City Life
The City Life district is located northwest of Milan Cathedral. It is the city's most innovative urban district, created in 2015 for the Expo, famous for being the Shopping District and the area where Chiara Ferragni and Fedez live. It is a short walk from Sempione, the historic district where the Park of the same name and the Arco della Pace are located, and from the areas of De Angeli, Wagner, Pagano, Buonarroti and Bullona. City Life is a district that brings together imposing contemporary buildings but also vast green areas, in fact it is one of the best examples of how regeneration and redevelopment can go hand in hand with technological innovation. The whole area, despite being very recent, has become to all intents and purposes one of Milan's centres for spending days outdoors or in the shops and evenings with friends, perhaps having an aperitivo or dinner, or for a film at the multiplex cinema inside the shopping centre. In the neighboring areas, there are cinemas, theatres, museums, other shopping streets and pleasant city walks. It is a very popular district, a sort of residential oasis within Milan where one can really feel in step with the times and at the centre of transformation. The reference metro line is the Lilla M5 with the Tre Torri stop, while those nearby are Domodossola, Portello and Buonarroti. It can also be reached by tram and bus, or by car.
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What to see and do
In City Life there is everything to see, starting with the Tre Torri district, the hub of the Shopping District and the surrounding park. The Isola-Porta Nuova skyscrapers and the three towering ones in City Life, from which the area takes its name, create one of the most spectacular and elegant skylines in Europe. These three skyscrapers were designed by three internationally renowned architects:
Isozaki Tower, by Arata Isozaki, known as Il Dritto, because it is perfectly vertical, or as the Allianz Tower, is the second tallest building in Italy after the Unicredit Tower;
Hadid Tower, by Zaha Hadid, known as Lo Storto, because of its twisting movement, or as the Generali Tower;
Libeskind Tower, by Daniel Libeskind, known as The Curved, because of its shape, or as the PWC Tower.
Surrounding this complex of buildings is the public but well-kept City Life Park, which alternates lawns and wooded areas with numerous rest areas. There are spaces dedicated to fitness, there is free Wi-Fi and soon it will be connected to Sempione Park, Portello Park and Montestella by a cycle-pedestrian path. The park is also overlooked by impressive residences, the Palazzo delle Scintille, dating from 1923, and historic Art Nouveau buildings. City Life also includes the Shopping District, a mall of shops, restaurants, and a cinema, and ArtLine, an artistic route between contemporary art, nature and design. Another project in progress is the Orti Fioriti, a piece of countryside between the buildings to promote the knowledge of horticulture and gardening. Heading towards the Sempione area, a nice tour from the Arco della Pace to the Castello Sforzesco on the other side of the park is a must. Inside Sempione Park you will also find the Triennale di Milano museum, the Torre Branca on which you can climb to enjoy the view, the Arena Civica and the Acquario Civico, the small lake with the Sirenette Bridge and refreshment stands. Proceeding, however, towards the Wagner, De Angeli and Pagano areas, you come to the Teatro Nazionale, where mostly musicals and other shows are staged, and Corso Vercelli begins, a street full of shops that leads in the direction of the Centre.
Where to eat and drink
Inside the Shopping District and in the Three Towers Park, there are several City Lifes’s clubs and restaurants where you can have an aperitif, dinner or just a drink. For example, Dispensa Emilia, which offers quick and tasty dishes from the Emilian tradition, such as tigelle. For a light lunch break with simple dishes, Feltrinelli Red, the menu is varied and there is also a dehors overlooking the square. If you fancy sushi there's Bomaki Uramakeria, rolls with a slightly Brazilian and slightly Japanese soul. Or Feel, on Via Boezio, just a five-minute walk away, excellent value for money. Returning to the main district, Calavera, Mexican delicacies and a colourful place. Also, here we find Meatball Family with its variety of meatballs, those with sauce being the highlight. Vegans here will also be satisfied by going to Wagamama, which started out as a noodle bar with a Japanese philosophy and then specialised in vegan cuisine to offer new experiences for the palate and with respect for animals.
For pizza in City Life, there is Fra Diavolo, which ranges from traditional pizzas to those of 'pop' culture, also putting together unexpected ingredients. There are also many solutions for an Italian aperitivo, for example GUD, one of the most photographed and posted places of the summer. In fact, it is nestled in a vegetable garden among bales of hay, tarpaulins, and beach umbrellas. Very popular with young workers whose offices are based in the neighbourhood. But when it comes to aperitifs, the alarm bells can only go off on Corso Sempione, which is very famous for being full of clubs one after the other. To name a few in the Arco della Pace area: Deseo, BhangraBar, Spillet, Jazz Cafè, Giangol. But there are also excellent restaurants in the area, such as El Porteño, for excellent Argentinean meat, Tano passami l'olio, refined and contemporary cuisine, La Bullona, offering haute cuisine fish dinners and a careful selection of wines, Rebetiko, a Greek-inspired restaurant. There is also a rich choice of restaurants, clubs, and pubs between Wagner, De Angeli and Pagano: they range from hamburgers, pizzerias, and traditional cuisine restaurants to elegant and easy-going restaurants. Which name: Al Mozzo, Trattoria Caprese, Fatto Bene Burger Buonarroti, Pizzium, Spontini, Pizzando and Grigliando da Ciro.
Where to go shopping
The CityLife Shopping District is a unique place to shop. Not only because of the beauty of the buildings and the atmosphere, but also because it has more than 80 shops. It is made up of three interconnected areas: the covered Mall on two levels, the central open-air plaza surrounded by shops and services, and a shopping gallery, also open-air. You can find everything and more: clothes, shoes, accessories, the home design area, technology, music, jewellery and so on. It encompasses some of the biggest brands in each of these areas. In addition, there are also well-stocked supermarkets here for grocery shopping. In the nearby areas you can also find Tezenis for underwear and home-wear, towards Portello, and Cisalfa for sportswear and shoes, towards the Domodossola metro stop, heading towards the Bullona area.
Via Marghera, between Wagner and De Angeli, names that also identify the namesake stops of the red underground line M1, and nearby Corso Vercelli are also full of shops. In the Wagner district, the Indoor Municipal Market, the oldest in the city, has also been redeveloped and renovated. It is now even more beautiful than before and has an ecological soul, in fact a photovoltaic system has been installed. Here you can find mainly foodstuffs: fruit and vegetables, meat, bread, cakes, and focaccia baked daily, as well as organic products and ethnic food. There is also a very large Feltrinelli in the area, spread over several floors, where you can find literature, but also music and technology. In this regard, there is also a Unieuro point not far away, which always offers deals on electrical appliances and other household products.
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