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?

menschauser

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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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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It seems that people still don’t understand the meaning of fashion – that it is still thought of as a frivolity; something belonging exclusively to the elite, with nothing to do with ordinary, daily life. This could not be wrong. Fashion is everywhere, and it has the power to radically transform your life. Fashion has replaced the space previously occupied by organised religion, and television – institutions which these days yield little power or influence over every day life. Fashion is inside all means of communication.

What are the revolutionary elements of fashion in this day and age? Perhaps not many, but like all contemporary cultural artefacts, it is nothing more than the result of hundreds of recyclings, repeated visions and visionaries. Arthur Rimbaud believed in the distortion of the senses to reach higher levels of perception – and fashion does exactly this when you think about it.

In the Western sense, fashion is the result of an organisation which is for the survival of an aesthetic which is placed in front of the rest in a competition of originality and daring. This is how the big designers of the world are the ones who mould the body of the men and women of today. And if you think about it, clothes are not something which is just added on top of the body, but the body is conditioned, and defined according to an immaterial concept – material which covers the body to give shape and meaning to the dress; in such a way, that one is displaced by that clothing. So when you find yourself buying discount H&M clothing at the end of the month, you are simply a cog in the wheels of this controlling system. You are part of this clothes machine – the clothes don’t belong to you, you just give it volume, and movement; you are replaceable, not indispensable.

And with all this in mind, the fashion industry continues to be unstoppable. Each year the number of designers grows, along with the resources for the manufacturing and creation of clothing. Even if New York, London, Paris and Milan continue to be the centres of worldwide fashion, there are still possibilities for the creation and production of alternative clothing, which is accessible to all. Just browse the web a bit, and you’ll find fashion made locally, of not only good quality but much more affordable, and produced using more natural and environmentally friendly methods.

Milan Fashion Week runs between the 21st and 27th of September, For more information on the shows, designers and events, you visit the website http://www.cameramoda.it/.

Alexa Ray

There’s nothing quite like finding one of the apartments in Milan and enjoying a week of glamour and beauty.

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Translated by: Poppy
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Charles Bukowski is one of the most acclaimed writers in the world, best known for his transgressive, highly original style of working. Born in Germany, but taking an American citizenship, he lived most of his life in the same city; Los Angeles, which is the context of most of his writings. He simultaneously loved and hated the city, but ultimately it defined his career, as he used it in some form or other in each and every one of his books.

He died at 73 from Leukaemia, in 1994, but he had luckily been able to enjoy the literary fame and success which his books had brought him – in spite of never fully being comfortable with the popularity, or completely trusting it.

Postman was the first novel he wrote, in 1971 – though he had written an extensive amount of short stories and poems up until that point. One interesting anecdote told about Bukowski during the early years of his career as a fiction writer, is about his editor, John Martin who was ten years younger, and the great deal that the two men struck.

John Martin was the founder of publishers Black Sparrow Press, which would go on to distribute all the great American’s writings. The offer that Martin made Bukowski in order to convince him to pack in his day job and devote himself to writing 100% was that he would give him a hundred dollars a month from that moment, until the end of his days. And Charles, quick to be seduced by the offer of money, accepted, writing his first novel in just a month.

Charles Bukowski found the theme of his first novel relatively easily, as it tells the story of his life – through the anecdotes of Henry Chinaski, who was one of the writer’s greatest creations, and who would reappear in many of his later books. The writer took refuge behind this fictional creation in order to tell the story of his own life, using his artistic licence in order to be able to modify, embellish and omit certain parts which he had not enjoyed.

Henry Chinaski is a postman in the city of Los Angeles, but resigns after becoming disillusioned with his job, and chose instead to dedicate himself to horse racing (a great passion for the writer). Some years later though, he is forced to return to the job for the money, and his life starts to change. The story stretches about 15 years of the life of the protagonist, and it makes for gripping reading – it is impossible to stop until the end.

Since his first publication in 1971, the success of the writer crystallised him into definitive literary status, and to this day, Charles Bukowski is one of the key exponents of the dirty realism genre, and many contemporary writers have named him as one of their influences.

d.b

Rent apartments in Milan and take Postman along with you. Whilst reading Charles Bukowski’s first novel, you can discover the city, it’s wonderful history, as well the gripping story of Henry Chinaski.

