The Milan World Expo closed on October 31, 2015. We bought tickets online (for about $40) for October 26, 2015. We thought, being the final days, it would be slowing down. We were wrong. Check out the first photo! We took that from the upper walkway, coming from the subway. It was jammed. They are the lines to purchase a ticket, which we were relieved not to have to wait in. As you can see, these events are no longer called “World’s Fairs,” as in the past. Jan attended the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City with her family and has fond memories of the day. It was where “It’s a Small World” – song and display…now happily ensconced in Disneyland…was premiered. (That song will now be in your head for the rest of the day!) And the Vatican had loaned Michelangelo’s Pieta for viewing. Memories are a wonderful thing!
We had read reviews of the Expo the week before we went, where people said it was so crowded that most of the Country Pavilions had lines of 3 to 9 hours!!!! So we decided not to get upset over the crowds and not wait in lines, just stroll through and get photos of the various buildings and other sights and only go into pavilions that did not have a line. Luckily, the US designed its building so that everyone could walk in, and there was never a line. As we walked through, they were playing Michael Jackson songs. The US Pavilion’s cafe was serving those great American foods….a Caprese salad, Mediterranean tuna fish salad, and croissants!!!! What happened to burgers with fries????
So, it was as busy as Disneyland in the middle of summer, and it got more crowded as the day went on. Unbelievable! We were so glad we went with no expectations of going inside many places….that kept us sane! The main walkway was about a mile long or a little more, end to end. It also had tons of offshoot aisles that had more displays and restaurants. With all of our stops and photos, we walked for six hours…both of us had tired legs and feet when it was all over. All in all, a great day. We enjoyed all the colors, ethnicities, sights, and busy-ness. But it was lots of fun….we said at the time that we would do another World Expo again. We spent a month in Dubai last year. It was the wrong time of year to enjoy the outdoors (July and August), but we liked it and want to go back. So we were going to try to attend the Dubai World Expo, which would have been occurring right now through early next year, but it was cancelled due to Covid. It is scheduled for next year, same place, so we may be able to wrangle our way there toward the end of next year.
The photos are pretty self-explanatory. Lots of color, lots of creativity, lots of people, lots of countries, of course (of which we only show a fraction). Just wonderful. There were parades and pasta-making demonstrations and cafes in each country’s pavilions to highlight that country’s delights. Really, the photos say it all. We greatly enjoyed our first World Expo as adults. Highly recommended!
