A Glorious Reunion

Sorry it has been so long, but it has been hard to find extra time here. But, here I am back at updating. Last weekend I went to Florence to meet up with my friend, Ted, from Bowdoin. (He is studying in Orvieto, which is a city about halways between Rome and Florence. I rode the faster train, which is more expensive, but it was worth it. (You can get there in about half of the time) Once I got there, I walked around for a while, exploring the city on my own. (Ted missed his first train and did not arrive until about an hour after I did) I walked around the historic district at first and into the commercial section as well. Florence is a very nice city. It is great to look at and there is always a lot going on. The reason why I didn't want to study there was because it is like a little America. There are so many American students studying there and almost everybody speaks English. You are not exactly getting the "Italian experience". It was an amazing place to visit though. So when Ted finally came to the city, we went to our hostel to check-in and see where we would be staying. It was no ordinary hostel. It was in an apartment building with random rooms that you could rent. (It was very cheap though) It was a very nice and safe place though so no worries. We then went out to get a kebab and walk around the town. Our hostel was in a great place in the city. It was near all of the historic district buildings and the more "commercial" area. It was already getting a little late so we didn' really do much that night except walk around and get acquainted with the area in which we were staying. On Saturday, we walked up (basically) a mountain to go visit a fort/the famous Boboli gardens. We walked all through the gardens, saw the museum that they had there and a roman gate. We then proceeded to head back to our hostel (after getting another kebab, of course) and decided to go check out the duomo in the city. The duomo in Florence is a lot bigger/nicer-looking than the one here in Milan. Ted and I walked up to the top (many, many stairs). The view from the top of the duomo was incredible. We were one of the last groups up there so we were lucky enough to have some of the light of the day still left. We could see the entire city and the landscape. It was awesome. For dinner, we went to this incredible restaurant called Il Latini (http://www.illatini.com/) It was high on the list of "things to do/see in Milan". It was one of the best meals I have ever had. It was a very unique place because they sat you/your group at a table with other random people. It would have been very interesting but the two chinese girls that sat next to us spoke NO english. Also, there were no menus at this restaurant. They have set courses that they are going to serve and you can pick between certain 1st plates and 2nd plates. The appetizers that they served were prosciutto, brushetta, and anchovies (not my favorite). They also had bread and very large bottles of chianti. For my first course I had a Pappardelle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappardelle) dish with wild boar. For my second course I had grilled rabbit. The portions at this place were incredible. They gave me the entire leg of the rabbit. I basically ate 1/4 of a rabbit. Ted had some ravioli for his 1st course and a steak for his second. This was the largest steak I had ever seen in real life. It was actually 2 inches thick (at least). We ate until we could eat no more and then they brought out some dessert wine and biscotti on the house. It was incredible. That night we went out to a club called Space. The next morning we both got on our trains and went back to our cities. It was a really fun weekend and I am glad that I got to see somebody from Bowdoin. News in Milan for right now? FASHION WEEK.

Luke

Past Posts

So, life here has just been rolling along. Unfortunately, I had to change my class schedule around a little bit. Two of my classes (communication and management of fashion and luxury companies) were not "liberal enough" for Bowdoin, so I switched out of the communication class into a sociology class and I just added another history class to my schedule. Now I am taking six classes, which is going to be rough. I don't really mind, though, because life here is too good. I have been working hard the last couple of days trying to send a lot of emails and looking for something to do this summer. We are still cooking some great meals in our apartment and saving a lot of money doing so. The other day we had some rabbit that was absolutely delicious. (PS, rabbit kidney tastes just like sausage. It's pretty good) Yesterday for my literature class we walked around the city, but through an area that is near my apartment and also where I have never walked through. This neighborhood was probably one of the richest I have ever seen. Every single person that walked by was either a lady wearing a really nice fur coat, or a man wearing a nice suit. They all just looked like they were loaded. That's where I want to live. (If I could ever afford it) ----------This post was written a long time ago, but I never finished it ------------- The week of midterms was definitely very hectic. I am taking six midterms, therefore I have 6 classes. Over the weekend, and during some of the week, there were two people visiting. That didn't help the studying, but we definitely had time for some fun. So, on Monday, I had my Italian final. Tuesday, I had my Fashion final and my Sociology final. Also, with Sociology, I had to give a presentation. (I hate presentations, but it went very well) On Wednesday, I had two more finals-Literature and History of Fascism. Finally, on Thursday, I finished off my "hell week" with another History final. It was a very long week, filled with only a few hours of sleep. I slept so well on Thursday night. It was glorious. Other than that, life has been the usual of going to class, drinking cappuccinos, eating panini, making meals (turkey and chicken burgers are classic) and spending time surveying the area of Milan. As I said earlier, I am heading to Rome tonight and I will report back at the beginning of next week.

