Giulia

Between eight and nine o'clock the alley changes character: first it is a passage, then it becomes a one-hundred-meter-long dining room.

The best trattorias don't have a beautiful window display. They have four tables on the street and a menu that changes with the market.

Written while walking, recorded that same evening. I haven't fixed it and I won't fix it.

Two versions of the same thing. This one's slower and I like it better, but I can't say why.

What you see in the middle was not visible to spectators: these are the underground corridors, covered by a wooden floor and sand.

The arches are repeated on three levels, and each level has columns of a different order. It's not decoration: it's the way it supported the weight.

Practical tip: Enter through the north entrance and turn left. Everyone goes right, and for twenty minutes you'll have the steps practically to yourself.

If you want a photo without fifty people behind it, stand in the center of the octagon and angle your shot upward. It always works.

At eight o'clock, the square is still almost empty. An hour later, no one passes through here: the Duomo is beautiful, but the best light comes from those who get up early.

Begun in 1386 and finished, so to speak, in the twentieth century. Those who laid the first stone saw none of this.

Behind this apse is the refectory with the Last Supper. Everyone enters, few wander around—and the courtyard is the quietest part.

From the outside, it appears small and austere. This was intentional: the architect placed all the luxury inside, where it can be seen by those who paid for the ticket.

In the 19th century, this was pure technology: never before had such a large glass roof been dared. Today, we walk under it without looking up.

There are one hundred and thirty-five. It took almost six hundred years to complete them, and each generation has added its own.

The water was used to carry marble for the Duomo. Today, it only brings the reflection of the streetlights, but that's how the city was born.

The easiest way to start a day in Milan: enter through the castle and exit through the park. It's free, and takes an hour.

People have been walking under this vault for 130 years. It was built as a covered road, not a monument: you needed to be able to cross the city without getting wet.

The marble comes from a quarry on Lake Maggiore, and the city still has rights to it today. Six centuries of maintenance, never finished.

A small bag, water, and yesterday's shoes. New shoes while traveling are the biggest mistake I know.

The best spots are a twenty-minute walk from the popular attractions. No buses go there, and that's why they work.

At the market, you can understand a city in half an hour: what people really eat, how much it costs, and how they speak.

The honest answer is: it depends on where you sleep and how much you walk. The rest is just a matter of details.