Sunday, June 8, 2008

ARRIVAL & TORRAZZETTA




Nancy and I arriving at Malpensa Airport in Milano

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after a large group of us arrived at the IES Center, 
we were taken out to the country to Torrazzetta

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my room, located up the stairs on the left hand side

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front of Torrazzetta

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welcome dinner

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exploring Torrazzetta

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beautiful flowers

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swimming pool with a great view of the country

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pets at Torrazzetta

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*MORE PICTURES OF MILAN TO COME*

A Whirlwind of Events: Churches, Museums, a Gay Pride Parade???

So far we have toured the Duomo and its plaza, the Galleria Viottorio Emmanuel, the luxurious two blocks containing the worlds most famous designer brands, and of course various museums of both classical and contemporary art. 

Sure, these places are AMAZING, BREATHTAKING, and contain sooo much HISTORY! BUT the best plans and places were those unscheduled..... 

After a group of us decided to explore Milan some more, Nancy and I decided to continue looking around a street that contained various shops. On our way back we decided to pass through the Duomo once more. As we approached the massive church, we noticed a large group of officers regulating the street in front of the holy building. Well it so happened we had run into Milan's annual Gay Pride Parade. Thousands of people lined the street and watched another large group march. 

It was an interesting sight! Everyone participating had a bumper-like sticker placed across their mouthes which had a large red "X." The theme had to do with silencing something....I guess maybe silencing racism towards the gay and transgender community? Anyway, I was very surprised that the city allowed the parade to start in front of the church. I took a picture of the parade with the Duomo in the background. To some it might be viewed as a great liberty towards freedom of expression, and to others more controversial or quite disrespectful? Either way, it is a quite striking image:



Nancy and I watched in awe. This is something neither one of us had experienced ever before. After a few minutes we decided to head back home, only to realize the parade had changed paths and ended up blocking the street across from us. So we basically said what the hell, lets join the parade haha. We were thrown a huge flag and got some stickers. We marched for about six blocks and then we decided to split. It was an interesting and quite fun experience.