Saturday 21 June 2014

Italy, Milan's Shoppers

Shopping in Milan is so different from Singapore. In Singapore, I can casually go into a shop and pick up any items to look at. I don't even feel guilty if I don't buy them because I'm just browsing through.  

However in Italy, I feel like I really need some serious cash to enter a shop. It's like a culture in Italy to buy what you had shown interest in. I did feel kind of pressured when the salesperson came around, but parting with my hard-earned money on items with exorbitant price tags proved to be even more difficult. Having said that, I must admit that I am not much of a shopper.  























In Italy, high end boutiques like Prada and Louis Vuitton hired their own security guards. The guards looked like CIA agents in black Italian suits and shiny shoes. They looked really stern and had eyes that never seemed to miss a beat. They even wore ear phones to communicate with one another. Frankly, I found the guards a lot more interesting than all the branded goods on display. Hehhe.. 

At the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Jas bought a Prada and an LV wallet for her friends. Unlike Jas, I chose to deny any request list because it's troublesome. However, the experience of buying those wallets had me comparing Prada with LV. Overall, the hospitality in Prada seemed a notch higher than in Louis Vuitton (LV).































The structure of this shopping mall was breathtaking. It is one of the oldest mall in the world, opened somewhere in the 1880s, and it has that classy look where the royalty goes to shop. Seriously, I can imagine how the king of Italy used to walk along the mall with his large entourage of servants in the olden days. 

If I were to describe the mall, it consists of two adjacent streets covered by an arching glass and a cast iron roof. And along the streets, there were mosaics portraying the coats of arms of different cities in Italy. Over at the top near the dome, there were also paintings in recognition to Italy's great painters. The mall looks very modern to me despite its age and it's certainly something that will never get old with time. 































In the photo, Jas was standing on the famous Turin's mosaic. See the bull in the mosaic? According to the Italian's beliefs, placing the back of your foot on the bull's genital and turning three times will bring you good luck. I did not know how many times we turn. Well, according to our own logic, it's supposed to double or triple our luck. Hahha... we're a pair of nutcase.























Another expensive street with retailers selling haute couture, jewellery, and paintings. 

We were on our way to the supermarket when we came across this car. It's big but it's only a one-seater.























That's all for our second day in Italy. We just spent our day walking down the streets after we visited the Duomo. I wanted to buy the AC Milan soccer jersey for my dad and brother but it didn't materialise. On the fourth day, we set off to Tirano via train in the morning.

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