My October break seems ages ago but still I have more to recount. My roommate Bridget and I ended our Italy trip in the Northern city of Milan. Italy any time of year is wonderful but I was beginning to get a bit tired of the rain. We arrived in Milano in the afternoon to drizzle and after depositing our bags at our hostel we went out to explore the city rain coats on hand.

One of the Moms from my class planned a Milan walking tour for us which was extremely thought out and provided some direction and guidance to our ramblings. First off we found the Duomo, the cathedral of Milan and the seat of the Archbishop of Milan. The Cathedral is rather imposing any time but drizzle makes it look no more friendly. The interior is lushly decorated and to my surprise frequented by many locals for services. There was a priest in attendance for confession and a side service going on while tourists circulated. It seems that many of the churches of Europe have merely become places for tourists to explore and stare open mouthed at the grandeur and opulence of their places of worship; it is nice to see that they are still being used by the local people. We visited the crypt and saw several sarcophagi, stone coffins with sculpture or statue adornments. The archbishops are displayed in a very Sleeping Beauty like way. The men are decked out in their Archbishop finery and their faces are covered by masks. Their real bodies are concealed in the stone coffins but it looks like they are laid out for everyone to see, it made me do a double take.

From the Duomo we followed the walking tour and strolled down one of the priciest shopping streets in the world Via Montenapoleone and slightly less expensive Via Manzoni. We saw thousand euro telephones, 20,000 euro strollers equipped with chinchilla fur, and any other crazy accessory or clothing you can dream up. The amazing thing about this street was that it seemed everybody but us had at least a small bag from one of these crazy stores, check it out if you get the chance. We saw real live models slouching down the street in their six foot tall bodies draped in clothes only models can get away with. I finally got to go on a shopping binge in Milan though I waited till I landed in a shopping district a little closer to my price range. I bought shoes and I will just leave it at that.

I was tired of walking around in the rain; I will be the first to admit it. I decided we should go to the movies, in English of course, and warm up and waste some time. If you would like to go to the movies in Milan in English let me just say stop thinking about it and definitely do not try and go because it is nearly impossible. After about two hours of subway and actual trekking in the drizzle we admitted defeat, Bridget was less than impressed with me but I made it up to her later with cocktails. We ended up going out to dinner and discovered 7€ cocktails with free appetizers. Italians view this as a way to go out before dinner, socialize, have some nibbles, and a drink. I viewed it as dinner that happens to come with a drink. The food in Italy is great but having to eat in restaurants everyday for nearly every meal made me a bit weary of low cost tourist dives and the buffets were the answer to my food dreams. I took to scribbling down recipe inspirations on little scraps of paper; hopefully they turn into something fruitful.

The next day dawned not so grey and the clouds actually broke. The Duomo in sun is majestic and lavish. The only part of our Italy trip I was responsible for was securing tickets to Davinci’s Last Supper which I actually did do but I lost the confirmation number, the credit card never got billed, and I had nothing to go on so it just never happened. We went to Milano and did not see the Last Supper but even without it we had a pretty good time. Maybe I will see it next time because after this trip I love Italy and cannot wait to go back. Check out the pictures.