Time to Say Goodbye

It is the last night here in Milan and I can't believe it has been a month since I first got here. I have truely become a part of this city and will miss it once I am back in the States. I feel that I have learned so much about myself during this trip and have grown up in many ways. I made every single decision for a month without consulting anyone for advice, and I am still alive and well after it! haha

It still doesn't feel like I will be going home tomorrow to responsibility, the start of the fall semester, and a million things on a to-do list. I feel that time back home has paused while I have been here and it will still be July 1st when I get home (ohh how I wish it were true!)

This experience would not have been what it was without the other people on this trip and our wonderful professsor. Everyone was a blast to hang out with and experience the city, and other cities with. I have so many stories and memories that I will never forget (and maybe some that I can't remember). My roommate Greta has already been busy all day making a Euro playlist on her itunes of all of our favorite songs from Italy so we can still feel like we are here, in a small way.

We are about to head out to our farewell dinner, but I know leaving won't set in until we are on the plane tomorrow for the over 8 hour journey back home. I will really miss Milan but I know that I will be back again someday. I can't say that I have become a true Milanese, but I understand what it means to live in this city and could possibly see myself moving here one day...you know, for my future summer house. HAHA!

Ciao! Baci!

Turin

On Tuesday and Wednesday we traveled to Turin, the site of the 2006 Olympic winter games. Turin is to the west of Milan and very close to the Italian/French border. We had another early morning to catch the train which took about 2 hours, but it went by too quickly for me because I wanted to nap longer.

Once we were all checked into our hotel we headed over to the Museum of Cinema, which was unlike any other Museum I have been in. Turin is kind of like Hollywood in a way. They film a lot of movies here and host film festivals. We even got to see one of the sites from a movie we watched in class, Deep Red. The museum was really interactive and our tour guide helped to explain a lot of stuff since most descriptions were in Italian. He took us through the evolution of cinema and we got to watch the very first silent movies ever made...each of them was about 10-30 seconds long with no plot or actors.

The museum also housed some cool movie memorabilia like masks from Star Wars, Marilyn Monroes shoes and jewlery, and sketches made for actresses dresses, such as Elizabeth Taylor. After touring the museum we rode up what I like to call the Willy Wonka elevator. It is an elevator that runs right up the middle of the museum, supported only by cords, and is completely made of glass so you can see everything above and below you. The elevator takes you to an observation deck where you can see all across the city of Turin and the Alps.

After the museum we stopped at a cafe to get a drink special to the city of Turin called a Bicerin. It is chocolate, warm espresso, and fresh whipped cream-delicious! It was a little pricey however, 5 euros for a small glass but it was so worth it to try it. The chocolate was amazing. Some of us then did a little shopping and tried to find somewhere to have aperitivo. After eating a very cheap meal (only 6 euros for a drink and unlimited food) we met up with more of our group and grabbed one more drink before going back to the hotel to sleep.

Bicerin

The next morning it was very cold and very rainy- I never thought I would want to be in jeans and a hoodie in the middle of July. Luckily I packed my umbrella, otherwise I would have been downright miserable. Why? Because we were having a walking tour of the city. Despite the rain and cold though we learned a lot about the history of the city and got to go into the old castle/palace and the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptiste that houses the Shroud of Turin, thought to be the cloth that covered Jesus after his crucifixion. You cannot actually see the shroud itself as it only comes out every few years and there is no way of proving that it is the actual cloth that covered Jesus but it was still very intersting to see.

Roman ruins of the city, we actually walked on top of them

By the end of the 2 hour tour in the rain, the tour guide was nice enough to bring us to a place that served the best soup and salad to help warm us up. I got a carrot/melon/curry soup that hit the spot. The soup was even served in little mason jars-so cute! After a long day in the rain and cold however I was ready to head back to Milan to a warm bed to take a much needed nap!

Roma, Ro-Ma-Ma!

This past weekend I took a wild adventure to the city of Rome ( a few Mel Brooks quotes keep popping in my head-watch History of the World to get what I'm saying!)

As I have learned many times over during this trip, your plans are never your plans so don't bother getting set in your ways. I bought my train tickets to Rome on Wednesday thinking that I was being proactive, until I learned of the train strike planned for friday throughout the whole country. So now my train would maybe leave, and it maybe wouldn't. On friday morning we took our chances and had to catch a cab to the train station since the metros were also closed. We anxiously stood at the departure board until the platform for our train thankfull appeard. From here we had a 6 hour train ride to Rome, which wasn't bad at all since we got to sleep in cars like the ones on Hogwarts Express (just not as cool). It was quiet and there was a nice view of the Italian countryside.

