Marvelous Milan

Deep-fried Nutella...served in a Chinese restaurant

Eleanor, Jeremy, and I had a few days in Milan last week in order to attend the national math championships. It was a great mix of sightseeing, shopping, and Expo!

Our first real stop (after the apartment, of course!) was the Duomo.

It is such a beautiful structure, and all three of us enjoyed our trip to the roof (fewer steps than we expected, to be honest...phew!) for the delicacy of the carved ornaments and for the view of the piazza.

After some gelato and lunch (in that order), we went to the Castello. This was a castle erected in the 1400s on the foundations of fortifications that had been constructed a century before. The Castello has been converted into a really nice museum, where they displayed armaments, paintings, furniture, and more.

Somewhat footsore, we meandered over to the Peace Arch. Originally started by Napoleon, it was finished and dedicated after he'd been tossed out...possibly a bit of a nose-thumbing action.

Ducklings! Turtlings!

The kids went into another room for awards.
The parents and other friends/relatives watched on a large screen
in the pavilion

Photo of uncooperative Jeremy next to
Math Games sculpture

The next day was rather consumed by the math national championships (Jeremy finished in the top 30 in the country, despite having moved up an age bracket!). On our way home, we stopped at a Japanese restaurant for sushi. Being early (about 7), the restaurant was empty and the waitstaff were just charming. They invited us to sit down while the chef prepared our order (Jeremy enjoyed watching the sushi's creation), and even offered us a glass of prosecco! So very sweet. And it was scrumptious, I must say.

Sunday, we went to Expo. I didn't know what to expect, except that it was about food. Sounded good to us! Besides which, we'd managed to score tickets to the Cirque du Soleil's performance (and you needed an Expo ticket to get to the theater)! We had an outstanding time. The introductory pavilion (pavilion 0) was incredible: you went into a sheet metal building to be confronted with a HUGE wall that resembled an old-fashioned library, with wooden arches, drawers that extended to the tall ceiling, etc.). The displays in subsequent rooms included the most beautiful walls made of glass cells that had been filled with rice, lentils, spices; life-sized models of farm animals; models of plowed fields; models of agriculture over the centuries; and more! Truly a breathtaking display.

Entering the main expo center brought us to the countries' pavilions. I hadn't really thought of it as a world fair, but that is what it amounts to. Each country that participated has put together their own structure and concept. While many incorporated the food theme, not all did. The best ones (in our opinion!) were those that had a mix of food and an idea of some of the goods or culture of the country.

Belgium highlighted a hydroponic fish tank: this consisted of a circular fish tank (which, of course, could be any shape, really) which fed treated water to a ferris-wheel-like structure that rotated above the tank. This water supplied nitrogen-rich water to the plants that were growing on the inside of the ferris wheel, supported by a plant-growing light in the center. Their point was that this is actually fairly compact and easily scalable from home operations to industrial production. I don't know how it works out with energy (you have the lights, the pumps, the motors), but I would imagine it's pretty efficient when you compare it to tractors, etc. Would it require a sheltered location? Probably, but don't know about that.

Another outstanding pavilion (my favorite, actually) was the Netherland's offering: they took a "fun fair" theme, including booths for different foods (poffertjes! bitterballen!), a tent explaining current technological challenges relating to world food supply, a little ferris wheel you could ride in, and a mirrored house (also with explanatory displays on the mirror). It was really sweet and quite effective. The blend of technological explanation and food sampling was very compelling.

England's display was really beautiful, too. Their concept was people working together like bees in a hive. Entering a maze based on hexagons (to simulate a hive-feel) and using rusty metal (evoking reclaimed industrial structures), you were surrounded by wildflowers. So beautiful! Up above was a HUGE metal structure that looked roughly like a hive. On your way in, you passed a bar with British foods, and then got to enjoy going into the hive...which was streaming the realtime sound of a hive located somewhere in England.

Jeremy's version of shopping

Last day there, and Eleanor wanted to SHOP! So we went to the area around the Duomo (depending on the shop, the prices were remarkably modest).

And then back in the train for home!

Love,

Alexandra