I had forgotten how incredible Italy was. Or maybe I remembered, I just forced myself not to think about it for so long because I missed being there. Early on Friday morning, the day after Halloween, I woke up in pitch darkness at Aneyn's apartment and shouldered my backpack, making my solitary way to the airport at 4:30am. I had a flight to Milan to catch. It was time for me to start thinking about Italy again!
I landed in Milan at 8:30am, completely exhausted from my night of no sleep but thoroughly excited to be in Italy again! It had been quite a number of years since I had eaten authentic Italian food, and I was so ready for that again. I caught the train from Malpensa airport to the main city where my friend from Theta at Emory, Shalina, was awaiting my arrival! It was so good to see her again and we immediately set off for her apartment. She's also doing an IES program in Milan and her housing was in the heart of the city...it looked so authentically Italian!
After freshening up a bit, we left her place and walked down Via Caradosso in the overcast, but warm weather. Our first stop was just at the end of her street: Santa Maria della Grazie Church. Inside this church is Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, The Last Supper. I really wanted to see it, but hadn't realized that you needed to buy tickets in advance to reserve your 15 minute tour slot. Unfortunately, it was full and we couldn't go in, but the outside of the church was pretty! We moved on to buy Crescentes Cioccolato (chocolate croissant!) for breakfast.
After a lengthy conversation of catching up over our pastries, Shalina led me to the metro so we could go visit Milan's most famous areas: Piazza del Duomo! The first thing we saw there were hundreds of shops and even more people, and at the far end of the pedestrian street was a sliver of the Duomo di Milano, visible to us over the heads of civilians. It was so busy, even at 11:30am!
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| The Duomo di Milano is in the distance! |
Shalina and I wandered in and out of interesting shops (Milan is the fashion capital of the world! I couldn't NOT go into any stores!) and I became obsessed with a store called Oysho. I ended up leaving with a white knit infinity scarf and its a good thing I didn't have any space in my backpack otherwise I would have come home to Vienna with about ten of their cuddly sweaters and various pairs of warm, patterned socks, as well. I'm quite sad Austria, and even England, doesn't have a store! I'll just have to come back to get that soft penguin jumper...
We went into a few department stores, and kept our eyes peeled for a good restaurant to eat at, and ruefully walked by the luxurious designer stores in the Galleria Vittorio that we couldn't afford. Everything was just so beautiful and so fashionable. Milan is the epitome of a fashion crystal ball. If you looked hard enough through the tourists, you could make out the fashionistas in their towering heels, pencil thin legs, and overlarge sunglasses, clutching various Prada, Gucci, and Armani bags as they deftly wove in and out of the glittering stores.
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| Chocolate high heeled shoes at a fancy department store! |
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| The oldest shopping mall in the world: The Galleria Vittorio |
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| Where all the luxury designer stores are |
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| I thought the floor and glass ceiling were beautiful in the Galleria Vittorio! |
Shalina showed me some cute side streets, as well as the most expensive, luxurious street in all of Milan, if not all the world: Via Montenapoleone. I think every designer store in history is nestled on this adorable Italian street. It was much calmer than the bustling Galleria Vittorio, probably because all the price tags had numbers in the heavens and made people nauseous to look at...or maybe that's just me.
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| Via Montenapoleone |
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| I found Leonardo da Vinci on a side street! |
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| The Scala Opera House...the Viennese Staatsoper definitely wins the beauty contest. Though Shalina did say that the inside was quite impressive. |
We found our way to a lovely Italian restaurant near the Piazza del Duomo called Fresco E Cimmino where I finally broke my no-carb rule and ordered a plate of spaghetti. This was Italy, so I absolutely had to! And it was beyond delicious, as was the bread that came with it! It's probably a really good thing I didn't study abroad here, otherwise it would have been pasta, pizza, and bread all semester!
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| The most perfect spaghetti pomodoro e basilico |
We took our time with lunch, which was very relaxing. It was so nice to chat and catch up with each other. Shalina and I also came to the realization that we would be dealing with severe culture shock when we had to return to America. And neither of us are too keen on returning (sorry Mum and Dad). Going from the independent lifestyle in Europe to a college campus is going to be remarkably tough and we both are dreading it a little bit. But instead of dwelling on how weird it's going to be to be back in Atlanta, we got up and went to see the front side of Milan's magnificent cathedral!
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| The Duomo di Milano! |
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| Shalina and I in front of the Duomo! |
Not only was the front gorgeous, but the roof was too! After exploring the inside of the Duomo for about five minutes (it wasn't very impressive, for having such an amazing exterior!), Shalina and I took the 250 stairs to the top of the Duomo. It was incredible seeing the immense detail of the gothic architecture up close. I can't believe this cathedral was built in 1386 with such precise details! We walked around the roof and saw some wonderful views of the city. It was interesting seeing so many modern buildings interspersed with old churches and monuments. It was a varied skyline.
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| Atop the Duomo! |
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| The gorgeous Gothic architecture |
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| Above the streets of Milan! |
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| Piazza del Duomo from above |
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| So many people below us! |
After sneakily getting the elevator down to street level again instead of climbing down the stairs, Shalina and I visited the Musei Civici di Milano right next to the Duomo. It was a free art museum for those under 26 and since we fit the category, we decided to have a quick look around. It was contemporary art and there were some very interesting displays. I especially liked this piece of artwork (mostly because I love maps and colors!).
By the time we came out of the museum, it was only 5pm and already really dark! But it made the Duomo look lovely against the blue sky.
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| Duomo di Milano |
Later in the evening, after we had rested at home for a little while, Shalina and I met up with three of her friends from the IES Milan program and we went for a traditional Italian evening: Aperitivo. In actuality, Aperitivo is a pre-dinner drink, almost like happy hour, but there is often food served as well. So while you order a glass of wine or a cocktail, you're free to peruse the expansive buffet. The place, Noon, we went to was a hit with the four girls, so they took me there to experience an Italian Aperitivo. And I have to agree with their choice: it was absolutely splendid! The buffet had amazing Italian food, like finger foods, and we could eat as much as we liked! It was so fun getting to know the girls and we all talked for more than two hours while enjoying good food, wine, and company. We all discussed how America should adopt the Aperitivo tradition, because it was quite honestly the best idea ever (and not expensive!). It's probably the most perfect first date idea, as we all agreed. You don't have to have a full meal, and you can draw out the Aperitivo as long as you like, or cut it short whenever, depending on how the "date" is going. It's definitely not as much pressure as going to dinner! I really think we were onto something with our point. While discussing, Shalina got a free glass of wine from the waiter. He was obviously very taken with her!
When in Italy, you just can't skip out on traditional gelato! Despite the fact that we were all incredibly full, we walked to "Schoko," a gelataria and chocolate shop, where we happily ate through our various flavored ice creams. My hazelnut and dark chocolate one was superb. It was nice to just hang out together, even though I was exhausted from my lack of sleep. When we finally said our goodbyes, it was past 11pm and we spent yet another hour hanging out with her roommates and their two friends before going to sleep. It was such an enjoyable day and evening! It was so nice to meet other people, as well. I'm glad I decided to take this weekend trip, even though I would be going alone! I feel quite independent and competent at the moment... I've decided that Milan is definitely my type of city and a place where I would love to come back and work. I don't know why I gave up my dream to be in the fashion industry, because after being in Milan for just one day, I feel the pull towards that career path again. New task: find a way to work in Milan in fashion once graduating. We'll see how that one goes.
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