From the 20^th of January to the 10^th of February, we will be able to enjoy “Excelsior” at the Teatro La Scala in Milan. The show “Excelsior” returns again to the Lombard capital to inaugurate the ballet season.

In 1881, this unique, historical and allegorical choreographic composition was presented for the first time. The show is divided into six acts, composed by eleven scenes, which celebrate the triumph of light and civilization over obscurantism. They recall great feats of humanity and technological achievements of the time, as important as the telegraph, the battery, the steam engine or the Suez Canal.

“Excelsior” was a success at its premiere. It presented more than 100 performances during its first season in Italy, as well as an extensive international tour, through which it obtained a passage through the symbolism embodied the spirit of the time.

The current show produced in 1974 and is a lighter version than the original, both in its scenery, music and dancers, which in its original version, were more than 500 extras. However, the show does not lose anything of creativity and nostalgic flavor of the Italian ballet spirit.The main figure of “Excelsior” is the famous dancer Roberto Bolle, étoile at La Scala in Milan. Bolle has been part of the most prestigious dance companies in the world, the London Royal Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, The Ballet of Stockholm, Tokyo and New York. In this last one, he was appointed principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre in 2003. The show also features the special participation of the Russian dancer Alina Somova, during the 20^th, 22^nd and 25^th of January. Alina was chosen as the Mariinsky Theatre in 2003 and comes from the prestigious Vaganova Academy of the Russian ballet.

Teatro La Scala in Milan is one of the most important places in the world of its kind. The present building dates from 1778, since the first, located at Teatro Ducale was burned in 1776. Salieri opened the new theater with his play “L’Europe riconosciuta”. The first reform of its facade dates from 1907 and later after the damage suffered during the bombing of World War II, had to be renovated again. For some years this magnificent hall was also a casino as was the custom in the nineteenth century.

Tickets to attend this wonderful show are already available in the Internet, in different web ticket sites, including http://www.viagogo.es/Milano/Teatro-alla-Scala-Entradas/_V-1381/Excelsior-Ballet-Entradas, the price of available seats is between € 99 and € 125. Hurry up, because the high expectations created by “Excelsior” has made some sessions, totally booked by now.

Fernando Paterna

Holiday apartments in Milan are the best way to visit the city and get to know each and every one of its charms. The Lombard cuisine, its customs and historic buildings are just some of the attractions that this great city has prepared for you. Do not forget to pay a visit to its big shops avenues and cozy cafes.

Translated by: Hans
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With the arrival of the nineties, the world changed again. Nirvana was the beginning and end of the new problem. Thousands of bands around the world were fighting for the title of being the new Nirvana. The recording industry knew about it and did nothing, but trying to hire any new “alternative” project that appeared. With this, the record companies made and lost a lot of money. Some bands survived, while others fell to the deepest of radial forgetfulness. Perhaps, those were the last days when radio really opened its doors to alternative rock. Today, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Jessie J. with his “Price Tag” dominate the world.

Among the bands that surfaced in the early nineties, Spin Doctors was one of the most loved and remembered, that to date, is still causing smiles with songs like “Little Miss Can not Be Wrong” and “Two Princes”. This band started somewhere in the late eighties in New York. Its original training dates were back to 1989 exactly, and after being signed by Epic Records, they edited their debut hit “Up for Grabs … Live”, recorded live in Manhattan. In the beginning, even though no one believe it, the Spin Doctors was almost a “jam band”, making mischief on stage in a very deep and psychedelic-hippie way, the Manhattan style. Its melodic chords and happy strumming of its songs, used to make everyone dance for long and intense jams. Some of these improvisations are on the network in various “bootlegs” and rarities compiled.

The success came with the release of “Pocket Full of Kryptonite” in the summer of 1991, their debut album certainly, and probably most remembered for its hit singles mentioned above, as well as the classical “Jimmy Olsen’s Blues”. No obsession is clearer in this first release of Superman and the immense metropolis that he defends from evil. Without thinking, in two years consecutive to the album’s release, it received a platinum record for sales, Saturday Night Live appearances, extensive touring and fixed radio transmissions at the time.

