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The Stazione Centrale of Milano (Central Railway Station) was built in 1931 on a project imitating the Washington’s Union Station. Its front isn’t exactly the first thing that springs to mind when it comes to “Italian fine arts”; it’s chunky and heavy, a typical fascism age’s architecture. However who loves this town loves the Stazione Centrale as well: it’s the main entry door coming by train, and the foreigners feel welcome.
The Team Tourney Città di Milano started in 1970, and soon after became the meeting point of the strongest European champions; the winners always have at least one world class pair, but the environment galvanises the dilettantes into doing their best, making the champions’ life not as easy as they would like. Last year the tourney was won by Lavazza, but the second and third placed, Jelmoni and France1, fought until the last board.
There are some good reasons to not go to the Città di Milano: for example, these are hard times for all, in Europe, and even if the hotel doesn’t cost more than two years ago, the family have spared less than in the past, or nothing.
The wrong reason to not go, instead, would be the project “Not now, but next year I’ll do”. This is the 42nd edition of the event, but might be the last one; it was in jeopardy, and has become possible only thanks to great efforts by few people. There’s only one way to thank them: going to play. So doing, it’s possible that in the next years the same people, or others, will have the same enthusiasm to do again. Let’s desert it, instead, and the Città di Milano will cease to exist, lost like Venezia, Cefalù, Napoli, and others.
The photo of the Stazione Centrale has been reproduced by courtesy of Mr Roberto Jonghi Lavarini, of the Sovrano Militare Ordine di Malta:
http://ganassini.blogspot.it/2010/12/emergenza-freddo-milano-iniziativa.html
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Paolo Enrico Garrisi
November 30, 2012