I'm not crazy about Milan.  It's a huge, grey, smoggy city with little character.  But last night my friend B and I went to an area that I'd never visited.  It's called Zona Navigli or "navigable canal zone".  Many hundreds of years ago, canals were built connecting some of the large northern lakes to the river Ticino which empties out into the Po river which leads to the Adriatic near Venice.  It was all part of a navigation system for Milan transport dating back to the 1100's.  Most of the canals were covered over in the mid 1900's but some remain and have been revitalized.  About 10 years ago someone recognized the value of this cool, old area of Milan and it became a haven for artists and funky secondhand retailers.  The area is mostly pedestrian and the canals are lines with restaurants and bars and shops and galleries.  It reminds me equally of parts of Venice and the Old Port.  Last night was chilly and pouring but the locales were still packed, with even the outside bars filled with people huddled under the canopies and umbrellas on the sidewalks.  We grabbed a drink in one of these places, sitting under a canvas "roof", with warmth provided by those tall gas outdoor heaters.  We were very cozy.  We had a few hours to waste while our girls enjoyed their concert so we wandered in and out of various shops that were still open at 8 in the evening.  I found lots of wonderful, useless things that I wanted to buy but thankfully I didn't have my credit card so GP was saved from waking up to a clock made out of a vinyl record and a hanging lamp made from an old vodka bottle.  Next time!  xxoo me