Milano

Before going to Milan I really knew nothing about this massive Italian city besides its world famous shopping reputation and the fact that this kind of shopping was unlike the kind I normally do...it involved much more Prada and Gucci than H&M!  Because of this, I wasn't nearly as excited to go to Milan as I was to travel to other places.  However, in the end, it turned out to be a fantastic trip - we spent exactly the right amount of time there and we were able to see just about everything I was interested in seeing!

Looking back, there were two big surprises for me about Milan.  One was the opera house - it was absolutely amazing!  I will readily admit that I have no interest in the opera whatsoever, but my friend Emily is OBSESSED with them!  Music and opera are two things she's been involved with since she was a kid so when we decided to go to Milan (home of the largest opera house in Italy) I was informed that she would be going in that building - with or without anyone else!  I decided to give it a chance and take a tour of Teatro alla Scala with her and Abby instead of going to the Milan soccer stadium with TJ and Joey.  I know I would have loved to see the stadium, but getting to experience such a beautiful, culturally rich place was mind blowing and I'm so glad I got to see it!  (It was also absolutely hilarious watching Emily walk around inside the building...I literally thought she was going to pass out from excitement!)

The second thing that surprised me about Milan was the size of the Duomo.  That place is HUGE!!  Maybe it was just how the square and plaza outside the cathedral was set up, but it was one of the most impressive buildings I've seen and it was definitely one of the highlights of this trip!  Unfortunately, we weren't able to go up to the top of it (which is apparently the best view of the city) because of construction, but walking around inside was more than amazing.  I thought the most interesting part about being inside (aside from the beautiful architecture) was watching other people and seeing their reactions to various parts of it.  The complete awe and reverence people clearly had for it was extremely interesting to observe and really made the entire experience much more memorable.

Other than those two big stops, we mainly wandered through the streets taking in the big name designer stores, Castello Sforzesco, and just the atmosphere of the very dynamic city.  Walking around there was completely different from so many of the other places I've traveled in Italy that it really made a memorable trip out of city that I might not have found that interesting before.  Overall, it was a great short break before going into a week of tests and I'm so glad we braved the cold and snow to see it!!

The beautiful Duomo di Milano

She was just a little bit excited about the opera... :)