Fashion Week in Milan

FASHION WEEK IN MILAN

As soon as you walk out of the train station you see the Duomo sitting in all it's majesty. There is nothing like the Duomo is Milan, every time I walked past it, I had to take a picture because I was blown away. 

The Duomo

We arrived Friday afternoon with two hours to spare before we could check into our hostel. With our backpacks we made the 20 minute hike across the inner city of Milan towards our hostel and stopped at a quaint bar. Bar's in Italy mean anything involving food and drinks of any kind, I usually get a panino and cappuccino. After checking into our hotel we adventured into the city to see what we could find. Most of the afternoon was spent taking it all in, until dinner time when we met up with a friend who was studying abroad in Milan. To save some Euro, we cooked a pasta dish and relaxed from our busy travel day at his apartment.

Saturday was the perfect day anyone could have asked for. We went to the entrance way of two fashion shows and watched as celebrities and famous fashion bloggers entered. Nothing makes you feel as unimportant than being in the presence of celebrities with paparazzi flocking around them. Occasionally a big name would start walking towards the show and paparazzi would literally sprint towards them. I felt dumb if I were not doing the same, so at times I joined in the craziness, swarming the celebrities and taking pictures of their cliche poses and finely pressed outfits. It was quite an entertaining scene to be involved in, but even more so because I had no idea who I was taking pictures of. When I was not being the paparazzi, I was pretending to be an important fashion blogger or something of the sort that required attention. While my friend was taking a picture of my best celebrity pose, I did gain a small audience of other photographers who snapped shots of me. That was a confidence booster! It was hilarious, other people were doing the same as I, running around taking pictures of people they think are important, and I was added to their collection. Maybe one day my picture will be worth it. After alternating between being paparazzi and a celebrity we made our way to a Restaurant with a view of the whole city. We ate outside on the top floor of the building and enjoyed our food with the most beautiful view of Milan.

Caitlin with a famous fashion blogger, fashion blogger, Vogue magazine, Me (easily mixed up as a celebrity)

Me at the restaurant with the top of the Duomo behind me

Most of Saturday was spend in the fashion scene. Later that evening I went to Catholic Mass with my roommate Caitlin in the Duomo. We could not understand the service because it was in Italian, but they sounded beautiful. Our great day in the city was topped off with a great night dancing. There were four other girls and I from Florence, and our friend and his roommates. Three guys, and six girls total. They took us to the best night scene in Milan. The disco had multiple floors and multiple rooms so you could pick the music most suiting to your dance style. At the door, I received two drink tickets instead of one. Props to looking good when you go out. I did not want two drinks, since in Italy the alcohol level is extremely high in mixed drinks, so I gave the second ticket to my friend. THE DISCO WAS SO MUCH FUN! We danced the night away, for those of you at Grove City, I broke out my best "grover" dance moves. Despite my unique, more entertaining dance style in contrary to the way the other girls were dancing, it was inevitable to not catch guys interest. Some of the night was spend dodging the same couple of guys who were quite persistent. That did not ruin the night, it made it more like a game. We were out pretty late, and were happy to know we could sleep in Sunday.

Sunday was much more relaxing than Saturday. Caitlin and I posted up on a statue in the middle of the piazza and watched the outdoors Sunday Mass. For two hours we people watched and enjoyed the warm weather of Milan.

This trip was fantastic. I forgot to mention we experienced the best chocolate gelato place! Unfortunately we could not find the one art museum we wanted to go to, and I did not get the chance to see the Last Super because it requires you to buy tickets in advance. Milan may be a place I need to visit again!

Florence is where it's at

Traveling around Italy on the weekends has been amazing, and I do not want anyone to get the impression that Monday through Friday is lame. It is quite on the contrary! Florence itself has enough sights to see and places to eat to last a life time, one of them being the Pizzale Michelangelo. 

The Pizzale Michelangelo overlooks all of Florence. It is quite a calorie burning hike to reach the top, but it is beyond worth the work for the view. After a ten minute climb to the top of the stairs (five minutes is a long time to be walking up stairs) I turned to the left and saw all of Florence in one gaze. 

 A musician was strumming his guitar to some John Mayer, people were chilling on the steps, and others were just taking in the view. When it gets a bit warmer and is consistently sunny my friends and I plan on going there for afternoons at a time to relax and enjoy being in Florence.

My friend Cate and I

 Another weekday, my roommates and I walked to the river to find the best gelato place. The gelataria we found was rated four and a half stars out of five by over five hundred people. Assuming that this was the best place to go, we ventured over. We were proven right. Basically I will go back to that gelataria any chance we get. 

This next statement will be a bit risky; as good as gelato is I am still a huge fan of ice cream and I do not think I can be shaken from the fact ice cream is my choice dessert. For those of you that know me well, I would still go for an ice cream over gelato. If you do not know the difference, I will do my best to explain. Ice cream has more milk and less sugar, gelato has less milk and more sugar. Making ice cream, well, creamier and more delicious in my opinion. Gelato is similar to frozen custard, but imagine it being scooped out of a bin instead of swirled on your cone. I think I will record a gelataria next time so you all can fully understand. Do not get me wrong, I am in no way complaining about the gelato, it is delicious. 

