And just like that, it’s the first of May already. Labour Day, and a national holiday here in Italy. A fortnight ago – in my previous blog – I gave you a very comprehensive update of what has been happening in my life lately. Some of you loyal readers told me they’d love for me to pick up the habit of writing a little more regular again. I realised I fully agree, and that’s how I decided to publish another blog two weeks later. And that’s today!
Only now I understand what the Romans meant when they told me that, somewhat frustrated, “Milan has basically claimed everything that matters in Italy”
Because there’s one thing that has become very clear to me after my first six months of living in Milan: I need never have the fear that I will lack inspiration. Only now I understand what the Romans meant when they told me that, somewhat frustrated, “Milan has basically claimed everything that matters in Italy”. Because they could well be right about that. There is always something going on here. Last week saw the Salone del Mobile, the big interior design fair, and the event of the year. Although the whole city fills up with every single person that matters even just the slightest in the international design world, including Queen of the Netherlands Maxima, most Milanese don’t go to the fair itself. And they don’t have to. Because the so-called Fuori Salone, translated: outside the fair, has become ever so important. So, what exactly does this “fuori salone” entail? I couldn’t really imagine it before it all started, despite all the enthusiastic stories from friends.
Thanks to a friend with great connections, we got ourselves on the guest list for the party at BMW on Friday night (where, much to my disappointment, hitting the dance floor wasn’t really the intention of the party)
But Milan indeed turned out to be simply amazing that week. There are chic parties and fascinating exhibitions taking place everywhere, the most bizarre installations are constructed – even in the middle of the street – shops organise special design week events including extravagant aperitivi, the most beautiful buildings that normally remain closed to the public have Open House, and much more. We visited the Dior exhibition – an impressive installation with dozens of flying chairs, spectacular lighting effects and compelling music – we got ourselves, thanks to a friend with great connections, on the guest list for the party at BMW on Friday night (where, much to my disappointment, hitting the dance floor wasn’t really the intention of the party), and we hung around in Brera, the charming neighbourhood that is the epicentre of the Fuori Salone. By the end of the week, I couldn’t agree more: during Milan Design Week, the city is at its best. Because, as my Pugliese friend said, it’s the one reason that reminds her every year why she even lives in Milan.
Isn’t it crazy to realise how some moments in your life only later turn out to be life changing, while at the time you were living them, you had no idea?
But on this first of May – also my parents’ wedding anniversary – I can’t help but let my mind wander back in time to the first of May last year. The day I took a high-speed train from Rome to Turin. Bridging seven hundred kilometres in four hours and forty-five minutes, the train made its way through the beautiful Italian countryside. On my way to the capital of the northern region of Piedmont for the Eurovision Song Contest, where I would be part of once again. Still somewhat in doubt as to whether I was doing the right thing, I boarded the train that morning. Now, exactly one year later, I am so incredibly grateful that, despite my doubts (which were caused purely by my head, in my heart I knew that I had to go all along), I went anyway. After all, it would prove to be a turning point in my life. It was as if I had been standing at a crossroads for some time already, and it now suddenly became clear which street to take. Isn’t it crazy to realise how some moments in your life only later turn out to be life changing, while at the time you were living them, you had no idea? Because it was right there in Turin that the seed for Milan, and the world of music, artists and concerts, was planted. And I’m the living proof that once you have a clear vision, things can suddenly move fast. Because exactly six months later, on the first of November, that world would be my new fulltime reality.
But what about Eurovision this year? Will I be part of it again? A question some of you have asked me lately
But what about Eurovision this year? Will I be part of it again? A question some of you have asked me lately. I won’t be there, unfortunately, and I have to admit that it feels a bit strange. The first rehearsals are taking place now, as we speak, and that brings back all the memories. That unique emotion of the artists, their managers, their national delegation and us, to climb onto that big Eurovision stage for the very first time. I have to miss out on it all this year, not in the last place because the song contest is taking place on an island, literally and figuratively speaking. Outside the EU. And that made it virtually impossible for anyone without a valid work permit in the UK to be part of the organisation, which is in the hands of the BBC this time. At the same time, I don’t regret it that much. After all, my life in Milan is busier than ever at the moment, and it probably wouldn’t even have fitted into my agenda, which is packed with fun things for May. But that doesn’t take away the fact that I definitely want to be part of it again in the future. And so, I low-key keep my hopes up that either the Netherlands, or Italy, will claim the victory once again and hence,”bring Eurovision home”. After hearing the first comments from the Netherlands about their participating act, I think Italy’s Marco Mengoni is the safer choice to put my money on. And you get it, that’s an entirely unbiased opinion from yours truly. Just kidding.