Exploring Milano

This week we have mainly been doing orientations to get ready for school which starts next week. I have been lucky that I adjusted to the time quickly so that I can enjoy my first week in Milano before school starts. 

Last night I went out with my roommates and a couple of the guys from the apartment downstairs for one of their birthdays. We went to an international discotecha, it is amazing how these Italians can party every night of the week. 

Creepy Italian Waiter

Luca's 21st birthday!

Roomies!

Today I spent the day at a quick orientation at school and then met up with Julia to just wander around the city together. Today was the first day the sun peeked through the fog/clouds and it was fairly warm. I can't wait for true spring weather! 

Milano is such a diverse beautiful city! The pictures I took don't even partially capture what I have seen here! Cattolica has a beautiful campus, I feel very lucky to be able to study here. 

Courtyard at school

Main entrance of school

Monastery containing the Last Supper painting as well as some of his
drawings. 

Outside view of the Santa Maria della Grazie
(home of the Last Supper)

Courtyard of Monastery

I have been able to do a little shopping
no major purchases yet!

It was also a great day to get a few house keeping things done. I was able to get my metro card which was only 27 Euro for the month and next month will be 17 Euro so I will be able to ride the metro unlimited for much less than I thought. All of my roommates and I are planning on going to the Carnival Festival (Mardigras) in Venice in a couple of weekends. Other than that I haven't cemented any trips and i'm still trying to decide when and where I should start planning my weekend trips. Those with suggestions let me know!

Buon Giorno from Italia!

 I AM FINALLY HERE! 

I finally was able to get on a flight and travel with Julia. The flight was pleasant and we were given dinner and breakfast (which I was not expecting from my experience with Frontier airlines to Costa Rica). 

We flew into London and we were both so excited to see Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, even if it was only from the airplane. Heathrow airport I left my passport on a counter and was half way up the escalators (one way only) and you were not allowed to switch floors after going back up. I had to watch the escalator while the lady helping watched the other escalator to make sure we didn't miss my passport, placed by one of the workers below. After that ordeal, we had to pass through security again I forgot that I had perfume in my carry on bag and had to wait until they could take every piece of clothing out of my bag and pat it down to make sure I didn't bring a bomb. We then had to wait in the main portion of the airport and wait for them to post our gate on the screen to be able to really relax with assurance that we wouldn't miss our plane. London's charm wore off quickly from the airport. I'm sure I will return on a more fun occasion next time. My british airways flight was nice and I was able to catch up on reading my Rick Steves Italy tour book (should have read before I came).  And then... I WAS FINALLY IN ITALY! 

Airplane Dinner!

Flight into London

 I easily made my connections with the Eilders family, who kindly picked me up from the airport and took me to their home in Como just 30 minutes north of Milan. That night we went out for dinner at a true Italian restaurant and I got my first pizza, I ordered the Pugliese (still not sure how to pronounce it) it was supposed to consist of anchovies, oregano, cheese and onions. I got a pizza that had onions, cheese, and oregano. Not sure what happened to the anchovies but that's okay. We went back to the Eilders apartment and figured out the best way for me to get to Milan for my apartment check in. I CANNOT thank the Eilders family enough for their hospitality! It truly made my first day in Italy and making my connections today much easier. 

The tiny elevator at the Eilders Apartment

Today I got up around 10:30 took it easy, and then took a walk around Como in the light. We hurried back to the apartment grabbed all of my luggage and raced to the train station. By the time I purchased a ticket we thought I had missed the train that goes to the main station. When I got on the platform it was still there so I said a very quick goodbye to Amanda and hopped on the train! My connection was very easy and I was only 5 minutes late to the apartment meeting. A signed a few papers and then a bus took us to our apartment. Surprisingly,  it is more spacious than I thought and I got very lucky with the room that i'm in. 

Piazza Volta directly in front of the Eilders
apartment.

Lake Como!

Duomo in Como

Since then i've been able to put all of my things away and hang with my new roomies. So far we have ordered take out from pizza pizza 4 and ventured as far as the other Cattolica students apartment (same building, one floor down). It's been a very calm relaxing night. My roommates (5) are awesome and i'm so happy that i've been placed with 2 girls who are experts from last semester. 

Take out with the Room mates

Take out kebab for dinner.

Italy seems like a dream! It still hasn't set in that I will be living here for the next 4 months. Most of the sales are happening in Milan right now so I can't wait to get to shoe shopping!! My next post I will give a good idea of what my apartment is like and more of my adventures in Milan. 

Ciao, Ciao!

Ciao! Ciao!

For those of you without Italian experience this Italian phrase means bye bye! 

Looking back on the last delayed flight it really was a blessing that I was able to spend more time at home. I was able to pack the things I forgot, catch a movie with John, and just bum around the house. John and I saw the movie Flight, with Denzel Washington. NOT a good idea, the basic story line is about a pilot (who's an alcoholic) who has to crash land a plane. I'm not a paranoid flyer usually but this just makes me wonder what if... 

On a lighter note here are some pictures of the final goodbyes. 

I was a little sad that I wouldn't be able to spend the weekend in Como but i'm hoping that I will be able to spend some time there when spring rolls around. Now I am READY to get to Italy! 

However, the weather is still against me. 

