Journal 5 – Thursday 22 2009:
Long day today. Started at 12:00 with my first appointment way out in Biscligli. About an hours ride outside Milan city centre. Too far, not going to be feasible as a place to stay… also out there the air is thick with smog. I got a headache and strong cough from walking through it for only 20 minutes. I coulden’t imagine doing it every day. Next on the list was back in Milan city centre.
Via Collodi. Found my way to it. The seller showed me the door inside and after I found the apartment on the first floor I talked for a few minutes with the folks inside. It wouldn’t be ready until the 20th of February. That marked that off the list.
As I made my way back into Milan I got struck by a wild hair to visit Polytechnico an industrial design school on the northern edge of Milan. I went for a train ride out to Polytechnico and found I couldn’t make my way onto the campus.
After returning by train (a different experience than Metro or Tram) I hurried down the Yellow line to Porta Romana. In Porta Romana I looked at two apartments. The first was nice, wood floors not tile and it looked much more like a house than a rental. Unfortunately the young man I would be renting from seemed shady. He was not sure on how much rent cost (weird right???) and mentioned having a private rental agreement. I kept it in mind because despite the young man the apartment itself was the nicest I had seen yet. Although the loft I would have rented was too short for me. So I’d be bent over and hunched if I did end up there. That fact alone makes it pretty low on the list.
The final place on today’s list was a four man three room apartment. Two bigger rooms with 2 beds each (shared) with one bathroom shared between the four. A kitchen/living room conglomeration and no internet. It was the cheapest I’d found so far coming in at 370 total with heating, light, gas, and rent. If I can’t find a place by Saturday that is the Apartment I’ll end up in. If I do end up there I’ll need to arrange for the building to turn on the internet service which might cost me another 25-40 Euro. I’m not sure.
Paul and his Italian roommate have been very kind about letting me stay on the couch. But I feel that I’m outstaying my welcome. I’ve been crashing here since Tuesday and I’d only planned to be here one day. I need to find something before the weekend.
Tomorrow I’m going to step into an Apartment locating office. Agencia Immobiliare. I’ll let them know what I’m looking for and hopefully have results by the end of the night.
The city was more active today. There was a protest of some sort in the Main square north of Paul’s apartment. Big white vans blasting music and a huge amount of people. Police were everywhere around the edges. I don’t know what it was about but it looked pretty interesting.
I’m off to study more Italian, trying to pickup what I can. They speak so fast and are using words I can’t put together yet.
Peace.
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