Day33 'Meh lan' not so bad!

I can't say I'm Milan's biggest fan.... Nope I'm just not a fan, honestly it's just a bit grubby! 

But it does have some good points and today I found some! 

So yay? 

Yeah the metro isn't the most connected of underground systems with different lines not generally being linked and an ok knowledge of the streets above can be required to get your journey to work! 

But it works.... And it got me to where I wanted to go today and that's all I needed, this was the Mudec museum it's a little out of town so the metro was appreciated here, 

I liked the way the museum did it's pricing there were two modern art exhibitions that cost and that I had no interest in! And there was the permanent exhibition, this I was interested in ..... Not just because it was free! 

Ascending stairs from the entrance you encounter a rather pleasing atrium from which the three exhibitions spread, the atrium is high ceilinged with design to represent waves and flowing water, it's really rather nice!

with flowing video in each panel with subtle colours.... The image fails to convey the height of this, which does reach a good 10mtrs to the ceiling. 

The permanent exhibition portrays Italy's colonial past it's trade the rise and fall of colonialism in Africa and South America and Italy's close links and in part occasional occupation in the north by Spain! Milan itself having been under Spanish control.

Exhibits were rather special the intricately carved conch shells being particularly impressive! 

South American demons were rather fun

and a good collection of Spanish Dollar locally made in South America to be exported back to Spain to be recast..... A simple way to enable the transit of silver....

tho as the image shows the quality of silver varied immensely! 

Imperial efforts in Ethiopia really didn't go well with this image portraying the defeat of the Italians at the hands of Negus Menelik the second.....

enough to enjoy here but not too much to lose my interest. 

Completing the tour I left in search of the Naviglo Grande a canal system linking the surrounding towns.... Nice on a sunny day

the waters are shallow but very clean and teaming with fish and the occasional Gondola! 

from the canal I headed off to find the metro to my next stop, on route tho I found a red leaved oak native of south America and a few hundred years old.... Sadly in its supporting frame it just reminded me of king Kong in chains on a stage if you remember the movie! 

behind it you can see yet another arc de triumph! 

You can't have a city without one it seems!

Through a park and I find the metro Vetra which I take to Cairoli to see the Sforzesco castle rather impressive from the outside! 

internally it's lost much of the original structures with a few courts and surrounding almost moorish arched walkways, to the rear impressive long gardens with in the distance yet another arc de triumph! Lol 

back through the courts and I spot the coat of arms for Milan! 

Which explains the number of England flags I'd seen..... Yep even tho the red cross on white is identical to the St George flag this one is for St Ambrose 

Yet another dragon tho.....?

My next sight for the end of the day was the Bosco Verticale a tower block covered in trees and bushes, that in summer must be impressive, the choice of shrub in winter really loses its charm .... Luckily some of the few tower blocks here are really nicely designed and made the diversion worthwhile

only a short walk back from here to the hostel and this took me past a tiny stretch of abandoned canal now cut off from the network by a few miles the original system must been quite impressive during the industrial revolution!

now it's slowly rotting away and will no doubt fade from history under more concrete. 

Back at the hostel it's just me and another chap in the room, I had no idea he was English!!! And a fellow traveller just on his return trip from India after a month and half pursuing his interest in yoga, from having said nothing to each other we spent the evening discussing philosophies and life's intrigues! 

We all follow our own hippy trails and he's certainly done his properly! 

India will hopefully be reached at some point on my trip! 

This is Josh ..... Occasionally to be found driving a yellow and black tuktuk in Bristol! 😄

A great conversation to finish the day.

Day 32 Meeeeeelano or Peacocks and pigeons

I couldn't decide on today's title! 

Both work really well, Milano is the fashion capital of Italy and it really shows everyone you see except the beggars are dressed up as though it's a special occasion each trying to outdo the other... I'm massively unimpressed! Happy to be plodding around in the rather travel stained garb I'd been wearing for a little too long! 

I guess travel stained is my fashion! 😄

Still I'm here I'll look..

My first stop is a small museum to Leonardo Da Vinci and his works really not worth the price as it's literally three rooms, it is good don't get me wrong the reconstructions of da Vinci's designs are beautifully crafted they cry out to be in motion sadly they aren't and understandably there is a no touch policy!

an example of a robotic knight designed to give the impression of a castle being greatly more defended than it actually was! 

a multitude of devices for flying including the familiar spiral craft

onto my next stop a shopping centre the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuel lI!!!! think of any fancy (couture?)shop and it's here this place really is a temple for the peacocks!! And architecturally it looks like one..... The building is beautiful! 

quite an entrance! 

Before you get to the dome roof in the center 

and the four arms of the building

each with uncounted outlets/naves for these pilgrims to commercialism and fashion. 

Obviously I buy nothing! 

This place really couldn't be more of an opposite to my recent surroundings and as such my opinion is likely skewed after so many wonders!

Onto the plaza del Duomo, the Duomo being a stunning Cathedral 

On another visit I'd likely pay to go in but I've seen so many in the last month that the beautiful facade is enough. 

