This past weekend I went to Milan with three of my friends (who are also my sorority sisters) Megan, Lexi, and Laura. We left Rome on Friday and got back Monday morning. Since our flight left at 6:30am Monday morning, we decided to camp out overnight in the airport to save money since we'd have to be there so early anyway. That was an interesting experience in itself, and I think we're all glad we did it once, but I don't think we'll do it again if we can avoid it. Surprisingly, there were a lot of other people who stayed there overnight too, so it was completely safe, we just didn't get any sleep and one of my friends was sick, which didn't help. Anyway, Milan was great. It's a lot different than Rome, but not exactly what I had expected. I expected it to be very modern (it is one of the fashion capitals of the world after all) but it was more a balance of antiquity and modernity. There's a cathedral (Duomo) there that is made mostly of white marble and has a lot of Gothic architecture. It's actually the second largest cathedral in the world, which makes sense even at a glance because it's just huge. On Saturday morning we took the metro to the southside of the city to go to the markets that are there in the mornings. There were booths selling a variety of things from purses, coats, and clothes, to fruits/vegetables, cheeses, breads, and whole raw fish! We ended up buying these little "mini calzones" as we called them, because we didn't know exactly what they were, but they were delicious and served as our breakfast/lunch for the day. Of course we also went shopping, though most of it was window shopping, since all the huge (and expensive) fashion labels have stores in the center of Milan. We didn't plan any tours in Milan so we basically just wandered around with maps, stumbling upon things to see. That was also a learning experience, because if we would've planned more what we wanted to do in Milan we probably would've realized we didn't need three whole days there. But all in all it was a great first trip, and I look forward to our weekend trips to come!
McDonald's is also included in this post title because we spent a surprising amount of time in several McDonald's while in Milan. There are a couple reasons for this. One is that after eating pasta twice a day everyday for the past few weeks we just really wanted a cheeseburger! Also, it was cold/rainy/snowy and one of my friends was sick and we were all tired, so sometimes we just took a break in a nice, warm McDonald's. I would also say that we gave ourselves a little bit too much time in Milan, which is just one of those things that you learn along the way when you're planning trips. The McDonald's in different countries have different menu items though, so there were plenty of unique things to try, like kiwi on a popsicle stick, which was interesting. So I would say that in our three days in Milan I ate more McDonald's then in the last six months in America, which is ironic!
I know a lot of the women who read my blog have read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, and I randomly learned that one of my professors, Elizabeth Geoghegan, met Liz Gilbert while in Italy and is in her book. I don't remember a character Elizabeth in the book, but she's in there, so I'll have to reread it when I get back to the States.
Tomorrow we have a papal audience, which I'm excited for! This weekend I'll be in Rome, and I plan to explore the city by myself a little bit, which I'm looking forward to.
I got my laptop back but now the internet isn't working on it, so hopefully I'll be able to add pictures later this week. Thanks for reading!
Ciao,
Allison
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