INTRODUCTION
HISTORY
In the fourth century Emperor Constantine issued the 'Edict of Milan', which granted Christians throughout the Roman Empire the freedom to worship for the first time. Under it's charismatic bishop Ambrogio, Milan quickly became a major centre for Christianity.
In medieval times Milan rose to prominence under the regime of the Visconti dynasty. They founded the late gothic cathedral (Duomo) and built the first heavily fortified nucleus of the castle. The castle was extended to become one of the most luxurious Renaissance courts, under the orders of the Sforza's - the successors to the Visconti. Much building and rebuilding was commissioned in this period, particularly under the last Sforza - Lodovico. He employed Bramante to improve the city's churches and also Leonardo da Vinci to paint 'The Last Supper' and to design war machines, to aid him in his struggles with foreign powers and other Italian states.
In 1499 Milan fell to the French, marking the beginning of almost four centuries of foreign rule. Later the Hapsburgs took control. During their time they commissioned the opera house - 'La Scala' and also the 'Brera' art gallery, which was filled during Milan's short spell under Napoleon, with paintings looted from churches and private collections.
THE CITY
Politically Milan is the second most important city in Italy, after Rome. The city is geared towards business more so than tourism and this is reflected in the busy lifestyle of the power-dressed citizens. The work ethic and consumerism are top priority for the majority of the Milanese.
Milan is the capital of Lombardy, a wealthy region in the north of Italy, that borders onto Switzerland. It is the fashion capital of Italy, with many of the top designers including Moschino, Armani, Versace etc., and rates alongside that of Paris.
Milan does also retain its past history in the older areas of the city. As well as the elegant facade of the cathedral, and the castle, Milan houses some excellent classical and contemporary art galleries and innumerable churches, including Leonardo's masterpiece 'The Last Supper'.
There is a lively night scene in Milan, although in some places this can be very costly. The main area for night life is south of the city centre in the Navigli, alongside the old canal network.
THE UNIVERSITY
The University in Milan is similar to the University in London, in that there are buildings throughout the city which house the different faculties. The main University building is in the city centre. The faculty of maths however is situated to the east of the centre, close to the other sciences faculties.
THE WEATHER
The weather in Milan is similar to that in Great Britain. During the winter months, the temperature can fall below freezing. In the summer the smog, which is very noticeable, has more of an affect on the weather. It keeps the air warmer and more humid, particularly in the months of July and August when it can become unbearable. It would be advisable to avoid Milan during these two months, and especially to get your exams out of the way as early as possible as it really is impossible to study efficiently in Milan's summer weather. Mosquito repellent will also come in handy!
TRAVELLING TO & FROM MILAN
Plane - Milan has two airports, Malpensa and Linate, for both domestic and international flights. Linate is the closest to the centre, 7km away, while Malpensa is 50km away; there is public transport available to and from both airports. Charter flights would be the cheapest option, it's best to book in advance during the peak season. Cheap flights can be found in the 'bucket' shops in London. The main drawback with the plane is that luggage is restricted to about 20kg.
Train - Travelling to Milan by train won't save much money, although it can be more pleasurable, with the option to stop off on the way. (It takes 18-20 hours to get to Milan). A BIGE ticket will be the cheapest available for those under 26 years of age. A return fare to Milan will cost around £150 and is valid for 2 months. A single is about £80. If you wish to travel around before going to Milan then there are Inter-Rail tickets and Explorer tickets available. It would be advisable to reserve a seat for such a long journey (about £2) or if you wish to travel overnight a couchette (about £9), which should be done in advance.
Coach - There are direct bus services to Milan, which take around 27 hours. It is run by National Express Eurolines and coaches leave at least three times weekly during the summer. There are small reductions for students and those under 26 years.
SENDING THINGS ON AHEAD
Sending on luggage by plane is very expensive and certainly not worthwhile if you are not travelling by plane in the first place. Sending luggage ahead by train is fairly economical, but you can take up to 50kg if you travel by train, so it would be best if you could carry all your luggage in one go. To send things in the post would be very expensive as it would have to be sent registered post.