My seat in the "Harry Potter" car

Once in Rome we had a little trouble finding our hotel, which turned out to be exactly across the street from the train station..whoops! Once we were checked in we headed to a restaurant recommended by the front desk and had one of the best meals I've had in Italy, four courses for 15 euros, not bad! I even got to have tiramisu for dessert-my favorite! After this we walked around the area by our hotel and saw piazza della repubblica, which had a beautiful fountain and was surround by lit up buildings. We then wandered down to a local pub and grabbed a drink and some nachos (how American!) and then called it a night since we knew the next day would be packed with things to do.

Best meal in Italia!

Piazza della Repubblica!

Couldn't help myself :)

We woke up the next morning and grabbed a breakfast chocolate croissants around the corner from the hotel and then navigated to Rome metro over to Vatican city. To our marvelous luck we were met on the street by a man named Fabio who told us about touring the Vatican and that the smarter way of seeing everything was to take a tour group so we wouldn't have to stand in line. I'm SO glad we listened to him because being a Saturday in July, there were thousands upon thousands of people in the city and we would of had to wait hours in line just to get in. Our tour guide Silvio was hilarious and took us through the museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica, giving us all of his knowledge of history and art.

Seeing Michelangelo's paintings in the chapel up close was very surreal and I found it amost impossible to make a mental photograph (since no cameras were allowed in) and soak up the experience. It was definitely sensory overload. From the chapel we went to the Basilica which is so much bigger than what I imagined from on TV. It was the most elaborate, beautiful church that I have been in Europe and housed many important works of art like Michelangelo's Pieta. The church was crowded with so many people it was hard to see everything, but I was so thankful to even have the experience of going inside. It was the second surreal moment of the day...and not to be the last.

Our hilarious tour guide Silvio

The Discus Thrower by Myron

Inside St. Peter's square, the Basilica in front

The Pieta by Michelangelo

Inside the Basilica

Guards outside the Basilica

After the tour of the city we grabbed a quick lunch and headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap. When we woke up we headed over to the Colosseum, which was only 2 metro stop away from our hotel. It is one thing to visit Williamsburg in Virginia and feel like people lived there so long ago. It is another to be standing against the walls of the Colosseum in Rome and know that it has been there for over a thousand years. Seeing it in a photograph is nothing like seeing it in person. Although it was already closed to go inside, it was still an amazing view to see. After we circled the whole building we sat against a railing and noticed that there were many brides and grooms newlywed having their photographs taken. What a site to have in your weddings photos!

I still can't believe I saw this in person

We met some Roman guards, no big deal.

By this point we were starving and needed dinner so we walked past the site of some ancient Roman ruins and were trying to find the river where there were restaraunts. We were having trouble finding where to go when Greta stopped and asked a girl on the corner. She spoke perfect English (something that never happens in Milan) and offered to take us to her favorite restaraunt which is one of the best in Rome. Her name was Blaine and she was about our age and has lived in Rome almost her whole life. She sat with us for a little and then left to meet up with friends, by kindly left her number and invited us to meet up with them later. After an amazing dinner we headed across the river to Campo di Fiori piazza to meet up with Blaine and we hung out with her friends until the early morning. I can honestly say I have done as the Romans do, being shown the city by a true Roman socialite...Blaine knew EVERYONE around the square.

Some ancient ruins along the walk.

The next morning when we headed to the train station we thought it would be smooth sailing since the strike was over. Never assume anything in Italia, ever. Even though the strike was over there were many trains that were being delayed and cancelled. After sitting around and finally getting answers from the information booth we learned that there was a fire at a train station north of rome and any trains going to or coming from the area were delayed. Since the train we were supposed to get on was cancelled, we were told we could get on a shorter 3 hour train that was to leave at 1:15..or so we thought.

After running to the train and luckily finding seats we sat and wait for the train to leave. And we sat. And we sat. And 3 hours later, we were still sitting in the train station in Rome. After getting up multiple times to see what was going on, a train employee informed me that we would be leaving in 10 minutes. 10 minutes turned into 30 but we FINALLY slowly pulled away from the station. Our whole car started applauding. The funny thing is that during the whole three hours, not one person in the car complained or got frustrated. The british couple sitting across from Greta and I were saying how this would never be the case in the UK, as well as the United States. It made me think of how fast paced life was at home and that we need to learn to go with the flow more, even when it can be a little inconveniencing. We finally made it back to Milan some 3 hours later and quickly grabbed food and went back to the dorms. I was thoroughly exhausted by happy with my amazing experience in Roma!

Was that really the third week?!

So much has happened the past week that all of my down time has been at night when I am sleeping, so sorry for such a gap between updates! I figured I'd do a breakdown of the past week and then my weekend trip to Rome.