Luke

First Week of Classes

This week was our first week of real classes. On Monday and Wednesday, I have Italian 350 at 10:30, Literature and the City at 1:30 and Never Give In! Fascism, Anti-Semitism and Resistance in Italy at 3:30. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Managing Fashion and Luxury Companies at 9:00 and Communication and Media in Milan at 11:00. Each of the classes are two hours long (minus Italian, it is only 1.5 hours). Two hour classes can be quite long, but luckily we have a 10 minute break in some and one of them ends 15 minutes early. The Italian class is pretty good, but not too exciting. The Literature class is a little slow so far, but it should be very interesting because throughout the course, we are going to go on walking tours of the city in order to explore the literature throughout the history of Italy. The communication class also seems like it will pick up in interest, as it is a little slow right now. We are going to have a couple of field trips throughout the course such as a trip to a set of a tv show and a trip to where they run the famous Corriere della Sera newspaper. The history class is about a very important time in the history of the world and I think learning the history from the Italian side should be very cool and add a whole new perspective. Last, but not least, would be the fashion class. So far, it has actually been very interesting and sounds like it should teach us a lot about the fashion/luxury industry and how those companies run they way they do. Also, we are going to visit the Swarovski factory which should be pretty cool. One of our professors (we have two) worked there for 18 years and knows a lot about the industry. As for this weekend, I believe that we are staying here in Milan again. We are planning some pretty big trips so it is a safe way to save money for those future adventures. Sorry for no pictures at the moment, but there just hasn't been a whole lot to photograph. It has been very cold lately. Somehow colder than at Bowdoin. I thought I was escaping that Bowdoin winter, but by some chance, Italy has had the coldest weather since maybe 50 years. I was elected by my class to be a part of the student council here so that is pretty cool. In our first meeting, we arrived to a whole spread of pizza and salad and drinks. It was fun. I think that we are going to have a very good group. Also, I had a skype interview for an RA job at Bowdoin. It was great to talk to somebody back at Bowdoin. I do miss it. (Although I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world) Other than that, life is perfect.

What's happening?

So, there hasn't been anything extremely exciting going on, but, things have still been incredibly fun. This weekend was very busy. Starting on Thursday, we went out every single night. The first three nights of the weekend we went to clubs. It was a very, very fun weekend. Three of my roommates friends were visiting in town so we spent some time with them too. Everybody definitely had fun this weekend, too. Other than that, I have just been going to my Italian class every morning from 9-11 (with a short cappuccino break in the middle of it). I chose my classes the other day, too. As of now I will be enrolled in Advanced Italian 350, Literature and the city, Never Give In! Facsicm, Anti-Semitism and Resistance in Italy (1922-1948), Communication and Media in Milan, and Managing Fashion and Luxury Companies (that one should be interesting). It looks like it should be a very good semester with some fun classes. What else is new? Not much. It is snowing for the first time (since we have been here) and it has been all day. I went running today in the snow and it was very cool, although running here is like smoking a whole pack of cigs. The air is so polluted out here. To cope with the loss of my dear wallet, I stopped by the PRADA store and picked up a VERY NICE new one. I am going to leave the cost out of this post for sure. We made dinner for some girls on Sunday night before going to a bar with some other of the people from the program. The meal was delicious (Like always. shout-out to Nick. Although I did help a lot like always) and it is never a bad thing to be in the company of some lovely ladies. As for me, I am still eating pizza, pasta and panini. (Trying to eat some fruits and veggies, Mom, don't worry) I also just purchased my ticket to London for my birthday/spring break. I am really excited. There are so many other trips that we are planning too so it should shape-up to be another amazing semester. (Already is) More to come later.

