Italia Part One: Milano

In theory, solo travel sounds great to me. In practice, my only time truly travelling alone, I missed the bus to the airport, ended up in a cow field in absolute middle-of-nowhere Galicia just 36 hours before my flight back to the US left from the opposite side of the country. I was therefore a little nervous about trying the solo travel thing in a country where I don't even speak the language ("little nervous" meaning by the time I reached the airport, I was completely convinced that I had forgot my camera, boarding pass and all my ticket information). The paranoia was unnecessary though. The trip went perfectly and one of the best trips I've ever taken. Here's part one of my trip: my first morning in Italy spent exploring Milano while waiting for my train to the "main attraction" of the trip, Firenze.

Two feet, a new city, and an entire morning to explore it with no itinerary. Despite waking up to a cold (surprise! what a great time to get sick!) and running on far too little sleep, it was impossible to not be excited to get up and see Milan. At first glance, though, Milan is dull and gray, a monotony of heavy stone buildings, especially on a cloudy February day where the sky matches the dreary buildings. The center of Milan made me feel insufficient, surrounded by high-fashion and glamorous Italians. But a little wandering and the city started to grow on me. Away from the center, the city begins to feel older, more Italian, more livable. Suddenly the streets were alive with well-dressed men in business suits ducking into offices in dramatic stone buildings with charming patios. I wandered into a park behind a castle, and instead of tourists found a woman pushing her baby carriage with one hand and holding a book with the other, slowing occasionally to a complete stand still when ever she got too absorbed in her book. Afternoon arrived and the neighborhood cafes began to fill with friends meeting for lunch. I almost got run over by a pack of 12-year-old boys on scooters. This is what I love most about traveling- when a city offers you a glimpse of what it's actually like to live there.  Nothing special, just an everyday, overcast, February Friday morning in Milan.

Starting the day in full-on tourist mode, drinking a cappuccino from the rooftop terrace of the
Rinascente department store and admiring the Duomo cathedral next door

Piazza del Duomo

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, one of the world's oldest malls

Castello Sforzesco

One of Milan's many hidden patios

This is what I imagine UNH would look like if it was in Italy