Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hospitals
For an ambulance, call
%
118.
The Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico
(Via
Francesco Sforza, 35;
%
02-55031; www.
policlinico.mi.it; Metro: Duomo or Missori)
is centrally located, a 5-minute walk
southeast of the Duomo.
Lost Property
The city-run
ufficio oggetti
rinvenuti
(lost-and-found office)
—where
you check for items lost on the street or
public transportation—is just south of
Piazza del Duomo (
Via Friuli, 30;
%
02-
88453907; Metro: Duomo or Missori) and is
open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 4pm. The
oggetti smarriti
(lost objects) at Stazione
Centrale (
%
6371-2667) is located in the
same office as the luggage storage and is
open daily from 6am to 1am.
Post Office
The main post office, Poste e
Telecommunicazioni, is just west of Piazza
del Duomo, at
Via Cordusio, 4;
(
%
02-
72482126; www.poste.it; Metro: Cordusio).
Windows are open Monday to Friday 8am
to 7pm and Saturday 8:30am to noon.
Most branch offices are open Monday to
Friday 8am to 2pm, Saturday 9:30am to
1pm.
Taxis
To find a taxi in Milan, walk to the
nearest taxi stand, usually located near
major
piazze
and major Metro stops. In
the center, there are taxi stands at Piazza
del Duomo and Piazza della Scala. Or call
a radio taxi at
%
02-4040,
02-8383, 02-
8585, 02-4000, or 02-6969 (the desk staff
at many hotels will be happy to do this
for you, even if you are not a guest). Cab
meters start at
€
3.10, and add a sur-
charge of
€
3.10 at night,
€
1.55 on
Sundays.
THE LAKE DISTRICT
Poets, composers, and mere mortals have been rhapsodizing about the Italian
lakes for centuries—most vocally since the 18th century, when it became de
rigueur for travelers on the Grand Tour to descend through the Alps and enjoy
their first days on Italian soil on the shores of the lakes.
LAKE COMO
555
If you have time for only one lake, make it Como. The first sight of the dramatic
expanse of azure Lake Como, ringed by gardens and forests and backed by the
snowcapped Alps, has a history of evoking strong emotions. Over the centuries,
the lake has inspired poets (Lord Byron), novelists (Stendhal), composers (Verdi
and Rossini), and plenty of less famous visitors.
The lake has drawn everyone from deposed queens (George IV of England
exiled Caroline of Brunswick here for her adulterous ways) to well-heeled travel-
ers, and is still sought after by the rich and über-famous. George Clooney recently
moved into the neighborhood, buying a villa from Teresa Heinz and her hubby,
Senator John Kerry—it featured as the bad guy's home in
Ocean's Twelve.
Aside from its emotional pull, Como is also just an enjoyable place to spend
time. Less than an hour from Milan by train or car, its deep waters and verdant
shores provide a wonderful respite from modern life. Tellingly, Lake Como served
as a backdrop for the romantic scenes in
Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones
—one of
the very few settings in the film
not
created entirely by CGI computer programs.
I guess even George Lucas realized that Como was a place of such unearthly
beauty as to need little digital touching-up.
