ミラノ編/Milan, Italy
This is the second part of my Italy trip, where we visit Milan.
ベニスからミラノへはEuro Star (ES)と言う電車で 2時間ちょっと鉄道の旅です。
We rode the train called Euro Star (ES), which is a 2 hour trip from Venice to Milan.

ベニスで切符を購入し全車指定で僕らは10号車、ホームに行ってみると何処に
何号車が停まるかも分かりません。何人かに聞いてみてもそれぞれ違う返事なので
思いっきり Guess をして並んだラインの先頭の人に聞いたら 「ここが10号車だ
Follow me!」 と言うからその気になっていたら目の前に停まったのは3号車、
25kgはある旅行カバンを引っ張り猛ダッシュで10号車までホームを走るはめになってしまいました。
車両が20mの長さとすると140mは走った事になります。いやー疲れました。
車内は快適とまで行きませんが乗っていれば連れて行ってくれる電車はやはり楽ですね。
We purchased our tickets at the station in Venice. Tickets are assigned to reserved seating and our seats were in Car #10. When we got to the platform, we had no idea where Car #10 would be. Everyone we asked gave a different answer so we ultimately guessed where it would be and lined up. Once the train came we asked the person at the front and I think they said, “Car #10 is this way, Follow me!” That’s when I realized we were standing in front of Car #3. Lugging 25kg (55lbs) of baggage, we literally ran for car #10. Each car is roughly 20m (65ft) long, so we made a mad dash for at least 140m (153 yards). I can’t say it was spotless inside but we made it on and riding a train all the way to our destination was relaxing.

ミラノでは Italy Rumblers の Romano君と Lowride Magazine の Giuseppe氏と Dinner を取り
In Milan, we had dinner with Rumblers member Romano and Loweide Magazine’s Giuseppe.


翌日は Lowride Magazine Office を訪ねました。
隣はBody Shopです。
The following day we visited the Lowride Magazine Office.
Next door is a Body Shop.













中に入って見るとそこには見たことも無いようなMotorcycleが一杯!まるでMuseumの様なOfficeでした。
Once we were inside their office, it was literally a Motorcycle Museum! Bikes I’ve never seen before.

そしてこのバイクはオーナーによって開発されたライトウエイトの市販Sports Bikeです。
And this bike is being developed by its owner as a light weight production Sports Bike.

オーナーの Mr. Cabassi氏(右)と Lowride 編集長の Giuseppe 氏。
The owner, Mr. Cabassi (right) and Lowride Chief Editor Giuseppe.

彼らの Office からちょっと市内観光しました。
We also checked out the sights nearby their office.

こんなポスターが。
Also found a poster like this too.

街では路面電車と車が共存しています。
Cable cars and vehicles move on the same streets



次に向かったのは市内でバイク関連商品を販売している”Officine Mermaid”。
Our next stop, in the same city, was a shop that sells motorcycle related products called, “Officine Mermaid”.

ここは、イタリアで、横浜 Bull Original 商品
Here, in Italy, the shop carries products such as Yokohama Bull Original,

や、零 Road Hopper を取り扱うShopで、
and Zero Engineering Road Hopper, etc.
5月に Pre Open し 9月26日に本格 Openする予定との事、Open の日にはイタリア初の
Kustom Kulture Art Show を企画しているそうで Kustom Kulture の伝道師 NASH君が
協力しているそうです。日本からは Wildman, Makoto と Mr. G 日本が誇る Super Pinstripers がイタリアに集合です。
In May this year, they had a Pre Opening and on September 26, they will have their official opening. For the opening day, they are planning to host Italy’s first ever Kustom Kulture Art Show and have been collaborating with Kustom Kulture Evangelist, NASH. Attending the art show from Japan will be WILDMAN, Makoto and Mr. G, the Super Pinstripers from Japan together in Italy.


近くには25年前イタリアで初めてハレーを売り出したNumero Uno Milanoと言うShopに、
Close by is a shop called, Numero Uno Milano, the first shop to sell Harleys in Italy 25 years ago.


お邪魔したらなんとHCSに出展されたHidemoさんのHDがありました。
When I looked inside, among the bikes, I saw one HD built by Hidemo (Hide Motorcycle) from Japan that was displayed at HCS..

なんとHCSのポスターが!
And look, there’s an HCS Poster!

しばらくShopの前にいると Motoguzziに乗り うれしい事にMOONステッカーをヘルメットに貼ったライダーが
やって来ました。でも良く見るとMOONの中が赤!
As I was in front of their shop, a rider approached on a Motoguzzi and it was exciting because he had a MOON sticker on his helmet. But as he got closer, I got a better look and the MOON text was RED!

偽物です。
He didn’t add the color; it was fake.

早速本物を差し上げました。
So I promptly gave him a real one.



Officine MermaidのStaff, 中央がオーナーのDario氏です。
The staff of Officine Mermaid. In the center is the owner, Dario.



最後にSuper Marketへ行ってお土産の買出しです。
Our last stop was at a Super Market to pick up some food and gifts.

さすが魚介類が豊富です。
As expected, lots of seafood.

パスタ用の具です。 これは便利そうですね。
Toppings for pasta in packs. This looks very convenient and useful.


ライスサラダ、ご飯のサラダです。これもおいしかったので買いました。
Rice Salad was good so I bought a lot of this.

楽しみにしていたミラノカツが食べれなかったので買ってかえりました。
I was looking forward to eating Milan-made cutlet but instead, bought some to bring home for later.


レジは何とセルフでした!
Woh, the checkout stand is Self-Service!



ミラノ市内の縦列駐車はこんな感じで、押しながら出るので 車が動きやすく
ギアは”P”にはいれず”ニュートラル”にしておくそうです?!本当?
Within the city of Milan, this is the situation with parallel parking. You have to push your way out. I was told that cars move quite easily because no one puts their car in “P” (Park). Instead, they leave it in neutral?! Is that true?

それとイタリアはタバコの吸い殻が沢山落ちていました。 Smokerには天国です。
日本食レストランは沢山ありますが多くは日本人経営でなく 日本人経営のレストランでは
「日本食とは」と言うパンフレットを配り正しい?日本食の宣伝をしていました。
アサヒスーパードライが飲みたくて看板につられて入ったこのレストランも違う人たちの経営で
久しぶりに過激なテンプラうどんを食べてしまいました。
Also, I noticed there were a lot of cigarette butts on the ground in Italy. Must be paradise for a smoker.
There are a lot of Japanese restaurants but many are not managed by Japanese. I noticed most Japanese restaurants that were keen on having “What’s Japanese Food” brochures(?), where managed by Japanese.
I was craving Asahi Beer and was drawn into a restaurant that had a sign of it and it wasn’t run by Japanese either. It had been a long time since I had a radical Tempura-don.
スープはカツオのダシだけ、これも久しぶりに見たコロモが倍以上ある細見の海老テンプラに
ワカメ、 ダシが良く効いていましたよ。 70年代のCalifornia 日本食を試したい方どうぞ!
The soup was Japanese fish kelp base, seaweed and interestingly enough, it had small shrimp and twice as much batter making it look much bigger than normal. The soup was ok because it was straight from the box. It reminded me of Japanese restaurants found in California back in the 70s!

橋の下を流れる川はナポレオンの時代からあるそうです。
The river running below this bridge has been there since Napolean’s era.

エアコンの室外機がミラノの風景を変えています。
This view of Milan’s outdoors is changed just by the A/C fans on the roofs.
イタリア旅行は無事終了です。
And without incident, that was my trip to Italy.
明日は富士でSuper American Festivalです。
Tomorrow is the Super American Festival at Fuji Speedway.
See you there!