Badly effected by World War II with a brutal Nazi occupation, in post war years it has accepted large numbers of immigrants and has become one of the four economic engines driving Europe.
Milan is Berlusconi territory, but I won't hold that against it.
As usual, our first excursion was on the hop on-hop off bus. The Milan version is the best quality we have come across. Only one company is permitted to operate, offering three routes at a fair price.
We started on the blue line and caught the bus at the cathedral, the Duomo di Milano.
Milan is committed to trams, both old and new as well as the Metro rail system and buses. It is also committed to pedestrians and cyclists. So the challenge is to have all five happily co-exist.
Walking is easy and cycling is big in the good weather but perhaps a little dangerous on the cobblestones and tram tracks in winter.
Access to the central areas of the city are restricted by a congestion tax, introduced in 2012 which replaced the previous pollution charge. It is immediately obvious that there are few private cars, lots of cyclists, a few motor cycles, banks of electric cars and lots of taxis and trams. The good thing about trams is that they can happily and safely share pedestrian and cycle areas.
The city is full of trees and shrubbery. Green balconies and green roofs are encouraged. It is spring and the chestnut trees are in flower.
The Milan Expo begins on 1 May and runs for 6 months. The theme is Feeding the Future - so the city is preparing itself and many of the displays are related to growing food. This one in the city centre was a pop-up promoting home grown food and the need to encourage bees in the city.
This unprepossessing building is the Teatro alla Scalla, La Scala, the famous Milan opera house.
Unfortunately, there were no tours available so we didn't see inside but we walked all around the outside expecting, at every corner, to find a majestic set of steps or a flamboyant terrace - but no, this is it!
There are lots of Twizzys and other car/motorcycle type vehicles in the city, many are electric and many form car share arrangements. Petrol costs $2.45 AUD and diesel $2.10.
We changed to the green bus route and ventured a little further out (maybe 2km) into an area which was previously heavily industrial. Large areas of old factories have been demolished and the new development is state of the art, sustainable urban design -integrated commercial, residential and recreational.
This is Italy's most sustainable building, the headquarters of the Lombardy region. Solar panels on the roof, passive solar design, ground source heat pumps for both heating and cooling, recycled water and all of those internal vertical blinds automatically adjust to warm or cool the internal areas depending on the weather.
This is Casa Milan, the new home of AC Milan football club. It too is in this newly redeveloped inner suburb and had to meet sustainability requirements.
And a little further on we see the side of the San Siro stadium, shared by AC Milan and Inter Milan. It holds 80,000 people. There is no private car parking - the tram tracks go right to the gate, buses shuttle through and the Metro station is right there as well.
Hopping off the bus for the day, we needed a coffee but the workers and school kids were lining up for pizza by the slice. There are recycling bins at the door for paper, plastic and food scraps. Smoking is banned almost everywhere except on the street and there are very large and frequent ashtrays on the rubbish bins - emptied daily. There is almost no rubbish on the street.
An espresso coffee standing at the bar costs $1.10 AUD and a cappuccino $2.00. Once you sit down indoors or at an outdoor cafe the prices can go sky-high unless you are vigilant, $5.00 AUD espresso and $6.70 cappuccino.
We collected fresh veggies at the tiny supermarket and walked home to Colonne di San Lorenzo, an ancient square. Our building is the yellow one behind the trees.
At the supermarket, a whole butter lettuce cost $1.25, 6 eggs $2.40, 6 fabulous sausages $5.80, San Daniele ham (prosciutto) $19 kg, Peroni beer 600ml $1.25, good wine about $7 bottle. But on the expensive side - asparagus $13.00 kg and a little grinder of black peppercorns $5.40. I took the pepper but not the asparagus.
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