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Expo Milano

Expo Milano

Old May 26, 2015, 3:15 am
  #31  
 
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I just came back from a trip to Milan where I spent 3 days at the Expo. I also attended the Expo in Shanghai in 2010. Overall, I thought the Milan Expo was great. There are a few unfinished parts but they are not immediately noticeable and do not distract from the experience. Generally, the lines were much shorter than the lines at the Shanghai Expo, but you can definitely fill up 2-3 days at the Expo visiting the pavilions. The best, must-see pavilions were Kazakhstan (hosting a smaller expo in 2017, so they invested quite a bit), UAE, Azerbaijan & Japan. These tended to have lines, but none were longer than an hour and a half (compare to 7+ hours for the UAE pavilion & 5+ hours for Japan pavilion in Shanghai). We started at the Angola pavilion near the entrance which was fantastic. The most disappointing pavilions were the US (which was apparently sponsored by Walgreens and other companies due to lack of US gov't funding) & China (which had a nice exterior but didn't have much inside). Because the theme is food, pretty much every pavilion had something to offer. I tried Belgian fries, a French croissant w/ ham, Moroccan tangine & Spanish tapas. All were excellent. The best time to go to the Expo is on a weekend as there are less people waiting on lines. I was shocked by the number of school groups that attend the Expo during the week. We didn't make it into the Italian pavilion itself due to lines from the school groups but recommend highly the EU pavilion right nearby. Overall, it was easier to navigate the Milan Expo because all of the main pavilions were on the same long street, but I did miss the Shanghai concept of having separate areas for separate regions (e.g., a Europe area, an Americas area, an Asia area, etc.). It is very easy to get to the Expo site on the Milan metro. Although it is a bit of a walk from the station, pretty much everyone getting off is going to the Expo. One thing to note is that your heels will be hurting by the end of the day, so be sure to wear comfortable sneakers.
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Old May 26, 2015, 10:21 am
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Thanks for reporting.
I'm glad I did reserve a Saturday visit a couple of months after the opening, which should give a full experience with manageable crowd.
What I generally read reflects your pavilions' preferences, with an edge for Japan.
Complains seem to focus on the not so feed-the-planet prices at most food stands.
But I can see how the exhibition spaces rates have something to do with it.
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Old May 29, 2015, 6:03 am
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Received an email this morning from Etihad and they are comping tickets for golds and platinums for this event.
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Old May 29, 2015, 2:06 pm
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Maybe this has something to do with the prices

Originally Posted by Forrest Bump
Complains seem to focus on the not so feed-the-planet prices at most food stands.
But I can see how the exhibition spaces rates have something to do with it.
The head of the Milan Expo, Diana Braco, is under investigation for corruption,

http://milano.corriere.it/notizie/cr...00b9b6d8.shtml

Evasione fiscale da un milione di euro, indagata Diana Bracco

Diana Braco is under investigation for evading taxes of a million euros.

Fatturazioni per lavori eseguiti nelle sedi della societ, per un totale di circa 3 milioni di euro. L’ipotesi che le spese fossero invece relative a lavori su case private e barche

Invoices for work supposedly done in her office, billed at 3 million euros, allegedly went towards her private homes and yachts.

Diana Bracco, attuale presidente di Expo 2015 e numero uno dell’omonimo gruppo, indagata in qualit di presidente del cda delle societ del suo gruppo (Bracco Spa) per emissione di fatture per operazioni inesistenti e appropriazione indebita nell’ambito di un’inchiesta della Procura di Milano, per fatti che si riferiscono al periodo 2008-2013. Al centro dell’indagine, che non ha legami con Expo, c’ una serie di fatturazioni per lavori eseguiti nelle sedi della societ, per un totale di circa 3 milioni di euro. Secondo l’accusa, le fatture riguarderebbero invece lavori su barche e case private a Merate, Vence (Provenza), Nizza Monferrato (Asti), Anacapri e Megeve (Alta Savoia) di propriet di Diana Bracco e del defunto marito Roberto De Silva. Fonti giudiziarie precisano che la societ Expo 2015, di cui Bracco presidente, non in alcun modo coinvolta nell’inchiesta.

Diana Bracco, President of Expo 2015 and Chairman of the Board of all the companies of the Bracco group is charged with issuing invoices for nonexistent transactions and embezzlement in an investigation by the Milan prosecutor's office for the period 2008-2013. At the center of the investigation, which does not involve Milan Expo, is a series of invoices for work performed in the offices of the company, for a total of about 3 million euro. According to the indictment, the invoices relate to instead work on boats and private homes in Merate, Vence (Provence), Nizza Monferrato (Asti), Anacapri and Megeve (Haute-Savoie) owned by Bracco and her deceased husband Roberto De Silva. Judicial sources state that the Expo 2015, of which Bracco is president, is in no way involved in the investigation.

