Inside of Italy: MILAN

 The hardest thing about these past few days have been waking up, knowing that we would have to leave our beautiful villa in Tuscany.  As much as I have loved being out in the country, I was aching to see what we would do or what we would see in Milan.  Waking up on the last day (Friday) to head to Milan was definitely sad after a great week-long away from the city.  But we all packed up our stuff and headed out to the bus before making the long 5 hour trek to Milan.  On the way there, I was able to sleep for maybe 2 hours, but I did like how it was raining on the way there.  Once we got to Milan, it looked so beautiful inside and out.  More like an Italian version of Nancy (a similar city in France where I was close to for those of you that don't know where Nancy is), the streets were long and filled with stores and shops and the Milanese; if that's what they're called.  After settling in the hotel for a half an hour, as a group, we went down to the Metro and started making our way downtown for shopping.  As a girl, I'm not very fond of shopping.  But in Milan, it was an adventure.  First time being around a group of girls and just not having a care, really.  

After a few hours of shopping and rain (no surprise there), Kerry, Andrea, Anna, and I headed back to the hotel after getting some dinner at a Kebab place.  YUM.  At the hotel, Kerry, Andrea, and I just chilled in one of our room's and ended up just watching cartoons on TV while relaxing.  Pretty fun really since we ended up reading Cosmo in various accents.  Yes there is video, but for our eyes only. Mwuahaha.  The next day before going to the opera, I joined up with Patrick, Trevor, and Kerry and we all made our way to the Duomo and then went window-shopping after walking around the top.  Pretty much a very relaxing day before going to the opera and looking in designer stores knowing that I couldn't afford a thing.  Probably a good thing though considering what Milan considers "fashion", I consider it as "why the hell is this considered fashion".

Last thing to possibly due in Milan was, of course, going to La Scala for Götterdämmerung on the last day of Italy.  Somehow, Kerry and I are always finding ourselves alone in a booth and it makes it amazing without having to worry about people sitting in front of us or not being able to see the entire opera.  The six hours were brutal only during the first Act, but I really enjoyed the theater and absolutely loved the orchestra.  I cannot get over how phenomenal the brass section was throughout the entire thing.  After the opera, the group split for dinner and went our own way, knowing we'd have to get back to only pack our suitcases and wait to leave only five hours later for the airport.  I can't  believe we have to go home already.  

--Kimberly

Milan Blog Post

Milan was short and sweet. We arrived in Milan in the afternoon, where we had to say goodbye to Mario, the best bus driver in the world. We trekked from the bus to the hotel with all of our luggage. Once we got to the hotel we go ready for the day and then went out. We had to go shopping in Milan. I got a bunch of new clothes for pretty cheap. Walking around Milan was very fun and exciting. It was exciting to see the fashion capitol of the world! I went to the Opera on Sunday. La Scala was great, the music was beautiful and breathtaking. Even though it was a six-hour opera, it was worth it. I would like to see it again with a better seat, since for the entire first act I very unfortunately couldn’t see anything, but luckily for the last two I could see and it was amazing. It definitely made me want to see all the operas in the series. I really enjoyed being in big city, it was fun to explore and shop and eat. I am really glad we ended our trip with Milan, just because it was a fancy hotel and nice to have that at the end. Milan was a blast, I am so happy I was able to come on this trip! It’s been the time of my life. I would really like to thank Derfler and Chipman for everything! Thanks everyone who came, it’s been an amazing trip.

-ali pierce

Longest Opera EVER!

