De Gasperi Street, the unknown revealed

I was in the car, i was going somewhere else, when an imposing building with broken windows got my attention. I had to stop. I have no idea, as usual, of what could it be. It’s on the corner between De Gasperi and Serra street, coming from the highway A4, exit Viale Certosa. From far away i can tell already it’s going to be hard to document this place: a wall higher than two meters obstructs the view. Walking down the sidewalk i wouldn’t have the chance to realize what was behind the wall. Fortunately i saw it from far away. I wonder what kind of secrets this place hides, there’s not one hole left free for sight. The rusty gate has been reinforced too, so that there’s no way to see inside. All i have left to do is to step on the tip of my toes, stretch my arms, hold on firmly on my camera, and take pictures randomly, hoping to catch something interesting. On the other side of the street there are two cops, but they are too worried controlling the traffic to be bothered with me. What my camera shows me leaves me even more disconcerted: behind the gate there’s a thick barrier. Trees and bushes, interwined as in an evil wood, prevent from seeing over. As if it wasn’t enough, to hold these dead branches together there is barbed wire. It’s clear that it’s absolutely prohibited to go inside, which makes my curiosity grow more and more. What can an abandoned building hide of so terrible? Tossic substances, radioactive, nuclear weapons... i’m sure that there are desperate characters ready to find out. I at the end realized that every very abandoned place in Milan is property of clandestines. I walk along Viale De Gasperi, without encountering anything, except two plastic containers, of i don’t know yet what. My boyfriend suggestes me to climb on top of one to try to see over the wall. As a good knite he offers his hands to help me jump on it. Althought i find myself a meter from the ground, the wall is still to high, so i have to stretch again and take pictures by chance. My worry goes agian to what people could think, seeing me in that position. I really am a slave of the society i live in and drawing attention is very negative. To tell the truth around me there’s absolutely nothing: a highway, a lost sidewalk, building far away on the other part of the street, too far to be bothered of two small black dots. While i take the pictures i’m thinking of all of this, and not of what there could be on the other side of the wall. Althought it’s an abandoned area, being so impenetrable makes it a nasty friend. I get off the improvised podium, helping myself with the other container, the blue one. My boyfriend tells me it’s a syringe distributor. Horror. My first instinct is to look at my hands: i wasn’t wearing gloves. I feel dirty and infected. Alessandro to make me feel better tells me that the drug adictes that use this thing are probably the ones not so rotten enough to leave their junk around. I can’t wait to wash my hands. Why didn’t i take with me the humid tissues? It’s obvious i’m an unexpert urban explorer... we keep on walking along the sidewalk, searching for one hole left free not too high. A suspicious guy is walking behind us, but probably it’s just me being paranoid. I don’t trust anybody. We find another gate, hidden behind a recess and a pubblicity panel. This one is a  more ramshackle than the other one. I take my time, waiting for the suspicious guy to go away, far enough so he can’t bother us. There’s no way to see anything from here eather. I have to stretch again and try to feep my arms steady. Digytal cameras are good cause you don’t need to wait to print them to see what you caught. You can see right away, decide if you’re satisfied and if not erase it and do it over: saving in money and energy, and you don’t have nasty surprises. This way i manage to realise that this area is not abandoned, but they are working on it: everything is being torn down. Few days later i passed by with the bus and noticed, from a higher position how big this area is. All that there’s left is that single building i saw from the street. And very soon that will end up like the rest, it will desapear.