ESSENTIAL DOCUMENTS TO TAKE
Certain documents are necessary for when you are in Milan. Your birth certificate and also a letter stating that you are a student (written in both English and Italian), are the main ones along with your passport. It is worthwhile getting photocopies of these as well. Passport sized photos are also essential to take. Also don't forget your E111 if you haven't taken out private insurance.
TRAVELLING IN AND AROUND MILAN
The public transport of Milan is an efficient network of trams, buses and metro.
The metro consists of three lines the red MM1, green MM2, and yellow MM3. MM1 runs from the suburbs in the north-east through the centre; MM2 connects the three main railway stations and runs to the south of the city; MM3 is the new line which is very slow, but it runs from the central station to the south-east suburbs.
The metro system is not comprehensive, so you may need to use a tram or a bus to get you to your required destination. The system is well organised and runs from 6 a.m. to midnight, after which there are night buses which follow the red metro route until 1 a.m.
Tickets can be bought at the metro station newsagents, at tobacconists and bars, they cost L1,200 and are valid for 75 minutes. They entitle you to one metro trip and as many bus and tram rides as you want. There are 24 hour tickets which can be used as much as you like on the metro and cost about L3,400.
Students at the University of Milan are entitled to an 'abbonamento', a pass that is valid for month, for the person to use the metro, buses and trams. A letter from the University's secretary is needed to obtain this. It costs L27,500 per month plus an initial L14,000. Also a small form has to be filled in and passport photos are needed.
It is possible to evade buying tickets as controllers are few and far between. However, if you are caught without a valid ticket, claiming ignorance or 'playing the foreigner' doesn't cut much ice with the ticket inspectors. There is a fine of about L40-50,000. Note that you must also have a ticket for a suitcase if it is over a certain size.
There are buses that run to the two airports in Milan. Linate is only 7km outside the city centre, so there are frequent buses to and from the airport (approx. every 30 mins). Buses to Malpensa, which is 50km away, leave from the Central Station, from the right hand side as you face the station, every half an hour between 9 am and midday, and hourly until about 10 pm; it takes about 1-1hours. Buses meet the flights to take passengers back to Milan. The cost of a ticket is L12,000 one-way.
Taxis - As with any large city you can take a taxi. There are taxi ranks throughout the city particularly at the train stations and airports. However, to travel by taxi is expensive and there are some unscrupulous drivers, that ask for more money than is actually on the meter. If you do take a taxi, negotiate the price before you get in.
Trains - If you want to go and explore Italy then the best way would be by train. It is very inexpensive compared to Great Britain. The price is calculated per km.
There is an equivalent of the Young Persons Railcard, called a 'Carta Verde' and is available to anyone between the ages of 16 and 26. It costs L40,000 entitling you to a discount of 20% and is available from main stations. If you're planning to do a lot of travelling in Italy (you'd be mad not to!), then you don't need to be told about the necessity of this card.
Return tickets for journeys of less than 100km are valid for one day only. For journeys longer than 100km they are valid for 3 days. For all return tickets the date must be stamped on the back of the ticket on the return trip. Stamp your ticket in the yellow machines on the platform before getting on the train. You can be fined if you do not do this. A return ticket usually costs the same as two singles, so there is no saving.
For some trains a supplement is required, these are the faster INTER-CITY or EURO-CITY trains. You can buy this at the same time as your ticket. However, it is quite possible to avoid these trains - the "EXPRESS" trains are nearly as fast and do not require a supplement.
At the Central Station there is a BIGE office which sells BIGE tickets for international train trips. A passport is required. Supplements are still needed for Inter-city and Euro-city trains, although these are inexpensive. There are also WASTEELS offices at the Central Station and at Porta Garibaldi train station which deal with BIGE tickets.
There are two specific types of Italian rail passes that are available:
BIGLIETTO TURISTICO LIBERA CIRCOLAZIONE (travel-at-will ticket) this entitles you to unlimited travel on the entire train network including inter-city and Euro-city for a period of between 8 and 30 days at a cost of between £80 and £180.
A CHILOMETRICO ticket is valid for up to 5 people at the same time and gives a total of 3000kms of free travel on a maximum of 20 separate journeys. It is valid for 2 months from the date of purchase. It costs £90 (L186,000). Every separate journey has to be validated by a conductor preferably before the start of each journey.