Last edited by Perche; May 29, 2015 at 2:33 pm
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Old May 29, 2015, 11:21 pm
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If you believe that Bracco and Expo 2015 is not corrupt, wait for the other shoe to drop.
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Old Jun 3, 2015, 7:27 am
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To date that investigation has nothing to do with Expo.
It is a classic false invoicing scheme, involving Bracco's private company.
But since she seats pretty much on a dozen company boards, so far I see little linking to Expo spaces rates or whatever.

I don't think anyone says Expo is not affetcted by corruption, in fact PM felt the need to set a special anti-corruption office lead by an anti-mafia prosecutor, Mr. Cantone just for the Expo purpose.
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Old Jun 3, 2015, 7:58 am
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Originally Posted by l'etoile
I would love to hear what you enjoyed the most. I will have a day or two to devote to it and need to figure out how to spend my time. I've been following the FaceBook page and am so many pavilions look impressive.
This was my second Expo, having previously attended Expo 2012 in Yeosu, South Korea. I allowed 3 full days since this was a larger fair and still didn't get to see everything (didn't make it to China, UAE, Japan, and several smaller pavilions). Highlights from what I did see:
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belgium
- Future Food District
- Germany (would have been my favorite pavilion if not for an excessively long "interactive" music piece at the end)
- Kazakhstan (major promotional effort for Expo 2017)
- 'Tree of Life' show after dark each night
- UK

Compared to Yeosu 2012, the queue management was significantly improved. Only a handful of pavilions had long lines throughout. 2-4pm seems to be the peak time, and you can really knock out a bunch of pavilions quickly if you arrive at open or stay until ~730pm and later.

As mentioned above, a few things are unfinished, but they do a decent job of not allowing this to detract from the experience.

Protip: if you're arriving in the morning, take the M1 metro to Rho Fiera rather than Trenord. There are 2 separate security checkpoints at the West Entrance to the site, and the one for Trenord gets very backed up. It may take a few mins longer to get out to the site by Metro, but you'll make up all this time by breezing through security.
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Old Jun 7, 2015, 2:41 am
  #38  
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Thanks for all the advice thus far in the thread. Looks like my family and I will be in Milan next week (by chance) during this event so we'll probably go in for a day.
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Old Jun 7, 2015, 3:54 pm
  #39  
 
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My EXPO 2015 experience

Hello,

On my journey to Europe, I happen to be 'in the area' and decided to visit the EXPO 2015 event in Milan. I spent two days at the event (maybe six hours each day). Of course, I could have maximized a trip and spent more time each day, but this type of event is a bit harder to do than a trip to Disney or similar. This is my second EXPO so I had an idea of what to expect, but each host does it slightly differently.

Here are my notes, some mentioned by others (which helped me determine which pavillions to priortize) in case it can help others in the planning.

Logistics:
-I bought my tickets online at the pre-opening discount. I suggest looking for discount codes or options to pay less than retail (usually best to 'redeem' such codes online). I don't think there is a surcharge to buy online (as long as you can print your ticket).
-I stayed at MR-associated Boscolo Milano near the Duomo (I'll cover that in a separate post sometime later). I also took the Red line from the city center of Milan to the EXPO station. Unfortunately, someone thought it would be better to charge extra to get to the special station than the normal metro fare. Seems silly, but that is how it is (either as a special metro ticket or a supplemental add-on).
-You can go directly to the Rho Fiera station from Rome (bypass Milan C.), but then where do you stay? Yeah, not so helpful with the limited options.
-There is Olympics-like security at the event (assuming you've been to an Olympics site). Unfortunately, that means that there is a lot of walking from most stations, car parks, etc. to the entry with full security framework in place. However, the event is, well, not so popular yet. It is well overstaffed based on current actual attendance. Lots of volunteers, and I honestly felt credentialed people outnumbered true visitors sometimes. I agree that weekdays are school visitors everywhere, but weekends get more people who work on weekdays.
-The after 7pm pass is popular (especially as they start to close one hour later on some days), but for most out of town visitors, get a full day pass.
-I think it does take two days to give the event justice, but I am not so sure I would spend a lot more time there.
-Clean drinking water to refill your water bottle is available in many places. You can even get the frizzy version from these free booths. Restaurants and stores will only sell the official commercial water brands, so bring your bottle to fill.
-There is a minimal shuttle service around the EXPO, but it is on the edges and goes only in one direction. Not too helpful. You will be walking, a lot (I clocked in over ten miles a day).

