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. ​