Luke

Verona

So this past weekend, some friends and I decided we would go to Verona for the weekend. If you don't know much about Verona, it is a city in northern Italy and also the setting for the play Romeo and Juliet and is the site of the "house of Juliet". We took a train on Friday and stayed two nights in a hotel just outside of the city. (A bus into the city only took about 10 minutes) There were six of us on that went on the trip to Verona. We took a train on Friday afternoon (the train takes about 2 hours) and then a bus to get to our hotel. We all stayed in one room and needless to say, it was a little crowded. (But a lot cheaper) Friday night we went to a restaurant (I ordered an amazing seafood spaghetti with a mountain of clams, mussels and shrimp) and then we took a long walk around the city at night even though it was probably 25 degrees. The city is filled with amazing architecture and it was really cool to see it all at night. The next day we woke up early enough to see as much as we could in the city. We walked around the entire day and saw basically everything there was to see. There were many churches and bridges. Everything was old and beautiful. The main attraction to see in Verona is "La casa di Giulietta" or the house of Juliet. This house is tucked away in a little section of the city and is a place that people all over the world come to see. The house is actually just a normal house that people have said is the house ofJuliet because it very much resembles the same layout as the house in the story. The walkway into the courtyard is covered by writing (people come and write their names and the names of their significant others on the walls). On one of the gates, also in the courtyard, people link locks with the names of themselves and their significant others to symbolize that they are going to be together forever. Their love is "locked forever". There is a staute in the courtyard of Juliet too and actually it is said that if you rub the right breast, you will have good luck. Kind of strange. Had to do it though. (Superstitious) The whole house is filled with items from the play Romeo and Juliet. The whole house is set to be just like the house from the play. There is even a balcony where people can take pictures. It was all a very romantic place. I loved it, being the romantic that I am. We also went to Julier's tomb, although it was a very big letdown. She wasn't even there! It was an empty tomb. (It might be because she wasn't a real person) Also, on Saturday we went to eat at a little restaurant and I had a delicious seafood risotto. (I love talking about food as you can tell) Saturday night we hung out in the hotel for a little bit and then we went to a club that was a little outside of the city. It was a really fun night. On Sunday we walked around a little more and went to see a castle, bridges and other architecture throughout the city. We ate lunch at the same place that we had dinner the first night and I had another great dish of gnocchi with meat sauce. Two of my friends and I left on the train and got home around 8 on Sunday night. The whole trip was a lot of fun.

Besides that, life around here has been going well. Class has been going well and yesterday we had a meeting about choosing our classes. (Classes start Feb 6) I pretty much already know what classes I am taking and I will let you all know what they are once they are locked in. Other that that, I have just been eating lots of pasta, pizza and panini (italian for sandwiches) and drinking cappuccini. It is the Italian way of life and I am embracing it like a champion. More info to come after I start picking classes.

Luke

Life in Italy

So I have made it here more than a week and everything is still just as awesome as when I first arrived. Better maybe. The rest of the weekend went by very fast but it was still a lot of fun. On Saturday we went to a local bar, near our apartment with a good group of people before coming back to our place to hang out for a bit. We actually ended up playing risk until morning. Kind of lame, but a lot of fun. Sunday night was really cool because we went to a bar with a bunch of people from our program in order to watch the big soccer game. (AC Milan and Inter Milan) Inter Milan ended up winning the game. Some people were happy, some people definitely were not. Monday was my first day of class at the IES center. Our class has only 5 people in it, but it looks like it is going to be good. It is a little fast-paced for my level at this moment, especially because I only had Spanish for a whole semester, but I like the challenge and I will be fine. Our class is two hours long with a ten-minute break. During our break, we go across the street to a little cafe and buy either a sandwich or a cappuccino. I tried my first Italian cappuccino the other day and with (a lot) of sugar, it wasn't too bad. Since then we have just been going to class, hanging out here, planning trips (already bought a ticket to Belgium for March and this weekend we are taking a train to Verona) and eating all kinds of good food. I have had so many sandwiches and pieces of pizza. Those places are everywhere. Yesterday I went on a long adventure through the freezing cold for about four hours. I walked down through a couple of outside markets, went downtown to do a little bit of shopping, got a kebab and then came back home. I saw a lot of the city and had a good time just walking around. Today we are going to plan more trips and maybe go to a bar to watch another game. Be back after Verona!