GELATO 

My roommates and I out for gelato near the river

Here I am to say, in between travel weekends, I go to class, do homework, explore Florence, cook good food with friends and eat gelato and croissants. #livinthedream

Pisa Pisa Pisa

For my friends on facebook, sorry for the delay of this Pisa post! During our Valentines day dinner, our new friends Bhumi and Ashley were talking about their Pisa trip the next day. Kindly, they invited anyone who wanted to come. On a whim, my roommate Caitlin and I jumped on the offer, looked at our watches and decided we would be in Pisa in less than 12 hours. I am still getting used to the fact that I can take "casual" trips to some of the wonders of the world and ancient monuments. It was a "hey lets just go to Pisa tomorrow".

8am came fast, we boarded the train and in less than an hour and a half we were in the quaint town. Pisa is a beautiful small city, with a mix of colorful townhouses, big shopping streets and world renown architecture (obviously).

 For some reason we all had the idea that making it to the leaning tower of Pisa would be a breeze. We thought you get off the train and walk a block or two, and follow the top of the tower until you arrive. That was not the case. The four of us wandered around the city for a bit asking many strangers for directions, luckily Bhumi was fluent in Italian. I feel as though the natives got a kick out of pointing us in the wrong direction, because I know we went 3 different ways within 20 minutes. Eventually a nice old man sent us the right way.

I will never get used to seeing my art history book come to life. The small picture on a small page does not do any of these places justice. The Baptistery was beautiful as well as the Cathedral. When I saw the tower I definitely questioned how it still stands today. Mind blowing. Since I was there, and I was a tourist, I had the right to take the typical touristy photo. 

 The city was wonderful and a place I recommend for a day trip or weekend trip if you plan on going to Italy. I feel beyond blessed to be traveling around Italy!!

Wahoo

Third week down, and my weekend begins! Quick overview on my week: went to classes, did a little homework, went to bible study, hung out with friends, enjoyed the Florence weather, went to my regions of Italy club, and applied for a couple internships.

For the rest of the evening my roomate Caitlin and I will be picking out our outfits for this weekends adventure to Milan during fashion week! We jump on a train tomorrow at 8am and arrive in Milan 2 hours later at 10 am! I am beyond stoked to visit Milan, the museums, art galleries and just be there for fashion week festivities. Supposedly there is a make up artist who will do your hair and makeup like a model,,, so we will look for that as well pose as celebrities to get into the shows. ;) 

Milan here I come!

Valentines Day!!!!

Roses are red and my wonderful boyfriend Mike sent some to me for Valentines Day!!! They made a great centerpiece for our dinner with friends. Each of my roommates and myself invited and friend or two over and we enjoyed dinner and lots of desserts (two kinds of cheese cake, Nutella brownies, homemade yellow cake, carrot cake, and fruit with fondue).It was the perfect way to celebrate Valentines day without Mike! I also bought myself a new outfit to wear, because obviously I wanted to pretend like I was on a date. Here are our guests, my roommates and I were preparing the meal.

ROMA

This Past weekend I traveled two hours south of Florence with a school group to the wonderful City of Rome. Over the course of two days I visited: the Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum) , the Roman Forum which included the Arch of Titus, the Arch of Constantine, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, a tour through the Vatican Museum and St. Peters Basilica and enjoyed a typical four course roman meal. 

I was completely awe-struck multiple times, very often in Rome you will be walking on a sidewalk, turn a corner and be taken back by a hidden historical building. I just could not get over the fact that I was walking on the same ground where people have walked for thousands of years! My inner art-history nerd came out at the Vatican Museum when I had to tell my friends everything I had learned in art-history the semester before. 

If you have not traveled to Rome, I absolutely 100 percent recommend it!!!! Here are a couple other photos that I snapped. 

 

Florence So Far

I have been here almost a full week now, and Florence has been everything I would have imagined it to be with a couple unexpected facets. The city is very walk-able, it takes about seven to ten minutes to get to class depending on the building. Walking on the sidewalks takes a bit getting used to because of the cobblestone streets, but it is totally manageable if your shoes have thick soles. The streets are full of people at most hours of the day, from tourists to students to locals. 

It took a great deal getting used to navigating my way around the city streets. All streets lead to the Duomo, which is convenient if that is your main destination, yet a bit confusing if you plan on getting elsewhere. This is because the streets form mostly triangles instead of the grid pattern that I am used to in New York. You always have to go up a little, then down a little, a little too far then back track. The streets also change name after a couple blocks. I still have a lot to learn, however I do know my way to classes. 

Classes are great, and I am so very glad to have the opportunity to study here with professionals in their field. The international guidance will provide a great learning experience. Since I am quite the nerd, these classes are one of the most exciting aspects thus far. I picked up my books earlier today!!

Fashion is very interesting and different from America. In the US everyone wheres just about the same thing. For example chambray shirts are in, and most everyone owns a couple of them. Where in Italy every women has her own unique style that is not replicated by anyone else. Sure there are fashion patterns like ankle chelsea booties, and chunky knit scarves, but after that it is her confidence and edge that makes the fashion. It is very easy to pick out an american among the Italians, almost like an orange on an apple tree. Despite the odds, I am still probably foolishly trying to observe the fashion trends and blend in.

One of the school buildings

Sometimes I just stumble upon the magnificent Duomo and Baptistery on my way to class.

This is what I walk out to when leaving my apartment. Typical, quaint Italian street.