Day 54: Milan: Expo 2015 Second Try

September 13, 2015

Carla Vailati is the lady who run the little store at the Camping, with her husband Antonio. We were very impressed by her kindness in giving us directions, and by the fact that she quickly learned and used our names. Carla gave us a tip about beating the crowds at Expo, by getting off the bus within walking distance of a gate that opens at 9 as opposed to 10.

Carla was so sweet. she had lots of tips for us and was interested in our trip.

Because we had bought a two day pass for Expo, we felt we needed to return, but I somewhat dreaded the likelihood that we would just battle crowds, get tired, and not be able to really see anything. As an indicator of how bad this was, we prepared ourselves with food and water, to be able to survive at the biggest food fair currently on the planet!

Carla's plan involved getting off the bus at a certain stop, but we missed it - because of a confusing list of stops involving the bus looping around. So we found ourselves out on the street with not much idea about where we were. We fired up the GPS and it helpfully plotted a 6 km walking route. Gee thanks. We went back to the bus stop and were thinking about how to play this, when four of our friends from the Kenya pavilion came up from behind us. After a lot of hand shaking, we found that they had just walked from Expo (the Expo Village), and they gave us the short way to go.

So off we walked, under a motorway and past one of the biggest Mercedes dealerships you will ever see. There we encountered three people from an African pavilion, and they asked us how to get to that bus stop we had left. Yes! We knew, and were proud to pass on the info. They also confirmed that we were still on the right way to Expo. One of our further clues was a broad and obviously new, red painted, bike lane. We followed that happily, until it dumped into nothingness. Why do transport people do that?? So we walked the wrong way for a while, before backtracking and finally spotting a trail of ants - people walking purposively in a single direction.

The lovely bike path reappeared near Expo - that is the Expo village in the distance

The stream of ants thickened, until oh my, it was another river of people, heading for Expo. We joined them, with Dodie now hobbling along with her stick. Soon an Expo worker directed her to a more open path - reserved for the disabled. Hmm. When we got to the actual gate, with the zillions of people again, Dodie once more got the benefit of a special entrance. So - we were in, again!

Lining up with the other disabled people.

Scads of people entering already at 9 oclock

This time we were determined to see at least one major pavilion, so we headed directly to the German one. We got there about 9:15, but found that even if the gate opened at 9, the pavilions opened at 10. Our early arrival did not mean we were at the head of the line, not by a long shot. But we stood there, watching the line lengthen for 45 minutes. At least Germany had the line well organized, with a marked off back and forth snaking pattern. Without that, in Italy, a line is just pure chaos.

The main midway 0 at this point with not many people

The weather forecast called for heavy rain starting in the morning and going all day. So now we and the hundreds of others stood out there in the rain. Finally the line moved forward and we were ushered in to an extremely high tech presentation, with much futuristic decor.

One of their big things they called a "seed card", which was a piece of cardboard with some kind of reflector dots spaced along the sides. At designated areas, sensors in the ceiling detected the dots and information material was projected onto the cardboard. By tilting the cardboard one could select from projected menu choices. Cool, but posters would have done it, and frankly the actual information content was trivial and skimpy. The pavilion was meant to describe a half dozen eco friendly initiative projects, plus to teach you important stuff like water and soil are key to food production. Physically, there were areas with a lot of potted plants, areas with canning/preserves, and a lot of fancy lighting and mobiles. The final blast was a music performance, again featuring advanced lighting and a very energetic pair of musicians. It was sort of fun, but why?

Nice factoid, but did I need to wait an hour to read this?

Futuristic mobiles - but what do they mean?

The energetic music show with advanced lighting

We exited into pouring rain, and considered our options. The rain had not really chased away the crowds, so we thought the chance of finding a dry restaurant with available seating was poor. There were long lines at all other major pavilions, so we had used up our chance on that front. The forecast called for two days of rain. Should we go back to our tent, break camp, and try to find our way to cycle out of Milan in the rain? Should we try to find a train station with the bikes and train to a town that might have an available Albergo?

We trudged along and made our way into the very small Afghanistan pavilion. There we found sort of seating - stools and a shared small round table - and bought two plates of typical food. It was costly, but we got a lot, since we were now wet and chilled.

Now the rain tapered (contrary to the emphatic forecast) and strangely the crowds abated just a little. There was still no chance at the major pavilions, but we were able to visit Ireland, several of the smaller Asian and African nations, and also a pavilion by Enel - a major power production and distribution company. Enel, in particular was interesting, with information about smart distribution networks, alternative energy, and also a small display of e-bikes. Pedal assist E-bikes are a wave of the future. Take note, Crazyguy readers or riders who have not recognized this as yet!

E-bikes as part of energy of the future display.

As the weather improved the crowds strangely diminished, and I was actually able to walk up to a stall and buy a gelato. Wow, starvation fended off for one more day!

We were thinking about this Expo experience - how despite a lot of high tech food production and distribution on site it was almost impossible to find either food or shelter, yesterday especially. Maybe the whole thing was a metaphor for overpopulation, and this was the main lesson of the thing. It was frightening and instructive to see how even well thought out and powerful systems could be overwhelmed by sheer pressure of numbers.

We made our way back to the Camping, using the well thought out and in normal circumstances (like we now had) very effective Milan transit. The forecast calls again for heavy rain, starting soon and going tonight and tomorrow, but we'll see. Come hell or high water, we are out of here and heading for the hills, tomorrow early.

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