Since also Italy hates us, I thought it was just right to cheer us up as the folks there at America hates us! do. You know, doing the neighbourhood thing again (we did something already, like walk milan, but it's all dust to dust now). As you read, you may also load part of the map of my neighbourhood. It comes with the shaped-as-an-exclamation-mark swimming pool.

"In the light of a lowering sky the city is immediate and sculptured. None of summer's white palls, its failures of distance and perspective." (Don DeLillo, The Names)

I have been living in this district for about three months now, and I can't complain, it's full of stores, shops, restaurants. A movie teather. An outdoor public swimming pool. On spring pubs' sidewalk tables are crowded with charming half-naked women. Not so bourgeois like the average Milano district.
It is about 6 PM as I hit the road. The most active hours in terms of ground-level activities just began. People should be coming back from work, shopping, meeting into bars etc.
But no way. The neighborhood is deserted. It's still a middle-class city after all and they're all on vacation --

All the stores are closed, nobody's around. Not even the cars lined along the empty sidewalks --

The modern old tram awaits all scooped out, in background is visible a local example of delirious abusiveness --

The movie theater "Colosseo" is closed. In this cinema I saw "Casablanca" for the first time, years ago. It was a rainy day. Me and the girl by the sexiest mouth came out and just wanted to smoke one. It was not raining anymore and we were proud of the movie.

"Five Days of Milan" Square is empty too and shut down. Please note the local homer simpson wandering near the news-stand --

Fashion stores may seem open, because of the shop-window and all. But they too are closed. The passerby: a tram driver idling.

Who's open then? You'll discover it in the next neighborhood photoblog roundup. Photos are ready, taken during the same walk, but we just don't feel like throwing all the pictures down in the same post, all right?