The subsequent history of Spin Doctors is the same as of any band with a successful first album, the second release was not so successful, and the ups and downs, typical of Rock N Roll. However, in August 2011 marked the 20th anniversary of the release of the classic “Pocket Full of Kryptonite” and the boys are back in the ring with their joyful and rock sounds. The event will be in Milan on the 29^th of January at the Bloom Club. For more information on the Spin Doctors, visit their official website by clicking here: http://www.spindoctors.com/

Alexa Ray

Get  apartments in Milan and enjoy the sounds and joy of Spin Doctors, one of the most iconic bands of the nineties. Milan and its diverse music scene will be at your fingertips.

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Translated by: Hans
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If you like Italian football you’re in luck. On the 15th of January you have an unmissable appointment between two eternal rivals. Both teams of the city of Milan come across each other again in the most important football competition in Italy, the Serie A.

Rossoneros and interistas are at odds and have a rivalry which dates since the foundation of both clubs. The Milanese population is divided between fans of Inter and Milan.

Both teams share their stadium, the Giuseppe Meazza, also known as San Siro due to its location in the namesake district of the city. It has a capacity for 80,000 spectators and it has seen two World Cups and three European competition finals played on its grass. The teams alternate the stadium and every week one or the other plays its match there.

The origin of all the rivalry comes from a distance. At the beggining, the Milan Cricket and Football Club (original name of the currently named AC Milan) was the only team of the city but, in 1908, a disagreement emerged on the subject if it was convenient to allow foreigners to participate in the team. 43 directors and members of the club decided to turn away from the club and founded a new team, Internazionale di Milano. After this divison, the rossonero (red and black) team was quickly considered as the middle and lower classes team of the city, with its fans mainly being trade unionists and workers. However Inter was considered the club of the rich, but this fact has been forgotten in present times.

Inter has 18 Scudetti (league titles) in its cabinets, 7 Italian Cups, 3 UEFA Cups, 3 European Cups, 2 Interncontinental Cups and 1 World Club Championship. Milan, meanwhile, has 18 Scudetti, 5 Italian Cups, 2 European Cup Winners Cup, 7 European Cups, 3 Intercontinental Cups and 1 World Club Championship.

These are two of the biggest clubs in world football who have faced each other in over 200 occasions and the statistics show a very balanced outcome in their head to head. Regarding the fans, Inter is the second most popular club in Italy behind Juventus from the city of Turin, while Milan occupies third place. During the days previous to the match, the city atmosphere is quite frankly intense and their fans proudly show their colours and flags on the balconies of their houses.

Both teams arrive to the match in very different situations. Inter is having an irregular season while Milan is presented as title contender.

The show which awaits us at the San Siro will be frankly intense, thrilling and vibrant, you can’t miss it! You can still buy tickets for the match in the main websites of sporting events.

Fernando Paterna

Milan is the second most important city in Italy, one of the world’s most important commercial and financial centres, as well as being the fourth most important city in Europe in terms of economy and the capital of fashion. Renting apartments in Milan is an easy, comfortable and affordable option to visit the city.

Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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This is a controversial character of Italian modern art, probably one of the best cartoonists of all times. His name was Andrea Pazienza, and his life was very short (32 years) but incredibly intense, not only by events that encouraged her, but also due to the way he lived his life: in a totalizing, absolute and extreme way. Andrea Pazienza was defined several times as “the greatest living artist,” a claim which is a bit presumptuous, especially if his work is not known. Then, when you open and read one of his comics , one realizes that the level of his drawings allows this presumption without fear: the strength of the colors he uses and his incredible ability to create stories that the – literally – jumps out of the pages and become true moments that we live in our daily life.

