Medieval European Men's "Secrete" Revealed

Haha, I caught you. Not really a big secrete, but just a naughty entry. It will sure feed some ladies' curiosity about men. In medieval Europe, men wore those very tightly fit pants. Always wondered how they pee'ed? I found that answer during a recent visit to the Residence of Juliet (Casa di Giuliet) in Verona.

A Romeo's dress is on display in the museum. You can see very clearly there is an opening at the front, using strings to tighten. It takes quite some effort to unleash the strings and to relief yourself. The pants are really tight. I pity those men who had to endure the pain and trouble in those days, especially if you have a weak kidney. :D

Residence Osoppo

We were invited by some colleagues from Shanghai to visit their residence - Residence Osoppo. It is located slightly further away from Gambara Metro station, about 10 mins walk. Diagonally opposite a big cathedral, along a busy street.

The rooms are twice as big as ours. The kitchen even has a microwave oven. Bedroom and living room, kitchen are seperated in some rooms. A long sofa in the living room. Furniture is new, the building is new, too. The cost is 1400 euros per month. It sounds like a steal, comparing with Residence Desenzano. The only minus point is there is no Wi-Fi.

Life is a transient

Buddha said nothing is permanent. The only constant in universe is change. I had heard of these saying hundreds of times, but understanding these sayings is no easy task. Nothing in this world is permanent. Photography is to capture "the moment", make the transient in life eternal. Easy said than done.

I like to photography buildings, landmarks, statues, sculptures. Why? Because they are "permanent". They don't change from this minute to the next. But do they? Look at the Duomo in Milan. It has been standing for more than 6 centuries, but is it always the same? No, it has been in constant change. Change of the architectural style, from Gothic, to late Gothic, to even Baroque. Generations of builders left their mark on this monumental structure. Has that change stopped? No. Change is still happening every single day on this monumental structure.

Life is a transient. Don't worry about tomorrow, don't regret about yesterday, because today is always the most beautiful day. :D

THE Duomo - Milan

Duomo, the Italian word for cathedral, has now almost become THE Duomo, which refers to the Duomo in Milan.

The Duomo in Milan is the world's largest Gothic cathedral, 3rd largest cathedral. The construction started in 1386, and completed only 5 centuries later by Napoleone. Just when you think it is complete, it goes into perpetural restoration/repair/renovation, or whatever you call it. Two years ago, the facade was under repair/restoration, two years later, the restoration work is still in progress. Ok, ok, comparing with the 5 centuries that it took to complete the duomo, 2 years is really nothing.

Doubtlessly, the architecture of Duomo is magnificent. 135 spires decorate the roof, with a golden La Madonnina dominating the city skies at a height of 108.5m, 3400 statues of medieval motif-saints, animals and monsters protecting this holy place.

Climbing up to the roof terrace of Duomo should be one of the 1000 things you must do before you die. The view is splendid, the grandeur of the duomo is more enticing atop. You would wonder how those saints can stand on that tiny little pinnacle for a few hundred years, withstanding the heat, the cold, the gusting wind without falling down?

To climb up to the roof top, go to the right of Duomo (means your left, if you are facing Duomo). There are actually two entrances. One for people to climb up the steps themselves. The cost is 4 euros. Further up, there is another entrance, you can take the lift there, the cost is 6 euros.

Duomo has caused me quite a bit of depression. Facing such a nice creation, I am at a loss as how I can portrait it in my photographs to show its beauty. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Traveling on Public Transport in Milan

The public transport system in Milan is quite mature and efficient. Bus, tram and metro are all integrated. You can buy your tickets at any news stand for 1 euro. With this ticket, you can travel for 75 mins on bus or tram for as many changes as you wish, but you can only travel for 1 trip on Metro.

To save the hassle of buying a ticket every time you take a train or bus, you can also buy a 10-trip pass - a Carnet (pronounced as car-nay) at 9.20 euros. When you travel on train or bus or tram, just validate it by inserting it into the yellow box at the metro entrance or at the bus/tram stops. The time you travel on train/bus will be printed on the reverse of your carnet as a record. It serves as a souvenir for travelers, too.

Usually there is no conductor to check your ticket, but don't take chances, they do check! I encountered once when I traveled from Duomo to Central station. The station staff did come out to check other passengers' tickets.

Updates:

1. A colleague just told me that I can actually get a season pass. The cost for making the pass is 10 euros. The cost for a one-year pass is 300 euros, for a one-month pass is 30 euros, for a one-week pass is 9 euros. This is a very economical way of traveling on Milan's public transport system. The season pass works the same as the ez-link card in Singapore. You tap it at the reader when you enter the Metro station. Upon exit, you just walk out, there is no need to tap your pass again.

2. I found out yesterday that if you use your carnet or ticket on a tram, it is valid for 75 mins. If you change from a bus/tram to a train within the 75 mins, you don't have to pay extra. Another way to save on transportation cost, it can be quite substantial if you have to transfer between trains and tram/bus.

