Milan was the highlight of this past weekend and it wasn't necessarily what we all expected.
We took a trip for the day with a local student travel agency. We first got on the bus and didn't realize how long the ride was going to be. A total of 4 hours to get to Milan. When it is supposed to be about 3. We finally get to Milan and the first thing we do is go to the Duomo of Milan. Half of us were not allowed to go inside because you have to be covered up (In Italy if you are going into a sacred holy monument then you have to have your knees and shoulders covered up to enter.). Normally the church will give you something to put over yourself so you can go in, but this one did not. So we didn't even get to go inside.
After that we got to go into the Galleria which is considered the worlds oldest shopping mall. Has a giant glass dome ceiling connected to long rectangular ceilings made of glass as well, all leading to four arch openings. It was beautiful and had a lot of high end fashion stores inside.
We then were able to break for lunch and this is where the fun begins...
We ate lunch after we searched for about 30 minutes to find a place so that we could be quick and go shopping. I had the best gnocchi ever. It was so rich, but such a heavy pasta. It is a pasta made out of potatoes. After lunch we tried to do some shopping with what little time we had left. It was very hard to squeeze in what we wanted to do at this time.
Then we were taken to see one of the public fashion shows. These shows are normally for some of the less known designers. It was actually kind of cool, for a 15 minute show.
Shopping was a fail, so we met back up with the group and followed the tour guide to the street with all of the high end fashion designers such as, Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, and many many more. It was great, except for the fact that we were not allowed to stop inside to look. We had to keep walking.
Along this walk we found out from one of the other girls something very surprising. Our tour guides for the day were not supposed to be our tour guides. A professor from the fashion school in Florence was bringing his students to Milan to learn about fashion business and they were just a long for the ride on our bus. We then found out that our tour guides (the ones we paid for) never showed up that morning. At this point we are a little perturbed.
This whole time we had been following an itinerary of a teacher instead of the one that we were given. We did think it was very strange when we did not stop in Milan's Little Venice on the way back for gelato and crepes.
Aside from that, the bus ride home took about 5 hours, with a stop at "rest area" for the best food in town. NOT. It was fast food, and I can get that at home.
Other than all that, I definitely enjoyed the company of my roommates and the little adventure we can tell our kids someday. All I know is, I will now go back to Milan on my own time.
Goofing off on the "rodeo drive" of Milan
Nennette fashion cat walk
Best Gnocchi ever.Ciao!
Chelsea Lynn
