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!
Jen, all I can say is I'm so happy for you!
ReplyDeleteLove you!!