I have officially arrived in Milan, Italy and it was quite the journey. It started Thursday morning flying from Grand Rapids to Chicago and then finally to Pittsburgh. After arriving in Pittsburgh, all of Plus3 Italy met at the Porch for dinner to kick off our trip.    The next morning you could feel the excitement on the bus as we headed to the Pittsburgh airport for our noon flight to Newark. From there we had a five hour layover which we spent exploring the airport and getting to know one another. The excitement started to build as we boarded our 8 hour flight to Milan. Though the landing was a bit rough, it was worth it as I step out of the plane in Italy.

The drive to our hotel showed how modern the buildings in Milan are, contradicting the image of an ancient and cobblestone filled Italy I arrived with. I was surprised by how green Milan is, everywhere I looked there were plants or flowers of some kind which is impressive given that it is the second largest city in Italy. Once we reached the hotel we wasted no time immersing ourselves in Italian culture as we were taken by our guide Luca to our first authentic Italian meal. We started our three course meal with lots and lots of bread as well as an assortment of meats. Then came the main course of lasagna which had a fluffiness unlike any lasagna I have had in the United States. To top it all off dessert was a lemon sorbet topped with fresh fruit. This was the perfect dessert because it was so light which was a nice change after eating such a heavy meal. The main difference from the United States and Italy when it comes to dining is there is no rush in Italy. The entire meal lasted almost two hours and not once did it feel like we were being rushed or kicked out. In the United States meals are often a lot shorter and the waiter tends to be in a hurry to get you to leave once you are done eating, but in Italy they value the time spent at meals and are much more relaxed.

After a meeting about safety in Italy, we had the rest of the night free so a few of my friends and I walked around some of the nearby stores and had a nice dinner before continuing to walk around and experience Italian culture. We quickly learned that we need to work on our Italian but luckily we have two weeks to perfect it.

All in all I am so excited to finally be in Italy, and I cannot wait to see what new adventures tomorrow brings!