And finally the pictures, and a couple more observations

The pictures.

The observations:

While I was in Milan there was some kind of election campaign underway. My Italian is not good, and all I figured out from the posters is that the most popular tactic is calling the opponent a fascist.

The prices in the cafes on San Marco are astronomical, a cup of capuccino is from 7.50 to 9.80. In comparison, just around the corner on the waterfront it was 2.50 or 3.

It's hard to buy non-Italian wine in Italy (haven't been to specialized stores though). A regular supermarket will have lots of Italian wines and then one French, one Spanish, one Chilean and one American.

All the internet cafes in Venice cost a fortune and required an ID. All the internet cafes elsewhere required an ID without costing a fortune. The woman in the hotel in Bergamo where we were staying told me she has to give the list of names of people who use the hotel's computer to the police. This shocked me, not so much by the fact of the intrusion of privacy as by the sheer inefficiency.

Milan's center was full of police. Don't know whether it was a special occasion or it is always like that.