I have to admit that although I really loved the villa in Tuscany, that I was pretty excited to be going back to civilization. I flourish more in bigger cities though. I just feel at home surrounded by the hustle and bustle. That being said there wasn't very much historically to see in Milan. There was the Duomo and the enormous amounts of shopping, which I can never complain about. No such thing as too much shopping. When we first arrived I felt like it was kind of dreary outside but that didn't really have much of an affect on me. I really liked the city. It had some beautiful architecture. The hotel was so nice. I was so excited about the bathtub. It was honestly the biggest perk of staying there for me. That night we were pretty much left to our own devices to do whatever we wanted. The weather wasn't great but the shopping was amazing. I loved it. Once again can I say gelato? That night was great because the bath was everything I'd been longing for that day. The last day of the trip we went to see the Duomo which was lovely and then off to more shopping before the longest opera in history. I couldn't afford practically anything at that point because I'm not rich. One day though. One day. It was actually fun to just window shop. I could do that a lot and never get bored. The opera wasn't bad by any means. It was super long, yes, but not as bad as I had thought it would be. Kimberly and I had decent seats which was a pleasant change from last time. We also kept making faces at each other to keep each other from falling asleep which worked quite well. I will admit that although La Scala is the bigger opera house I wasn't as impressed by the architecture at all. It was simple which was nice but La Fenice was gorgeous so I expected that La Scala would be equally as gorgeous. That being said I preferred this opera to Don Giovanni in a lot of respects. It may have been long but I feel the story progress at a decent pace and the visual images were certainly interesting if not a little strange. In any case that was our last night on this lovely trip. I'm sad to see our time together come to a close but at the same time I've learned so much that I don't think it was wasted in the slightest. I've made friendships with people that are outside of my major and I stepped out of my timid zone for two whole weeks which was great. I loved every minute of this fantastic experience and I hope I get to do it again at some point. Going back to Italy is a must regardless. I still feel like I have so much to learn.

Milan

I was really upset leaving the villa.  I normally appreciate the country and less people because city people piss me off-- but Milan was really cool. Yes, the drivers were impatient and we couldn’t even figure out how to order something in the McDonalds, but I’ve never been to a big city so I appreciated the experience. I’ve also never been to a real club; nor have I ever been kicked out of a real club.  Guess I can say I killed two birds with one stone there.  I also had the best gelato I’ve ever tasted from anywhere in Italy in Milan AND it was the cheapest.  I’ve never had a mouth orgasm, but that was probably the closest thing I’ll ever get to one. 

I definitely liked Don Giovani better than the opera in Milan.  Maybe because I actually understood what was going on and had killer seats. During the first act of the opera in Milan, the longest act I may add, I got the wonderful opportunity to sit behind three people that didn’t speak English; consequently, they set the subtitles to Italian.  Better yet, I couldn’t see didly squat of anything.  The shadows looked pretty cool though I guess.  Later, thank the Lord, Patrick let me come crash in his box.  The performance was a lot better when I could see stuff, though I still didn’t really follow what was going on.  The costumes and over all production were epic though, and I really enjoyed watching the orchestra. 

My favorite part about Milan was the shopping.  Even though I could only afford one thousandth of the things that I saw, it was still cool to walk around the shopping capital of the world.  Plus I loved the opportunity to wear clothes that I would look ridiculous wearing in Utah. 

Of all the places in Italy we visited, I feel that I would like to live in Milan for a period of time the most.  I loved the vibe and how much there was to do.  Plus, if my church looked like the duomo, I’d probably be going to church a lot more.  I was also incredibly impressed of how easier the public transportation was to use there than in Salt Lake.  I understand why a lot of Europeans don’t bother buying cars now.  

Milan

Well, It sure is nice to feel like were back in a modern city. It has been a while, actually the entire trip, since I have seen anything like this metropolitan gem of high fashion, status and culture. A trendy mix of old and new style architecture outlined the city that holds multiple Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Ferrari, Ducati stores in which you can easily blow your entire bank account in less than 5 minutes. I must add that it was fun to go window shopping through a mall that was 11 stories tall and filled with Designer stores! They even had a floor of designer kitchen items and cookwear, ahhh loved it! I am definitely coming back to here and Murano when I need to design a kitchen. This city is dressed to the 9’s, and multiple hot cars and bikes can be spotted on any given evening Wednesday thru Sunday as the city loves its young night life. This was awesome, as we lived right outside one of the greatest clubbing strips in the entire city, although Patrick and I opted out of the Saturday night scene due to the incredibly expensive cover charge of 20 euros or $26. Sorry, but I wasn’t about to pay that when we could have an equally fun night by picking up a drink and walking the strip gazing at women and cars.

