Week 4: Milan Milan Milan

1. Italians from Madison. During the fall semester, the girls who went on my last year set up a mixer with the kids from Madison going to Milan this spring and the exchange students from Milan that were at Madison during the fall. On Tuesday we all decided to meet up (plus some of our other friends from our program) and we went to an amazing aperitivo at Exotic. It had everything from pasta, to sandwiches, to pasta salad, to pizza. Plus it had a lot of desserts like chocolate croissants and tiramisu. 

2. Football. On Wednesday we decided to go to an AC Milan football (soccer) game. The weirdest part was that we had to buy our ticket at the bank before hand.. not sure why but just another different thing Italians do. The stadium was very old and felt more like a Colosseum to me. Unfortunately we lost 1-0 AND to make matters worse... on our way home I was just trying to do some lunges down the stairs (normal right?) and an Italian man came by and pushed me. Luckily I had my feet in the right place so I didn't fall down the stairs. Normally, being an American girl has helped me but in this case... it did not

3. Shopping. The shopping here is incredible and my credit card bill is not liking me at all... There are just so many interesting stores and little boutiques all over the city. I have already found one of my favorite stores and plan on vising it quite frequently. Going with my friend Emma though can't happen very often because she is a horrible shopaholic. Put us together and Visa (and our parents) would not be happy. The sales though are amazing. I didn't have room to bring my robe (which I practically live in while at home) BUT don't you worry I found one for only 12 Euro. My friends here will tell you I'm always in it.

4. Fashion Week. Milan is known for its fashion week and you can't get into shows but if you stand outside the shows you could be lucky enough to see some models/famous people going into the show. We, of course, stick out like a sore thumb because the people going into these shows dress super high fashion which includes very high heels, a lot of bright colors and oh don't forget their favorite thing at this time of year - fur. 

5. Christians. I know I have mentioned this before but seriously it deserves to be mentioned again. Christians is a family owned restaurant right by my dorm.The man who owns it is so nice and I have yet to order something I do not like. This past week I got a pasta dish that included shrimp, zucchini (which I normally don't like) and tomatoes and it was fabulous. We always leave getting something free, and this time it was something my cousin had told me I had to try which was this drink  Italy is known for called a limoncello. 

6. The Alps. Deciding last minute, a group of 8 of us decided to go to Bardonecchia to ski in the Alps, which is outside of Torino where the 2006 Olympics were held. Our day started when we had to leave Arco at 6 am on Saturday to catch the first tram into the city and we were all still half asleep and of course running late to our bus. We got off the Metro where we were supposed to get picked up at but there was so much fog we couldn't find the bus stop so we started sprinting all around with all our luggage - unaware of where we were going. We finally found the stop and off we went. As American girls, the three of us on the trip have been constantly harassed EVERYWHERE we go.Of course this trip was no exception. Over the course of two and a half hours on the bus, the Italians running the trip kept talking over the intercom about the "American girls" in Italian. Sometimes it is pretty funny but after 5 times it can be extremely annoying.   .

7. Alberto. Us girls had to rent snow pants or else we were going to freeze so we befriended the guy in charge of the resort and he told us to go ask the ski rental people if they had any left and if not to come back and find him. Of course they had ski's, boots, polls (and don't worry mom, helmets) but no snowpants. Alberto went out of his way and took us to his own personal stuff and gave us each a pair of snowpants and forced me to wear his jacket because he thought I would freeze up in the mountain. Our outfits were straight out of the 80's. A perk of being American is how much Italian's are willing to help us. I even left my coat on the bus and Alberto made sure to call the bus company and had it waiting for me the next day.

8. Skiing. The rest of the day and all of Sunday we skied. I was able to reteach Emma how to ski, just like I had been taught by Afton and my mom; making her follow my tracks.  Saturday I went skiing mostly with Alex and on Sunday I skied with Emma during the morning and then we met up with the boys for lunch at this amazing chalet surrounded by the Alps. I then skied with the boys (two of them were really good and Nick.... I only skied with him so he could take videos of me with his gopro camera) the rest of the day, and I wasn't amazing but I held my own. I have been to Colorado to go skiing but that doesn't even come close to the Alps. It was amazing and we had perfect weather of about 45/50 degrees. I tried to capture the views with a camera but it was one of the moments when it wasn't possible. The runs were difficult but beautiful and the fresh powder was to die for.