Andrea Pazienza was born in San Benedetto del Tronto on May 23, 1956. His father, an art education professor conveyed in him from an early age, his love for art, teaching him to look. From a very young age, Andrea left traces of his genius, creating set designs for a few shows at the Teatro Verdi in San Severo and, since 1973, performing solo and in group exhibitions. He achieved great success thanks to the first comic book he published, “The Extraordinary Adventures of Penthotal” a story inspired by his years at the University of Bologna (where he studied at the DAMS – Disciplines of Art, Music and entertainment, a career he left when he was only two assignments away from his degree). He was also devoted to painting, another art that he developed from an early age, creating a symbolic picture representing his suicide when he was only 15 years. In 1984, the darker side of his artistic production is revealed publicly: the relationship with heroin and a drug dependence. It was those that led him to his death: June 16, 1988, at his home in Montepulciano (Tuscany), Andrea Pazienza died of a heroin overdose. It was never clear whether it was suicide or an overdose taken without the will to die.

Nonetheless, Pazienza leaves an unparalleled legacy in the world of Italian comics. The exhibition “Pazienza un corno!” Organized by the Gallery Ca ‘di Fra’ in collaboration with the Little Nemo Art Gallery of Turin aims to bring together a number of very significant works of the artist. During the entire month of January you can visit the exhibition in the ??Via Carlo Farini 2 (Milan) space . The opening hours of the Space is between 10 and 15 to 13hs 19hs, Monday to Saturday. Until January 28, 2012 (closed for Christmas Holidays until January 9).

For more information: http://sbamcomics.it/eventi/eventi-pazienza-un-corno-alla-ca-di-fra.

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So do not miss the chance to know this artist. We recommend you rent apartments in Milan and learn more about the art of comics, from the hand of one of its most renowned authors.

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Translated by: Marc
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The avant-garde movements are essential to step further into the realm of art. When we talk about art, we refer to a mood or conglomeration of individuals with a common perspective, sometimes coming together by coincidence or systematically organized to address a problem in art, while questioning, and going deeper in artistic representations. What is shown, however, is that the avant-garde does not have a specific location in time, nor fixed starting points. They always appear isolated cases of the same aesthetic in various parts of the world.

The problem of categories in contemporary art, sometimes tends to neglect important symbolic participants of a certain style or proposal. The work of curators, museums and galleries is, sometimes, re-write the history of these characters, who are not noticed very well or fail to have the same recognition as others.

Thus, the marginalization of the art is another condition that is exemplified by the avant garde. Being against the “status quo” of art is undoubtedly a serious risk that every artist must have in mind. Sometimes this slogan forget the vanguard. Today, being an avant-garde artist proved to be an extremely automatically and the wide spread of the conceptual arts at all levels of communication and political discussion, current contemporary art located in a state of despondency, not to use the word crisis that is so fashionable today. Hard to believe then that the vanguards are gone, that the problems of contemporary art comes as easily to academic spaces to meet in these not necessarily the best thing is being done in contemporary art.

Thus, the marginalization of the art is another condition that is exemplified by the avant-garde. Being against the “status quo” of art is undoubtedly a serious risk that every artist must have in mind. Sometimes this slogan forgets the vanguard. Today, being an avant-garde artist proved to be an extremely automatically and the wide spread of the conceptual arts at all levels of communication and political discussion, current contemporary art located in a state of despondency, not to use the word crisis that is so fashionable today. It is hard to believe then that the vanguards are gone, that the problems of contemporary art comes as easily to academic spaces to meet in these not necessarily the best being done in contemporary art.

The Italian trans vanguard was a movement of the mid 80′s and was a response to the rise of Arte Povera, also of Italian origin. Its proposal was completely anti-conceptual, rather entrenched in the management of color in the painting partly influenced by expressionism. Among its representatives are Nicola de Maria, Mimmo Paladino and Francesco Clemente just to name a few. The avant-garde was a return to subjectivity and sensuality in painting, from a classic mode of expression. So, they resort to visual storytelling of various ancient myths and subjects bordering on the heroic, in a unique way that puts their job in a state of suspension of time, without exactly setting the conceptual, the resources of various ages are used in shades of intense. To learn more about the work of these rebels, against the rebels known at that time, visit the Palazzo Reale in Milan and enjoy this fabulous show until March 2012. For more information, visit this website: http://www.mostratransavanguardia.it/

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Milan and discover the best of the contemporary art today, was well as the one from last century. This city is waiting with its long tradition of galleries and museums.