Delayed... Again. 
Due to the foggy weather this morning my flight was delayed from 11:35 to 2 (still waiting to see if I actually get out of here at 2). After standing in lines for numerous hours I'm hoping that I have karma on my side for patiently waiting int the airport not once but twice! Hopefully I will be able to say Bye bye to this weather and finally start blogging from Milan. 

Stay tuned. I'm crossing my fingers hoping that I won't have to spend a dreaded night in the airport! 

Delayed

Preparations

My big, Melissa (mentor for those not familiar with sorority terms), came over and helped me pack taking up most of my day. I don't think I could have gotten it together myself and so grateful that she was willing to take a day and spend it with me tackling the packing project. Surprisingly I had plenty of room for what I thought I would need as well as some extra room.  I've been told even if you aren't a shopper (which I am) you WILL shop in Milan and i'm trying to leave room in my suitcase to plan accordingly.

That evening John and I headed downtown to do some last minute shopping. He found a great pair of rugby cleats for a killer deal! I am sad i'll be missing most of the rugby season, it has become on of my favorite sports to watch (even more than football!). I totally suggest to anyone that hasn't seen a match to watch one at least once! We went to Crown Burger, a local restaurant chain that has some greek food, american fast food, and of course the Crown Burger (cheeseburger with hot pastrami)  for dinner. I have been using the excuse of "they won't have this in Italy" to eat obscene  amounts of greasy/unhealthy american food as well as my favorite, Cafe Rio.

Weather Strikes

I got up early this morning and prepared to say my final goodbyes. Although I know four months will fly by it was still hard to say goodbye to home. I held up pretty well until it was time to say goodbye to my dog, Abbey. She's getting older by the day (she's 13) and i'm a little paranoid about her biting the dust while i'm gone. My mom assures me she won't because she exerts the least amount of energy possible, unless it's to beg around mealtimes. John stopped by on his way to school and helped me get together my last minute things and then my mom drove me to the airport. We drove 20 mph the whole way because of the rain/ice storm. The entire time I was stressing out about not having enough time to get through the airport in time for my flight.

January weather at its finest

Ironically, I got through security in about 20 minutes and settled into a seat near at the gate I was supposed to depart from with plenty of time to spare. Then the announcements began, and never ceased to end. The flight departing previous to mine in the same gate gets delayed, then they shut down all of the runways. I waited in the airport for 4 hours until they announced my flight is cancelled. I was somewhat able to keep myself entertained by a few dramatic Sundance goers as well as 3 little boys who had Heely shoes (shoes with wheels on the heels) who were skating around trying to knock each other over in the middle of all of the chaos. I stood in the American Airlines line for about another hour until I could re-book my flight.

Here's a local news cast about the storm as well as the airport delays that I personally got to experience. My luggage is now famous as well (it made the scene with the luggage carousel).
Freezing rain ices Salt Lake runways

After everything was sorted out John picked me up and we made a quick stop at In-N-Out burger on the way home (another unhealthy but necessary splurge). And yes, it is necessary to wear the hats.

 I am now due to depart Salt Lake Saturday and arrive in Italy Sunday. Conveniently this will be the same flight as my sorority sister, Julia Hicks, who is also going to be studying at Cattolica with me! I am still not 100% sure on my plans whether I will be staying in Como or getting a Hostel in Milan close to where my apartment check in is on Monday.

Although a cancelled flight wasn't ideal there were some perks to being able to leave later. Firstly, I got to spend more time with my family and precious Abbey. Secondly, I forgot my cell phone charger, I hadn't realized that my watch battery had died, and I had left all of my Jewelry I had set aside to bring. I now have 2 days to be lazy and spend time with those i'll miss most. Not the worst thing that could happen!

The Final Countdown

Tomorrow is the day. The time has been flying by and all of the things that I thought I would have time to accomplish have somehow slipped by. So here I am the day before trying to figure out how to pack. Here I am procrastinating even further. 

The Last Weekend

It was a long weekend as i'm sure most know. An excellent opportunity to get out of the smog and spend a weekend at the cabin. 

Plenty of relaxing, games, and eating was accomplished. Looking through scrapbooks of my grandparents world travels got me excited to start my own. I have to think that they are partially responsible for my need to see the world. Such great examples of people who had a zest for life!

Along with relaxing I had some time to do off-road excursions and ride the beloved Casper. I am so lucky that I am able to spend weekends like this!

 I will miss my little bro

John and I on Tabby Mountain

I will also miss this little clown!

Nothing better than some quality time with the fam, John, and Abbey (the family dog). It was bitter sweet to leave when the weekend was over. 

Tomorrow I have roughly a 20 hour flight, which includes a red eye, and will arrive in Milan around 11 am Friday morning. I will then make my way by train to Como. I will be staying with my mom's, friend's niece and her family, the Eilders. I am so grateful for them for being willing to put me up for a couple of days until I can check into my apartment on Monday. They are saving me a huge chunk of money that I would otherwise have to spend staying in a hostel. Hopefully this money that i'm saving can go to a weekend trip travelling somewhere! 

From what i've learned about Como, mainly by watching Ric Steves, its a beautiful city placed around Lake Como which is a tourist destination as well as local destination near the border of Switzerland. I am so blessed to be able to have my first weekend to start sight seeing as well as getting accustomed to Italy. Big thanks to the Eilders family! 

Stay tuned for my next post from Italy! 

Arreviderci!