So I stay on the plaza with peacocks and pigeons 

At times you can forget why you're on journey like this and start to think of home (not that I currently have one!) but a street performer guitarist started playing Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen Ruth's favourite song he played so beautifully it broke me I cried in the street for her loss.

He then started playing Pink Floyd-

Wish you were here

Shine on you crazy diamond

Comfortably numb 

All songs I associate with Ruth, it's like she's reminding me that I have to move forward.

Then he played Brothers in arms by Dire Straits one song I'd always gathered strength from......

and I do and I move on..... What choice do I have I've set this all in motion and it's still at the beginning only a month in. 

As ever I wander on, I find myself heading towards one of the only bits of surving Roman architecture in Milano this rather nice set of Corinthian columns 'colon di San lorenzo'.....

with a nearby unvisitable amphitheatre behind high fences through the occasional gaps in the fence you can see there's construction/renovation work going on, in a years time the winter Olympics are coming to town, things must look their best. 

And occasionally weird the wall of dolls!?!

it's a place for people to tie dolls in memory of murdered women/girls...a bit grim tho with a good reason 'remembrance'.

Next the Leonardo Da Vinci museum of science, a really nice science museum with a small section on Da Vinci..... Making good use of that name! 😁

From industrial revolution, recycling, maritime,air,trains and space it was a good place to visit!

it's getting towards the end the afternoon so I make a second attempt at the metro having wandered quite a way from the hostel, still confused by this system I stand back and watch a German couple get tickets...... It's blindingly simple, after the previous metro cards I've bought so far.... I'm now getting a collection of the things! 

Back to the hostels locale I again find a Carrefour for tea drinks the usual, and settle in for the night. 

The American lads and the Chilean are off clubbing.... I'm old lol.

Day31 just a short trip

No great plans for today other than travelling from Lecco to Milan,

In warmer weathers it would be really nice spending time by lake Como not necessarily at Lecco I didn't find much of an old town here pretty much a UK standard town set on a beautiful lake and surrounded by mountains, I may well have missed something nice about the place.... 

At least the hostel was nice lol

Well onwards is the only option. 

And soon the mountains are fading into the distance and flat agricultural land becomes the norm , after the spectacular views of the Alps it's nice to see greenery again but I was obviously not inspired to take photos! 

At least not until I exited the train at Milan..... Now Milano Centrale stazione is something very special! 

An art deco palace not of marble but another stone

Quite jaw dropping throughout! 

a bit of modern art just to right of the last picture really didn't inspire it of the apple logo in 3d with the bitten section stapled back in..... Funny what's considered art!

The Hostel isn't far away a couple of miles at the most so I wander down broad streets with the European standard of passage for road vehicles, trams cycles and pedestrians squeezing in and dodging the others! They can be a little chaotic!

Milan seems pretty modern and a bit run down if I'm honest, but I'm tired so I'll hold back any judgment today! 

Into the hostel everything stored and out again, but only to get to the local Carrefour for food drinks and snacks, back to the dorm and I'm soon joined by 3 American lads one Chilean and one that doesn't say much at all! 

A good rowdy bunch! 

I spend the rest of today relaxing eating and taking sh#t!

Not a bad day!

Day 29/30 heading south in a wiggly way!

Late start I'm feeling tired, so I only had to catch the 11am train, so making the most of what's available for breakfast I fill up.... On the usual stuff..... Missing those fry ups!

I got to meet the only person in the B&B a lady named Silvia, we easily get chatting and she describes me as 'very open' nice! Between that and Ben at Zermatt saying I can get on easily with people I'm starting to actually notice who I am! 

A weird thing to consider but it's part of this trip and it's proof that I'll come out of this at least more comfortable of how I'm perceived rather than how I think I'm perceived....

Anyways!!!

This is Sylvie another hugger!

 Another thing that's important maintaining human contact whilst in my travel bubble!

Pack on and away, Silvie waves me off from the balcony of the B&B.... Nice 😊

Walking down the icy road with snow about 400mm deep either side I miss my path to the lake, a road gets me back in the right direction walking past a crepe stand I ate at last night and onto the track around the frozen lake, there was a sports event on the lake and what else would it be but an English cricket team playing some locals.... On the ice..... Didn't expect that! 

the route back to the station was more direct and I was soon at the platform and waiting for the Train to Tirana on the Bernina line a UNESCO world heritage site apparently...

Certainly a beautiful route and one that continues the high route through the mountains, there's been a lot more snow this side of the Alps and it's currently in a complete white out as we go up 

looking out it's impossible to tell where the ground meets the sky there is absolutely no detail! 

At Ospizio Bernina We're at the language border of the area The local Romansch changes to Italian

Reaching the highest point of the trail at Alp Grum 2091 MTRS there is some visibility

ok the sign is visible! 

But from here it's downhill! Zigzagging all the way

guaranteeing a view one side at least!

I took to looking at snowy trees and different ways to stop avalanche.... No I wasn't bored 

with the twists in this descent at least I can look back at the train as goes over around the bends I've already followed...

dropping below the snow line at last there's detail the now familiar alpine villages passing by and Lago(lake) di Poschiavo at the far end of the lake a village with the same name is passed through these odd structures catching my eye...

shortly an announcement said what they were, store houses for cheese and wine! I do wonder just how old they were! 