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Translated by: Hans
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The Palazzo Reale in Milan held thousands of works of art in its interior as well as hundreds of cultural exhibition which came from all over the world. In the last months of 2011 it will host the exhibition titled ‘Artemisia Gentileschi, story of a passion’, that which such a title it promises to show much more than just paintings, because there we will find love among many other feelings.

Artemisia Gentileschi was a 17th century Italian artist. She was born in Rome in 1593 and she grew up watching her father work. Her father was Orazio Gentileschi, another great Tuscan painter who was responsible for the insertion of his daughter in the world of art, painting and drawing. The strong point of the works of the young artist were the great dramatic accentuation and the prolixity of the details in every drawing, a quality inherited from her father.

But women, at that time, had a hard time being successful in a social and culture sphere and, because of that,  the works of Artemisia Gentileschi took over three centuries in order to be recognized, first on a national level and then on an international one. Today, her paintings are famous and thousands of fine arts students  analyze every detail of her strokes.

In the 1990s, joint exhibition of the Gentileschis, father and daughter, were carried out in New York, Rome, St Louis and many other places. This was to spread the works of Artemisia, although she was always left in the background until the contemporary artists managed to discover that she had the same attributes as her father and that her style was brave, original and, above all, unique, on a personal level.

The subjects on the paintings of Artemisia are varied, from love to sex. They also accused her of being a feminist for a long time, of being an a dignified representative of her gender. But, according to investigators, she painted out of pleasure, looked for nothing in return and never imagined that her works would reach all the corners of the Earth.

The most interesting thing about this exhibition that will take place at the Palazzo Reale in Milan is that there will be 40 joint exhibited works and they’ll be divided in four phases which represent the chronology of the life of the artist:

1. The beginnings of her career in the Rome Opera, the influence of her father in the life of the artist.
2. Her years in Florence.
3. Twenty years in Rome, during which time the father was a fugitive and once again we can see the importance of this figure in her life
4. The nearly 25 years of activities in the region of Naples: public works and gradual recognition of her work.

The exhibition will be open to the public from September 2011 until the 29th of January 2012. The Palazzo Reale opening times (of this exhibition in particular) are Mondays from 2.30pm to 7.30pm, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from 9.30am to 7.30pm and Thursdays and Saturdays from 9.30am to 10.30pm. Therefore, there are no excuses in order not to visit this museum which is a work of art in itself.

If you want more information visit the official website: http://www.mostrartemisia.it/

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If you rent apartments in Milan you’ll be close to the best attractions in the city, and you’ll be able to see all the museums, restaurants and monuments that you want. Attending this exhibition is almost an obligation for the tourist who is stopping in this great Italian city.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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They called him  ”The Asian Banksy” due to the force of his messages and theformal quality of his works. He became known in the world of Street Art, the world which at first stood in firm opposition to exhibit at art galleries, proposing very precise ideas and standing in a  very rebel positions, creating “ephemeral” art  that could not be sold purchased or possessed as it belonged to the city, a display of gray walls that give it an artistic life of its own, and consequently message to society as a whole.

However, in recent decades (probably from the era of the great artist Basquiat and Banksy finally reaching today media phenomenon) the world of street art has increasingly moved to the conventional circuit of exhibitions and auctions, and the artists whose canvas was formerly on the metropolis, are now engaged to perform a somewhat different versions of their works,  for they can be transported, displayed and, finally, sold.

Can this be considered treason? Some say yes. Others, more cautiously, assert that the galleries provide a space for the socially engaged work of these artists to install their message and their challenge directly into the usual circuit of art sales. But there is no doubt: this same message, displayed on the walls of the exhibition loses all its force at these aseptic spaces.

