Bull -- but no bull -- in Milan...Where?Wednesday

The Galleria Vittoria Emanuele II in Milan is an amazing building. Mix a bit of neo-classicism with a lot of ornamentation and a (for the time) modern steel-and glass roof, and you get this big cross-shaped "mall" in the shopping capital of Italy.

There's a lot of mysticism surrounding this building. The architect and builder, Giuseppe Mangoni, died from an "accidental" fall from the roof just 2 days before the galleria opened. It's said that it was actually suicide, a result of harsh criticism of the building.

And then there's the mosaics in the floor. In the center of the building are four mosaics representing the cities of Milan, Rome, Florence and Turin. The symbol of Turin (Torino), the bull, has a curious cone-shaped indentation where it's -- uh -- "manly bits" should be.

Why, you ask? Legend has it that if you spin on the bull's testicles you will receive good luck.

Evidently this refers back to a bull in the city of Turin/Torino itself. Why, you ask again? Well, this one I'm not so sure of. I found a lot of references, but no real reason why. And there seems to be some confusion over how many times you must spin, what direction you should spin, and on which foot you should spin.

Nonetheless it's fun to watch. Kids love it, tourist go nuts taking pictures, and locals do it quickly and without much fuss.

Hidden Worker

A neat little statue, almost hidden for wanderers to discover, along the Stadhouderskade in Amsterdam.

Dog Day II

Although we never owned one, my mother loves bulldogs. They do have a sort of -- uh -- charm.

This one was having a great time in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam.

Playtime in the Park

So much energy! One of the many dogs playing in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam on a nice spring day.

Another Bakfiets Shot

A follow-up post from yesterday. This was shot a few seconds after yesterday's photo. Although it's a bit blurry, the girls' reactions to the horse & carriage are great.

It's true that the bakfiets probably wouldn't make it in the U.S. (see yesterday's comments) -- you'd probably have to install airbags to make them legal.

Alternative Transportation Methods

In which would you rather tour Amsterdam ... a horse-drawn carriage or a bakfiets?

Not Teasing Today

Today's Lesson: How to put on your own sideshow in 4 illustrated steps!

1. Capture the crowd's attention with your look. Consider something that might intimidate people --like body piercing, tattoos and a leather skirt. Create a "performance space" ... for example, standing on a pile of broken glass is a unique attention-getter.
2. Get the crowd's attention by taking off your shirt. Enhancing the look with nipple rings and more tattoos is an added bonus.
3. Start to "gross out" the crowd. You might try sewing some string through belly. Tugging on the thread, thereby stretching your skin, will induce a loud "eeewww" from the crowd.
4. Gross out the crowd even more by tying a heavy staple gun to your skin, then letting it swing like a pendulum. More "eeewwwwwws" will certainly follow.
Once you've mastered these steps, you can go on to other things, like tying objects to your nipples and twirling around. Or hammering a large nail into your nostril.

Your big money moments will come when you introduce crowd participation into your act. Have someone pay for the privilege of using the aforementioned staple gun to put staples directly into your body. Or lie face down on the broken glass and have someone pay to stand on your head.

You get the idea. All in a day's work. Hope you've enjoyed yesterday's teaser and today's follow-up lesson.

(Note: I had one report of the picture not showing on the post. If anyone else notices this problem, please leave a comment or send an email (see address under "check out our...blog).

Teaser for Tomorrow...

Hmmm ... this guy is curiously dressed (you don't see too many leather kilts these days), and what's he doing with a staple gun in Amsterdam's Dam Square?

You'll have to come back tomorrow to see...

(Hint: don't check back if you're squeamish)

Easy Money? (1)

There are some pretty strange street performers in Amsterdam's Dam Square. This quasi-Neptune-guy was making money snatching the hats off of kids heads. I don't really get it, but the kids loved it. As you can see by this boy's smile ... and the coins going in the bucket for the next kid. Check back for more street performers throughout the week.

Not-so-blank canvas

Thanks to all who visited and commented on our theme day post. We're just returning from a weekend away and it'll be a few days before we can check out all of the theme day photos!

This is another shot at the same location as Friday's post. The guy was texting on his cell phone as he approached the building, but he put it away moments before he walked in front of the building. It would have made for an interesting juxtaposition against the scene from the mural. Oh well, you can't plan such things.

In this photo you can see the scale of the mural and the enormous amount of graffiti at street level. The mural itself probably invites graffiti, or as mentioned in the comments from Friday it's possible that this building is occupied by squatters.