As with most things it's advisable to buy train tickets before they are needed as there are often long queues at the station ticket counters.
THE UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY LIFEMost students in Milan live at home with their parents and travel to and from University every day. However, there are a large number of students that come from further afield and live in private apartments or in one of the University Residences. The majority of the students live to study, so the University life is very laid back.
There is no student union in Milan, so if you wish to take part in any sport or other activity it's up to you to go and find out details.
Degrees in Italy generally take 4-5 years to complete, although you can take longer. For maths each student must pass 15 exams. Students generally take 3 or 4 exams per year. There are some compulsory subjects, which depend upon the choice of course programme taken (i.e. if your course is biased towards pure or applied maths and/or maths for teaching). Once you have completed the number of exams a thesis on an approved subject must be written. The thesis can take up to a year to complete.
To decide which courses to take it would be best to look at the course book which details all the courses on offer. It would be best to have a 'shortlist' of three or four courses, and then to go to the professor that takes the course to find out more about the courses. It might mean that you have a lot of initial research to do, but it would stop you from choosing a course that is too advanced for you.
EXAMS
Exams in Milan are organised completely differently from here at UEA - you are not obliged to take your exam on one particular set date - basically you study until you feel ready and then do the exam - the courses that require you to do written exams usual have a sitting every month, and if you pass the written you will usually also have to do an oral exam a few days later. Some courses, especially the 3rd and 4th year courses are only examined orally and you usually fix the date yourself with the lecturer. You can take the exams as many times as you want if you don't pass first time or if you wish to improve your mark and most Italian students will retake a number of times (explaining why you may meet some students in their 6th or 7th year!) Exams are marked out of 30, 18 being the pass mark.
LANGUAGE COURSE
A language course should be provided for all ERASMUS students. It lasts from November to March, studying 6 hours every week. It is very intensive, but will be beneficial to you. Unfortunately it doesn't start at the beginning of the maths academic years, as most faculties do not start till November, so some ERASMUS students will arrive much later than you.
HOLIDAYS & BANK HOLIDAYS
In Italy the University works to a semester schedule (i.e. 2 semesters instead of 3 terms). The first semester starts in October and finishes at the beginning of February. The second semester starts at the beginning of March and ends at the end of June.
The main holidays are as follows:
Xmas Holiday (Natale) - 2 weeks from middle of December
SEMESTER BREAK - 4 weeks from beginning of February
(Note: this is not a holiday but "study leave")
Easter Holiday (Pasqua) 1 week
Italy also has bank holidays. These are nearly all on fixed dates, and so can occur on any day of the week, even Sunday!
Bank holidays occur on the following dates:
1st January
6th January
1st May
15th August
1st November
8th December
Milan also has a bank holiday on 7th December for St. Ambrogio's day (St. Ambrogio is the patron saint of Milan) and a massive fair/market is held for a few days at the church of St. Ambrogio.
There are also the bank holidays during Xmas and Easter.
DAY-TO-DAY LIVING
EATING
The University has three refectories or "Mensa's", located in different parts of the city. ERASMUS students only have to pay L3,500 for each meal. You have to obtain a card from the I.S.U., an organisation which supposedly works with the student in mind. The office from where the cards are obtained is near to the main University building (in Via Pantano). You can eat twice a day (lunch and dinner) at these Mensa's. The food at these Mensa's varies from reasonable to inedible; (avoid the Mensa at Via Golgi if possible!). You can eat out at restaurants and pizzerias although this is expensive. It is, however, a change from the Mensa food.
MARKETS
There is a market everyday from Monday to Saturday, each day the market being held in a different part of the city. These markets are excellent places to buy cheap fruit and vegetables.
TELEPHONES
Telephones accept money or phonecards. Phonecards are in L5000 and L10,000 denominations. If you wish to use coins L100, L200, L500 and 'Gettone' are accepted. "Gettone' are tokens worth L200 and are also accepted as L200 coins. You cannot receive incoming calls at public payphones. Cheap rate occurs between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. everyday. To phone the U.K. it costs about 50p/minute at cheap rate.
