So, this blog again is delayed, but at least I'm trying.
So the week of Feb 14th was my first week of classes. It was well, interesting. Bocconi was very quiet during our first 2 weeks of Italian Language course. But now for a small campus (compared to UF) is is bustling. There are tons of Italian students. I definitely felt like the fish out of water.
My classes are: Management of Fashion and Luxury Companies- where I learn about Prada and Gucci, no lie.
Events Communication, which I have a guest speaker everyday, which is cool, I want most of these guest speakers jobs!
Lastly, Project Management, which seems simple but is lectured in a more complicated way. We'll see how this one goes.
The classrooms here are ridiculous and completely dysfunctional. The seats are attached to the desks so there is no room to pass by anything! If you are in the middle or come in late you are completely out of luck. And the noise from the hallways is distracting. Whoever designed Bocconi sucks.
My classes seem simple, now I understand why the exchange kids at UF complained we had so much work. Its only 1 group project and 1 final exam in all of my classes! That's it! It really makes me questions the level of education people receive abroad. It is a much more passive education here. I really do appreciate the education we receive now back in the states. I feel like we learn a lot more and learning is much more interactive.
Classes are good though. I'm happy with my choices.
On Thursday I left for Germany to celebrate Bertan's and Nino's birthdays! The journey there wasn't too bad at all (1 hour flying). Everything they say about RyanAir is true though. I almost bought the lotto tickets lol. so tricky.
When I arrived Bertan was there to pick me up in a suit and flowers:) Then I had a valentines surprise when I got to his apartment. Ballons, wine, more flowers and dinner. spoiled really. It was nice to finally see where he has lived for months.
Nino joined us the next day which was so cool. It was crazy to see him come up from the train station steps in freakin Vallendar. We went to get Kebabs of course and explore the town while Bertan was in class. 20 minutes later lol....we hung out, got ready and began the pregame to a fun night. It was a cool MAIB reunion with me bertan, liz, nino, and oscar. Friends came over and then we left for a club in Koblenz. It was a huge bar! But German dancing sure is interesting. We had a great night dancing and drinking, ending with kebabs again and the smokiest bar in history. The next day was spent recovering and exploring Koblenz. Dinner and sightseeing with Oscar, Nino, and Bertan proved to be entertaining.
Nino left for Cologne on Sat night, Bertan and I stayed in. The next day we ventured out to Cologne to climb the Cathedral which was really cool. We walked around Cologne, down the Rhine, Mustard Museum, and Lindt candy shop. It was so cool, but freezzzzziiing!
On Sunday night we headed back to Koblenz for a great Spanish dinner by candlelight along the river. Then, Monday it was back to Milan. That was a long day.
Then class the next week, it was already Tuesday! On Wednesday night we went to a Birreria. It was such a fun place. Beer came in laboratory type instruments, like crazy glass funnels and shapes. It was like a mad scientist lab full of beer. We ordered a 6 liter glass funnel full of beer, and the rest of the night led to fun card games on our heads lol. Thursday's 6 hours of class...well..was not so fun. and we were leaving at 7 am to Venice. oh boy.
I've got great pics on Facebook so check them out!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
All I've been doing is eating, and some sightseeing...Bologna, Florence
So after the craziest week of balancing the Italian Language course, looking for an apartment, no internet, phone and making new friends. I was finally settled. 4 hours later I went to pick up Bertan from the airport.
Although it was crazy, it was so nice to have him visit to finally just relax.
We visited the Duomo and finally went inside. I also took him to the Fashion District and Aperitivo down by Navigli, a famous Milan canal area. We visited the Fort Sforza that faces the Duomo. Milan's old city walls and ports really give the area an amazing feeling. Like we are standing where so much has happened.We had a great Italian dinner with my friends which was really cool. On Saturday we took a trip with everyone to Lake Como which is an hour north of Milan. Hoping to see George Clooney the whole time, we took a tram up to one of the highest peak and then hiked 45 min to a lighthouse. Definitely worth the view of the entire lake and of the Alps in the distance. We had a great Italian lunch and a small hilltop restaurant, explored the city and markets beneath us and then headed home on a night train. It was so much warmer than I expected. The lakes prove to be a great getaway spot in the summer. We spent most of the rest of the weekend, exploring the city and hanging out with new friends:) Some of the UF Exchange students from Bocconi met up with us and took us out to a cool club. Thanks Martina, Michele, and Valerio! I was nice to see familiar faces, especially from UF :)
The rest of the week I finished up my Italian Course. I had missed a couple of days the week before (apartment problems) so catching up was interesting. It's an optional class so I wasn't stressing too much. I decided to take the final exam that would give me an Italian Language Certificate. Haven't heard yet if I passed, but considering all the days I missed, I'm glad I at least tried. We celebrated the end of class on Wed by cooking a big dinner at the boys apartment and then going out to Old Fashion. They had GREAT music, and really enjoyed the place. But I realize it is impossible to drink at the club in Italy. wayyy to expensive.