Questura di Milano

For anyone staying in Italy for more than 1 week, you are supposed to get the residence permit from Questura (means immigration/police).

For Singaporeans, you need the following documents:

1. Passport + 1 photocopy of the information page & the page where you immigration stamp when you enter European Union is on
2. Original + 1 photocopy of your air ticket
3. 2 copies of the application forms. The application form is 100% in Italian. I couldn't figure out a thing what it is all about. Luckily there was a consultant engaged by the company to help out.

Questura di Milano is located at 26, Montebello. Take Metro and alight at Turati Station. There are many exits, just make sure when you come out of the Metro station, you see Oltre Caffe. The Questura is just 50m away. Follow the crowd, you will see many foreign looking people moving towards a certain direction.

Once you are there, you need to first queue up to get a queue number, or a ticket as it is called. Wait for your number to be called, submit your documents, and in 5 minutes, you will get a stamp on your application form. Voila, done. Simple as that.

Sounds very simple, isn't it? But the actual fact is it is a waiting game. We arrived at 11am to meet our consultant. Then we got into the Questura at around 11.30am. The number being served was #256. At 3.00pm, the number being served was #267!!! Then all of a sudden, from 3pm to 4pm, the number went from #268 all the way to #280! From 4pm to 4.22pm, the number went from #281 to #290! Finally, we got our documents done at 5pm!

We were just sitting there waiting and waiting. From time to time, you would see people being escorted by police officer to come in and go upstairs. We even saw a black guy come in with hands being handcuffed behind his back, and being escorted by two policemen.

There is a vending machine here selling bottled water. The price is reasonable, 35 euro cents per bottle, but the machine does not give out changes. I only had a 1 euro coin, so I ended up buying 3 bottles of water!

This is really an interesting experience.

Residence Desenzano

In Milan, I live in a service apartment called Residence Desenzano at Via Desenzano. It is in a residential area. Neighbouring are other service apartments and residential housing blocks. There are bars/pubs/pizza shops just around the corner. A small super market right at the exit of the nearest Metro station Gambara. Another bigger one is down San Gimignano. It is much further away, but it offers more stuff.

First Metro train to Duomo leaves at 6.25am at Gambara, reaching Duomo at 6.35am, reaching Milan Central Station at 6.45am.

The staff at Residence Desenzano are friendly. Since I checked in on Sat, I had bugged the receptionist Lorenzo quite a number of times, asking for this asking for that. He had been very helpful in providing information and assistance. And I didn't give him any tips! Probably I should do that later. I appreciate his service very much.

The rooms are quite small, look at the photo right below you will know what I mean.

The residence provides necessary cooking utencils for your use, including a wine opener! It comes in really handy when I need to open the bottle of 2005 Merlot I just bought today :D

The residence's website is here. According to Lorenzo the receptionist, this place is popular with model wannabe's, but so far I have not seen any.

Panic Run at Milan Central Station

This morning, I repeated the panic run that I had with Peiling two years ago. The difference was two years ago, the train was to depart in minutes, while we still didn't know how to buy the train ticket! This morning, the train was to depart in minutes, and I had the ticket on hand, but I didn't know how to find the platform! This time round, I must record down the 'proper' procedure to do all these crazy stuff.

Buying Train Tickets:

There are a few ways to buy train tickets, you can buy online, using the self-service machines located on the ground floor of Milan Central Station, or at the ticket office. If you use the self-service machine, you can choose different languages. Pick your destination, departure time, your seat and then pay by either cash or credit card. A train ticket will be issued to you immediately if instructed by you.

I also found that the price is the same whether you choose your own seat, or you let the system do it for you. Yet there is still a small difference. If you choose your own seat(s), most probably you will end up at the back of the train, say coach 12 or 2/3. The coach usually have very few people on a normal day (Not sure about peak seasons though). If you let the system do it for you, then you most probably will mix around with the locals.

Practical Information to board a train:

1. To find out which platform you are to board the train, check the departure information at the station displays. It is very straight forward if your destination is the same as the train's final destination. If it is not, then you have to figure it out by looking at the departure time, then go to the train staff who will ususally station at the entrance of the 1st class coach to find out. That was what I did. I was going to Firenze (Florence), but the train's final destination was Roma Termini (Rome).

2. Some useful Italian words:

Carrozza means Coach
Posti means Seat

3. If you are taking EuroStar, then it does not matter whether you validate your ticket at the yellow box before you board the train, but for TrienItalia trains, you have to validate it; otherwise, you may be imposed a big fine (said to be around 70 euros)

Updates: The train ticket for regional trains do not specify the train number, neither is there seating number, and it is valid for two months. That explains why if you don't validate your ticket when you board the train, you will get a heavy fine once caught.