Cart and I will be going to Milan in November! Though Milan is mostly known as a fashion capital, we’d probably have to give that, as well as the Milan fashion week, a miss. Sorry Mr Roberto Cavalli! I would have liked to see your eccentric but beautiful collections.
Oh, speaking of fashion, this reminds me of Italia’s top model. I’m sorry, but its not even close as entertaining as ANTM, even that orange haired woman cannot hold my interest long enough to sit through an entire episode.
ANYWAY! Mainly we’d be there because I’m such a fan of the TED conferences, and to my pleasant surprise, when I heard that there will be a TEDx at Lake Como, I hassled Cart into taking me there.
TED conferences are about sharing ideas on changing the world, and topics could range from technology to culture. Initially, these conferences are only limited to a select group, with entry fee said to cost a shocking 6k USD and limited to just one thousand people, but thankfully it’s been opened for viewing online for the rest of us mortals.
By the way, if you havent watched any TED conference yet, do start with this one by Majora Carter about sustainable urban areas. I find it very inspiring!
TEDx on the other hand is an independently organized events by communities to host a TED like event. Its usually free, but it doesn’t mean that it’s less capable though. Ever since I’ve attended several independent talks in Singapore such as Interesthink, Nexus and Unconference, I’ve learnt not think too lowly of independent talks.
Unfortunately, my experience of talks here in Italy hasn’t been that fantastic so far, and I’m less than impressed by the barcamp held in Rome, so hopefully the one in Lake Como would be organized better. Also, it’ll be in Italian, so it’ll be a struggle for me. Shucks, a year and a half in Italy and I still get confused when people talk to me in Italian, so this will be a challenging experience 
But in any case, Jerrick will be joining us, so I’d have a friend in anguish with me 
But apart from attending the TEDx, of course, I’m looking forward to exploring the rest of Milano! I’m sure there will be plenty of lovely things to see. Firstly the beautiful Lake Como, made very famous from Star Wars episode 2.
Ok. I have to admit that I’ve never watched this movie before. Dont intend to either because even without looking at the reviews, it already seems like a bad movie. But check out the lake, and the valley beyond. Oh so beautiful! Its like a geography book in real life!
Maybe we’d visit La Scala, which is said to be the most renowned opera and ballet theatre in the world. Check this out, doesn’t this totally give you the Phantom of the Opera vibe?
The only thing that’s missing is a giant chandelier. Carmen will be playing when we will be there, by the way, but it looks like its all sold out. Bah! Cart is happy though, cos tickets are very expensive 
And speaking of bah, we probably wont be seeing Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper too. Even though its months to November, it seems that regular entry tickets are all sold out till January?! The only tickets available are through agencies, but I’m sorry, no way am I gonna pay 50 euro when its normally 6 euro to see a museum. That’s cut throat man. I should have done my research and booked in advance!
Yes sir!
But anyway, I’m sure that no trip to Milano would be complete without visiting the Duomo, one of the biggest cathedral in the world.
Well, I’d probably take a peek and compare sizes with the Vaticano, but we all know that size doesnt matter
Anyway, I’m really looking forward to seeing Milan. Allora, c’รจ nessuno a milano che ha voglia di incontrarci? Anyone in Milan wants to meet us? Hehehehe. If anyone knows what else we could do in Milan, do share 
Sidenote : Actually I’m also keen to visit Blogosfere, an Italian Blog aggregator, kind of like Ping.sg to see it behind the scenes. But gosh, it’ll be so awkward cos I don’t know anyone there 
Waaaaahh!!! Lake Como!! If you see George (Clooney), tell him he still owes me one kopi.
Think he’d be too busy with Elisabetta Canalis to pay any attention to me … moreover, every time he gets a fresh pack of nespresso, a piano falls on top of him … how to have kopi like that? :p
you definitely have to go to the top of the Duomo and have a look around. Regarding the Last Supper, you don’t have to make an advanced reservation if you want to risk it and also have time to wait. I went there without a booking and there was a queue of other people waiting to go in without a reservation too. What they do is they (VERY SLOWLY) let people like us in when a group or people who have booked don’t turn up. We waited under the sun for 3 hours but made it in. If you can’t be bothered to line up and wait or have time to do so, plan your next trip in advance and book early.
I didnt know that you could do that, queue up in the hope that someone doesnt turn up. Seems quite risky though, having to wait for 3 hours. Its kind of like the colosseo, there is always a lot of people regardless of which time of month it is.
We dont have that much time to spend. But I hope to plan the Milan trip better the next time :-)
Hey I’ll be going to Milan too but next week. Nothing too exciting, it’s a pain having to go there with the kids to make their passports.
The duomo is indeed magnificent as is the shopping :-)
Have fun!
Is there a consulate in Milan? I wonder if it is bigger than the one in Rome.
Oh yes, the shopping! I saw that there is an old mall where you can put your heel on a bull, and turn around 3 times to bring you luck :-)
Ah… That will be Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (just RIGHT next to the Duomo). To be exact, you put your heel on the balls of the bull :P
Poor bull! What did he do to deserve this :p
he-he I do not know but you really should see the holes on the floor which is righ on the … from all turns that people made. :P
The top of the Duomo is a must for sure but I am not sure if NOV will be too wet to go up. They only open if the weather is good & etc… I have been visiting Milan every weekend for the whole of last year but only managed to make it up there once because the other time, it’s either it was raining, a funeral (the death of a important Italian figure), cloudy & etc…
Brera would be a nice area to visit too :) Enjoy Milan! I missed it…
Yikes, I hope that the weather will be fine when we reach there … well, like what Beaulotus said, we could just spend time doing shopping :-p
If you’re up for some outlet shopping, Foxtown outlets in Mendrisio, Switzerland, is not far from Como and Milan; i quite enjoy going there :)
Oh my, I dont think we have time to go all the way to Switzerland! But wow, what a lovely suggestion. Thank you. I hope that we can plan our trip better the next time! :-)
aw. next time then. from como, mendrisio is about 15 mins away by car and less than 10km by my estimation. btw, if you’re still looking out for tinted moisturisers, Olaz total effects has a nice one with a creamy medium tint and beautiful finish.
Oh! I’ve been trying to find the Olaz tinted moisturiser, that’s the original one I wanted to get before the Nivea one, but I cant seem to find it in any of the supermercato here in Rome -_-
i’ve seen in in esselunga and limoni profumerie in milan. i’ll make a note to look out for it when i next go to other supermarkets ;)
What about San Siro?
Ah yes, the stadium to see Inter … I’m not such a big soccer fan though. But maybe we can stop there :-)
Good idea!