The next morning (Thursday Feb 10th) we left for the weekend on a trip to Bologna and Florence.
Bologna, about 2 hours away by slow train, is such a university town. It made me miss UF. So different from Milan in so many ways. Everyone was our age, things were so cheap. It was as if it were an Italian UF. It was also such a beautiful city. The University of Bologna is the oldest continuos running university in the world! Founded in 1088! Dante studied there..jeeze. Anyway, so we climbed the Torre Asinelli, 436 step tower, above Bologna. It was such a great a great view of the main Piazza. Afterwards we hunted for none other than BOLOGNA. Known as Mortadella, the grandaddy of American Bologna. We found the most famous deli in Bologna and I had the most perfect sandwich. Along with the most amazing stuffed tomatoes and eggplant. We wandered around the city, visited the Duomo, the University, more caffes and found and ate the infamous, Tortellini Bolognese, from Bologna lol. That was so delicious. The city is known as the "Bologna La Grassa" or Bologna the Fat. It is the best food town in Italy. I swear all we did was eat eat and eat. Two dinners, lunch, snacks and sweets.
On Friday we left for Florence. I had been backpacking through Florence 4 years ago, but I was still excited to visit. We checked into our hostel and were out the door to Kitsch, the best Aperitivo we've found....ever. It was an enormous buffet and the place was packed! It was such a hippie random place. Like a Italian version of Szimpla for those from Budapest. Thanks Joe from Australia for your recommendation! The next day we headed out to see the Statue of David and climbed 500 steps of the Duomo, The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. We climbed all the way to the top with an amazing view of Florence and we also scaled the inside of Brunelleschi's Dome, amazed at the painting illustrating the 7 layers of heaven and hell. Then we visited the Medici Palace which was very cool. That family really owned everything in Florence at one time. After we hit up the world famous Leather Market of Florence. We overdid it. After 4 hours, 1 leather jacket, leather gloves, carnival mask, I was done. It was so overwhelming. It was very fun to haggle the merchants even though I didn't get very far. Between the six of us we bought out that market.
Then Me, Moses, Kiki, David, K and Mike went back to our hostel (which was two blocks down from David!) and pregamed for our night out at Club Space. Besides the fact Mike got hit in the face by a fake penis being hung off the balcony by a fishing pole, (which was hilarious) it was pretty much a stereotypical American club with a ton of exchange students. The girls were at least able to get in the VIP for a while:)
We left, ventured out to a secret bakery, got some pizza, and came home.
The next day it was to the Uffizi Gallery! The only thing I didn't do when I visited Florence the last time.
It was an amazing collection of Italian Art by Da Vinci, Rafaello, Botticelli, and Michelangelo. I was so excited to finally see "The Birth of Venus" and "Springtime" by Botticelli. It was 2 hours spent with "Wait, I think I remember seeing that in a textbook." But it was truly something not to miss when in Florence.
After Uffizi, we booked a 6 hour slow and cheap train back to Milan. I was exhausted. But it was such a fun weekend we GREAT company. This trip wouldn't have been the same with a different group. We seem to balance each other out and we each bring something unique to the table. 4 boys 2 girls and too much spicy meat, smooth wood and leather.
I swear I gained around 3 pounds in 3 days. The food was amazing. This is definitely the Italy I came for. I also checked off 3 places from my book "1000 Places to See Before You Die"
Now, the week ahead brings my first graduate classes at Bocconi. Update soon!
Although it was crazy, it was so nice to have him visit to finally just relax.
