Settling In

Friday night Julia and I met up to explore and grab some dinner. Below is a picture of Julia surrounded by Italian men at the cafeteria. With the exception of the 6 tables surrounding us the rest of the cafeteria was completely empty. We thought it was really funny that they chose to sit by us and try to get our attention the whole time we were eating. 

After that we walked around and ended up by the Duomo this was my first time seeing it and it literally took my breath away. I know it's cliche but there is really no explaining how amazing it truly is. I can't wait to go back and go inside of it.

4-wheeler complete with license plate.

On Saturday one of the students groups offered a walking tour to help get student acquainted with Milano. I love to see how diverse the city is. The more and more I explore the more I am thankful to myself for picking as this my location for my study abroad. 

The first place on the walking tour was a church near school called Saint Ambrosio. Although I walk past this church to get to school I never had the chance to go inside and check out all that it had to offer! These churches are so intricate and each one so uniquely different. Although I don't understand many of the Catholic symbols it's been a really eye opening experience to enjoy the beauty of these old churches. While in the tour I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked because there were so many people around so keep a look out for another post after I go back myself and am able to capture more of these beautiful buildings. 

Crypts

These are called the Martyrs, they are real skeletons!

 The next place we visited on the tour was the Santa Maria delle Grazie, which holds the Last Supper and many of Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings and sketches (mentioned in a previous post). I hadn't ventured as far before to go inside of the church again very beautiful and intricate but very different from Saint Ambrosio church. It has a huge dome that is hand painted which you can see from the outside. Although the pictures are beautiful it is nothing like seeing them in person.  

 We then headed to Castello Sforzesco, a real life Castle! After reading the Game of Thrones books I am so intrigued by castles and medieval things. Oh, and what girl who sees a castle doesn't want to be a princess? I'm hoping that at some point in my travels here I will be able to make it to see some other castles either in Switzerland or Ireland. 

Behind the Castle is a popular park that will probably look
more enticing once it gets warmer. 

 From the castle we made our way to the Duomo, by this time I was starving and freezing. Julia and I decided to branch off from the group and grab dinner. We wandered around for a bit until we found a restaurant near my apartment that we were able to use our meal tickets for. It's always great to be able to explore with Julia and share similar interests as far as enjoying the sites here in Milan. School starts today and i'm hoping that I will be able to get into a better sleeping schedule I have been going to bed really late and waking up around noon everyday. I want to start planning my trips and getting out and exploring the city and get more acquainted with Italian culture. Hopefully the weather starts looking up soon so that I am more inclined to spend time outside. I am also getting excited for the Carnival trip to Venice next weekend!

Just a cute little bonus I found on the streets, A Mr. Bean car, enjoy. 

Ciao, for now!