Since 2003, Adam Callen has been the editor and publisher of BodyMod.org, not the largest or oldest full-spectrum body modification publication on the planet, but pretty damn awesome =). Copyright © 2023 Adam Callen. Permission is granted to reprint this article in its entirety as long as credit is retained and usage is non-commercial. Requests to publish edited or shortened versions must be confirmed in writing. For bibliographical purposes this article was first published February 17, 2009 in New York City, US.
I hope someone sees the humor in this =)
Milano Tattoo Convention Day 2
Friday the 13th, the first day of the tattoo convention.
Tim and I woke up around nine in the morning so that we could hit up the continental breakfast in the hotel. Unlike in American hotels, the continental breakfast in Italy is a full on buffet. I think I had two plates of sausage, eggs, bacon, and fruit. They had a whole other table full of baked goods and other breakfast items, but I was playing it simple and keeping it down to the basics.
Sometime around 10am, we finished up and headed back up to the room. The convention wasn’t to open it’s doors until 2pm, so I had a good four hours to kill and really wanted to go back out and explore the city some more. This time with my good camera. Tim had to work on a drawing for his first customer and prepare the booth so he stayed back.
I grabbed my camera, ipod, sun glasses, my jacket and headed to the metro (subway). It was a little warmer out than the previous day, and not a cloud in the sky. I purchased my ticket and headed back to the city center to re-trace some of my steps from yesterday. I wanted to get a better lock at everything, and get some better photos. The iPhone is nice and all, but will never substitute for a decent camera.
I exited the metro and headed towards the castle. I really didn’t get a good tour of the place, and there were a couple other things around that I wanted to check out that I missed yesterday. This time when I got to the castle I opted to head north a bit first. I cut through the carnival area (yes, there was a traveling carnival surrounding the park next to it), and head to an old arena that is still being used today for races and events. It’s not as big as the colosseum in Rome, but it’s still “ruin” old.
From the arena, I headed back to the castle to check out more inside. Looks like the cops did a fresh sweep of clearing out the irritating panhandling vendors of crap and knockoffs, because I didn’t see a single one this time.
Now that I was more familiar with the city, I knew how to get directly to the Duomo. A couple people told me yesterday that you can get on top of the building and walk around the roof off it, and that the inside was also open for tourists. Man, I hate that word...tourist. To me a tourist is someone that plans out their whole trip down to the hour, carries around a fanny pack, and doesn’t even attempt to think that they’re in someone else's home. I hate tourists. They have no concept of where they’re going or where they’ve been. I am a traveler. I prefer to show up, strap on my boots, plug in my iPod, and walk around the city until I feel like I can’t walk any more. I want to see what’s down the back alleys. I want to find a local pub and share a pint with the locals. I want to actually experience where I am and appreciate it for what it is to it’s greatest extent.
Sorry... got a little carried away there =).
So, onto the Duomo! On the way there, I took a little detour to see a statue of Leonardo Di Vinci that a friend told me about that was on the way. I thought it was pretty impressive for a city / country to recognize an artist and show such a great tribute to him. Most of the statues I have ever seen are dedicated to war, government, or religion (I guess they’re all synonymous in a way), but to have one dedicated to a man of artistic importance seems times ahead.
After snapping a couple photos of people having their lunch a the feet of this inspiring man, I headed through the mall thing
Tim and I woke up around nine in the morning so that we could hit up the continental breakfast in the hotel. Unlike in American hotels, the continental breakfast in Italy is a full on buffet. I think I had two plates of sausage, eggs, bacon, and fruit. They had a whole other table full of baked goods and other breakfast items, but I was playing it simple and keeping it down to the basics.
Sometime around 10am, we finished up and headed back up to the room. The convention wasn’t to open it’s doors until 2pm, so I had a good four hours to kill and really wanted to go back out and explore the city some more. This time with my good camera. Tim had to work on a drawing for his first customer and prepare the booth so he stayed back.
I grabbed my camera, ipod, sun glasses, my jacket and headed to the metro (subway). It was a little warmer out than the previous day, and not a cloud in the sky. I purchased my ticket and headed back to the city center to re-trace some of my steps from yesterday. I wanted to get a better lock at everything, and get some better photos. The iPhone is nice and all, but will never substitute for a decent camera.
From the arena, I headed back to the castle to check out more inside. Looks like the cops did a fresh sweep of clearing out the irritating panhandling vendors of crap and knockoffs, because I didn’t see a single one this time.
Now that I was more familiar with the city, I knew how to get directly to the Duomo. A couple people told me yesterday that you can get on top of the building and walk around the roof off it, and that the inside was also open for tourists. Man, I hate that word...tourist. To me a tourist is someone that plans out their whole trip down to the hour, carries around a fanny pack, and doesn’t even attempt to think that they’re in someone else's home. I hate tourists. They have no concept of where they’re going or where they’ve been. I am a traveler. I prefer to show up, strap on my boots, plug in my iPod, and walk around the city until I feel like I can’t walk any more. I want to see what’s down the back alleys. I want to find a local pub and share a pint with the locals. I want to actually experience where I am and appreciate it for what it is to it’s greatest extent.
Sorry... got a little carried away there =).
After snapping a couple photos of people having their lunch a the feet of this inspiring man, I headed through the mall thing
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SlayerPosted on August 12, 2009 (1:10am)
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