A weekend in Milan / Christie comes to visit!

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Ciao!

So this weekend we actually stayed in Milan for once, because I had one of my best friends from Georgetown coming to visit me (Christie), Katie and Michelle had 3 friends from school coming to visit them, and Steph had one friend from school visiting her. So we stayed in the city to show them a good time.

Friday I picked Christie up at the train station and we went to do a little sightseeing in Piazza del Duomo (and La Scala, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, etc.) and then came home for a little nap after all that walking. Then we met the rest of my friends (and their friends) in the Navigli district for aperitivi. Navigli is a district of Milan filled with canals, like Venice (it's actually known as piccolo Venezia - little Venice) that has great nightlife. We went to one of the big boats lined up in the canal that has aperitivi and live music. Aperitivi is an Italian tradition (actually invented in a bar in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in the center of Milan) similar to a happy hour but WAY better. Basically you buy one drink at a discounted price and you then have unlimited access to the buffet, and it seems every place that offers aperitivi is trying to outdo one another because they have unbelievable quantities of food and an amazing selection (from pasta, pizza, bruschetta, salami meats and cheeses, roasted vegetables, salads etc. to even french fries and chicken fingers sometimes!). So basically we go and have a few drinks and have the free buffet as our dinner.

Then after the aperitivi we went to a club called Loolapalooza, where the bartenders get up on the bar and dance everytime they play the YMCA or Grease Lightning (which is about every hour... I told you they love American songs here!) and the rest of the time anybody can go up and dance on the bar. Which my friends definitely took advantage of hahah.

The next day Christie and I slept in (because we didn't get home until 4:30 AM) and then met Katie and Michelle and crew for shopping by the duomo. After a full day of showing what Milan does best, we found a little trattoria for dinner. After a nice dinner where we reflected on the ridiculous fact that we were casually rendevouzing in Italy, we met my other friends at a club for another veryy long night of dancing.

So after coming home at 5 AM, we had to wake up at 8:30 to go to stazione centrale! Needless to say I came home after walking her to the train station and went right back to bed.

Soo unfortunately this post has very little to take away from it besides the fact that we went out a lot. No real cultural experiences this weekend, but it was definitely fun to experience the city we live in, for once, instead of jetting off to explore Europe (although that is awesome too!).

Strangely though, this week was the first time I actually got homesick. Stupidly enough, it was triggered by a friend telling me about a homecoming football game and my mom saying she made apple pie. Since it is still in the 70s here and there are no trees, I missed the autumn and all the homey stuff that comes with it. But Christie coming definitely helped and my parents coming on Thursday is going to be exactly what I need (and my mom said she'd make me an apple pie here!). So now I'm back to loving life!

Alright time to go do some homework (oh yeah, classes started... I have to take 2 art history classes and a literature class in Italian, and they are so hard they are making my head spin! Lectures, readings, papers and class dicussions are all in Italian, which is very difficult but definitely do-able and helping me intensely. Luckily my grades only transfer back to Georgetown as pass/fail, otherwise we might have serious problems!).

Miss you all so much, as always thanks for the comments/messages/emails! xoxoxo

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Photos

the main door of the duomo
I was just so struck by the intense detail that I had to take an artsy picture

bartenders at Loolapalooza
dancing to the YMCA hahah

Comments

[Dad]

Great Entry
Loved the entry. I hope we're coming soon. It sounds like a great time. I'll ask Mom which week we're going... Love, Dad

[Pegs]

This one did it
So this posting is the one that really makes me want to come and visit - the aperitivi and the bartenders dancing on the bar to YMCA. It can't get better than this..... Love you, Pegs

[Alison]

SO JEALOUS!!
Hey jenna, ok i get more and more jealous wit heach entry i read! Wish i could come for a visit, but alas...finances and school make it impossible...see u at christmas!