Pavillions:
-Some pavillons are not much than sales outlets (like Dubai's Global Village) while others are massive multimedia immersions. That is the best way to put it on the most popular venues, massive multimedia use at many levels.
-The food venues attached at each location are a highlight. They are sometimes more pricy than they should be, but I think it is a local vendor who specializes in that country's cuisine.
-There were a number of great pavillions. I will share a few, but will not mention the details of what was unique, you'll have to see it yourself. This included Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, UAE, Germany, UK and Korea. Even ones like Egypt were interesting, if you can find it.
-The only one I couldn't get in but tried was the Swiss towers scheme. It had timed tickets (like a Fastpass) and the standby queue was only later in the day. The concept of it seems interesting. I guess I also couldn't get into Italy due to local demand/queuing.
-The US pavillion was just okay. I think their food truck concept (which is not close by the main avenue) was better than the USA story experience. This is not a pavillion that brings something like Disney did with 'It's a Small World', but it could have been with a pretty open theme. You take a similarly industrialized country like Germany that did something with both technology and live entertaiment that was very innovative or a country like the UK that used very cool thematic elements of nature (the caterpillars are everywhere) and architectual structuring.
-It is clear many countries are pushing tourism situations in particular places that don't get a lot of visitors (Astana comes to mind) and some focused their attention to an Italian-speaking local population (UAE did this well).
-One of the traditions of the event, the stamped passport is not doing well. Many venues did not have the stamp easy to find or even had it at all. Very disappointing.
-There is no landmark ride or attraction to mark the event I think.

Alla Vita!:
-Not much out there on the Cirque show that is exclusive to the event in its own dedicated open air theater. It is a relatively short show, just about an hour, but with pre-show acts, is about 1.5 hours.
-You can only see the show if you pay for admission to the EXPO, then a separate ticket to go inside the venue. You can possibly see it from the edges outside the fence (or one of the skyscraper pavillions) without paying for a ticket. If you go, get the Blu seating. It is not a big price differential considering the cost of everything else related for a visit to EXPO.
-It has a very traditional live music/narrator/different acts like one of the traveling shows you may have seen from this organized acrobatics company.
-It uses technology that I first saw with Iris, but has very proven music elements from many of its original shows. Some of the acrobatics reflect trends of what you might see on any of the recent 'County Got Talent' shows.
-It is a long walk to get back to the exit after the show. Consider walking to the Tree of Life station if you want to take the shuttle and not walk to the exit.
-I think the Blu seating and interaction with the roaming performers was a highlight.

Overall:
-With moderate expectations, it can be an enjoyable few days. Despite the well publicized financial scandals, it is well organized and most of the countries have figured out how to manage the demand (small or high). Some like UAE and Kazakstan have built queues with these line expectations while others like USA have turned off their attraction ticketing system (there is no need).
-Visiting EXPO is not visiting Milan due to the location of the venue. This experience is not unusual for this event as has happened at many other cities and locations that do not integrate sufficiently with local events and cultural. It was one of the reasons I stayed in central Milan and survived twice each day the 25 minute ride and 15 minute walk to get in and out of the venue to visit.

Enjoy.

Rasheed
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Old Jun 8, 2015, 6:33 pm
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This Expo really works me up. World Expos are what they call World's Fairs these days, after countries like the US held so many of them unsanctioned in the earlier part of the century. The US does not officially recognize nor participate in them, so where the US does have a presence, it is actually a corporate sponsor.

I am a huge fan of the World's Fair, and have always wanted to experience one. Yet, these World Expos to me fail to really have any of the character of the old fairs. They are too much a political action statement on a huge scale. They lost their sense of showing the future. But that is for a different thread.

I found a gallery of a fair number of the pavilions online here:http://www.gizmag.com/photos-expo-20...n-guide/37796/. From what I can see, it looks like most of them really lack any convincing content. Yeah some of the architecture is neat, but even there it is not as revolutionary or outstanding as some of the Expo 2010 pavilions. They certainly look like they lack the events, rides, and shows of the world's fairs.

For those that have gone, was there more content? Or was it just country inspired buildings?
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Old Jun 13, 2015, 3:58 pm
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Originally Posted by Cloudship
The US does not officially recognize nor participate in them, so where the US does have a presence, it is actually a corporate sponsor.

For those that have gone, was there more content? Or was it just country inspired buildings?
It is generally accepted that the term World's Fair and EXPO are now interchangeable even if the current century of organizers don't use the term World's Fair.

