Milan: The Tiffany Christmas Tree

Let's return to Christmas in Milan...

Remember, we're in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, looking at the twinkling lights of the twirling Swarovski heart pendant hanging from the gallery's ceiling. Next, let's turn around and walk into the Piazza del Duomo, facing Milan's beautiful cathedral, and gaze at the Tiffany Christmas tree. The tree is hung with 100,000 lights and towers over the piazza on a 'base' built to look like Tiffany's distinctive turquoise boxes. The base in fact houses a temporary Tiffany shop, which will be open throughout the holiday season.

Because of this retail shop, the tree hasn't been without controversy... Milan's mayor at first disapproved of the commercial nature of the tree, but when no other sponsors for a Christmas tree appeared, and when Tiffany agreed to give a percentage of its sales from the shop under the tree to charities, the city agreed. The estimated cost of the tree is 320,000 euro. The tree was installed on December 4 and it will remain in place until January 8, 2011. Controversy or not, these sponsored displays and light show are making for a brilliant holiday season in Milan.