We visited the Duomo and finally went inside. I also took him to the Fashion District and Aperitivo down by Navigli, a famous Milan canal area. We visited the Fort Sforza that faces the Duomo. Milan's old city walls and ports really give the area an amazing feeling. Like we are standing where so much has happened.We had a great Italian dinner with my friends which was really cool. On Saturday we took a trip with everyone to Lake Como which is an hour north of Milan. Hoping to see George Clooney the whole time, we took a tram up to one of the highest peak and then hiked 45 min to a lighthouse. Definitely worth the view of the entire lake and of the Alps in the distance. We had a great Italian lunch and a small hilltop restaurant, explored the city and markets beneath us and then headed home on a night train. It was so much warmer than I expected. The lakes prove to be a great getaway spot in the summer. We spent most of the rest of the weekend, exploring the city and hanging out with new friends:) Some of the UF Exchange students from Bocconi met up with us and took us out to a cool club. Thanks Martina, Michele, and Valerio! I was nice to see familiar faces, especially from UF :)
The rest of the week I finished up my Italian Course. I had missed a couple of days the week before (apartment problems) so catching up was interesting. It's an optional class so I wasn't stressing too much. I decided to take the final exam that would give me an Italian Language Certificate. Haven't heard yet if I passed, but considering all the days I missed, I'm glad I at least tried. We celebrated the end of class on Wed by cooking a big dinner at the boys apartment and then going out to Old Fashion. They had GREAT music, and really enjoyed the place. But I realize it is impossible to drink at the club in Italy. wayyy to expensive.
The next morning (Thursday Feb 10th) we left for the weekend on a trip to Bologna and Florence.
Bologna, about 2 hours away by slow train, is such a university town. It made me miss UF. So different from Milan in so many ways. Everyone was our age, things were so cheap. It was as if it were an Italian UF. It was also such a beautiful city. The University of Bologna is the oldest continuos running university in the world! Founded in 1088! Dante studied there..jeeze. Anyway, so we climbed the Torre Asinelli, 436 step tower, above Bologna. It was such a great a great view of the main Piazza. Afterwards we hunted for none other than BOLOGNA. Known as Mortadella, the grandaddy of American Bologna. We found the most famous deli in Bologna and I had the most perfect sandwich. Along with the most amazing stuffed tomatoes and eggplant. We wandered around the city, visited the Duomo, the University, more caffes and found and ate the infamous, Tortellini Bolognese, from Bologna lol. That was so delicious. The city is known as the "Bologna La Grassa" or Bologna the Fat. It is the best food town in Italy. I swear all we did was eat eat and eat. Two dinners, lunch, snacks and sweets.
On Friday we left for Florence. I had been backpacking through Florence 4 years ago, but I was still excited to visit. We checked into our hostel and were out the door to Kitsch, the best Aperitivo we've found....ever. It was an enormous buffet and the place was packed! It was such a hippie random place. Like a Italian version of Szimpla for those from Budapest. Thanks Joe from Australia for your recommendation! The next day we headed out to see the Statue of David and climbed 500 steps of the Duomo, The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. We climbed all the way to the top with an amazing view of Florence and we also scaled the inside of Brunelleschi's Dome, amazed at the painting illustrating the 7 layers of heaven and hell. Then we visited the Medici Palace which was very cool. That family really owned everything in Florence at one time. After we hit up the world famous Leather Market of Florence. We overdid it. After 4 hours, 1 leather jacket, leather gloves, carnival mask, I was done. It was so overwhelming. It was very fun to haggle the merchants even though I didn't get very far. Between the six of us we bought out that market.
Then Me, Moses, Kiki, David, K and Mike went back to our hostel (which was two blocks down from David!) and pregamed for our night out at Club Space. Besides the fact Mike got hit in the face by a fake penis being hung off the balcony by a fishing pole, (which was hilarious) it was pretty much a stereotypical American club with a ton of exchange students. The girls were at least able to get in the VIP for a while:)
We left, ventured out to a secret bakery, got some pizza, and came home.
The next day it was to the Uffizi Gallery! The only thing I didn't do when I visited Florence the last time.
It was an amazing collection of Italian Art by Da Vinci, Rafaello, Botticelli, and Michelangelo. I was so excited to finally see "The Birth of Venus" and "Springtime" by Botticelli. It was 2 hours spent with "Wait, I think I remember seeing that in a textbook." But it was truly something not to miss when in Florence.
After Uffizi, we booked a 6 hour slow and cheap train back to Milan. I was exhausted. But it was such a fun weekend we GREAT company. This trip wouldn't have been the same with a different group. We seem to balance each other out and we each bring something unique to the table. 4 boys 2 girls and too much spicy meat, smooth wood and leather.
I swear I gained around 3 pounds in 3 days. The food was amazing. This is definitely the Italy I came for. I also checked off 3 places from my book "1000 Places to See Before You Die"
Now, the week ahead brings my first graduate classes at Bocconi. Update soon!