It is incorrect that the US does not recognize or participate in tem officially nor that they are only corporate sponsor-based. The Presidential family has recorded a number of segments for the US presence, they wil visit it later this month and many parts of the State Department attache are involved with events at the pavillion. Yes, it is privately funded this time, but taxpayer money is being used in many ways.

Most of the buildings are country-inspired (which is usually the way things go..). What is not consistent is the theme adoption as there is likely no content approval process or checklist to the theme. So, some countries work hard to really come up with thematic situations while others are using the event to attract investment and tourism. This is not different from other recent EXPOs either from my recollection.

It is disappointing that there are no historic rides or attractions that will leave a long term story for EXPO 2015 Milano. There is the Tree of Life and the AllaVita! show, but really they did not create an experience outside of the pavillions.

Rasheed
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Old Jun 13, 2015, 5:53 pm
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The US withdrew from the BIE in 2001, Canada in 2012. Though the US certainly does not discourage participation in the expos, Officially, at least, the country as a whole does not sponsor a pavilion. That is left up to private interests.

The BIE (Bureau of International Expositions- I forget it's actual french names) is officially in charge of Expositions - it is a trademarked name. World's Fair is not, and one does not have to have BIE approval to host one. The 64-65 New York World's Fair was NOT an official BIE event, and so was not a World Expo. The Montreal World Expo of 76 WAS a BIE event.

In the 80s there were attempts at fairs, some in the US. Most of them kind of failed, there were lots of reasons why. Needless to say that put a big damper on the excitement for fairs. Even worse, it showcased a big shift in the notion of the fairs themselves, which became a more "officially sanctioned" non-commercial (perhaps too anti-commercial) event. All the more reason why they have become more unpopular in the west. That is not to say there are not attempt to hold them - for instance Minnesota is pushing to have the US rejoin the BIE and have a fair in 2023.

So, personally, I have a big thing for the old World's Fairs, especially the New York ones. There is a big part of me that really wants to go to Milan simply to say I have been. But there is also a big part of me that is getting really turned off by what the fairs have become. Yes the New York fairs, and to a lesser extent Chicago and Seattle, were giant commercial showcases. I don't think that makes them necessarily bad, it's this almost obsessive anti-commercialism movement that tries' desperately to turn them into evil events. I think it is high time for a truly commercial event that does exactly what the fairs first set out to do - showcase the future and share ideas and technology, not billboard tourism and political movements.

I don't think these 6 month fairs are worth it. Too short a time to get value out of the exhibits. This is why I think most of them turn out to be nothing more than architectural follies and signage. I would love to see a real commitment to a couple of year fair, that would showcase new products and new ideas, that could be accessible to everyone, that would attract a huge audience. But, then comes the question how do you make that pay for itself?

**Edit

And already I embarrass myself - I forgot about the LA World's Fair effort! http://laworldsfair.org/about-us/. This has the possibility to become a real fair (note the World's Fair title, NOT world Expo). It faces som big hurdles, for one the fact that the US does NOt participate in the BIE and that it is hard for countries that are member to participate - seeolitical influence). There are some things I disagree with in this proposal, and which I worry will turn it into a bit of a big fail with teh requisite long term effects. But, I also can't help but hope that they can eventually get this on the right track and make a Worlds Fair for the 21st century.

Last edited by Cloudship; Jun 13, 2015 at 6:03 pm
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Old Jun 18, 2015, 2:51 pm
  #43  
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Been very busy on my whirlwind trip of Italy (In Roma currently) but did squeeze in a day at the EXPO last Saturday. The Queue to get in around 10:30 AM was about 30 minutes for security, and we skipped most pavilions with longer lines. Did the Brazil Cargo Net (interesting) and towards the evening, lots of lines thinned out so we revisited ones we skipped with longer lines. (but not all) - spent about 12 hours there- one can see the Cirque du Solei from a distance if they want- some interesting arrangements, and the stadium only looked half full. Very political with the views exerted by many countries. Will try to add more and answer questions, but need sleep for tomorrow's adventures!~
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Old Jul 14, 2015, 5:31 am
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Thanks for sharing about the expo. Thinking of going in August. Looks like 2 days are needed to see the major things or?
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Old Aug 9, 2015, 5:34 am
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I'm going to be in the area for the first time and we have a half day free so it seems like an obvious idea to go to the expo but ....

What's the point? I've read this thread and all the promo material and I can't figure out what it's for. It seems like an amusement park without the rides.

If I would be going, what would I be going for?
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