The International code when phoning from Italy to U.K. is: 00 44
The International code from U.K. to Italy is: 010 39
POST OFFICES
The main Post Office is in the city centre. Stamps (which can also be bought from tabacchi.) cost L750 for a letter, within the EC, and L600 for postcards. It can take up to two weeks for a letter to reach its destination either from or to Italy. If you wish to send valuables or any item of some value, through the post, it would be advisable to send it registered post from U.K. or insured from Italy (raccomandata). However, this does cost a lot more. It is not unknown for parcels/letters or their contents to mysteriously vanish before arriving at their destination.
LAUNDERETTE
All the student residences have washing machines in the basement which are free to use.
SUNDAYS
On Sundays almost everything is closed. There are a few bars which are open, and the kiosks in the Central Station are open - which sell English Newspapers.
ACCOMMODATION
All the student residences are run by (I.S.U.) who deal with most student administration. Since the Italian students occupied the residences in 1992, foreign students are no longer 'lumped together' in Ripamonti and Via Canzio residences but are spread amongst all 5 residences giving the foreign students a better chance to meet other Italian students and learn Italian faster.
ARRIVING BETWEEN 15TH SEPTEMBER & 30TH SEPTEMBER
- VIA BASSINI
If you arrive in this period, you will probably be required to stay at the regular student residence at Via Bassini in the Cittá Studi area.
Though the buildings may look in a not so healthy state, the single rooms are generally of sufficient condition. Like all the student residences in Milan (and probably in all Italy!) there are absolutely no cooking facilities and you have to eat at one of the many "scrumptious" Mensas (European jargon for "refectory").
ARRIVING AFTER 30 SEPTEMBER
- VIA CANZIO, 4
On approaching the building, don't worry if it looks like a high security psychiatric hospital because that's what it used to be! When you meet the porter, you will need your passport, and the letter from UEA stating you are an ERASMUS student and that you have a room booked for the year. All rooms are double and if there are to be any other English students staying there, I.S.U. will probably put you in the same room as them, as part of their promotion of European integration!
Being I.S.U.'s 'best' residence, the rooms are kept clinically clean every week. They have newish looking beds, desks and wardrobes, telephone, own shower, toilet and even a bidet (often used by students to wash dishes!) It's all rather luxurious.
On the ground floor, there is a common room, T.V. room, a couple of telephones and two unappetising drinks machines. In the basement there are two washing machines for your use free of charge! You may find, because of this domestic privilege, some students wash items of clothing one at a time, but this doesn't mean you'll never get to use it yourself. Once again, like all the other residences, no cooking facilities are available, so use the Mensas for lunch and dinner. Breakfast? Well, how about a delicious, properly made cappuccino and croissant grabbed just before a lecture, from one of the many bars in the area.
Throughout the year, you may see some older looking people booking into the residence. They aren't very mature students but professors. This, coupled with the bizarre logic of the I.S.U., produces some house rules and regulations which may be unpopular with the students. What's worse is the porters enforce the rules. I shan't tell you what these entail as part of the whole experience of your "year abroad in Italy" is discovering, day-to-day, how absurd some of these are!!
If you want to receive phonecalls from parents or friends, it would be a big plus if they can say your room number in Italian since all calls are answered by the mono-lingual porters.
Rent: L135,000 per month.
- VIA MODENA
The residence at Via Modena is one of the older residences. Originally it was a block of appartments which the I.S.U. then bought and converted into single and double rooms. As a result all the rooms are of varying sizes. Some even have a balcony overlooking the city and on a good day when there is no smog you can see the Alps. The rooms are cleaned once a week by two cleaners wearing wellington boots (once you've seen how they wash the tiled floors you will realise why!). Sheets get changed once a week too, and clean bed linen is obtained from Gino's office in the basement. A word of warning: he keeps very erratic opening hours as he is also the handyman; the best time to go is early morning (about 9 am) when he has his coffee break.
The residence has two televisions, a video, a table tennis table, two drinks machines, a photocopier and two public phones. There are also two study rooms which are open to all students. This has caused a lot of friction in the past between students resident at Via Modena and other students who come during the day as seating is limited. It is advisable to "book" a place early in the morning, leaving a book on the table is a good way to do this, so that you are guaranteed some study space!
