Here you can browse through my blog posts prior to February 2022. Currently I'm sharing my travel experiences, candid opinions, and what's on my mind solely on my Facebook page. — Rick
It’s always good to enjoy the contemporary energy of Europe’s great cities in our travels — and when in Milan, be sure to drop by the gleaming high-rise neighborhood of Porta Nuova. My friend and fellow guide Lorenza Scorti, who’s been showing me around her city now for 20 years of visits, was appalled that this wasn’t in my Rick Steves Italy guidebook. Well, now it is.
Where are your favorite places to see the future today in Europe’s great cities?
Built after the economic crisis of 2008, the statue decorating the square at the doorstep of Milan’s stock market seems to be giving Joe the Plumber the finger. Locals also interpret it as a fascist salute with three fingers knocked off. It resonates with people who, in the last decade, have watched as corporate, finance, and banking powers have become ever more friendly with ever more fascist governments…against the interests of the 99%.
Here’s how I wrote up this site in the Rick Steves Italy guidebook:
Piazza degli Affari and a Towering Middle Finger
This square and monument mark the center of Milan’s financial district. The bold fascist buildings in the neighborhood were built in the 1930s under Mussolini. Italy’s major stock exchange, the Borsa, faces the square. Stand in the center and appreciate the modern take on ancient aesthetics (you’re standing atop the city’s ancient Roman theater). Find the stern statues representing various labors and occupations and celebrating the nobility of workers — typical whistle-while-you-work fascist themes. Then notice the equally bold modern statue in the center. After a 2009 contest to find the most appropriate sculpture to grace the financial district, this was the winner. With Italy’s continuing financial problems, here we see how “the 99 percent” feel when they stand before symbols of corporate power. (Notice how the finger is oriented — it’s the 1 percent, and not the 99 percent, who’s flipping the bird.) The 36-foot-tall, Carrara marble digit was made by Maurizio Cattelan, the most famous — or, at least, most controversial — Italian sculptor of our age. L.O.V.E., as the statue is titled, was temporary at first. But locals liked it, and, by popular demand, it’s now permanent.
Buongiorno! I’m in Milan, doing research for the next edition of my Rick Steves Italy guidebook. I’m here with local guide Sara Cerri — and today, we visited the city’s massive cathedral.
Climbing through the forest of lovingly-decorated spires atop the Duomo, Sara reminded me that each flower and saint’s face we saw is an individual work of art, carved out of marble 500 years ago for the rooftop of this great cathedral — and left here by artists who believed that the public would never see it. Their art was a gift for God. And today, a steady stream of tourists climb the spiral stairs they once used and get to enjoy this art as well. I was inspired.
What inspires you in your travels?
With the help of my friend Marco, I’ve discovered a wonderful new restaurant in Monterosso. The owner, Elisa, makes all the cakes they serve — and we got them all.
Here’s how I wrote up L’Osteria for the next edition of my Rick Steves Italy guidebook:
[$$] L’Osteria is a delightful little family-run place serving “cuisine with passion” at wonderful prices. Allesandro thoughtfully explains your options, and Elisa is understandably proud of her cakes. Their Possa wine, from vineyards close to the sea, is the oyster of local wines, or maybe the passion comes from the Ligurian music the family is sure to play (12:00-14:30, two evening seatings: 19:00 and 21:00, closed Mon., Via Vittorio Emanuele 5, tel. 0187-819-224). It’s a cozy scene inside with a few tables outside in the shadow of the church.
I’m in Monterosso, in the Cinque Terre — and Father Renato just found me visiting a cemetery. He said he needed to talk to me about taking something out of my guidebook, and then he took me into his monastery for some homemade limoncello.
Capuchin friars are Franciscans — the “Jugglers of God” — and they like Lutherans (like me).