Buongiorno, amici!
The day started off with a lovely sweet bread and coffee at the hotel. Then, the group was immersed in Italian language and culture, where we learned several key Italian phrases for situations like meeting new friends and visiting a bar (coffee shop) and a restaurant. Next, we explored the area near our hotel and found ourselves at a local restaurant for lunch. Their penne arrabiata was fabulous! Also, I was proud of our group, because we were able to successfully order in Italian without any help. Then, we began our main adventure of the day, which was a lengthy walking tour of the city. I had no idea the beauty that laid next to our hotel. The tour began with an introduction to a modern piazza, which was lined with many busca vertical, or vertical gardens. In an effort to increase ecological efforts in the city, Milan architects installed several lush gardens and trees on balconies of high rise apartment buildings. As an engineer, I was excited to see this push for sustainability executed in a major city. This was a theme I saw commonly throughout the city, actually. There were so many lush green spaces to contrast the shiny city buildings, which impressed me. Since Milan is an international city comparable to New York City, its green areas were in a significantly higher volume than NYC, which makes me wonder what American cities could do more to preserve their environment.
After some walking, we landed at Eataly, which is an Italian supermarket that focuses on vendors that are involved in the art of “slow food”. This refers to food that is locally grown from vendors that craft artisanal, homemade goods, versus food that is solely produced quickly and cheaply for mass consumption. At Eataly, we had gelato – they served several flavors of vegan gelato! For a city that really loves its cheese, I have been very impressed with the non-dairy options available thus far.
Then, we walked through several Italian streets containing quaint shops and restaurants, which encapsulated what I pictured a typical Italian piazza to look like. As we neared the city center containing the Duomo, we saw more and more tourists, and more and more pickpocketers. The Duomo was absolutely beautiful, and I hope to visit a mass there later this week!
After the tour, a group of friends and I visited luxury shops in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, including Versace, Gucci, Prada, and Ferrari. We even visited an Italian McDonald’s! (The cover photo are scarves inside Versace). We walked back to the hotel, and got dinner to end the night. So far, I am loving my time in Italy! See you tomorrow!