{"id":2868,"date":"2014-04-30T17:50:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-30T15:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickzullo.com\/?p=2868"},"modified":"2021-11-12T21:54:13","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T20:54:13","slug":"ricks-italy-lands-in-milan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/ricks-italy-lands-in-milan\/","title":{"rendered":"Ricks Italy lands in Milan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Benvenuti a Milano!<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"biglietto_milano\"And so it starts\u2026 Ricks Italy lands in Milan.<\/p>\n

Upon reflection, this is my third or fourth time to Milan, and like all of my previous visits, I\u2019m just passing through on my way to a more desirable location.\u00a0 OK, let\u2019s just get it out in the open: Milan is said to be busy, polluted, and frankly, the least \u201cItalian\u201d of all the major cities in Italy.\u00a0 Indeed, when compared to Rome, it has an almost German\/Swiss sense of purpose\u00a0about it (however, I\u2019m sure that someone from Berlin or Bern would heartily disagree).\u00a0 But yes, it has its appeal, even if in some neighborhoods you can be pressed to find the ubiquitous coffee bar in which to enjoy an espresso.\u00a0 Alas.<\/p>\n

Then again, Milan and its surrounding region of Lombardy is the financial and industrial hub of Italy; the economic engine that produces a disproportionate 22% of the GDP for the entire country.\u00a0 It\u2019s where all the major fashion houses<\/a> are based. \u00a0And you don\u2019t have to fear for your life when crossing\u00a0a busy street.\"the<\/p>\n

For the average tourist, however,\u00a0Milan’s\u00a0offerings are a little sparse.\u00a0 The Duomo is spectacular, then there\u2019s Leonardo\u2019s famous \u201cLast Supper,\u201d at Santa Maria della Grazia, and of course La Scala, the world\u2019s most prestigious opera house. \u00a0That’s about it. \u00a0But I won\u2019t be seeing any of those sites on this tour\u2014I\u2019ve seen them before, and my agenda has a different objective in mind.<\/p>\n

Allow me to define some of these goals at the onset.\u00a0 One of my main desires is to highlight individuals and their stories.\u00a0 More specifically, perhaps, is how their stories reflect the present day country in general.\u00a0 Everybody knows that the mood in Italy these days is less than dolce<\/em>\u00a0due to\u00a0the economic and political crises that have been lingering like a grappa-induced hangover since the global meltdown of 2008.\u00a0 This sentiment has been well-documented in books such as \u201cGood Italy, Bad Italy,\u201d and its follow-up documentary, \u201cGirlfriend in a Coma<\/a>,\u201d as well as other films such as \u201cItaly, Love it or Leave It<\/a>,\u201d and \u201cEmergency Exit,\u201d which shows the unfortunate brain-drain currently infecting the younger generation.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019m looking for some happy\u00a0news.\u00a0 I want to find people who, despite the challenges, are determined to remain in Italy, and do their part to recreate that ideal dreamscape that so many of us want the Bel Paese to be. \u00a0Ricks Italy, probably like your<\/em> Italy,\u00a0expects to encounter the charming agriturismo among rolling Umbrian hills or the quaint trattoria in Trastevere or a balcony overlooking Lake Como or a sunset glowing on the salt flats of western Sicily. \u00a0Yes, I admit it…I WANT these things, and NOT Berlusconi, or transportation strikes, or graffitti on the beautiful monuments. \u00a0(sigh)<\/p>\n

Well, it starts today. \u00a0Let’s see what we can discover together…<\/p>\n<\/span><\/span>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Benvenuti a Milano! And so it starts\u2026 Ricks Italy lands in Milan. Upon reflection, this is my third or fourth time to Milan, and like all of my previous visits, I\u2019m just passing through on my way to a more desirable location.\u00a0 OK, let\u2019s just get it out in the open: Milan is said to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[211,94,66],"tags":[384,212],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2868"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}