Two Weeks in Italia!

It is hard to believe that it has already been about two weeks since I arrived in Italy! The first week I was traveling alone. I initially imagined I would feel lonely, but I really did not feel that way. I woke up every day, ate the breakfast provided by the hostel, and went on some adventures at my own pace. Breakfast consisted of bread, nutella, a dry bread/cracker type food, fruit jams, cookie-like biscuits, shortbread, fresh fruit, orange juice, coffee, and tea. Surprisingly the cracker-like bread was tasty with jam. I also enjoyed the fresh strawberries and nutella. One can never go wrong with nutella! I stayed at a hostel about twenty minutes from the Duomo area. My first day out, after sleeping a very long time, I explored Centrale mistakingly thinking it was the downtown area. The largest attraction in Centrale is the train station, which looks similar to Grand Central Station. After asking around, I headed towards the Duomo on the metro (very easy to navigate!). The Duomo, known as the Cathedral by locals, has been the center of Milan for a very long time due to its oftentimes religious influence. Around the Duomo there is a ton of shopping within the Galleria Vittorio II Emmanuelle and within the surrounding area, museums, Palazzo Reale (where the government officials once lived), Teatro da Scala, and much more! Of course I saw the Cathedral, opting for walking up to the terrace, going inside the Duomo, archeological site, and the museum that hosted items not put in the Duomo. I am not Catholic, but the church is beautiful! I returned to the Duomo area every day to check out the mall, Novecento museum, Il mondo da Davinci, Biccioni museum, Studio Azzurro, and in the process found some local places to eat! My favorite place by far was the Studio Azzurro, located in the Palazzo Reale. It was a pretty cool interactive museum. Turns out many museums have discounts for people under 25 or for students! It was very interesting to see how many devices Da Vinci created or improved. As our tour guide (once the UNK group arrived the week after), Da Vinci should be seen as an innovator who had an open mind used to improve and expand people's viewpoints, so children can imagine themselves as capable as Da Vinci. The most frustrating part of the first week was having limited wifi when at the hostel, besides that it was quite an adventure!

Last week, was the first official week of the UNK program. Everyone has become close, and we had our first week at IULM! Our Italian professors were great, and they taught us the basics of Italian. It is a bummer we only had one week of Italian! Ilaria, our "tutor", will hopefully continue to teach us Italian! I have become hooked on the delicious maroccinos (chocolate, coffee, and milk) and cappuccinos. Navilglio is a popping area located about twenty minutes (walking) from our hotel. Friday, there was an Italian "prom" hosted by an organization that helps European exchange students who go through the Erasmus program. Saturday, a wonderful guide showed us-sixteen or so students and Ilaria-around, to a castle in Cadorna, Duomo, Teatro da Scala (beautiful!), and a few other sites. Overall, it has been a busy week but tons of fun! My Italian is slowly improving, and I look forward to the next few weeks! 

Baci,

Cleo