Trying to sum up the first 3 weeks of Milan..
Well, to say the least it has been an interesting and unpredictable beginning to my semester here at Bocconi. Most of January was spent with a lot of anticipation waiting to finally leave on the 23rd. The day finally came and I was on my way, for 5 months. The longest I have ever been away from home.
Luckily I literally flew in right behind Katy's Delta plane at the airport and we easily met up. We took the train about 30 minutes and finally arrived at the dorms. No rest for us though. Out to check into Bocconi and try and get started on finding an apartment. To make the story short Katy decided to stay in the dorms, but I was still restless and wanted to try an apartment. The next week was filled with an incredible combination of excitement and stress.
The Tuesday after we arrived we started our Italian Language Course, which I truly enjoyed. Our teacher was very patient and wonderful! I've been reserved about speaking spanish for years, but she encouraged me to just jump right up and speak Italian to the whole class. I love the language, and knowing Spanish grammar and vocab is definitely helpful. So during the days we would have 5 hours classes, and then straight away we would roam campus calling any advertisements we could for apartments till 11 at night. Such long days. I found a great girl and fellow master's student, Kiki from Canada, and we decided to go on the hunt together. It was the most exhausting, depressive hunt. Traveling for hours all over Milan, just to be disappointed in quality and price. But, the only comforting thing was most other students were in the same boat, so it was a sort of bonding experience.
After days of searching a visiting apartments, I received an e-mail from a woman asking ME if I wanted to see it. So we jumped at the opportunity. She was lovely, seemed trustworthy, decent rent and flexible with payments. Our friends David (from UVA who I met in the Philly Airport on the way over, random) and Moses from UF came with us. The 4 of us have been on the hunt together for days. Kiki and I signed and moved in that night! All was well. We couldn't find a third roommate, so we decided to ask the boys to live with us. Two girls in one room, two boys in the other. It was such a fun weekend. Then a week later, all hell broke loose. The owner decided she wanted cash instead of check, when she clearly agreed to check on the contract. That would be $4000 in cash from everyone up front! No way! She became very argumentative and aggressive and made it feel extremely uncomfortable. We tried to think of every solution to make this transaction safe, but she was uncooperative. We think it because owner gets heavily taxed in Italy and she wanted cash. So, it all came to a showdown in front of the Duomo on a sunny afternoon. She wanted cash, we couldn't get it to her the same day because of ATM withdrawal limits. At this point we were hoping she would evict us, so the contract would be void. We just wanted out, she was crazy one minute and offering us sweets the next. Unstable woman. So she said well, you can move out and move back in the next day when we had the money. no way! so we took the chance to leave, took the tram home with her, packed up everything in 30 minutes and left that crazy place. Phew. Luckily, haven't heard from her since. So I moved back into the dorms, where I am super happy and comfortable. I was not willing to go through the last 2 weeks of finding an apartment again. Plus the dorms are actually really nice, just a bit far from campus, but no big deal. Clean sheets every week, laundry (dryer!), cleaning service every week trash, maintenance. Really its nice, and a private room and I share a bathroom with only 1 other girl.
Now, that was the crazy stuff, I really want to write about all the amazing great things I have experienced in only 3 weeks here in Milan!
My first week discovered Aperitivo, which is an amazing Italian dinner tradition. You buy a drink for around 8 euro and then you have a buffet style dinner. You have small plates with lots of different finger foods. It is quite filling. It's been hit or miss at the restaurants, but we've had some pretty interesting food. Aperitivo is survival of the fittest really, whoever can get to the food first before its gone. After some experience now we have learned to take our time.
The first week here we also went on a tour in the Fashion District. WOW! Versace, Gucci, Prada, everything you could imagine. We even had a caffe at the Armani Store. It's really a site to see, along with the people shopping.
The City of Milan is incredible. Business mixed with Old Italy. The Duomo in the center on Milan is breaktaking and still after many times seeing it, looks fake. Especially at night. The Piazza in front of the Duomo is like Times Square, hustling with thousands of people, trams, cars, metro. The opera is right across the street. There is no justice to writing this, I just need to post pictures. The historic center of Milan and truly the Milanese experience. The ESN exchange group threw a huge welcome party at one of the best clubs in Milan, called Hollywood. It was really fun, but incredibly crowded. We left with about 40 people from the dorms. The music really catered to us, so hopefully I find other Italian clubs.
Ok, so many more GOOD things to write. I'm off to my first class at Bocconi today! So when I return I will write more. Its hard to even remember what I did last week. But I'm glad I finally have this blog up and running.