And then there was the Opera. Housed at Teatro Alla Scalla, the most prestigious opera house in the entire world. The Westminster students had the pleasure of witnessing the fourth and final act of the Ring Cycle, Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), opera which is the life masterpiece of Wagner. It was a 6 hour long show, with two intermissions and three very long acts. I had trouble following the story line, and thus is the reason I am not including it here, but I can appreciate the masterpiece that was performed in front of me. The orchestra was grand and the singers had powerful ways of wooing the audience. It was a great show! It was a wonderful way to conclude this life changing experience. I am so happy that I was able to spend it with this group of people! I am sad to leave Italy but am happy to be on the way home. I could not have asked for much more on this experience, it was all grand. I wish I knew the language a little better, and had understood some of the background behind the art and operas I had seen, but other than that this trip was wonderful. Plus, it just gives me more reasons to go back!

Florence!

Ah, Firenze. This city was incredible. We spent lots of time here, making three back to back day trips from the Chianti region in Tuscany. I remember at first being taken back by how beautiful the city is. The first thing we did in this city was visiting the Pitti Palace which has an incredible garden that offers a spectacular panoramic view of the city and the surrounding mountain range. This was my favorite place. I sat in these gardens alone for at least an hour just taking in the view. I wrote the following in my journal about the sight:

“The city burst at the seams with endless winding streets colored with hues of orange, yellow, and pale off white. Flower beds and awnings add nice little accents to the rustic slated tile roof tops that cover the renaissance style homes. The city is nestled right up against the foot of a terrific mellow mountain range that grows from the ground and offers a spectacular spectrum of green from the dark wooded areas all the way to light green open faces. Houses of yellow, white, and red are dropped without pattern into these magnificent hills and seem to rest so peacefully.”

This city is the birthplace of the renaissance. The creative hotspot of the day. Florence has a legendary artistic heritage. Cimabue and Giotto, the fathers of Italian painting, lived in Florence as well as Arnolfo and Andrea Pisano, renewers of architecture and sculpture; Brunelleschi, Donatello and Masaccio, forefathers of the Renaissance, Ghiberti and the Della Robbias, Filippo Lippi and Angelico; Botticelli, Paolo Uccello and the universal genius of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Due to the historical significance of this city, famous paintings and sculptures are housed here including the statue of David by Michelangelo, and Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Primaverra. This is also the home of the famous Duomo, which was the first architectural masterpiece of the renaissance period because at the time none of the architects were able to conceive a way to build a dome of that size. This city also had a beautiful waterway that ran through it and over the waterway was a nice bridge that was full of street vendors, performers, and little shops.

I also had my first taste of fine Italian food in this city. This city was a great place for food, much more realistic prices and higher quality foods then Venice. For lunch, I had a small sandwich from a local shop that was incredibly fresh and local. It consisted of a local Tuscan ham, local goat’s cheese and fresh vegetables. It was SO good! But the highlight is what I had for dinner. I started with a Pecorino, ruccola e Pinoli which was just a basic rocket salad that had Tuscan pecorino cheese and pine nuts. It was nothing to write home about. But once the Primi Piatti came out it was game time. I ordered a Pappardelle Sul Cinghiale. This was a pappardelle with wild boar sauce. The “star” of the dish was the house made pasta that was incredibly thick, buttery, wide and had the ability to cover your entire tongue. The pasta was paired with a sauce that was full of meaty boar flavors. It reminded me of the texture of meatballs but more tender to the mite. It had a mellow aroma and savory meat notes. It was an incredible dish that reminded me of exactly what Italy should taste like – fresh, filling, etc. I was a little disappointed because my dish was not the champion of the table. Kelli’s Al Forno took home the gold with a wide thick noodle that coats your tongue with a delicious cream full of buttery notes and slight spices and then meat mixed in the dish. The dish was baked in the oven with a coating of cheese on top. Total ecstasy in the mouth.     

 

 

 

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