Italia__-_November_2016

IL DUOMO

Take the elevator

(€13) or stairs

(€9) to the

roof of Milan’s

cathedral for a

wonderful view

of not just the

city, but of the

pinnacles that

decorate this

remarkable

Gothic structure.

Piazza Duomo

☎ +39 02 7202

3375 http://www.

duomomilano.it

DON’T MISS

WHAT TO SEE AND DO

When you enter the bar, Daniel, the

manager knows exactly what you

want to drink. And how to flatter.

Timelessness is perhaps a quality

undervalued in Milan, the one Italian

city above all others that’s completely

up-to-the-minute when it comes

to all forms of fashion. I’ve visited a

number of times to write about the

city’s fascinating history. Maybe this

is why I feel so at home in the 1920s

Principe. The hotel always gives

me exactly the same room, a small

“ambassador suite” decorated with

two oil paintings of 19th-century

Milano, one over the bed and one

over the sofa. I do feel a bit like an

ambassador here (albeit one of a very

small Middle European duchy).

In its time, the Principe has

hosted celebrities such as Edward

VIII, Aristotle Onassis, the real

Evita Perón, as well as the other

Evita (Madonna Louise Ciccone),

David Beckham and Lake Como

landowner George Clooney.

I had a list of places to seek out

in thoroughly modern Milan. Last

year, 20 million people visited the

city during its five months of Expo.

But what was the tangible legacy?

On my first evening in town

I set off for The Mandarin Oriental,

which is, like so much in Milan,

converted from an old bank. The

Mandarin opened just in time for

Expo 2015 and, I’d been told, it’s

now the trendiest hotel in Milan,

bar none. I arrived early for aperitivo,

dropped off by the last limousine

from the Principe. This is another

old-fashioned touch that I love: a long,

black Mercedes that appears silently

in front of the hotel every 20 minutes

to take you to Piazza della Scala. The

uniformed driver offers bottled water,

but otherwise he is silent as you glide

together into the city centre.

Walking along Via Manzoni,

I looked up at the room where

Giuseppe Verdi died, back in the

days when Milan was the capital of

Italian music rather than fashion.

In 1901, outside the Grand Hotel

et de Milan, blankets were laid out

on the street to muffle the sound of

carriages, in order not to disturb the

dying maestro. Now, just behind

Milan’s oldest hotel rises its newest,

the Mandarin. It has a very black and

white bar with a most disconcerting

mirrored ceiling and polished floor

that will have you guessing which

way up you are after a few drinks.

I was eating in the courtyard

beyond. I suppose I could have booked

After nearly 140 years, people are finally

allowed up onto the roof of the Galleria

GALLERIE D’ITALIA •^1

Piazza della Scala, 6

☎ +39 800 167619

http://www.gallerieditalia.com

Recently opened in the grand old Italian

Commercial Bank on Piazza della Scala, this

new museum houses 20th-century artworks

from the collection of the Intesa Sanpaolo

Bank and hosts temporary exhibitions.

PIN-UP STARS •^2

Corso Venezia, 2

☎ +39 051 603 2311

http://www.pinup-stars.com

Milan has many trendy new fashion stores,

but this one also sells original Andy Warhol

polaroids. At €15,000 each, they’re not

exactly a snip, but it’s well worth your

time to go in and browse.

MUSEO DEL NOVECENTO •^3

Via Guglielmo Marconi, 1

☎ +39 02 8844 4061

http://www.museodelnovecento.org

This gallery of 20th-century art is housed

in the Palazzo dell’Arengario, near Piazza

del Duomo. It fi rst opened in 2010 and

displays around 400 works, the majority

of which are of Italian origin.

ATMOSFERA •^4

Piazza Castello

[email protected]

https://atmosfera.atm.it

This remarkable new tram-restaurant,

with a livery that recalls the old Orient

Express, tours Milan every evening for

two and a half hours. For €50 per person

it’s a wonderful way to see the city –

and you get fed!

IL CENTRO •^5

Via Luraghi, Arese

☎ +39 02 9387 6137

http://www.centroilcentro.it

If you’ve come to Milan to shop, this is for

you. Recently opened in the old Alfa Romeo

factory in Arese, Il Centro contains 200

retail outlets and 20 restaurants, spread

over 90,000 square metres, making it the

largest shopping mall in Italy.

MAGLIA FRANCESCO 1854 •^6

Via Ripamonti, 94

☎ +39 02 5521 9333

http://www.ombrellimaglia.eu

Milan’s famous umbrella company has come

up with a new must-have object of desire:

a bespoke umbrella – you choose the wood,

metal, insets, fabrics and handles.

36 ITALIA! November 2016

➤ The city is served by its own tourism

website at http://www.tourism.milan.it

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