For all these reasons, it’s worth visiting at least a show of this kind: to get an idea of ??what it means to move a message from acity  to cold art gallery, and to see how (sometimes radically) the artist changes his content .

Farhan Siki is a young artist from Indonesia who had never had a personal exhibition in Europe. His moment is now when the Primo Marella Gallery in Milan decided to give him this opportunity and lend him this space ending on  January 28, 2012. In the exhibition, which will open on the 14th of December at 19hs, will present 15 major works of Farhan, all unpublished.

Siki Farhan’s work presents its messages in a humorous and bold way butalso exploring in depth the textual element. In fact, he often uses logos, icons and symbols of local and global mass culture , to arrange them in his paintings (until recently on walls), loaded with  hyperbolic functions and parodies. It is a language in a way, how he approaches the world of advertising and communication, and through which the artist presents the ironic and bitter contradictions of contemporary life. Somewhat paradoxically, his polemical attacks are also directed to the art world, criticizing some artists in the ” art star system” (he is no doubt referring to the likes of Damien Hirst – whose  diamond skull sold for $ 74 million) .

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So if you are interested in reflecting on the meaning of advanced criticism by street art to date, we recommend you do not miss the opportunity to see this exhibit. You can rent apartments in Milan and spend a few days of art and culture, directly in the capital of “fashion” in Italy.

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Translated by: Marc
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When planning a family trip you always have to think about children and we often do because it costs thousands of problems to  find entertaining places where everyone can fully enjoy those days off. Don’t be nervous, Milan offers amazing moments for parents and children and we are going to tell you about them.

One advantage of Milan is its wonderful parks where you can walk, jog or simply lie down and enjoy watching the kids jump around and play. The Parco Sempione, which lies between Sforzesco Castle and Piazza Sempione, has ponds, bridges, playgrounds for children and a museum. In short, you can spend an afternoon or a morning there  enjoying it as much as your children do and you even can have a cup of  tea and spend a full day of relaxation at a very low cost.

Another place to visit  is the Parco Forlanini in Via Corelli which is  235 hectares of greenness, making it the largest park in Milan and it happens to be  open every day of the year. Even in the beautiful Azzurro Park you can go for a swim if the weather is good.

If your children are grown-up, a  great entertainment for the whole family are thematic tours. There are double-decker rides  with buses touring the best sights of the city to interesting 3 hours photographic tours where they teach you some basic techniques to enhance your pictures and portraits, and children will learn the history of the city and photography in one trip. Usually there are special prices for families and discounts for children.

The same is true in the many museums like the planetarium, or monuments and castles. Without doubt the best option in this area is the Museum or Museo dei Bambini MUBA di Milano. A place that your children and you will undoubtedly enjoy

You can also rent bicycle tours or go on tours like those offered by AWS cycling into the heart of the city.

What can not be missed is a visit with the kids to get some  ice cream shops in Milan and bring out  the kid in you. A well known one is La Bottega del Gelato, located in Via Pergolesi 3. There you will find a paradise of flavors, colors and smells that you cannot resist. This ice cream is internationally renowned for the quality and variety of flavors such as Colombian pitahaja, Indonesian granadilla and  postacchio di Bronte, among other exotic varieties that will make you and your children very happy.

If it is food you want, kids prefer pizza and sandwiches in a relaxed spot., but nothing too fancy So look out for places where parents and children can enjoy a delicious dinner after a day of sightseeing, hiking and unloading the emotional burden of such a entertaining day. For that purpose, nothing is  better than Norman , a highly recommended restaurant to go with your family and taste their wonderful pizzas cooked in a wood oven, the meats, the homemade sausages which can be accompanied with fresh green salads. It’s a relaxed place, decorated with kitchen and farm utensils where children are treated like kings.

For more information: http://www.muba.it/php/news.php

Nancy Guzman

Remember that nothing is better than to end the year and start a new one full of energy spending a few days with your family. Rent apartments in Milan it has the best spaces and unbeatable prices. So don’t think about it too much and convince yourself that it is cheaper to spend a week in apartments in Milan than go to family therapy.