But I have met some really great people already and I am starting to settle in, that is as much as I can with every weekend planned for a trip!
Luckily I literally flew in right behind Katy's Delta plane at the airport and we easily met up. We took the train about 30 minutes and finally arrived at the dorms. No rest for us though. Out to check into Bocconi and try and get started on finding an apartment. To make the story short Katy decided to stay in the dorms, but I was still restless and wanted to try an apartment. The next week was filled with an incredible combination of excitement and stress.
The Tuesday after we arrived we started our Italian Language Course, which I truly enjoyed. Our teacher was very patient and wonderful! I've been reserved about speaking spanish for years, but she encouraged me to just jump right up and speak Italian to the whole class. I love the language, and knowing Spanish grammar and vocab is definitely helpful. So during the days we would have 5 hours classes, and then straight away we would roam campus calling any advertisements we could for apartments till 11 at night. Such long days. I found a great girl and fellow master's student, Kiki from Canada, and we decided to go on the hunt together. It was the most exhausting, depressive hunt. Traveling for hours all over Milan, just to be disappointed in quality and price. But, the only comforting thing was most other students were in the same boat, so it was a sort of bonding experience.
After days of searching a visiting apartments, I received an e-mail from a woman asking ME if I wanted to see it. So we jumped at the opportunity. She was lovely, seemed trustworthy, decent rent and flexible with payments. Our friends David (from UVA who I met in the Philly Airport on the way over, random) and Moses from UF came with us. The 4 of us have been on the hunt together for days. Kiki and I signed and moved in that night! All was well. We couldn't find a third roommate, so we decided to ask the boys to live with us. Two girls in one room, two boys in the other. It was such a fun weekend. Then a week later, all hell broke loose. The owner decided she wanted cash instead of check, when she clearly agreed to check on the contract. That would be $4000 in cash from everyone up front! No way! She became very argumentative and aggressive and made it feel extremely uncomfortable. We tried to think of every solution to make this transaction safe, but she was uncooperative. We think it because owner gets heavily taxed in Italy and she wanted cash. So, it all came to a showdown in front of the Duomo on a sunny afternoon. She wanted cash, we couldn't get it to her the same day because of ATM withdrawal limits. At this point we were hoping she would evict us, so the contract would be void. We just wanted out, she was crazy one minute and offering us sweets the next. Unstable woman. So she said well, you can move out and move back in the next day when we had the money. no way! so we took the chance to leave, took the tram home with her, packed up everything in 30 minutes and left that crazy place. Phew. Luckily, haven't heard from her since. So I moved back into the dorms, where I am super happy and comfortable. I was not willing to go through the last 2 weeks of finding an apartment again. Plus the dorms are actually really nice, just a bit far from campus, but no big deal. Clean sheets every week, laundry (dryer!), cleaning service every week trash, maintenance. Really its nice, and a private room and I share a bathroom with only 1 other girl.
Now, that was the crazy stuff, I really want to write about all the amazing great things I have experienced in only 3 weeks here in Milan!
My first week discovered Aperitivo, which is an amazing Italian dinner tradition. You buy a drink for around 8 euro and then you have a buffet style dinner. You have small plates with lots of different finger foods. It is quite filling. It's been hit or miss at the restaurants, but we've had some pretty interesting food. Aperitivo is survival of the fittest really, whoever can get to the food first before its gone. After some experience now we have learned to take our time.
The first week here we also went on a tour in the Fashion District. WOW! Versace, Gucci, Prada, everything you could imagine. We even had a caffe at the Armani Store. It's really a site to see, along with the people shopping.
The City of Milan is incredible. Business mixed with Old Italy. The Duomo in the center on Milan is breaktaking and still after many times seeing it, looks fake. Especially at night. The Piazza in front of the Duomo is like Times Square, hustling with thousands of people, trams, cars, metro. The opera is right across the street. There is no justice to writing this, I just need to post pictures. The historic center of Milan and truly the Milanese experience. The ESN exchange group threw a huge welcome party at one of the best clubs in Milan, called Hollywood. It was really fun, but incredibly crowded. We left with about 40 people from the dorms. The music really catered to us, so hopefully I find other Italian clubs.
Ok, so many more GOOD things to write. I'm off to my first class at Bocconi today! So when I return I will write more. Its hard to even remember what I did last week. But I'm glad I finally have this blog up and running.
But I have met some really great people already and I am starting to settle in, that is as much as I can with every weekend planned for a trip!
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