9. Wine on tap.  With our tour, we were provided a dinner. Since Italians do not really keep track of their time, we tried eating at least 3 times but were told different times each time we asked. We finally were able to eat and the dinner was amazing. I had four or five plates because I wanted to try everything they had to offer.The craziest part was when we went to get water out of the tap, water did not come out... instead it was either red or white wine! That night we decided to go to the bar below the chalet thinking it would be filled with kids our age from the trip but boy were we wrong. Instead it was basically empty besides a group of 15 elderly Italians. We were able though to turn it into a fantastic time

10. My bed. Arco is finally feeling like home and after every trip and at the end of my school day I cannot wait to come home, eat and relax. I have to keep reminding myself to live in the moment but my next few weeks are making this extremely difficult. This weekend is Venice for carnival. Next weekend is Budapest for Emma's birthday. The following weekend is Prague with just Emma and Annie (that will be interesting just us three girls on our own. I'm sure there will be great stories to be told). Until next week! Hope the weather warms up soon back at home, since I've been going to class these past two days in no coat.

Emma and I at the AC Milan game

Outside one of the fashion shows during Fashion Week

Yes this man looks like an astronaut

One of the more tame outfits I saw

Some pictures of the Alps

Of course you have to see my whole outfit. I refused to take photos in it because I look like a 300 pound blue marshmallow so had to screen shot a picture from Facebook.

J'adore Paris

Going on the third week and like I say every time where does the time go?

1. Torino. On Sunday we went to Torino where the 2006 Olympics were held. The sun was out and we saw a lot of important monuments. The best part was a lookout over the whole city with the Alps in the background. The Italians though have no sense of time.... So we had to take the train back at 9:05 or else we would have to wait for the train at 11:30. Of course the Italian leaders of the trip did not plan enough time to get the train station so we had to fast walk all the way to the station and when we got there, we had 3 minutes to get to the train. All of a sudden i hear a lot of noise behind me and when I look everyone is yelling and starts running towards me. I felt like simba being chased by 150 hyenas. 

2.  Trying to look Italian. So we all have tried so hard to fit in with the Italians but it's a fail. The other day in the cafeteria I was talking to an Italian and asked him if he was standing across the room, would he be able to tell I was American. He started hysterically laughing and said, "1. You're sitting at the counter on your laptop. 2. You brought your own lunch. 3. You have a reusable water bottle. 4. What is this? (referring to the carabiner attached to my water bottle)." To explain why he said this: 1. The Italians are never on technology. Instead, they actually sit and talk with their friends (crazy concept to us Americans right??). 2. They always eat in the cafeteria or go out for lunch. There are no "brown paper bag lunches." 3. Reusable water bottles are nonexistent. 

3.Paris - Thursday: I flew by myself to Paris and a friend from Rome arrived at the same time so we were able to start the trek to Paris together with some of her friends from her program. We ended up going to a restaurant one of the girls had been told had authentic French food and let me tell you.... IT WAS AMAZING! I got white fish (not sure what that means exactly) with eggplant and tomatoes with pesto. Escargot was another thing I was able to tried. A bit too fishy for my taste. Chocolate mousse was what the restaurant was known for. From a big bowl they give you one scoop of the mousse. We ordered two orders for the 7 of us and the waiter ends up giving each plate 4 scoops and then ends up leaving the entire bowl (guess sometimes it does pay off to be an American girl)! After, we went back to the hostel because the rest of our friends had arrived. 11 best friends reunited during quite hours at the hostel did not go over real well with the manager... That night we all went out to a club and danced our butts off with each other because it was the first time we had been reunited for about two months. Our cab driver was named was Raulf and not only turned on some party jams but danced with us the entire way to the car. We ended that night with some late night crepes made by a guy right by our hostel.  I got egg, chicken and cheese and it was my first authentic French crepe.

4. Firday - The next day we slowly made our way out of bed and saw the sights. We saw everything and anything that day (besides the Eiffel Tower). I got to experience my first macaroon and it really lived up to the hype. For dinner that night we stopped at this hole in the wall bakery and tried to communicate to this adorable french lady our sandwich order. And yes, I did remember some of my French. I was the navigator that day and was able to ask people on the street how to get places and was able to understand their directions.