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Translated by: Marc
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In its interesting cultural and artistic proposal, the Bicocca Hangar presents today an entertaining example of  the French artist  and musician Celeste Boursier-Mougenot. What she renders is an adaptation (curated by Andrea Lissoni) of the first exhibited  sound installation at the Barbican Centre in London, which explores the relationship between sound, chaos, unexpected events and everyday life.

In the space of the cube it will be possible to find a visionary musical landscape, consisting of an electric guitar hanging in the air “played” by a group of birds, that with their flight and resting upon its strings, determine the time the music (or sounds) are heard. This is another invention of the French artist and composer, concentrating on her research of creating sounds from more distant objects of music. In other previous works she  surprised the audience by transforming a vacuum cleaner in a harmonica and where silverware and dishes became percussion instruments, or she would also  create street sounds producing them electro-negatively.  But the birds is her most recent and suggestive experimentation because they not only create a visually interesting game, but also build a metaphor between flight and sound, which  opens a deep reflection on the relationship between chance and causality. Is there casualty ? This ancient question, to which many responded with a fatalistic attitude, is resolved in this case in a more poetic and less dramatic way, coming  close to  avant-garde experimentation or Sonic Youth’s indie music

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot was born in Nice in 1961. Her artistic training was not visual but musical: she studied at the Nice Conservatory and then devoted herself to composition. In the years between 1985 and 1994 she worked for the Pascal Rambert Theatre Company, a theater group dedicated to art and whose experiments were surely an inspiration for the artist. That was how, from the early 90′s, Boursier-Mougenot decided to pursue a musical and visual composition career, bringing to her work to the most dynamic fields of visual arts, and where her sound installations were received with great enthusiasm arousing much curiosity around the world.

In her approach to musical experimentation, especially in the relationship between music and silence, we find an interesting reference to John Cage, where music is a concept that encompasses much more than sound. Cage demostrates this idea with his masterpiece 4’33”a score that is made up of one word: “tacet”,  (silent). Thus, for the full duration of 4 minutes and 33 seconds, viewers only hear silence, and all the noises that pollute it automatically are transformed into music. Perhaps a Coincidence?

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If you are interested in avant-garde art and have curiosity for an original project, do not miss the Boursier-Mougenot sample at the Bicocca Hangar We recommend that you rent apartments in Milan and enjoy this sound installation, open until the 4th of December

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Translated by: Marc
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It’s amazing how technology has advanced over the past 20 years, so much that some time ago I found a poster of a museum exhibition on textile technology. I attended this show and I must say, I was shocked with the progress of the textile industry and how it applied to industrial jobs, aerospace, high performance sports, medicine, etc.. What I saw on that occasion, was the connection of thattechnology with everyday clothing, but this changed a few days ago when I found about anti-contamination clothing .. but .. What’s it all about?

The truth is that at first glance this looks more like a science fiction story than reality, but it is not, it is the creation of catalytic clothes. These would have a component that traps harmful particles and purifies the air while walking through a big city. This is the same technology used in self-cleaning glass, which simply put, is a layer of titanium dioxide nanoparticles, which generate free radicals upon contact with oxygen and sunlight. The effect this technology would have in the fabric means that the nitrogen oxides released by hundreds of vehicles and machines in the city, are captured by the fabric and transformed into harmless nitrates, so it would help the air flowing around the person wearing the clothes cleaner.

Such is the wonder that the fashion industry promises with its new “Super Couple”, the chemical industry, that they ensure that if one million people will always use this type of fabric, in a city of about 8 million inhabitants, it could decrease by a 5% to a10% the contamination of the city, fascinating is not it?.

Until we can get one of these “outfits” is a good idea to be aware of our environment and take better care of our cities.

Luz Obscura

Until we can buy catalytic clothes at a a dressing shop , we can go shopping in the fashion city par excellence which is Milan. Rent apartments in Milan enjoy the late summer months and give yourself a few shopping days .. That always feels good

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Translated by: Marc
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