Hello Milano guide to Milan - Museums Augurino Milan

A million people less, one submarine more

Things happen, in Milan, just as they do in other cities. It's just that in Milan, things seem to take a long time. Take the Cathedral, for example. Construction began in 1386 (according to the foundation stone which you can see under the first window on the right inside the church) and only ended in 1965 when the last bronze door was added. The dome was built in 1500, and the spire on top, with the gilded figure of Mary, was completed in 1774.

With that sort of record, perhaps it's not surprising that the final journey of the submarine Enrico Toti, 90 km from Cremona to Milan, will have taken four years – if everything goes to plan. Hello Milano first reported on the Enrico Toti in July 2001, when the Italian navy donated the vessel to Milan's Science Museum - or the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, to give it its full name. The submarine is something of a symbol in Italian naval tradition, as it was the first to be built after the end of the post-World War II embargo. It entered service in 1968, and operated in the Mediterranean until 1999.

In 2001, when the Toti was still at its base in Sicily, its engines and batteries were removed in preparation for its final voyage, so that it would float higher on the water and could get through the Po delta shallows. The trip up the Adriatic and then along the Po went fine, and it reached the river-port of Cremona, the nearest practical location for the final overland trip. From there, the idea was to haul the Toti out, place it on a special low-loader, and tow it to Milan. The estimated date of arrival was initially early June 2001, then early July. The Science Museum recently announced, four years later, that the journey will at last take place, in August 2005.

One has to admit that transporting a submarine on dry land is not a simple operation. Even without batteries and engines, the Toti weighs 350 tonnes, and the two motorized low-loaders that will carry it account for another 120 tonnes. The vehicle will have 240 wheels, and it will be 62 metres long. The main worry for Milan's authorities was that the convoy would be too heavy for the streets of the city, which conceal various underground structures such as canals, metro lines and so forth.

But in the intervening years, the Italian navy have commissioned other submarines of over 1,500 tonnes. Transporting these has helped understand how to organise this sort of operation.

So, if all goes well, the Enrico Toti will leave Cremona at 9.00 pm on 8th August. It will travel mainly by night, at a speed of about 6 km/h. It is due to arrive at the Science Museum on 14th August. If you're interested in watching it going round corners, the plan is that it will be in Via Toffetti all day on Friday 12th August, and then on Saturday 13th the sub will set off at 21.00. The route: Viale Molise, Via Monte Ortigara, Via Anfossi, Viale Regina Margherita, Viale Caldara, Porta Romana, Viale Beatrice d'Este, Piazza XXIV Maggio, Viale Gabriele d'Annunzio, Piazza Cantore, Viale Papiniano, Piazza San'Agostino, and Via Olona, where it will reach its allotted site in the museum on the morning of the 14th. From then on, the Museum will prepare it for exhibition, and this new attraction will at last open to the public in December 2005.

August is certainly the right month for this sort of operation. While the Toti is on the way to Milan, hundreds of thousands of Milanese people will be on their way to the seaside, or already there. The population of the city drops from the usual 1,200,000 to about 400,000 or even less on 15th August, and while many museums remain open, most shops will close for at least the central two weeks of the month. If you are here towards the end of August, you can take advantage of the summer sales, which started on 2nd July but which often offer the best prices during the last period of the sales – up until 3rd September.

But those of you who have just arrived, hoping to do some shopping and get a taste of the chic fashion metropolis, will probably wondering why everyone goes away in August. Wouldn't it be better to take turns to go on holiday? Well, of course it would, but closing down in August is something of a tradition in Italian industry and business. As a result, the programme of entertainment and events is very restricted, and tailored for the brave souls remaining in the city. If you go to the area behind the Castle, you may find yourself on a dance floor trying to fathom out that waltzy style of Italian ballroom dancing known as liscio accompanied by the sounds of piano accordion bands, while expert dancers dressed to the nines glare at you – well, at me, actually – and my hopeless attempts at faking the steps. On the other side of the park, at Arco della Pace, there is a miniature beach area complete with sand, beach volley and swimming pool. There are events, sports and sunbathing facilities at the Idroscalo, or Idropark, near Linate airport. And that's about it, really, except for the Cathedral, churches and museums. Unless you're into submarine-spotting, in which case you're going to have a really great time.