London calling - In fashion city
All work and no shopping makes Milan a dull city for Joe Fountain
As you read this, I shall be halfway through a fortnight's work trip in Milan, where I'm staying in a sweet, little hotel in the city centre, which I chose because of its swimming pool and gym - none of which I have been anywhere near so far. In fact, I've done very little other than work.
My daily routine has run something along the lines of: Wake up, have breakfast, get picked up and driven out of town to the work location, where I spend the whole day, to be picked up at around seven and driven back to the hotel. There's only been one evening walk round the shops so far. Otherwise, every evening has been spent in my hotel room, with room service followed by a cool bath (it's also very hot here) and bed (the biggest double bed I have ever slept in. Bliss.)
My relationship with this city is a strange one. I've been here a few times, mostly on business, so I've never really had time to step out and enjoy what it has to offer. The two weekends I did spend here for play rather than work purposes were spent mostly inside Prada and Dolce & Gabbana shops, which seem to mushroom all over the city's famed shopping centre, ruled by via Montenapoleone, the address that every fashion designer dreams of having retail space in. I've never actually bought anything for myself in there, mind. Or maybe I did, once. I seem to remember a pair of black patent loafers from Dolce, a long time ago ...
Since I'm also working on Saturday it doesn't look like I'm going to be having lots of time to do any shopping, although I noticed that some shops are also open on Sunday. So maybe if I manage to drag myself out of this splendid bed on the only day I'm not working, I'll hopefully get to indulge in one of this city's favourite pastimes. Mind you, with the summer sales pending back in London, it might make sense to wait a couple of weeks more and getting more for my money.
Even though I didn't manage to find tickets for the first of George Michael's two-night stint at the new Wembley stadium, I did manage to get some for the second night, which I went to straight after doing a 10-kilometre walk for charity with my flatmate (for which we raised over £1,000 again). Even though my legs felt like they were made out of concrete by the end of the evening, it was a fantastic night.
George Michael is one of those artistes who never disappoints live. He does what is expected and delivers his hits one after the other, much to his audience's enthusiasm. This was certainly the case last Sunday, when he kept a crowd of 70,000 plus shouting for more after a perfect rendition of some of his biggest hits over the last 25 years, including some from the Wham! days (there was a rumour going round that Andrew Ridgeley would be making an appearance. He didn't).
Being there was, however, a bit traumatic. Surrounded by middle-aged women who would have been in their teens when Wham! were big - just like I was, my friends and I had the big realisation that we weren't, in fact, as young and groovy as we thought we were, but indeed middle-aged men trying to rekindle some of our long lost youth.
I'm happy to report, that none of it stopped us from having a whale of a time!
My daily routine has run something along the lines of: Wake up, have breakfast, get picked up and driven out of town to the work location, where I spend the whole day, to be picked up at around seven and driven back to the hotel. There's only been one evening walk round the shops so far. Otherwise, every evening has been spent in my hotel room, with room service followed by a cool bath (it's also very hot here) and bed (the biggest double bed I have ever slept in. Bliss.)
My relationship with this city is a strange one. I've been here a few times, mostly on business, so I've never really had time to step out and enjoy what it has to offer. The two weekends I did spend here for play rather than work purposes were spent mostly inside Prada and Dolce & Gabbana shops, which seem to mushroom all over the city's famed shopping centre, ruled by via Montenapoleone, the address that every fashion designer dreams of having retail space in. I've never actually bought anything for myself in there, mind. Or maybe I did, once. I seem to remember a pair of black patent loafers from Dolce, a long time ago ...
Since I'm also working on Saturday it doesn't look like I'm going to be having lots of time to do any shopping, although I noticed that some shops are also open on Sunday. So maybe if I manage to drag myself out of this splendid bed on the only day I'm not working, I'll hopefully get to indulge in one of this city's favourite pastimes. Mind you, with the summer sales pending back in London, it might make sense to wait a couple of weeks more and getting more for my money.
Even though I didn't manage to find tickets for the first of George Michael's two-night stint at the new Wembley stadium, I did manage to get some for the second night, which I went to straight after doing a 10-kilometre walk for charity with my flatmate (for which we raised over £1,000 again). Even though my legs felt like they were made out of concrete by the end of the evening, it was a fantastic night.
George Michael is one of those artistes who never disappoints live. He does what is expected and delivers his hits one after the other, much to his audience's enthusiasm. This was certainly the case last Sunday, when he kept a crowd of 70,000 plus shouting for more after a perfect rendition of some of his biggest hits over the last 25 years, including some from the Wham! days (there was a rumour going round that Andrew Ridgeley would be making an appearance. He didn't).
Being there was, however, a bit traumatic. Surrounded by middle-aged women who would have been in their teens when Wham! were big - just like I was, my friends and I had the big realisation that we weren't, in fact, as young and groovy as we thought we were, but indeed middle-aged men trying to rekindle some of our long lost youth.
I'm happy to report, that none of it stopped us from having a whale of a time!