Milan, which looks like Moscow

On August 5, 2024, we drove from the coast to Milan. It turned out to be a thoroughly modern city, with wide roads, a metro, and high-rise buildings. Driving into the city, we felt as if we were rolling along the Moscow Ring Road, and an IKEA even flashed by on the side. The only difference from Moscow was the writing on the road signs: it was in Italian.

We checked in, walked around a little in the evening, and the next day went to the center for a walk by public transport: first by bus to the metro, then by metro. And that's when we realized that Leia had just ridden a bus for the first time in her life. The trains we rode had no driver.

The square, the gallery, and the castle

The city's main square is Piazza del Duomo, Cathedral Square in Russian. A very beautiful cathedral stands on it. To its left is Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, one of the first shopping arcades in Europe. It's something like TsUM: inside are boutiques of the most famous brands.

Milan in general reminded us of Moscow. The highway into the city is like the Moscow Ring Road, there's a cathedral in the middle of the main square, and a shopping gallery to its left. And the builders of the Kremlin, they say, used Sforza Castle as a model. There's even Parco Sempione, which is like Gorky Park. Only all of it looks run-down and neglected.

The park and the tram

Leia wasn't having fun in the gallery: riding in a stroller through a crowd, and in the heat at that, is a boring pastime for her. So next we set off to entertain her, to the park, where by our reckoning there should have been playgrounds. And there really were some.

We also took a ride on a historic Milan tram. Several prewar trams run in the city: funny cars with wood paneling inside.

Shopping and the real Milan

Milan is a shopping city, but we decided to put off buying things until Switzerland: supposedly even the locals go there for that, because it's cheaper there. We did go into a shopping mall anyway, to see what was what, and in the end bought Leia sunglasses to replace the ones she had lost, a T-shirt, and little shorts.

We went back to the hotel by metro. And this, in our view, is the real Milan. Later we posted this shot to our channel and asked people to guess the city. Yes, this is Milan too: every city has different sides.

On August 7, we drove on, to Lake Como and Switzerland.