I found the porters to be really friendly, and although there were several occasions when phone messages got mislaid or the people who were trying to call got mysteriously cut off, people had no problems calling me at the residence. I even ended up taking messages for other foreign students whose parents had called and wanted to leave a message and were having trouble being understood by the porters!
All post is delivered straight to the residence, there is no post room like at UEA and then letters are put in the pigeonhole where you are supposed to leave your room key every time you leave the residence.
As mentioned in the review of Via Canzio's residence, there are a lot of weird rules and regulations, none of which seem to be written anywhere, so you tend to find them out as you break them! A good tip here is to ask one of the older residents before you do anything like hold a party or invite friends round late at night. Most mistakes can then be easily avoided and you save a lot of aggression from the Residence Director and a lot of money too!
- VIA PLINIO
Residenza Plinio is one of the smaller residences, with 64 residents in a 5 floor apartment building in a very central location. It is the only all-female residence and is in general a little quieter than the mixed residences. Most of the rooms are shared, each with its own bathroom. Being a newish residence (8 or 9 years old) the rooms are in very good condition. Sheets, blankets and towels are all provided - you wash your own towels but exchange your sheets every Wednesday in the basement, between 7.30 and 9.30 am. Rooms are supposedly cleaned once a fortnight but this is not necessarily true, and you can't predict which day the cleaners are going to pick to bang on your door, at some unearthly hour of the morning, and throw you out for an hour while they clean, even if you were in bed!
I don't know how strict the residences are at Via Modena and Via Canzio, but compared with the largest one at Via Bassini, Plinio is very strict - all guests have to leave an identity card downstairs with the porter which they collect when they leave - before midnight! Overnight guests can be a problem too - Italian students may have a guest overnight if their room-mate is away, and if they can go through all the hassle of signing endless forms and paying something like £2 per night for their guest to stay. ERASMUS students, for some reason, are not allowed to have overnight guests, but you can get round this by asking someone else to sign your friend in. However, even so, a guest is only allowed to stay for a maximum of 3 nights in a row. At the Via Bassini residence, life is a lot more laid-back, the porters rarely ask for ID to be left and tend to turn a blind eye to overnight visitors.
Via Plinio is the only residence with a kitchen but only one for 64 girls, and only 2 fridges (from which food goes missing regularly) so you will probably find it more convenient (and sociable) to go to the mensas.
There is a 24 hour portering service, so although the doors are closed at 1 am you can ring the bell and the porter should (?) let you in. However, you are not expected to receive 'phone calls between midnight and 7 am.
IMPORTANT ADDRESSES
Room Number Your contact addressVia Canzio, 4 residence.
20131 Milano
ITALY
Istituto Per IL Diritto Allo Studio Universitario (I.S.U. !!!)
Dell'universitá Degli Studi Di Milano Rent; Mensa cards; telling off
Via Pantano, 26 sessions(!); other student
20122 Milano matters.
MENSAS
basement of main site of Open afternoons on weekdays
Universitá Degli Studi Di Milano during term time.
Via Festa del Perdano
Via della Signora Open weekday evenings and
Saturday afternoon only.
Via Golgi Open lunch & dinner all
week. Close to Maths faculty.
The only one open Sundays,
unfortunately!
It seems that Italian bureaucracy is designed to prepare you for surviving in the big wide Italian world. So don't give up - somehow, it's got to be good for you.
PERMESSO DI SOGGIORNO (IDENTITY CARD)
You will need this, they say, since your stay in Italy exceeds more than 3 months. It is basically a document stating you have been registered with the police. It allows you to open a bank account and allows you to obtain other documents and facilities which require an infinite amount of patience.
To get this, you should go to the Questura early on a weekday morning taking with you:
A copy of the letter (see later) from the Milan University stating who you
are and what you are doing in Italy.
Your passport, photocopy of passport and 4 passport photos.
E111 Document
You also need written proof of your source of finance (e.g. LEA grant confirmation letter)
Despite all this, you'll find that the only foreign students who are prepared to go through such hassle for the document are the ones who intend to live in privately rented accommodation, want to work in Italy, or open a bank account.