5. Avicci. The reason we went to Paris that weekend was for the Avicci concert. We were late to the concert and at the first gate we saw we were told we had to go all the way to the other side. So here are 11 girls sprinting and I'm leading the pact. To give you some background before I finish this story, throughout the streets in Europe they have these random poles that go up to about your hip and sometimes they have a metal chain in between them. So here I am, full on sprinting because I want to get into the concert and I hear behind me "Jump Brianna." I heard that a little too late..... and I sprinted right into that metal chain and bounced right off it. My friends have never seen anything funnier and literally peed their pants I think. I didn't even think it hurt (till the next day. I have six HUGE bruises all over my legs making it appear I was beat up just from the waist down). But once we got in to the concert..... I don't even know how to explain. IT WAS AMAZING. We were on the floor and when the lights would go on and you looked up and around, the amount of people just blew you away. It was definitely my favorite part of the trip. After the concert we somehow were able to meet up with everyone else from Madison and ran to the top of this huge hill to take a picture... not realizing that getting up would be the easy part. We ended up also running into one of our friends from Madison who was studying in Paris on the walk home. Even though Paris is huge, that night it felt like such a small city.

6. Saturday. It took us just a little longer to get up and of course we started our morning with crepes. Then we were off for the Eiffel Tower. Of course my mom had told me that I had to climb to the top and I did just that. It was extremely windy up there but there was nothing like that view and thinking that your in/on this monument that is known throughout the entire world made me remind myself that I'm not dreaming, this is my life. After that we walked for what seemed like HOURS and finally ended up at Angelina's for their famous hot chocolate; thick with home made whipped cream on top. Deciding that hot chocolate is not enough for lunch we went back to our hostel area and ended up at this really "hip" restaurant. All we wanted was cheese and baguette and we got just that (but obviously a little fancier). For dinner though we found this cute little restaurant and I got duck... Another fabulous choice by moi. The owner of the restaurant was this lady who kept talking to us in french (thank goodness Sarah Randall is pretty much fluent). She kept saying how beautiful we were and saying we had to go dancing that night. That night we all went out again and four of us ended up at this bar/club and lets just say it ended with one of my best friends running away from a lesbian who was trying to kiss her (Jess Schmit). And of course we ended our night with crepes from the stand and this time I got nutella and banana. The man I think started to recognize us... Good or bad sign? you tell me!

7. Sunday. We had to end the trip with another crepe... Wow I keep writing crepe and I'm curious if that's all I ate this weekend. I left a little late for my plane... and when I got to the airport I was running around like a crazy American lady... (but when am I not freaking out). I forgot about having to drink your water to get through security so since I was late I stated chugging A FULL NALGENE. The french security guards ended up cheering me on which only made me go slower since I started laughing. I finally got to the gate and it ended up working out perfectly because my flight was delayed.

8. Things do actually happen for a reason and being here has made me realzie just that. If I hadn't been late to my plane I never would have been in the back of the line. If the plane was never delayed I would not have met Carole. So i'm standing in line to borad and this girl behind me looks to be about my age so of course I started talking to her and boy am I ever glad I did. She lives in Milan (but is from Lebanon) meaning she was on my same plane and the hour long bus ride. The advice she gave me throughout our time together will stay with me forever. We learned all about each other, and I explained my worries for the future about not knowing whats going to happen after graduation and getting out of the bubble I call college. She is 25 and has been all over the world working for the Lebanon music festival. Her advice to me consisted of, "You keep pushing for things and I've learned that when things are supposed to happen they will. Many doors will be slammed in your face but you seem like a person that doesn't give up. So yeah your future may be uncertain and that may scare the hell out of you, considering you plan everything, but you're resume/experiences and your personality will get you so far in life. Its okay to fail (which made me realize our generation is never told this.) but you just have to get back up and try something else." I think the best piece of advice she told me though was to not limit myself to what I think are my limits. I know that's confusing but she meant I kept saying, "I need to get an internship this summer then a full time job after I graduate." She told me to expand those limits. She thought she would be doing something totally different from what she is doing now as an actress, getting her masters, studying Italian (she is fluent in 5 languages) and working for a music festival. Listening to what the world expects me to do in my life will get me now where, but listening to what my head and heart want out of life will get me everywhere. The best part of meeting her is she is living in Milan for three months so of course she is giving me restaurants I have to try, a place where they show English movies, and fingers crossed tickets for different shows that may be in Milan this semester.