Monday 7/18

The entire group headed over to Corso Como, another part of Milan that has many places serving aperitivo-so delicious. The place we went to had really great food and really colorful drinks. Most of the group stayed in the area for the rest of the night and hung out and danced- I think I aquired more bug bites, a constant battle here in Milan.

Tuesday 7/19

After our lecture in the morning we headed over past the Duomo to take a tour of one of the most famous theaters in the world, La Scala Opera House. The theater was breathtaking, and we were lucky enough to get a glimpse inside of the immense stage and enormous chandelier. We then were guided through the La Scala museum that had many old instruments, works of art, and artifacts from the theater. There was even a plaster cast of Chopin's hand.

Inside La Scala. Photo from google.

Old poster inside La Scala

Wednesday 7/20

In the afternoon we headed over to Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan's amazing art museum that was partly funded and designed by Napoleon. There is a bronze statue in the courtyard dedicated to him, and the artist was very generous with the height of the statue if I say so myself. Inside we had the chance to see beautiful works of art, one of which is now a favorite of mine. It is called Il Bacio or The Kiss. It captures so many emotions and has very dramatic lighting. We also saw The Marriage of the Virgin by Raphael- a very special experience getting to see a famous artist's painting from only 2 feet away.

Il Bacio by Hayez

Like I said...very generous!

Thursday 7/21

Today we took a day trip to visit Certosa di Pavia. Here we got a tour of one of the amazing churches created by Milan's famous family the Sforza's (owner to the castle I visited earlier in the city). The tour was given by a very zen monk who was nice enough to pose for a picture after the tour. From there we went more into the heart of Pavia to have lunch at a small restaraunt- crepes filled with ricotta and spinach- very delicious! After lunch we were taken on yet another tour around the city and learned the history from when it was used by the Roman's to fight against Hannibal's invasions, to present day. The tour was very good, but my feet were dead tired by the end and I was happy to get back on the bus towards Milan to the most exciting part of the day. When we returned to Milan we went to Santa Maria della Grazie to view Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper. To see this massive painting in person was unreal and I found it very hard to soak the experience in the short 10 minutes we were allowed to view it. To know that Da Vinci once stood there and painted this masterpiece was very cool, but unfortunately since the painting is not a frescoe it is starting to fade and the paint is stripping off. This however does not take away from its beauty. I know that this is an experience that many people will not get to have in their lives and I will never take it for granted.

Statue for Da Vinci in Milan

Bridge in Pavia. The original foundations built by the Romans are still in the water.

Cathedral built by the Sforza's

Post about Rome to come! To be continued!

Sing for us!

Greetings from Venice!

This weekend I traveled to Venezia (Venice). We took a 3 hours train ride that left at 7:25 am..I only got a few hours of sleep beforehand so I slept the whole way to Venice. When we got there we had to get on another train to get to our hotel, check in, and then get back on another train to get to the main part of the city. Needless to say I was over being on a train and was ready to explore the city.

The first thing we did was take a gondola ride through the canals. The ride usually costs 40 euro but being the expert bargainers that we are, we were able to ride for 25! We were taken down one of the main canals and into back ways that you normally wouldn't be able to see if you weren't on a little boat, as these are the roads in Venice! I didn't see one vehicle that wasn't in the water while we were there. The ride was beautiful but we were disapointed that our gondolier Mario didn't sing to us! He said that was only in American movies. Such a shame.

Greta and I with Giorgio, Mario's son

Mario!

Going down one of the smaller "streets"

Mario decided to put his hat on my head

Romantic ride for one... hahaha

View from the gondola

After the Gondola ride we walked over the bridge to the other side of the island where we shopped til we dropped. The stores were filled with hand painted Venetian masks and Murano glass which was so much fun just to admire. We decided to attempt to find St. Marco's square and proceeded to follow the signs on buildings pointing us in the righ direction...or so we thought. It took us over an hour and a stop for dinner to finally find the square. When we got there it was packed with people, as yesterday was a large festival held on the Grand Canal.

The water was filled with boats that had tons of people dancing on them to music. It was a giant party and everyone was invited! It reminded me a lot of Fourth of July in the states, but way wilder. We walked up and down the canal and sat by the water for a while but had to head back to the train station to catch the last train to our hotel. We had to enjoy the fireworks from the steps of the train station, but I'm sure it was an amazing view from the canal.

obsessed with this house- I want to live there!

view from the top of the bridge

Me on the bridge!

one of the stores with masks

view from another bridge in the city

The breathtaking basilica in St. Marco's square. It was too big to fit in one frame

Venice was such a beautiful city that has so much to offer. I'm sad I could only spend the weekend there but I'm sure I will be back someday as I know there are so many more things to do and discover in this wonderful city!