HEALTH CARE
Take your E111 to the U.S.L. office designated for your area. The one for Via Canzio is near the Maths faculty. Hand your E111 to the appropriate person (ask inside the building who this is because it is chaotic). They will then register you, entitling you to free or reduced medical service. Ask, also, for a list of all doctors who serve under this scheme.
STATUS CONFIRMING LETTER FROM MILAN UNIVERSITY
This letter supersedes the one you have been given by the UEA, for some unexplainable reason. You can get this letter from the secretary at the main site. Ask your ERASMUS professor in the Maths faculty, Professor di Martino.
Copies of this letter will enable you to get:
1. Student bus pass - at L27,500 for a month, it allows you unlimited travel on buses, trams and the metro. However, getting this pass may prove difficult. Get this at the office marked "Abbonamento" inside main metro stations, at Loreto, Duomo or Stazione Centrale. However, if a stubborn station clerk refuses to grant you this pass on the grounds that the maths academic year doesn't begin until late October, just go to the Stazione Centrale and put on the irritating foreign student act. The attendant will probably be so frustrated with you, that he will instantly give you the pass, wanting to get rid of you as soon as possible.
2. Libretto - apart from giving concessions in some book shops (and even opera tickets for the Scala!) , this student identification is necessary if you want to take exams in Milan. With the letter and a couple of passport photos, go to the secretary for the maths department, in the morning usually, and they will issue you an oversized student I.D. within a few days.
3. Mensa tesserina - this card is absolutely essential if you want to eat in Milan without eating through your grant within the first month. Once again, armed with two passport photos and your magic letter, go to the appropriate I.S.U. office. With this card you can get a 3-course meal from the Mensa for only a mere L3,500! Sounds unbelievable, doesn't it!!
MONEY
With about 2,460 lira to the pound, handling Italian money isn't easy, what with all those wads in your hand.
To open a bank account, you'll need the permesso di soggiorno, oh, and don't forget to take a large helping of patience with you. You may, of course, find it easier to use Eurocheques, Access, Visa etc. services available at all banks, like most foreign students do.
IMPORTANT ADDRESSES
Questura for the Permesso diVia Fatebenefratelli, 11 Soggiorno
Local Unita Sanitaria Locale (USL) for E111
Via Mangiagalli
Maths Secretary for obtaining libretto
Physics faculty
Via Celoria, 26
Dipartimento di Matematica for lectures!
Via Saldini, 50
Milan is not a student city despite there being 70,000 students from the state university alone. Student concessions are few and far between for museums, restaurants, theatres, clubs, etc., and the University, lacking an actual student union, does not tend to put on many events during the year.
To find out all that is going on, there is an English written monthly guide, 'WHAT'S ON IN MILAN', available from the information bureau in the Galleria or from the APT tourist office. There are also Thursday supplements to the daily papers Corriere della Sera and La Republica available, giving a week long guide written in Italian. However, if you are lucky enough to have access to considerable amounts of spending money and, of course, a set of wheels, then you could enjoy Milan's social life.
The area just north of the Duomo, the Brera district, has some very trendy bars and restaurants, together with the expected trendy prices affordable only by the chic of Milan.
South of the Duomo by the columns of San Lorenzo and along the canal Naviglio Grande, are more trendy bars and clubs, trendy in the alternative sense of the word. Near the columns themselves, is the IPOIS bar which has that very recognisable student feel to it.
More locally in the Loreto area, there are two bars which are often frequented by students from the Canzio residence - IL Tempio D'oro, a small bar with lovely art nouveau decor, and IL Tropico Latino, which offers a very Spanish feel in music, food and atmosphere.
For ice-cream lovers, and personally, the Italian made stuff is unbeatable in the whole of Europe! Try the reputable Marghera gelateria - a bit far to go just for an ice-cream, but look upon it as an essential pilgrimage.
There are hundreds of pizzerias and restaurants all over the city, and some of the best and cheapest are likely to be in the student Cittá Studi area. Just around the corner from the maths faculty, try the pizzeria on Via Botticelli, heading towards Largo Rio de Janeiro.
On Wednesday, all cinema tickets cost L7,000 as opposed to the usual L10-11,000. You'll find several cinemas on Corso Vittorio Emanuele. Original language films are shown in the Angelicum, the Mexico (Via Savona, 57), the Arcobaleno (Viale Tunisia, 11) and Cinema Anteo (Via Milazzo, 9), and are cheaper than normal cinemas.
