Friday, December 16, 2005

But where is the bull?

Oh good Lord Im in Italy, on a keyboard with no apostrophes. Im in Milan with Mum and its amazing. Were staying in a quite posh hotel in a very glamourous part of town, filled with little boutiques and bread shops selling pizza by the slice and lots and lots of pannetone. Every second woman seems to be wearing an enormous fur coat made from at least five poor dead animals, and even the traffic cops are fitted out with a smartly cut blue uniform, gold buttons and white belt, as well as a lovely white leather handbag to match.

The fashion here is just unbelievable, within about five minutes I felt like a big frumpy frump, in my jeans and jacket, and immediately started wearing the high waisted belt on my jacket that I felt too much like a wanker in in Kiel. Here, the wankier the better. Broaches, long flowing coats, hats, leather gloves, long boots, coats on dogs and sparkling handbags are just the beginning. On our second day here I saw a woman wearing a long white coat, white calf-length boots, a white scarf and carrying not one but two handbags, one sparkly, the other leather. She probably has a matching vespa at home.

Today we went to an art Gallery in the Brera Palace and were utterly overwhelmed with hundreds of gorgeous paintings of madonna and child in bright colours as if they were painted yesterday. I couldnt help thinking about how bizarre it is that this country which is so utterly patriarchal has this young mother as its most revered image. If an alien landed they would think Catholicism was a cult of femininity and fertility.

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