Christmas in Milan§
writer: russell j.t. dyer; posted: December 7, 2009; revised: April 2, 2018; readers in past month: 995
It’s Christmas time in Milan. They’re putting up decorations around the center of town and along many of the main streets in other areas of the city. Although most people living in Milan are Christian and Italy is primarily a Cathlic country, the decorations are surprisingly fairly neutral. Mostly that are just white lights, some made to resemble icicles. Near my home there are some in the shape of holly leaves and berries along the street. Still, it’s nice, festive, and stylishly reserve.
They brought in a giant Christmas tree and placed it in the Piazza dei Duomo, next to the Galleria. It was quite a job putting it together and triming it. They had several cranes and a plenty of workmen helping out. They did a good job of supporting it and holding it in place with cables so it won’t fall over in the wind. They decorated it and added lights. They’ve also decorated all of the buildings surrounding the plaza with lights, as well as the Galleria. Additionally, they’ve placed lights behind the stained glass windows inside the Duomo. So you can see them easily from the outside at night. I wish they would like up the statue of the king at night. I guess they don’t like him.
Down the street at Piazza Cordusio, the locals seemed to have thought that the statue of Giuseppe Parini might have been cold. So they’ve wrapped him in a blue cloak for the holidays. Last year they gave the statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi a red shirt (his trademark) and a white cloak, but that statue is hidden behind a scaffold this year being restored. One would think that kids probably put the cloaks on these statues, but I think that’s unlikely. I suspect that the city is doing this as a decoration.
They also overly decorate one of the trams with lights. It’s amazing how many lights they get on the outside of the tram. It doesn’t take on passengers. It just roams around the city — on the street car rails, of course — showing off it’s lights. I took a picture of it last year and have posted it here temporarily. It’s not a very clear shot since I took it with my cell phone. This year I’m going to try to walk around with my camera at night and be on the look-out for it. When I get a good shot of it, I’ll post it on this page, replacing this one.