The eventual (unfortunate) end of my adventures in Italy were centered in Milan; two days staying in the fashion capital of the world was certainly not enough to soak everything in but we attempted to.  The first day we arrived in Milan from Bologna by way of a surprisingly short train ride; even the train station in Milan was beautiful, the large arched ceilings really set the bar high for the rest of the city.  After dropping off our things at the hotel we ventured out to get lunch, this time in a fairly small restaurant, still serving great food that was typical for Italy and completely atypical to what I am having at home now.  Following lunch we regrouped in the hotel lobby to take Milan’s Metro to the Duomo— which was alike but also completely different that Florence’s Duomo.  Both were breathtaking but Florence’s Duomo was angular leading up to the grand dome while in Milan your eyes are drawn up and up to the spires guarding the rooftop.  Walking through the spires was definitely my favorite part of being in Milan itself, I loved being able to get a look at the city from the top especially because there were many less steps involved than climbing to the top of Florence’s Duomo!

Day two in Milan was spent venturing through the different lakeside towns of Lake Como.  While we did not see George Clooney, there were still more than enough beautiful sights to take in.  It was so refreshing to walk through and up the winding streets of Varenna, Bellagio and Como itself, the lake constantly lapping in the distance.  It all felt like a dream, the sun shining on the water, the view of the Alps in the distance, just overall having one last good day with some new friends.  Unfortunately though as we attempted to leave Como we boarded the wrong train and made a brief detour into Switzerland.  While I was admittedly very stressed during the moment, once we made it back to Como and re-purchased tickets to Milan I felt myself begin to breathe again.  We had to wait about an hour for our train, then take it back to Milan, which was another hour, then navigate the Metro to the stop by the hotel;  I will never forget walking up those final Metro steps to see the rest of our friends calmly finishing up their gelato and just feeling myself being to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of our past few hours.  Overall Milan was great and I recommend going but I know that myself, Angelina, Marissa, Calie, and Chase all highly suggest taking a stop in Switzerland (although don’t follow our example to get there).​

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