9. Christians. This is a family owned restaurant by Arco and since I had no food I stopped there on my way home from Paris. I had been traveling for 7 hours and exhaustion had finally hit me from the weekend. I ordered a margarita pizza and when I went to pay the owner he could tell I was just so exhausted and in a horrible mood. He gave me a free order of fries and pop so of course I ate like a princess that night

10. Grocery shopping. As you remember from previous posts, Emma and I are a mess when we're together. Not only did she get pick pocked this weekend in Florence but she also lost her RayBan sunglasses. So that makes us sisters right considering I got my passport taken? But anyways as you know our grocery experiences together have been a full on production to say the least... This trip ended with us getting so many groceries we had to take a cart back to our dorm with us and everyone staring at us along the way... we pretty much bought everything at Esselunga.

Sorry for the long post but ciao till next time!

Some girls just posing in Torino

Madison does Torino

The view of Torino with the Alps behind (I just had walked all day hence why I look a bit... sweaty)

I'm not one for fish but wow the first in meal in Paris ROCKED

No that is not poop, its the chocolate moosse.

On top of the Eiffel Tower

Late night crepes

such a rainy day but the lock bridge on valentines day

 Notre Dame

cliche Louvre picture

loving Paris as each minute ticks by

Best Macarons

Ali got pooped on by a pigeon... so wonderful
 

Couldn't have asked for a better weekend with my favorite ladies

Another cliche Paris picture

Never wanted to leave. I will be going back to Paris

Best hot chocolate of my life..

2nd Week

Wow this past week has flown by... After spending some time in Milan, I now understand why everyone says it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It has hidden gems scattered all over; you just have to be willing to look. Here is my top ten from the past week. 

1. The Culture. Italians really do only eat pizza and pasta but still are sooooo skinny. Whenever I see Italians eating, 80% of the time they are eating some form of carbohydrate. The stores are never open! They open around nine, close from one to two thirty and then open again till maybe nine if you are lucky.  This is due to the fact that unlike workaholic Americans, they value lunch breaks and naps more than making money. Everywhere you go (like the post office, getting a metro pass, taking pictures for your passport, the embassy etc.) you have to take a number and I think that they believe standing in line is too exhausting. Salads here are literally a plate of lettuce with, if you're lucky, a tomato and a few olives. On top of that they do not have salad dressing so you just have to settle for oil. 

2. My program. Why I love (sometimes hate) my program is because of how independent we have to be and the truly international integration we get to experience. This program expects you to do things on your own. Being as I am the oldest of my siblings, I have gotten use to figuring things out for myself but my parents were always right behind me in case anything went wrong. For Bocconi, there are no "parents" behind me. Sometimes, it can be very frustrating but I believe this will help me grow so much more as a person. I am truly far away from my regular friends and habits and am fully immersed in a new culture and I am learning so much about not only my self but the world around me. With the integration part of my program, other programs put American students with American students and hold their hands throughout the entire process. There are about 7 of us from Madison, and I did not know any of them before the trip. I am surrounded by students from all the U.S, Canada, Australia, Iceland, Ireland, Russia, etc. Being able to talk to people my age from all over the world and becoming friends with them really opens your eyes to how different yet similar we all are.

3. The Superbowl. This night was spontaneous and extremely chaotic. We knew of this restaurant that would be showing the Superbowl so a huge group of us decided lets go for it! We had to take the metro and since quite a few of us didn't have our metro passes yet we thought, "Hey why not just try to sneak in?" Now with one or two people this could have worked but with a group of 25...... We got caught real fast and luckily just had to go back and buy a new ticket. The restaurant was packed and only had a few different screens with chairs in front to watch the game. Pretty sure we were the only non-Italians at that restaurant. Since the game was a bust, most people went home but myself and two others decided to stay for the whole game. Now.... the game ended at roughly 4:00 am our time. None of us knew how to get home so we just started walking. None of the public transportation was running and we could not find a taxi (and I just wanted McDonald's which was not open). We ended up walking to the Duomo and it was a sight I will never forget. It felt like we were the only three people in the entire world. With the lights and the water dripping of it from the rain earlier, it took my breath away. But don't worry Mom we found a taxi and got home safely. 

