After climbing the Duomo in Florence, I figured that climbing the Milan Cathedral would be a piece of cake. Hot and sweaty, kind of peeved that we couldn’t use the elevator, but always eager to experience new things, I made my way up the stairs–and wow, was it amazing! With its unique gothic architecture, the Milan Cathedral was immediately distinguishable and one of the coolest looking buildings I have ever seen! And the view, as it turns out, wasn’t that much different–simply breath-taking, definitley worth the climb up.

Instead of climbing up, taking a few pictures, and walking back down, my friends and I decided to stay up there for a while, just to enjoy the atmosphere. We were just enjoyng each other’s company, laughing about memories of the trip, all while sitting atop one of the most beautiful structures in the world. Makes it all seem quite surreal, doesn’t it?

At one point, I thought to myself, wow this is an experience that is completely unique to me–none of my friends back home would never get to do what I am doing, not exactly. The trip itself is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity–I mean, sure, my friends and I could go to Italy for two weeks one day, and we can do all of the things we’ve done on this trip, but it wouldn’t be the same. The fact that we are studying Dante in Italy is a chance I would have never gotten if it wasn’t for this trip, so for that, I am eternally grateful!