Milano: The NYC of Italy

I'm writing this while suffering from allergies, sickness and the worst jet lag I have ever experienced, but I can't complain. No matter how tired, sore, or stuffed up I am now, the past two weeks were entirely worth it. I could not have asked for a better overall experience abroad in Italy, and I am so happy that I got to share it with the people that I did.

Before lugging my bags downstairs and embarking on the 5-hour bus ride into Milan, I was very sad to leave our heavenly villa in Tuscany. Everything was just so perfect there, and I didn't want to leave it behind. Still, accompanied by the falling rain and green fields, I silently said a loving goodbye to Tuscany as it drew further and further into the distance.

 

 However, as I got my first taste of Milan on the first day that we stayed there, I realized that there was a lot to love about the city. The one thing that I found most interesting about Milan was how much it reminded me of New York City, but also how it differed from that city. It had a very similar underground train system, the same tall urban buildings, and the same busy shopping centers, and yet it was much less crowded than NYC and had a lot more architectural variety to it.

I truly loved the shopping scene in Milan, but there was a major flaw in all of the stores that I visited on the first day there: none of the clothes came in any size larger than a "Large", so none of the clothes there really fit me. This fact that I came to learn rather quickly seriously disappointed and saddened me, because I had really hoped to find at least some clothes in Milan. I had hoped that at least one of the clothing stores there would have realized that not every woman fits into such average sizes, but I guess I was wrong. I did, however, find some really cute flats and a colorful scarf that I love.

On the second day I wanted to sleep in, so I did not join other people at the duomo in the morning, but waited until it was time to go to the opera house. La Scala was as beautiful as I had imagined it to be, and the fourth part of Wagner's Ring Cycle, despite being long enough to make me fall asleep for several parts of it, was very interesting. I especially loved the costumes worn by the women in the production.

Before I was ready to leave Italy, it was time for an early morning journey to the Milan airport to begin our journey back home. As excited as I was to go home and see everyone who I missed, I was very sad to leave this wonderful country, and I only hope that I can come back there someday sooner rather than later.