Exploring Milan

Jet lag hit us all pretty hard- yesterday we all slept until 3pm, ate sushi for dinner, and then proceeded to zone out in front of our respective computers until we either fell asleep or got so bored that we watched meaningless youtube videos until 5am (Sean and I couldn’t sleep). Over dinner we had all discussed getting out of the apartment and exploring around Milan the following day. We all wanted to familiarize ourself with the area as well as explore more of the city (we hadn’t really left the few blocks surrounding our apartment). At 10:30 this morning my alarm went off and by 12:30 we were out the door and ready to take Milan.

For those of you who don’t know what the weather is like in Milano this time of year, lets just say that its the Seattle of Italy (ok not exactly, but it does rain A LOT here). Its been grey and rainy since we got here and apparently thats typical winter weather for Milan. Today we got very lucky, it was just cold and grey, so we walked the 20 minutes to Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (USCS) which was lovely and then we decided to go a bit deeper into the city and see the Duomo-The Duomo is the cathedral of Milano, and its absolutely stunning- we then proceeded into this massive open-air designer shopping area right across the street known as the Piazza Duomo. Now I’m not about that designer lifestyle, sure Louis Vuitton and Prada are pretty but I am far too poor and far to stubborn to spend that much money on belongings. But then there was a bookstore....

As mentioned a few months back, I collect Harry Potter books from around the world. My collections includes books form Japan, South Africa, Switzerland, England, the US (duh), and now Italy! 

So with my Harry Potter book out of the way I was feeling pretty good but also pretty hungry, we hadn’t eaten since the night before. None of us speak Italian (Sean probably knows the most) so the idea of ordering food is a bit intimidating. Backtracking towards UCSC we saw a restaurant menu written in English and if that wasn’t a sign to eat there, the door opening and the man behind the counter saying “Hello! Would you like to eat!?” in perfect English was enough convince all three of us. 

Overall today was wonderful. Walking around Milano and taking in the city was just what I needed. The architecture is enough to make you fall in love with this city, but add the adorable tucked away café’s, the flower boxes along windowsills of apartments, and the cobblestone side streets, this city is beyond charming and I’m so excited to get to know it better and to be able to call it home

-Ciao