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Glamorama: London
Today, we woke up and bought metro tickets for the day at the tobacco shop next to our hotel, and then we went to Central station to get some breakfast. We started to walk to an outdoor market, but it was raining and the area was pretty dodgy looking, so we turned around.
We then went to the Galleria d'Arte Moderna (modern art museum) only to find that it was closed for construction. Across the street is the Giardini Pubblici, Milan's second largest park. We saw the tents for Fashion week being set up here.
Then, we went to La Triennale di Milano, a modern design museum. We saw the exhibition 100 Czech design icons, which had artifacts, posters, vehicles, chairs, etc from Czech designers going from 1910 until the present day. We then got coffee in the Coffee Design cafe at the museum, with beautiful views overlooking Parco Sempione, Milan's largest park. My caffe macchico was the best coffee I've ever had.
We tried to go to the tower Torre Branca next to this museum only to find that it was also closed, and we couldn't read the sign. A lot of things seem to be closed in Milan, and its not really a good summer place either because everything is closed then too, especially in August. So I don't know when things are open.
We headed over to Brera art gallery, stopping at Madina Milano along the way. I'm sure my mom remembers this makeup store, seeing as I made her take me to it everytime we went to New York City. A few years ago, the company left the US and the New York store with its helpful and flamboyant staff shut down. I was so happy to run across it here! I wanted to save my money though, so I didn't buy the whole store. sigh.
We stopped for some lunch, and then arrived at the Brera. We were delighted to find that it was free for us since we're students. But it makes sense, because the gallery is housed in Milan's Academy of the Fine Arts, and it was originally intended for the use of only the students of the school.
The courtyard outside is centered on a bronze statue of Napoleon by Canova, and inside was tons of religious artwork from the 14th to 20th centuries. They had some modern works by Italian and French painters that I really enjoyed, and a few pieces by Raphael and Rembrandt.
The museums made us kind of tired, so we went back to the hotel for a nap and then got ready to go out. We went to the Mezcalito Cafe for happy hour...it was featured in the Hello Milano paper as a popular place for Mexican food. I know we're in Italy, but Allison and I both love Mexican, and you cannot get it in London.
No one was in the cafe except us...I guess everyone spent all of their money on Valentine's Day?? The food was wonderful though, and it was only 4.50 per person!
We then went back to the Navigli and the gelati place because we liked it so much. And a lot of the other neighboorhoods in Milan are too expensive and exclusive, so this seemed like a good place to go out. There weren't very many people out though...Milan is not really a bustling place. We went to Osteria del Pallone, a nice bar with the Olympics playing on the tv. Then, we went back to the hotel to watch more Olympics and pack for Rome the next day!
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