Trains are de rigueur

Milano Centrale station

Milano Centrale is a really awesome train station - it was begun in 1912 by architect Ulisse Stacchini, whose design was modeled after Union Station in Washington DC. It almost made London's St Pancras look ordinary!

The station's construction caught the imagination of Benito Mussolini when he became Prime Minister in those troubled political times. He wanted the station to represent the power of the fascist regime. His politics may have failed but the station has not. It has taken up the mantel of modern Italy and stands out as one of the most splendid public use buildings with a traffic of 120 million a year. A palace for trains it has more glamour than any airport I have been to, however would benefit by having a good restaurant like Le Train Bleu in Paris's Gare de Lyon - more on that later....

Seeing the D&G brand campaigns on the walls added to the glamour for me. We were not herded onto the trains like cattle a la 'easy sweat' and other such airlines and the train left on time - marvellous! A great place for a photo shoot location - has lots of light and terrific depth of field. There is a refurbishment project underway at the moment to add escalators and update other aspects for accessibility purposes.