Archive for 'Localities'

The walls and streets of Milan are home to the work of many famous and unknown Italian and International street artists. You need only know where to look in order to explore the biggest art gallery in the world. Even then, surprises will often await you around corners and hidden almost out of sight. One of the greatest pleasures that the city has to offer is the experience of leisurely strolling her streets while always having something to look at.

Milan is known internationally as an important industrial centre and the fashion capital of Italy. Of course, as it is an Italian city, it is known for its art but doesn't have quite the reputation and glorious past of other cities. However, it does have a rather exceptionally rich tradition in street art.

So much so, in fact, that you can take a specific guided tour around the city in which you will be informed of the history of street art in Milan and be shown some of the most important works.

Even if you don't take the tour, there's something to see around every corner so merely wandering around with an ice-cream or coffee in hand becomes a fantastic activity in its own right.

Find a holiday rental in Milan and discover the art of its streets.

In 2005, a very unusual discovery was made on the Venetian island of Lazzaretto Nuovo. Among other bodies discovered in the mass plague graves of the island was a woman's skull with a brick jammed into her mouth – a vampire. Thus, Lazzaretto Nuovo became the vampire island of Venice and news outlets from around the world reported on the discovery of the strange corpse. Of course, you might wonder why a brick in her mouth didn't merely suggest an accident or prank but the act of putting a brick in the mouth of a corpse had a very distinct reasoning behind it.

When you first think of Venice, what comes to mind? St Mark's? Canals? Gondolas? Probably not kayaks, right? Yet, something which has been gaining popularity over the past few years are kayak tours of the canals of this historic city. You literally get to see the city from a different perspective and it's a fun and more active way to get around. It's also a good way to independently navigate the city as its canals are the only way to get around and are usually only the domain of public transport, taxis and locals' vehicles. Find a holiday rental in Venice and you can have a very unique, once-in-a-lifetime adventure to show friends and family pictures of when you get home. The look of surprise on their faces will make it very much worth it!

If you're interested at all in contemporary architecture or design or you're just fond of seeing the most unique and unusual things that a city has to offer while on holidays, then Milan has the perfect thing for you. The Bosco Verticale, or Vertical Forest, is a highly unique building in Milan which was only finished and opened last year. It is a pair of high-rise buildings which are made up of 27 storeys with cantilevered balconies planted with 900 trees and more than 2,000 shrubs and bushes. The effect is astonishing, two lush structures emerging from the earth and towering (the taller being 112 metres in height) over the surrounding buildings.