Eugi Gufo's siteEugi Gufo

I have realised that it is difficult for me to write a photographic reportage about a city like Milan. Partly because I am too used to it (and therefore no longer notice many things), and partly because when I am there I have neither the time nor the desire to wander around with a camera in my hand. But one day my Russian friends asked me for some photos of it (as if the hundred million photos available on the internet were not enough), and so I tried to put together a reportage.
Everyone knows what Milan Cathedral looks like, built in just five centuries.

I think you also know what it looks like from behind.

It is well known that once, where Piazza del Duomo now stands, there used to be gardens. But Mussolini, who cared so much about freedom of assembly, had everything paved — in this way people could gather to listen to his speeches. Today there are youngsters staring at a balcony (the one on the opposite side of the square), but for a perhaps even more foolish reason: that is where the guests of MTV Italy appear.

That arch is the entrance to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II: inside there are various shops, some of them luxury ones.

Crossing the Galleria we arrive in Piazza della Scala. Everyone knows how to recognise the famous theatre, right?

The statue of Leonardo da Vinci directs its gaze towards La Scala.

Behind it (and facing the theatre) stands the Municipality of Milan.

The entrance is guarded by no fewer than one police officer.

As in many other Italian cities, in Milan too the police are supported by the army in their difficult and dangerous work. The soldiers patrol in Defenders like this one:

While I was photographing the Land Rover mentioned above, a soldier gave me a hostile look, grabbed his rifle and took a few steps in my direction. But I pretended to be a distracted tourist and walked away as if nothing had happened.
No, before the Defender I had also photographed the street cleaners’ van used to collect the bags taken from the bins. I find it interesting that it has the steering wheel on the right: postal vehicles should also be built this way. It is a matter of convenience.

The non-motorised street cleaners move around with wheelbarrows like these:

And it is nice that at least in the city centre they do not have to worry about cyclists’ safety: the stormwater drains will never be parallel to the direction of traffic.

Since I have mentioned cyclists, I will also show you the bike-sharing system. It is a paid service and is equipped with electronic control of usage time. Its major flaw is that the bikes cannot be taken at night, that is, when even public transport is unavailable.

The bikes have an appearance that I personally find a bit strange…

To avoid boring you too much, I will go back to showing the city’s traditional beauties. In Piazza San Babila there is a church dating back to the ninth century, modified several times.

In this courtyard the medieval capitalists used to gather.

In one of the buildings a photographic exhibition of Kubrick’s shots has been organised. I did not regret going in to see it.

On the other side of the street I found (and appreciated) a vinyl record seller.

The beautiful entrance of a hotel is difficult to notice, but it is absolutely worth seeing. For some inexplicable reason it reminded me of the Paris underground.

The headquarters of the central post office try to convey a positive impression of the entire organisation through their appearance.

Milan’s Sforza Castle is the brother of the Moscow Kremlin (which also means «castle»): they were built by the same architect, Benedetto Ferrini (I hope my sources are not lying about the name).

I do not think you are interested in the trees in front of the castle and the park behind it.

Inside the castle there is a boredom comparable to a bottle of non-alcoholic vodka.

So I went to take the underground. The second of the three lines, the «green» one, is interesting because of the presence of old television sets at the beginning of each platform: drivers use them to monitor passengers getting on and off.

By underground I went towards the Navigli. The aim was to take a few nice photos for the beloved readers. The beginning was promising.

The system of Milan’s canals was built to transport the materials needed for the construction of the Cathedral. Nowadays this system exists only in part.

Where the canals still exist, one often sees old barges converted into bars and restaurants. Alongside them pass (sometimes with difficulty) boats carrying tourists.

Obviously there can be no comparison with Venice. Only the purity of the water might be considered on a similar level: unfortunately, this is not a compliment.

At this point I grew tired of searching for little-known beauties and decided to go home.

Perhaps it is better if I devote future Milanese reportages to specific topics: they will be far more informative than what you have just read and seen.