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Translated by: Poppy
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The term mafia is used universally round the world to refer to organised crime. The word takes its origins in Italy; and the four main Italian mafias are the Ndrangueta in Calabria, the Cosa Nostra in Sicily, the Camorra in Campana (which are the three historical mafia regions) – and the Sacra Corona Unita in Abulia. But it’s like the tentacles of an octopus; they have infrastructure, political links and business halfway round the world, from Italy, Canada, Argentina, United States, Columbia, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, to the Spanish coast. Countries such as Switzerland, Monaco and Liechtenstein have always been prime spots for the money laundering antics of the mafiosos.

The mafia was born in Sicily, as the Cosa Nostra, during the middle of the 19th century, in parallel with the establishment of the new Italian State. Sicily found itself governed by factions, in a feudal system whereby the only way of obtaining anything, was the by the law of force. Originally, the group was an organisation dedicated to the protection and independence from the law, which later moved into a complex system of organised crime. Its members, the mafiosos , always defined themselves as men of honour, who employed a series of codes of unforgettable honour; amongst the most well known being the law of silence. Blood links are also of the upmost importance within the mafia, which is where the clans came from.

There have been many criticisms of this long-standing side of Italy. One of these voices was that of acclaimed writer Roberto Saviano, who was born in 1979 in Naples, and wrote the book Gomorra, which details the inner workings of the Camorra. The book went on sale in 2006, and was met with worldwide success, but it brought its author to be ostracised, and hounded. Receiving death threats, he was forced to leave the country and live in a secret location, with 24 hour security protection. Saviano is conscious of the fact that his life is on the line, and that the publication of his book might have been also his death sentence.

Many threatened just like Saviano, such as the Sicilian journalist Lirio Abbate, have stated that the difficulty of fighting the mafia is in a constant clash with the wall of politics. In the north of Italy, the mafia has gradually integrated into the legitimate the economic system – it is not seen, or heard, or associated with the kind of murdering of innocent people, or bloody crime which we have come to hear about the mafia of the south.

In Milan, the financial capital of the country, the second and third generations of the Ndrangueta control the economic sectors of Lombardia, also infiltrating local political institution. Nowadays, the mafia capitals are no longer those we always thought they were, such as Palermo, Naples and Reggio Calabria.

It is estimated that organised crime in Italy generates around 120,000 million euros per year. If there mafia has also triumphed in Milan, it is because the city has always been the national emblem of wealth, the place of the bourgeoisie, private banking, the design world, cutting edge fashion, innovation, and above all, the ideal terrain for doing things silently, furtively, without leaving any traces.

Ara

When you travel, you have the opportunity the understand the behaviour of a community. The best way to understand the origins and evolution of the Mafia is to read the books, and articles by journalist Roberto Saviano – and rent apartments in Milan a city on the cutting edge of design and culture.

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Translated by: Poppy
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The pop is a genre that in spite of many years of popularity, with memorable artist as: Madonna, Britney Spears or Robbie Williams, is far from disappearing. Constantly, there are new artist eager to offer new proposals and renew the stages, one of many reasons for which pop is the most   loved and famous genre in the world.

The Naked and Famous is a new indie pop band from New Zealand that released an album that made them famous in no time. They have been ranked number one in some charts in the world, becoming one of the few New Zealand’s band to do so in the last three years.

The group, which was formed in late 2008, recorded “Passive Me, Aggressive You”, launched on the 6^th of September, 2010. Since then, the quintet managed to position itself as one of the most important bands in the indie world, because of its unique synthesizers and mixture of the voices of its members both, of the guys and Alisa Xayalith, the only woman in the band.

Their most famous song is without a doubt “Young Blood”. Song, that not only was remixed by many of the major DJs around the world, but also appeared in many television series such as Covert Affairs, Chuck, Gossip Girl and The Almighty Johnsons. Logically, it was an instant hit.

The naked and famous has been influenced by: Massive Attack, Bjork, PJ Harvey and Tricky. In fact, its name was taken from one of the songs of the artist from Bristol. The New Zealanders have been compared to some of the most important groups of the electro pop scene around the world as MGMT or Passion Pit, in many occasions.

