On Friday, October 8th I headed to the airport extremely early (i may have snoozed a bit in the airport) in order to catch my 6 a.m. flight to Milan. When I was looking for a flight to Berlin to meet Kristin it actually turned out to be cheaper for me to fly one day earlier, stay a night in Milan, and then meet Kristin in Germany on Saturday morning. This flight was also my first experience flying RyanAir aka the cheapest airline possible that most abroad students use. They have strict rules though. It costs 15 euros to check a bag- so that wasn't happening. You can only have 1 carry-on and it has to be less than 10 kg (they make you put it in this box and if it doesn't fit you have to pay). Now I would never say I am a very good packer so having to limit my clothing/shoe options to only what could fit into my backpack was pretty difficult. I also needed my peacoat for the chilly weather that was to come in Berlin, so I had to be sure to bring that. I'll give you a mental image of what I looked like waiting in line to board. Clothing: jeans, leather boots, top, sweater, huge yellow scarf, peacoat, awkwardly bulging peacoat pockets...may or may not have been due to the socks and underwear that I shoved inside so that my bag would be small enough. Also, please note that it was 75 degrees in Spain and I was flying to Milan where the weather is just as warm. Basically, I looked ridiculous.
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| In front of the Duomo in Milan, Italy |
So I finally arrive in Milan, oh and everyone on the plane clapped when we landed safely...super reassuring. I then figured out which buses to take to arrive at my hostel in Bergamo, Italy. It was really surprising to me how many people in Italy do not speak english. In Spain I feel like the majority of the people speak both or at least know some english, but in Milan, nothing. How many words of italian do I know? One. Grazie. It could only get me so far. I settled in to my hotel and then went to the train station to catch the next train to Milan. After about 40 minutes, my 4 euros train ticket dropped me off at Milan Central Station. It was about noon at this point so I decided I should probably get something to eat. PIZZA. It was delicious. I know people always brag about New York pizza, but wow Italy really knows what they're doing. Next, I hopped on the metro and went straight to the Duomo where I got a headset and did a 2 hour tour. I was also attacked by the many men standing outside the Duomo holding corn kernels. Before I knew it they shoved some in my hand and I had 5 pigeons on my arm eating out of my hand. They quickly grabbed my camera and started taking photos of me. It was both fun and terrifying and somewhat gross.
After my tour I walked around Milan for several hours, going in and out of stores. I stopped in a gelato shop and after asking the employee what was the best flavor, got a cup of nutella flavored gelato. It was delicious. Next, I went to La Rinascente which is a 10 story building that has every possible designer you could think of. I was in heaven with all the beautiful clothes and bags. They even had a christmas section already set up which made me happy. At around 7 p.m. I bought some pizza for dinner because, I mean, why not indulge? It's amazing and it's vacation! I then headed back to Bergamo on the train. Completely exhausted, but really pleased with my day in Italy.
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