Hello Milan!

Officially, this should be Milan chick's rambling notes as this is now where I am based, and hopefully where I will be for the next 12 months.

I arrived here just today. My impressions, I can't really say as I was just whisked from Linate airport to somewhere in the business district of Milan.

I got a quick glimpse of the Duomo and the Brera area, which look nice enough. I only really saw the cycling up close from my taxi.

What I noticed is that drivers don't seem to an enormous amount of attention when they go down the road, but they pay just enough attention to narrowly avoid a collision, or screech to a halt in the last second.

Cyclists aren't much better though. Even though it was getting dark when I arrived, hardly anyone was using lights, and a luminous high visibility jacket was a definite no no. People are dressed in civvies, even high heels - and no helmets.

It's a far cry from what you see in London where people like to don lycra and not just any lycra but club kit or replica trade team kit. There appears to be a hierarchy on the road, depending on how much you look like a "serious" cyclist. Here, everyone just rides their bike without any hang-ups.

I have noticed that they do Boris Bikes here as well. They are known as Mi-Bike. There's a station at the end of my road, so I hope to try it out maybe this weekend. Also this weekend will be the Milan-San Remo professional cycle race - the first of the Spring Classic races. I'm looking forward to going up to the start and seeing the riders and hopefully soaking up the atmosphere.

In terms of my club cycling I hope to get out at some point and do some cycling locally with a club - though I would like to train first and learn to look good while riding, Italian style before I venture into the world of Italian club cycling!

The other thing that the few Italians have spoken about is bike theft. So no change there from London. They have just said to not leave a road bike unattended for a few minutes - even when locked. It the thieves can't steal the whole bike then they will just steal bits off it until you come back and just find only your frame left.

Maybe I won't leave my road bike in the shed downstairs.

Overall, I am quite positive about Milan. My flat is nice, and I am even picking up more Italian - so I can't complain. I am looking forward to more adventures here.