4. Tuesday we went to a famous castle in Milan called Castello Sforzeco and even though it was rainy (what's new) it was beautiful. It was filled with incredible museums and various pieces of art from way back when. The most famous part of the castle was the Rondanini Pieta which is a marble sculpture Michelangelo never got to finish because he died.  

5. After the castle tour we all realized we needed groceries. My friend Emma and I were like "We're in and out of here. We're so hungry and just need a few things..." Twenty minutes later we had our hands full of food going all the way up to our eyes. She had to grab a huge bottle of wine and asked since I had a little extra room if I could hold it. Emma and I are the ones that stick out the most since we are both blonde (her more so then me) and here we are carrying all this food instead of in a basket or cart like normal people. We were are at the part of the grocery store where the registers were on our left and the beginning of the aisles were on our right. All of a sudden my food starts to fall. At first, it was just my chips, then the ham and then all of a sudden the WINE! it dropped out of my hand and shattered.... It felt like an exact scene out of a movie. Everyone got silent and turned and starred so of course we ran into the cookie aisle. The ladies at the cash registers still recognize us. 

6. Luini's Restauarnt - Panzerotti. I always explain this like an authentic hot pocket and when I do everyone yells at me. But a Panzerotti is this amazing donut type thing and the kind I get is filled with cheese and tomatoes. They also have desert ones filled with chocolate. This is the type of authentic Italian food we had been waiting for. Luini's is so tiny but so popular that there is always a crowd and when they run out of food they shut down. I have already been more than once.... 

7. Rain! Not. It is always raining but Thursday we FINALLY got sunlight and that was the day I fell in love with Milan. I was not feeling my best after orientation because I had come down with a really nasty cold but my friends convinced me to just go downtown for a little while to enjoy the sunlight and boy am I happy I did. I got Lunini's and gelato (that kind of food should have made me better right?) but the moment I fell in love was when we climbed to the top of the Duomo. Like I keep saying, pictures could not even do it justice. 

8. My new passport arrived! Friday you could not get the smile off of my face because I was finally done with the passport business. 

9. The Olympics. Saturday my guys friends organized a wine Olympics tournament for the dorm I live in. They set up a bracket and 16 teams composed of 4 people (each representing a country, or state if you were from the US) competed in a best two out of three flip cup tournament. I was the referee since I still wasn't feeling to well and it was one of the best nights here in Milan. Everyone was there and so many new people that we all got to meet. There was a French man from Paris who made everyone authentic crepes and he even taught me how to flip mine (took more than one try). I was obviously rooting for the Wisconsin team (there was a U of M team... sorry dad) which were the four boys and they ended up winning the finals which made everyone from the U.S break out into the National Anthem. It was one of the craziest, loudest, funniest times I have ever heard the national anthem being sung.

10. My parents. I want to have a little shout out for the two best support systems a girl like me could ask for. There is no way this trip could have been possible without them and I thank God everyday to have them in my life. I am an incredibly lucky girl to not only be embarking on this trip but getting to live the life I live. Love you two! (Don't tear up too much momma)

Here are some pictures from the Week! Until next time. Arrivederci! (I hope you have all started to embrace my horrible grammar)

Duomo at 4:30 am after the superbowl

The city of Milan from the top of Duomo

#merica

The Castello Sforzeco

 Rondanini Pieta

The MOST AMERICAN looking people on the trip

Pictures of my room. The hallway leads to my roommates room, the bathroom, and our kitchen. And yes we have a huge balcony. 

Two popular stores from the fashion tour. On Saturday we took a tour with the school of the fashion district in Milan.... I have never felt more poor in my life. But wow it is obvious why it is one of the fashion capitals of the world. Not only does it have every designer represented but the streets and surrounding areas are beautiful. 

And of course some of the deserts at Luini's. It's always too packed to get a bigger picture

First Week

So i am going to copy what my friend did last semester for my blog because I'm not a huge writer but you know my mom wants updates on the trip. (She wanted me to do a morning, afternoon, and evening blog..... Guess you could say she misses me?) That being said, I am going to do a top 10 of each week with many many details... so here we go! Hopefully this works out.