(I put up some pictures of the apartment. I love our place. It is pretty big and really nice. Three bedroom, kitchen, 2 bathroom and large common room in the middle)

Luke

Milan

Well here I am, sitting in my room in Milan, Italy. So far today, I woke up very early and, along with my roommates, I went to eat breakfast in these girls' apartment in our program. I then went on a run (it is hard to breathe here. Polluted like crazy) and then had to deal with a lot of wallet-loss problems. My roommate John and I didn't have class today because our class (Italian 305) doesn't start until Monday. Everything so far (and I will elaborate, of course) has been amazing, minus one thing-my wallet is now gone along with everything inside. (Still have my passport thank goodness) but all of my cards and IDs are gone. I have been going back and forth with my parents trying to call banks and send new cards ASAP. It's no fun. Not at all. BUT, now it is time to make you all a little jealous/tell a happier tale. The fun part-

So we arrived into Milan on Monday morning, tired yet excited. Interesting story, I never had to go through customs. I walked through a gate in Madrid (first stop) where they stamped my passport, but my bags never had to go through any special customs. I should have brought more dangerous things I guess. Italy doesn't seem to mind. So we arrived at the airport and were met by many young Italian people that were working/volunteered to help us get where we needed to go. AKA our apartments/homes. We took a train from the Malpensa airport to a train station close to the center of the city. Once we arrived at the train station we (one of my roommates, Chris, that was on the same flight as me/we hung out on the train ride over) got into a taxi and drove to our apartment building. We met a couple of our other roommates (Tim, Nick and Lorenzo. Lorenzo is our C.A., which is like a live-in R.A. and he is a student here in Italy) We have another roommate named John, but is doing a whole year in abroad so we didn't meet him right here. (He was traveling) So right when we arrived, Lorenzo was already making pasta for lunch. It was delicious. We hung out for a while, walking around and talking. We went over all of the house rules and how everything works. Then later in the evening we went to a very cool restaurant that overlooks Il Duomo di Milano (Probably the most famous building in Milan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_Cathedral). We had a welcome buffet filled with all kinds of delicious types of Italian food. There was prosciutto, pizza, tiny sandwiches, cheese and, what it seemed to be, an endless supply of red wine and prosecco. Everybody was introducing themselves and talking and it was a very fun time. The next day we went to breakfast at our new traditional breakfast place. It is this little cafe with outdoor seating and they make some delicious, well, everything. It is a little expensive but I don't go there for the food. I go for the orange juice. Everybody that knows me will read that and be confused because I have never been one for drinking orange juice. This is OJ like none other. It is freshly squeezed/made and it is absolutely amazing. We plan on eating there all the time. We then had many boring meetings about orientation things and had lunch at the local university. A normal cafeteria in Milan is not too bad. I thought the food would be better but it was better than in Madrid. I ate some risotto with mushrooms, chicken and some pear juice. It was quite ok. Later that night our program took us all to one of the premier spas in Milan. It was so awesome. The name of the spa is Terme Milano. I highly recommend you all look it up. The place had everything from different hot tubs to spas to steam rooms to outdoor pools and hut tubs. They also had a buffet for us with lots of small food and a whole lot more wine. It was such a relaxing and fun night. The next day we had more meetings in the morning but then we were free for most of the rest of the day. A couple of my roommates and I walked around the block for about 3.5 hours. We learned a lot. At night, we had an aperitivo, which is where you go to a bar and buy something to drink and you can have as much bar food as you want. They have all different kinds of little things to eat and it was a really nice bar so we had a good time hanging out and meeting more and more people. After the first bar we went to a friend's apartment and hung out for a bit before heading to another bar where most of the program had already gathered. From there we all went to a club and danced for a couple of hours. The next day we hadto wake up for a tour of the Financial/Fashion districts of the city and it was pretty cool. The fashion district is the coolest. It is potentially the greatest in the world. They had all kinds of the best labels such as Gucci, Prada, Armani, Versace and everything else that you can imagine and not afford. It was pretty incredible. That night we made (my roommates Nick and Lorenzo) a very good dinner of pasta and homemade meatballs. It was so delicious. Afterwards we went to a bar to meet up with another girls' apartment group and hung out for a few hours. The rest of the story was told at the beginning so you now know where I am. Tonight we are going to go plan some trips with some friends of ours and then hang out at there apartment before going to another club. Life is good. More to come after the weekend.

Luke