Tender, Pink Aliens

You definitely don't expect it.

I mean, Milan is supposedly that grey, industrial city of Northern Italy, home of in-door fashion and up-stick, famine-stricken models.

"Nothing much to see, it's not like Florence or Rome", most Italians would say, with a slightly superior, disgusted look on their face. So, as you stroll around expecting nothing, this wonderful garden seemingly at the beginning of time just strikes you.

Walking down Cappuccini Street you may not notice it at first. The garden is spectacular, there's a big water fountain in the middle, but you have to peer attentively in order to see them. These pink flamingos, majestic and awkward at the same time in their one-legged balance, almost transparent under the fresh, dewy light of the morning, seem to have been there for eternity.

Nothing odd, no trying to escape, no running around, just peacefully beaking away at the grass, impassive, as if born and raised there, their natural habitat in the middle of supposedly one of the most somber cities in Italy. Tender, pink aliens for the grey world around them. You definitely didn't expect it, but suddenly Milan is not that gloomy anymore.