Vado a Milano!

I finally made it to Milan! Abbey Whalen and I have been talking about meeting up in Milan for years now and I actually made it there so this is good news. My trip did not come a moment too soon either because school was awful this past week. Projects, tests, papers, LEAP…the usual x10! We had a three day weekend from school because Friday was supposed to be a school field trip but it got canceled. Abbey’s school was taking off for spring break but her Mom was not flying over until Sunday so the timing was more than perfect! So, I bought a train ticket and prepared to leave Thursday at 4. I was taking the bus from Paderno to Castelfrancco and from there I had to take a 15 minute walk to the train station. I was a little hesitant at first but I made it to the station with almost no problems. The weather definitely helped because for once we actually had a warm(ish) AND sunny day in good ol’ PDG. So my train was supposed to leave at 6:12pm for Vicenza and then I would switch to the train going to Milano Centrale and arrive there around 8:55. This is the schedule I had given Abbey and she was going to meet me at the station. Well, right when I thought I was getting good at traveling alone I ended up getting on the wrong train in Castelfrancco and went two stops before I realized it. So I had to get on a different train and go back to the Castelfrancco station. Luckily my first ticket was valid for 4 hours after the start time so I could use it again to catch the next train to Vicenza which was coming in 30 minutes. My ticket to Milan however needed to be updated but it only cost 9 euro. So I got on the next train and made it to Milan at 10:25pm. As expected, Abbey was no longer waiting at the station. Wifi is not a common luxury in Italy so at no point during my travels was I able to message Abbey to tell her what had happened. After making a few laps around the station I noticed a McDonald’s across the street and went in there thinking that if I bought something I could use their wifi, so I got fries. Well that was a waste of money and calories because A) They weren't even good and B) You had to have an Italian phone number to use their wifi, which I don’t have. I did try using the CIMBA RA’s number and it still didn't work. My next plan of action was to go in and out of hotel lobbies until I was able to connect to one of their wifis. An hour and 3 hotels later I finally had a winner! Hotel Michelangelo let me log onto their wifi after threatening the water works for being “lost and alone in Milan.” Turns out Abbey had gone to her friend’s apartment nearby to use their wifi because I had a bunch of messages from her asking where I was! The night turned out to be quite an ordeal but she finally found me and by the time we got back to her apartment and in bed it was almost 1:30am. So much for getting to Milan at 9!

Friday was a beautiful day in Milan, perfect for sleeping in and sightseeing! Abbey has these incredible shutters in her apartment which eliminate ALL of the light so when I woke up at 11 I thought it was 3am. We went straight into the city and got breakfast at a place called Arnold’s Coffee which is incredibly good and similar to a Starbucks because they don’t have Starbucks in Italy. We caught up and swapped study abroad stories all day which was really fun! I love having people from home in different parts of Europe!! Then we headed over to the iconic Duomo in Milan. Like all of the Duomos in Italy it is magnificent. The detail on the outside and the inside is remarkable. It is such a massive structure and it is perched right in the heart of the city. Milan is the perfect mix of new and old. For example right beside the Piazza del Duomo to the left is the best shopping I have ever seen. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is SO NICE and SO BEAUTIFUL. We wondered in and out of shops like Prada, LV, Mercedes, you know, the usual. Just kidding, we window shopped. But we did venture into the Ferrari store which was really cool. I had my eye on a Ferrari bathing suit and Abbey had her eye on a toy car.

Universita Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore

Once we decided that we had done enough shopping we walked across town toward Abbey’s school so I could see where I would have/should have gone. Just kidding, I like CIMBA. But Cattolica is so beautiful and much bigger than I expected. It was nice to be back on a real college campus and because it was Friday it was filled with actual Italian college students, who knew?! After my tour we stopped for a snack and then got on the metro to go to the castle. The metro was insanely crowded because there was a metro strike that day so they were only operating for a few hours. I thought strikes meant that you didn't work at all but I was thankful that they were open for a little while. The Sforza Castle is very beautiful and it has a great park right behind it with Milan’s version of the Arc de Triomphe more formally known as Porta Sempione on the opposite end. We saw what we assume was an Italian Military graduation or promotion going on so that was kind of cool. It was nice to leisurely stroll through the castle and the park on with such great weather. I should note that while we were walking around Milan Abbey kept pointing out where certain designers had their tents set up during fashion week and one of them was in the castle.

