The last stop on the incredible tour of Italy was Milano, a city I only remember learning about during my Italian class in highschool where we had to remember a handful of major cities in the country. I had zero expectations, except for the idea that I would be seeing a lot of supermodels who dressed better than I did. (That part was true). I had no idea that there was a Duomo in Milan (now I find it strange when I arrive in a city where there ISN’T a duomo to climb to the top of) but I was eager to see it because the duomo in Florence still remains to be my favorite piece of architecture, although Milan’s comes very, very close. As I expected, the duomo took my breath away. It looked so out of place and unmoving in an eerie sort of way. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it in the hopes that I could capture its essence. I didn’t, of course, but at least I tried. Climbing to the top was far less challenging than Florence’s duomo (although I wouldn’t know firsthand) but surely just as worth it. I remember standing at the top staring out across the city. I’m not sure how long we all stood up there. Again, I felt out of touch with time wandering around such a historic monument. I wish I could articulate the feeling. The last day of the trip, we were given the option to travel to Lake Como. After seeing some of the images, I knew I had no choice but to go, and I’m so, so glad that I did. It was the perfect way to end the trip even though the morning was pretty stressful. We only had about ten-ish minutes to buy our tickets and find seats on the train, but, thank goodness for Dr. Permenter, we all made it in time. My favorite part of the day was spent in Bellagio, which is about an hour’s boat ride from Lake Como. It was the quaintest little town filled with small shops and restaurants. Although slightly touristy, Bellagio still felt authentic. My friends and I all wandered around for awhile before stopping to sit as close to the water as we could get. It was a beautiful day. I remember closing my eyes and just listening to the sound of the water hitting the rocks and the seagulls from above me. We even saw a mother duck swimming along with her babies, which was probably the cutest thing I had seen. We all ate at a really nice restaurant where I had the best ravioli I have ever had (RIP) and then we got gelato as well, which I’m sure Dr. O’Connor would be proud of. After that we regretfully got on the boat to Lake Como, which was still very nice but nothing compared to the beauty of Bellagio, at least in my opinion. I wish I could relive that day over...

I didn’t think I could love another city in Italy as much as I loved Florence, but I definitely loved Milan. It was so different from the other cities we visited, perhaps because a majority of the city is more contemporary and new as compared to the buildings that have been around since ancient and Renaissance times. The cathedral was so different from the others we had seen. Its architecture definitely stood out: instead of columns and domes, it utilized several spires. The stained glass windows on the inside are what stood out to me though. /they were so beautiful, colorful, and different from anything we had seen at the other churches. Milan also had the most attractive people of all the cities we visited, of course it is the fashion capital of the world and it’s flooded with supermodels. I actually saw a male model and a photographer taking pictures in the street on our last day there before Miranda broke her shoe and we had to go back to the hotel. We ventured out later (after Miranda had changed shoes) to find a tattoo parlor so I could get a tattoo. Eventually we found on that was still open. None of us could speak Italian enough to communicate what I wanted and only one of the artists spoke English. Fortunately, we were able to figure everything out and within a half an hour, I had a tattoo on my foot that reads, “La dolce vita.” Getting a tattoo in Milan was kind of a fun experience because it happened pretty spontaneously and now I have a lasting reminder of this trip. ​

Unfortunately, when we were in Bologna I caught the SRU Plague that everyone seemed to be getting and that put quite the damper on the rest of my trip. I able to really explore Bologna or Milan but I did get to see the cool things that we did as a class together. The Milan Duomo was my favorite cathedral that we’ve gone to all trip and I was surprised that it seemed kind of downplayed compared to the other churches that we visited. I loved the spire walk, which was when we got to climb on top of the Duomo and explore sections of the marbled roof. I was super glad that I took my polaroid and was able to snap a few pics. The inside of the church was huge and incredibly beautiful even though it wasn’t all frescoed like the churches we’d seen in Florence and Rome. The pillars the lined the church were magnificent and smooth and all of the windows were filled with beautiful stained glass. The Milan Duomo really reminded me of the church that my parents made me go to when I was little.  On either sides of the aisle were candles lined up that people could light for offerings. I really liked that there were so many candles because in each church that we’ve visited I’ve lit two candles wherever there are candles to be lit. When I was little and went to church with my family my grandmothers would give me a few dollars to go light candles for other people in my family that had passed away. I’m not a religious person, but since my grandmothers have passed away I knew how much it would mean to them to have candles lit in their memory, especially candles all over Italy. ​