Milan is a city high on food, wine, coffee, fashion and design.
A city filled with men in supercool suits riding past on sun bleached Vespas. A city filled with slim women gliding soundlessly past in sophisticated dresses and expensive shoes.
They’re all hanging out in sidewalk cafés wearing oversized dark sunglasses while nonchalantly smoking cigarettes or standing on street corners talking, gesticulating wildly drinking espressos and red wine. Had I stayed any longer than a few days I would inevitably started smoking again accompanied by a very continental alcohol habit. My traveling companion, who has been here more than 50 times before said, that I fit in here. Who wouldn’t? It seems so easy to live here.
After a couple of very intense days, evenings and nights at Milan’s enormous furniture fair, Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano, which really does take place across the whole city, we wake up to a grey and rainy Milan. It rains all day long but we dutifully continue our excursions through Rossana Orlandis design empire in the old tie factory, beautiful and fragile Nendo from Japan, Paola Lentis outdoor furniture in the magical 400 year old monastery and playful Mooois colorful supershow. A day brimful of both lasting memories and quick impressions.
To my surprise, I’m inundated with envious looks from the beautiful and well-dressed design Milan. It takes us quite a while to understand why I’m attracting such attention. My shoes. They are all staring att my shoes. That is, my orange galoshes. Like the well prepared traveler that I am, I of course packed along an umbrella, a jacket suitable for inclement weather and my orange galoshes. It doesn’t take long until the first young lady asks what I was wearing on my shoes and where she could also buy a pair. I was literally stopped by 10-15 beautiful women of different ages, all asking about my colourful footwear.
Towards the evening, sitting at a café enjoying a bottle of wine and some fried Sicilian chickpea dumplings, we continue discussing how incredibly little is required to break through the noise of impressions and expressions. It’s all about doing the right thing, in the right place at the right time. A couple of hours later we return to the hotel feeling rather good about ourselves. The streets are filled with beautiful people enjoying the warm evening having absolutely no plans of going home anytime soon. It will be a sunny day in Milan tomorrow.
