By Elvira Pollina MILAN, Feb 6 (Reuters) - At the London 2012 Olympics, Queen Elizabeth appeared to parachute into the stadium for the opening ceremony. At Friday's opening of the Milano Cortina
Italy's President Celebrates Milan Transport with Tram Ride Video
Italy's Tribute to Milan's Transport
By Elvira Pollina
The Video Tribute
MILAN, Feb 6 (Reuters) - At the London 2012 Olympics, Queen Elizabeth appeared to parachute into the stadium for the opening ceremony.
Historic Trams of Milan
At Friday's opening of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, Italy offered a more prosaic arrival: a video showing President Sergio Mattarella travelling to Milan's San Siro stadium aboard one of the city's most distinctive symbols – a Carrelli tram.
Cultural Significance
The tram driver who opened the doors for Mattarella at the San Siro stop was played by Italian MotoGP great Valentino Rossi.
Mattarella, 84, was first identified in the video when the Italian head of state picked up a soft toy dropped by a child.
Today 125 of the historic Milan trams, whose rattling presence has been part of daily life since the late 1930s, remain in service, after restoration work by the local transport company ATM to return them to their initial yellow-and-cream livery and refurbish their wooden interiors.
Its distinctive silhouette is also familiar to residents of San Francisco, where several units were purchased in the 1980s.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Alison Williams)