Most record shops (there aren't many) sell concert tickets which are held in venues like the Rolling Stone, a discotheque-cum-gig venue. The largest is a tent holding 10,000 people - the Palatrussardi. All the big stars that come to Milan would play here, but, Michael Jackson is so big, he had to do it in Monza.
Sports in Milan is a bit of a non-starter, at least when compared to UEA. The University offers some facilities, under the name C.U.S., but you have to take the bus 7km outside Milan, where you can finally get some exercise, near Linate Airport!!
If you want to go to the famous Opera House - La Scala - but can't quite afford a £90 seat, there is a system by which 200 people are let in for L 10,000 (£4) for an evening performance, or L 5,000 for a matinee, to occupy "standing places" - there are actually a fair number of seats but you may have to stand for a good view of the stage. To queue for these places you need to go to the Scala sometime during the day of the performance and ask the volunteer from "L'Accordio" to put your name on the list. He will tell you your number, and at what time you will have to come back. For popular performances, especially in the summer when the tourists start appearing, the queues often start in the morning and once on the list you will have to come back every two to three hours for a register to show you are still keen, but up until about May it is quite safe to go along at 3 or 4 pm and you may even get in if you turn up at 8 pm! It has to be worth doing once even if you don't like opera - the Scala is a lot more impressive inside than out.
USEFUL ADDRESSES
Information Bureau "Ufficio informatorio" Well..........information.SIGHTSEEING AND TRAVELLINGMilan City Council
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele
APT Tourist Information.
Via Marconi, 1
Biglietteria Tickets for concerts and
Corso Garibaldi, 81 theatres
Palatrussardi Large music and sports
Via Sant'Elica venue
Rolling Stone Smaller venue
Corso XXIV Marzo, 32
Milan must be one of the least attractive parts of Italy, though probably only because everywhere else is so stunning! There are a few sights that have to be "done" - the Duomo (go up on the roof when it's sunny), the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele (expensive & posh "shopping" gallery mainly full of posers' cafés). If you like art, Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" is held in the church of St Maria delle Grazie, but apparently you can't see a lot of it - better to go for the "Pinacoteca" in Brera, just north of the Duomo.
Milan is conveniently situated for travelling to other towns and cities around - there are many interesting places you can visit in a day -
try: Bergamo
Pavia (make sure you get to the Certosa (Monastery) too, 10 km out of
Pavia)
Lago di Como
Lago Maggiore (Arona to see statue of Carlo Borromeo, Stresa to go to
Isola Bella and the other islands)
Verona
Lugano (actually in Switzerland, but only just) (don't forget your passport!)
Lago di Garda
Always take lots of student ID (abbonamento, ISU card, libretto, ISIC card, anything else you have) as different places want different proof, and you can often get student discounts even if not advertised.
If you are going to do a lot of travelling, you'll need a guide book - The Rough Guide to Italy is a very comprehensive book containing everything you need to know - cost £8.99 (I think) in England, or in Milan, is available from the American Bookshop on the road between the Duomo and the Castle.
... AND FINALLY
I had a fantastic time during my year abroad. Almost everyone I met was friendly and helpful and I quickly made a lot of friends. I found the maths courses quite difficult as the method of teaching is completely different from that at UEA. The majority of subjects have no seminars or tutorials and some lecturers write very little on the board, preferring to give the lecture as a talk about the subject. However, most of the students are willing to lend their notes for ten minutes after the lectures and photocopying is a lot cheaper than here (about 1p a copy) so getting notes isn't as big a problem as you may think!
The Italian students that I met were really dedicated to their degrees, to the extent that their social lives were almost non-existent. The ERASMUS students however all seemed to have the same goal for the year: to enjoy their year abroad as much as possible. So there were regular Sangria, tortilla, beer and watermelon parties and eventually even the most staid of the Italians gave in and had a night off!
Looking back on it, my year abroad has been the highlight of my degree so far. I'm really glad that I took the opportunity and went. I just wish that I could do it all over again!
So if you have the chance, take it, it'll be a year that you'll never forget.
- Claire Perry