1. Got to Milan safely after 24+ hours of traveling. The first flight I was surrounded by babies crying which means I listened to my music quite loudly. The second flight (the 8 hour flight) I was able to meet up with some people from the U of Illinois to take the next two flights with. I got two seats to myself, a personal TV to watch movies (of course I chose Harry Potter) and two blankets/two pillows since I had no one sitting next to me. Third flight I got moved to sit by the girls I was traveling with which was nice.

2. Got my passport stolen within 20 minutes of being in Milan.

3. Helpful/wonderful/nice people. The thing about Milan is yes there are a lot of bad people, like pick pocketing or trying to rip you off, but the good news is that the amount of bad people are outweighed by the amount of good people here. When I got to my dorm (which they told us is an old hotel that’s been renovated into a residence hall) and checked in, the front desk guy said he would help me with everything having to do with getting a new passport. He drove me to the police station after his shift. Once we got to the police station we had to wait an hour and a half to talk to someone. Once we got to talk to the police the front desk guy was my translator and helped me with all the forms.

4. The gelato. Thats all I have to say

5. The Duomo. That night everyone was so supportive of what had happened and since we were all jet lagged we went down town to the Duomo which is this huge cathedral church in the center of Milan and pictures don't do it justice. We had these amazing sandwiches and walked around the center square. In the middle of the galleria, a shopping center filled with high end stores such as Prada, Louis Vuitton, there is a painting of a bull. It is good luck and safe travels to spin on your heel three times on the bulls balls (so of course I was the first one since I needed some good luck.)

6. Mastering public transportation. As you can see the first day was a struggle but ever since then it kept going uphill. The second day I went to Bocconi (The university I am studying at) and checked in to get my student card and welcome packet. They spent a long time explaining how to get to the US embassy since I had to get a new passport. That being said...... I GOT THERE AND BACK BY MYSELF. Granted I had to stop and ask people every few minutes. There was a mom and daughter that helped make sure I got to the embassy and showed me how to use the underground (which is the subway). To reward myself I stopped at this cafe and had a warm croissant filled with chocolate and a cappuccino that didn't even taste like coffee (since I'm not a coffee fan).

7. The Pizza. Thursday night we went to the Navigli district which is extremely popular for its canals with many cafes, bars and restaurants surrounding it. We went to this amazing pizza place called Pizzeria and then went for some drinks afterward at Spritz. Let me tell you though.... the pizza here is better than even the best pizza in the States. And yes it is true, it is cheaper to buy wine then water.

8.  My internship. I am interning this semester with a start up company and working with them on their online marketing and social media. This being said, I will have to spend about 10 hours a week working for them but I know I'm going to learn so much from this opportunity.

9. The Mall. There is a huge mall about 10 min from my dorm and it has this AMAZING SUPER STORE. I got a pillow for 5 Euros and so many other things for cheap (of course a huge bottle of wine for only 2.5 Euros).

10. My Friday night..... Italians have this thing called an aperitivo which is where you pay for one drink from 5 to 10 Euros and then you get a huge full buffet of Italian cuisine like pizza, pasta, sandwiches, and a ton of fried things (maybe equivalent to America Happy Hour?) . Our aperitivo   was on a boat in the Navigli district. Now most Italians have like one plate... but of course this girl had four and then took some bruschetta to go on our walk to our next destination which was a pub called La Fontanella. This place is unreal. This pub has all kinds of crazy contraptions that pour out beer from an octopus to a train with real smoke creeping out of it. After that we went to this club called Limelight which was where all the Bocconi students were meeting up and it was so much fun. Of course we went at "bar time" American time and they were not open (out of all the times we stuck out as Americans this had to be our worst).... so we came back when it was open and it was packed! Some of us girls snuck into the VIP section for about an hour till we were kicked out. The Italian men really do love the American girls and my hair is a real indicator of where I'm from (and of course my red shirt since everyone else was wearing black or cream.) We didn't get home till around 4:00 am which is normal for Italians but to us Americans.... We were pooped .

That was my week and I promise this will get better next time. We have started planning out some trips. Venice, Budapest, and Interlaken Switzerland will all be within the next month. But until next time check out these photos!

Arrivederci!

Gelato

Beer from La Fontanella

Appretivo

Limelight club

Pizza place and then the pizza below

Dumo is behind