World Expo Milan 2015

World Expo Milan 2015 is an expo after the world famous Shanghai Expo 2010.  However, the contrast is huge in terms of publicity and visitor numbers.  In 2010, people had to queue for hours to enter the expo, then queue again to visit the pavilions.  Milan expo?  It is a breeze.

Our hotel's shuttle bus driver dropped us off at a very quiet place, a path that leads to the ticket office of the Expo.  

Occasionally, there are some stalls selling souvenirs, food and drink.  Hardly any people at 7pm.  

After about 15 minutes walk, we arrived at the ticket office and entrance.  There are two main categories of tickets for the expo.  A day ticket costs 34 euros, which lets you visit the expo for the whole day, from morning till 11 o'clock in the evening.  An evening ticket costs 5 euros, which lets you visit from 7pm to 11pm.  

After the ticket office, we had to cross a bridge, before we arrived at the main expo site, that takes another 10 minutes or so.  Lots of walking, if you are going, be prepared.

Taking center stage is the Tree of Life.  There is a light show a couple of times a day at the Tree of Life, with musical fountains, etc.  It is quite a relaxing show.  

Around the Tree of Life, there are many 'chairs' that look like a child's toy.  You can roll yourself around :)

The entire expo is very big, you might not visit all the pavilions in a day, let alone in one evening, so we picked some that we think we may like.

French Pavilion

The French pavilion is interesting.  They hang all kinds of food, drink, cooking utensils up on the ceiling.  Haha... This year's theme for the expo is 'Feed the Planet', how fitting it is.

Polish Pavilion Entrance

Polish Pavilion Garden

The Polish pavilion is interested, built with wooden boxes.  On the 2nd story, there is a reflection garden.  The garden is surrounded by mirrors, Perfect for people who like to take selfies.  

Polish Pavilion Stall

They also sell lots of Polish products on site, including many types of honeys, alcohols, etc.  Many of them are totally unheard of.  Have you ever seen having nuts immersed in honey?

Azerbaijan Pavilion

My favorite is Azerbaijan Pavilion.  It has very unique light installations, particularly beautiful at night. 

Functional Guitars

Their flower themed light installation are motion sensitive.  The intensity of light will increase when you move your hand close to the flowers.  It is a dance of your hand, lights, flowers.  It is so romantic!

Last but not least, the Chinese Pavilion.   Too bad, we didn't have time to go in to take a look.

If you plan to visit Expo, it is more worth to go in the evening.  You can enjoy the nice lighting effects, as well as enjoy your dinner, and the admission is only 5 euros.  You can come for 5 nights for the price of one day ticket.

As the site is really big, you should plan to visit for a couple of time.  If you plan to have dinner there, then you must factor in the time as well.  And try to have your dinner indoor with air conditioning.  It is hot outside and also there are many bugs, such as mosquitoes, fighting with you for your food and your blood!

Overall I enjoyed the expo very much.  It was a pity that I didn't have the chance to go there a few more times to cover more pavilions.  My friends told me that if you are facing the Tree of Life, those pavilions on the left side are better than those on the right side, so plan your visit wisely.  

If you want to have more information about World Expo Milan 2015, you can visit their official website here.