Boon's Greece & Italy Trip (Jan 2013): Day 4

Cobbled Street of Milan

The first observation of the day: The souvenir stores that opened early morning was operated by Asians. Hardworking attitude and saving habits are virtues of most Asians.

Duomo di Milano

Groundbreaking: 1386

Completed: 1965

Wiki: "Milan Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Milano; Lombard: Domm de Milan) is the cathedral church of Milan, Italy. Dedicated to Santa Maria Nascente (Saint Mary Nascent), it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Cardinal Angelo Scola.

The Gothic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete. It is the fifth largest cathedral in the world^[1] and the largest in the Italian state territory"

I guess we are fortunate to see the completed Cathedral.

Beautiful Cathedral

Church Stained Glass

Preserved body of one of the Archbishops.

I remember seeing similar practices in the Catholic Churches in Peru.

There are at least 2 other cultures that I have visited that also practices the preservation of body.

1. Tibetan Buddhism - where the past Dalai Lama or high ranking monks bodies were preserved in Stupa.

2. Communism - the Chairman Mao body was preserved in Beijing, China.

Interior of the Church

The atmosphere in the church is peaceful and tranquil. It is a conducive environment for meditation. So I took some time to settle down and meditate. It was quite good.

Interior of the Church

Mother Mary

Church Exterior

Solitude

View of Milan City

At the far end, there are modern buildings.

Love the contrast.

Rooftop

Panorama view

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele

Wiki: "The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is the world's oldest shopping mall. Housed within a four-storey double arcade in central Milan, ^[1]the Galleria is named after Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It was designed in 1861 and built by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877."

Milan - the fashion capital of the world.

Lotsa expensive designer boutiques.

Lotsa good-looking people.

Some observations:

1. Milano Residents know how to be fashionable

2. Chinese Tourists know how to buy

3. The rest of us know how to window-shop.

Italians are creative and fashionable. And good at brand building.

Not surprising, some of the richest people in Italy are fashion designers like Armani, Prada, Ferregamo etc...

I always ask my friends who buy designer goods. These questions:

If I remove the label, would you still pay the same price?

If I remove the label, do you still like the design?

Well, I guess it is okay to pay abit more for a nice label and a good design. I have seen really ugly designer products , when I tried to imagine their label as XYZ brand, they looked even uglier.

I guess the bottom line is liking the design more than the label.

At the same time, it is easyt to give in to temptation. The easy way is to buy a designer item and feel "good" about yourself. But using these external possessions to create your own identity is so superficial and vulnerable. Do people feel naked if they don't carry expensive items? Do they need designer goods to validate their self-worth?

A Racist Experience.

I was walking along the street and was enjoying the music played by this street performer violinist. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to tip him 5Euro (the only note in his holder). However, he looked away in a proud arrogant manner. This ruined the whole experience.

I can't find any reason for his behavior except the fact that I am Asian.