works. Having visited these two galleries in one day – the experience made the metamorphosis of art visceral. I thought about how the flies painted to the wall were descendants in some way from the flies that must surely once occupied the barns and farms painted in the works from the turn of the century. I chucked at the thought.

We ended the day eating at a restaurant, another of Chloë’s recommendations, the one which declared on their website sneakers were not permitted but, alas – there were plenty of folks with sneakers on, ha! We really enjoyed this meal and it was a FAR cry from our “vega” burger just a few short nights ago. We rolled home and made plans for Thursday.

I had a lot of trouble sleeping – this is not new as of recently, and so after four and half hours of sleep I was up and unable to settle down again. I decided to creep outside at 6 am and run. Yes, I think I needed to move my body in a different way that walking, standing or sitting. I had seen some runners the day prior jogging around a park which houses a castle and decided to join them this morning. There were plenty of folks out at this hour – and the air was a perfect running temperature. It felt good to run. We left the apartment around 8 am for Lake Como. When we got off the train shortly after 9 am – we had boat tickets already purchased but no idea where to go (the ticket did not include a pick up spot). Luckily we melted in with the mass of tourists and assumed they were all headed to the piers – which they were – and thankfully led us to the exact spot:) The lines for the boats to Bellagio are packed, every blog and travel tip I read – and from talking with Chloë and Rachel, Obi’s sister-in-law they all warned us about the crowds. All correct – the crowds were fierce – we had bought tickets in advance which helped so we only needed to wait on one line. When the boat pulled up I underestimated how many people it could hold – but thankfully we got on and even got two seats in the bow (one was covered in bird poop so no one wanted to sit in it, I just cleaned it off and voila!). The ride was just about 2.5 hours – cruising along a perfectly picturesque lake, with Italian villas scatted along the shores and valleys of the mountains. A scene I could spend days looking at. We had a few hours in Bellagio which included a lunch stop, a stunning walk in the historical gardens (Chloë’s final recommendation) called I Giardini di Villa Melzi and of course – three scoops of gelato! I knew the line for our return boat ride would get long- early so when I made one final dash to the bathroom and a quick stop in a store Obi was tasked with getting on line and holding a space. Upon my return – I saw the line was already VERY long and Obi was no where in the front, hahaha. He got confused about it’s starting place so we were closer to the end. The boat we needed arrived about 30 minutes late and as the passengers boarded we anxiously awaited our fate to see if there would be space enough for us (and those behind us). If we couldn’t fit, we would have to take our chances with the next one arriving an hour or so later. At one point the captain stopped allowing folks on – yikes…but then he waved his hand and on we went. I weaseled my way to the stern of the boat and actually found a chair for Obi (he likes to sit, I like to stand)- right in the front row with an unobstructed view. Within a few moments another chair opened up and we settled in for the ride home. We sat in silence for large portions of the ride – each looking out at the passing landscape. Making jokes about which villa Obi would buy for me – and pretending to imagine what out lives would be like living in such a magical place.

Rachel – provided us with a dinner recommendation which knocked my socks off – and happened to be, by luck only 300 m from the apartment we are staying in for the night. Thankfully it was so close, because we were well satisfied.

Tomorrow is our trip back to Milan for a final day – and a grand tour of Duomo Di Milano. We return home on Saturday.