Milanese have been excited as long as I have been here (since Feb 2011). When I first heard about it, much to my embarrassment now, I imagined some kind of generic expo. Chicago has a lot of them, ie, home and garden expos, pet expos, beauty expos, etc. No, people, this is the World's Fair! My grandfather went to the one in Chicago in 1933. Organizers changed the name from World's Fair to Expo in 1967 for the exhibition in Montreal and thus the name was given to Montreal's new baseball team, the Montreal Expos (which lasted until 2004 when they were moved to Washington DC and renamed the Washington Nationals.)
This is the universal expo. The last one was 5 years ago in Shanghai, and in 2020 it'll be in Dubai. They've already started construction. The year's theme is food, Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. Italy is a perfect host country for this. They bring food, its preparation, and respect for the digestion process to a whole new level.
There's been quite a bit of excitement and self-criticism leading up the Expo. Journalism here isn't focused on reporting the facts. Articles are more like editorials, opinion essays, or diatribes(a topic to be explored further in another post.) And most have been very critical of the Expo and its progress. But the reality is it's beautiful and it's done. The Nepal Pavilion was only half completed, but they just had a major earthquake. That's understandable. There's good security at the entrance and a lot of police and security patroling the venue and Rho-Fiera Milano Expo metro stop.
You can compare it to an amusement park. Each pavilion has a take on food or something surrounding food plus a plug on the county whether it's the history or culture.
First go into Pavilion 0 describing the evolution of food, farming, and society.
And then the Expo is yours to see!
My favorite was the Austrian pavilion. Their idea was clear on air.
I got annoyed at the exhibits where they didn't want me to exit from the same entrance right after entering, ie, Angola and The Vatican. The Vatican let me got because I was already out of the building, but Angola made me walk up 4 flights of walk-ways to then climb down 4 flights of stairs just to exit.
At the Brazilian exhibit, there's mesh netting to climb onto.
At the Brazilian exhibit, there's mesh netting to climb onto.
I recommend the Caipirinha at the Brazilian pavilion; it's freshness is well worth the 10€.
I took a pass at the 7€ glasses of wine in Chile and Spain. I liked the fresh beer on tap at the Czech Republic and German pavilions. The lieberkase sandwich was good at the German pavilion also.
Some of the exhibits didn't have English. There should be at least English subtitles for Italian audio.
Some of the exhibits didn't have English. There should be at least English subtitles for Italian audio.
There were lines outside of Malaysia, Colombia, and Italy. South Korea escorted groups through, so there was a short wait.
Some of the pavilions started closing at 8pm, but a few stayed open later, ie Austria and the UK.
Some of the pavilions started closing at 8pm, but a few stayed open later, ie Austria and the UK.
At 9pm, there was a beautiful light, fountain and firework display at the Tree of Life. Don't miss it! Nor the German DJ!!
I can't wait to go back and see more pavilions. I definitely want to see Israel; their patchwork crop siding was beautiful. I want to see the Japanese pavilion, Switzerland's presentation on sustainability, and pretty much all the others that I missed which was about half of the countries.
Getting there: I took the red line from mmLotto. If you have a monthly pass, you can add on the extention price of 1.60E. If not, the ticket costs 2.50. And with the monthly, if the exit is accesso libero, don't scan it! You can keep it for the return trip!
Have I whetted your apetite? I don't want to show too much to spoil the fun of discovery. Is there anything else you that want to hear about? Let me know!
Happy Expoing!
