Dirty Canals

Ciao bella. Come stai? Auito!

Greetings from Italy. The above rough translates to "How are you? I am horny. Extremely!"

Spending the last day of my journey in Milan. Unfortunately it's a Monday, which means all the museums are closed. So I've just been wandering the streets from park to park. And looking into a church here and a Prada store there. Milan is not as pretty as some of the other Italian cities.
Today, I visited the Navigli District, a network of canals and footbridges in the southern part of the city. The system was originally designed by Leonardo da Vinci and it's described as the "Venice of Lombardy." Umm, I haven't been to Venice...but I'm pretty sure it's not a bunch of non-moving piles of garbage. Seriously, this water was shallow and not going anywhere, and had newspapers, an umbrella, a beer glass, food wrappers and lots of litter. Thanks a lot, Leonardo da Vinci! Did you manage to make anything beautiful during your career? Anything? Name one positive thing you did for the people of Italy.
I've noticed a lack of water movement before - when I was in Florence. The Arno River does not flow. It just attracts mosquitoes. It's time for Italy to establish a national directive to get its water back on track and on the move. The Tiber River is the exception. But that's not surprising. Everything in Rome is bigger and more beautiful.
Since I was just aimlessly ambling around Milan this morning, I noticed a lot more store signs than usual. Here are the top 5:

City Life Cafe: Self-Restaurant Steak House
My Grill
Free Time Hair Studio
Jolly Hotel President
Baby Killer: Outlet Bambini

The last name is sort of disturbing for a baby clothing store. However, fashion is paramount in this culture. Every time I get on the train, I notice how I have the worst pair of shoes in my subway car. They're a pair of old Nike sneakers, when others are wearing Hogans, La Costes, and various high quality leather shoes. This makes me a little self-conscious about my whole wardrobe, and then I overcompensate with hair product. Just like all my favorite Italian soccer stars. The fauxhawk will never die, as long as footballers are allowed to style their own hair.
Which reminds me - there is a huge poster of half-naked David Beckham and Posh Spice in the city center. It must be at least 100 foot wide. Beckham's head is as big as a Smart Car.

I was glad to finally find this internet cafe. It was my third try. Guess that's what happens when I'm using a guidebook from 2003. I promise my 4 or 5 followers that I will provide more tidbits on Italy when I get back. I've been keeping a journal and there are more highlights to come in online form.