More information: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111804388906223

Tunnel: Via Giovanni Battista Sammartini 30, Milan, Italy

MiLK

Auckland’s band is taking advantage of their fame by making presentations around the globe. This time The Naked and Famous will perform in Italy on the 7th of September in the Tunnel. If you want to see one of the most important indie pop bands of the moment, rent apartments in Milan and enjoy their concert.

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Translated by: Hans
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Generally, museums replicate what circumstances don’t say. In each event, the invent a new concept to sell tickets and art. Galleries work in the same way. The art business has become a range of discourses that have little to do with the current processes of the art of today but, with the voracity of time passing and, in the same way and with the same voracity, following cultural studies up to date. Politics has a lot to do with all of this and, in the end, nobody creates without thinking that they believe in something which is above the object that they produced, of the work itself. There isn’t a work which is exempt of its discourse: the interesting thing is that the work justifies that discourse, without the need of texts or pompous introductions. The decadence of current art just scares purists away and, on the other hand, asserting those that without a lot of talent can have great careers, via Facebook.

Design on the other hand, from its functionality and need regarding better ways of expression and dialogue with consumers, companies and all types of machinery of sense in today’s culture, is usually a field in the middle of the great emptiness of meaning that, at the moment, visual art leaves in all of its shapes. In fact, design is conditioned to comply efficient work, from whatever it is proposed, where t’s more effective and punctual in many ways. Furniture, interior and clothes design are examples. Milan is the capital of design and fashion in Italy. Maybe, today design is more honest because if has a fix market that doesn’t run out, that you’re always talking to and of which we all depend of.

The Triennale di Milano is a space where all the aforementioned combines. From design, graphic art, photography, paintings and art seminars , the Triennale is one of the richest spaces when it comes to contemporary culture and it’s now in Milan. Among the best in this exhibition which runs until the 28th of August, you’ll be able to see a photographic exhibition dedicated to the legendary and unique Pier Paolo Passolini. The exhibition explores the everyday life of this genius, who created masterpieces such as ‘Salò, 120 days of Sodom’ probably one of the riskiest films of all time, which was made in Italy. Salò is the crude story of a group of young people captured by a fascist sect in a mansion to be subjected to the most horrible and, at the same time, erotic rituals in which they all participate, sometimes, until they die. The exhibition presents on the other hand the everyday life of one of the most extravagant minds of Italian film. For more information on the Triennale di Milano visit its webpage: http://www.triennale.org/

Alexa Ray

That’s why, nothing better than getting apartments in Milan and be part of its hectic cultural agenda. As well as fashion, art is costly, and it will cost you a lot to ignore the fact that while they consume, others consume you.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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More than a novelty or boldness of a designer fashion or another, the so-called plus-size women are taking the catwalks, shops and fashion magazines. This is nothing new and it doesn’t seem to be a fad at all! It seems that finally the great brands of the fashion world are leaving aside the canon of skeletal beauty of the past decades, a radical change in tone, “beauty is in all the forms, not only in thinness”.

This necessary change to health and happiness of women started from the fight against anorexia and bulimia established by Donna Donna Onlus, an association that has given respite to the world of fashion. On 2007 was the London catwalk establishing the requirement of their models wearing at least size 0, with the phrase: “London gateway without anorexia” and was the first to demonstrate against the stereotype of beauty, which until then, just four years ago, was indisputable.

From then until today, the scene has changed considerably. The last version of Fashion Week in Milan started with a parade of XL models called “Ladies of the Desert” by designer Elena Miro, which involved the “XL super models” Tara Lynn and Lizzie Miller, who showed their curves to the world. Moreover, the magazines V-Magazine and Vogue have devoted entire editions to fashion and XL models, with the slogan: “Curves up”

Today Milan is the city that marks the change with numerous boutiques for plus sizes, to name a few: XL Moda and Lady XL located at: Strada Statale Padana Superiore, 18, 200063, Cernusco sul Naviglio, Milan.

Just something else: Enjoy fashion, beauty and Curves up!

Luz Obscura

Beauty is present in a huge variety of shapes and colors, the secret is in knowing how to discover it and appreciate it. Rent apartments in Milan a city where beauty and fashion will surprise you.

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Translated by: Maria
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