View of the castle through the arc

By this point it was getting late in the day and I was getting hungry. Abbey had been talking about going to this place called Spritz along the canal for aperitivo which sounded so good to me! In Italy, appertivo is basically a meal of appetizers. You usual pay one price, i.e. 9 euro, and get a drink plus unlimited appetizers that are usually set up in a buffet style. It was a semi nice night so we elected to sit outside under the heat lamps which was perfect for people watching. Round one of aperitivo consisted of a strawberry spritz, nutella and fruit, antipasti, and cheese. Round two was small pizza, bread, chicken and more pasta, round three was a martini bianco, nutella on bread, meat and more cheese. All in all we probably sat there for about 2 hours during which time a group of 3 British ladies took a seat beside us. Well, they felt compelled to lecture Abbey and me for about 5 minutes on how we should protect our drinks and purses from pick-pocketing and drugs. I do appreciate travel tips along the way but an unsolicited lecture at dinner was not welcome. I have made it through Barcelona, Paris, Florence, Rome, and now Milan without any trouble. That’s not to say that it still couldn't happen but I like to think that I am a smart and pretty aware of my surroundings when I travel. Anyway, after dinner Abbey and I headed back to her apartment and settled down for a chill night in which meant watching She’s The Man aka my favorite movie!! I have missed it so much and even though my quoting skills were a little off I still managed to hit the most important ones.

Saturday morning we had planned to meet up with one of Abbey’s friends from school to get breakfast and go to a market with her. We met Iz at her apartment and went for breakfast at a great bagel place. For the first time in Europe I was able to find a bagel that was meant to be eaten for breakfast with cream cheese plus coffee in a to-go cup and free water. WHAT!? That never happens. After breakfast we hopped on the metro to head over to the market. All of the stands in the market had purses, shoes, jewelry, clothes and some other random items. We each bought a scarf and some jewelry before heading back to Arnold’s for more coffee. By this time the temperature had dropped significantly and it was beginning to drizzle. We did a little shopping near Arnold’s and then headed back to Abbey’s for the rest of the afternoon. We had pretty much decided to watch a movie for the rest of the afternoon and then make dinner in her apartment. We watched Moulin Rouge and then made a delicious dinner of chicken, asparagus, and pasta with a role. SO YUMMY! I do miss cooking for myself and not always having my meals dictated for me so I really enjoyed dinner. Eventually we decided to go to a bar that Abbey recommended called Kings so we headed back out for a few hours. Despite the weather I was surprised by the amount of people out and we actually had to weasel our way in to get a table and a beer. Abbey, Iz and I hung out there for a good bit just chit chatting about Italy, study abroad and the possibility of me coming back after the CIMBA program ends! After a while we called it a night because Abbey’s mom was coming in the morning and my train was leaving from Milano Centrale at 8:05 the next morning meaning I needed to get up around 6:30 am.

Wolfpack in Milan!

Sunday was even colder and rainier than the day before which did not make it easy to wake up. I was dragging a little bit which put was behind so we had to hustle to the station. Luckily I made it onto the right train on time and settled down for the long ride after saying goodbye to Abbey. The ride was long but quiet so I got to read a lot of Tender is the Night which was nice. I switched trains in Padova and then arrived in Bassano Del Grappa at 11:41. When I walked outside of the Bassano station to get a taxi I had quite the epiphany. I walked up to the first taxi, opened the door and before I could say so much as Cioa the driver asked  Instituto Fillipin? I answered with Si, to which he laughed. It was then that I realized that no matter how hard I try to fit in, I will always stand out. I mean, he didn't even give me a chance to pretend to be Italian! Oh well, at least I had a nice weekend in Milan.