Nearly at Tirano and I cross the border into country number 5 , stepping out the train into a rather pleasant square with an hour to wait until my connection to Lecco I have a wander about

Grabbing a midday snack at the station cafe which felt very much like a cafe from the 80's , in a good way, it was catering to any need people passing through could want from kiddies toys to burgers to cigarettes.. clinging onto it's place in the world for now.... Nice people tho who went out of there way to talk to me as I'm struggling once again in the language transition from Germanic to Italian.... It's an ongoing battle to communicate where just as I'm getting a little understanding I leave the country! 

The train arrives so I leave these nice folk. 

We're in a flat valley now carved out by the river Adda, passing towns all ending with the letters I,a,o,e you don't need a map to tell you your in Italy! 

An Islamic looking family got on the train a little girl in tow only about 6/7 who was singing sweetly away to herself, I couldn't help but smile! I got a smile back ☺️

With my little friend singing away we passed through the valley with towering mountains either side now once again with signs of vinyards on tiny plateau and steep slopes.

Nearing the end of the valley my friend and her family leave at one station or other, before the train turns south along the banks of lake Como

small villages cluster the shore between track and lake. pretty misty along here so much of it wasn't clear enough for photography, it stayed like this to Lecco my planned stop.... Yes Lecco rather unimaginatively means lake...

Up to the hostel I pass a museum with a few bits visible including a shoe nail maker! Seemed rather industrial for that job! 

I'm in and settled there's a cafe so that's dinner sorted for the night and off to sleep. 

Day30

I wanted a rest today it's surprising how tiring it is just sitting in trains! 

But I suppose I'm not actually fully at rest? 

Still I made up for that today

Only venturing out to find a supermarket to make a cheap lunch.

Otherwise I've been planning Italy a bit and sleeping!

Watching crap on Netflix fills the day

And with the morning I'll be ready for my next stop Milan! 

Day 28 Travelling in style!

My Dorm mates aren't early risers! 

They are both light sleepers tho..... I'm sort of glad tho as I can say goodbye, something I'd have regretted not doing, every time a connection with people is made it's important! No matter how briefly you meet folk! 

I'm sure tho that their next lay in will be appreciated! 

Down stairs and there is a tumult of children and teachers/guardians all rushing for food and available seats at tables, as I'd already packed and brought my pack down with me claiming a seat wasn't difficult these rug rats weren't shifting this pack! 

A well loaded plate with meats cheeses croissant and yogurt etc coffee juice .... You make the most of every meal traveling! 

And with time being shorter than I'd hoped I wolfed it down! Glugging the juice and coffee as I dump the tray into the supplied rack I'm out the door! 

The paths down into town are a bit slippy at this time but it didn't effect my progress and I made it to the Glacier express train as they opened the gates to let travellers on board, claiming my seat and an early place in the nearby rack for my rucksack.

And I settle for the day. 

I'm in an aisle seat but with the panoramic windows I can see that this won't be an issue! 

The electric motors start up and the train is away we're following the same stretch of track in reverse as the one we'd ascended up to Zermatt and with my rearward facing seat the view was much the same

a final glimpse of the Matterhorn and the downward progress speeds up, happily not as much as in 2010 when the glacier express derailed the only time in it's history in this current form. 

Down to Visp where my earlier connection up had been made, the train headed northeast along the valley the river Rhône had formed, the train passed various villages with it's people travelling more by ski than road it seemed

these people have good lungs!!!.

I hadn't expected this valley to gain the altitude it did after Andermatt but looking back at the map it's obvious!

the views are stunning clear skies really helping with the views

some appealing to my fondness for dilapidated sheds!

this train is really quite posh with waitress regularly attending to people's needs for coffee alcohol etc.
I've never been on a train with this kind of service and come lunchtime where bottles of wine and freshly prepared meals were being served it showed as I the only person doing it tucked into my packed lunch! 

I had poshed it up a bit with walnut bread,Swiss cheese and tongue in jelly with mustard.... I'm sure it still raised a few chuckles!

Still the views were more than distracting

and at Oberalp pass we reached the highest point reaching 2033 meters

yep the cable cars were going higher of course but I wouldn't swap places this is bliss! 

The descent started the views maintaining their magnificence with waves of clouds breaking over one range

down the other side and the track follows the Vorderheim river through canyon like cliffs with curious erosion and the deep sky blue water

at a place called Tamins the river joins the Rhein which we follow to Chur, a stop and quick turn around and the track curves south west before turning south and up the valley of the Lei Burvagn river, staying with this river it reaches a Hydro electric power station fed by the lake Lei de Mormorera who's tributary river continued below us, we pass over this on a 65mtr high viaduct before Filisur

the image online being considerably better than mine! 
soon were through the last tunnel (no193) and over the last bridge (no 291!) and into the snowy and expensive town of St Moritz!

leaving the train behind I have a 2k walk around the frozen lake before getting to my B&B, minimal and expensive at 165 Swiss francs but still the cheapest in this town!

Still it's nice to have a room to myself for once!