A peaceful rest from the night before prepared me for conquering the first early morning of the trip. To start our day, we had a visit with a local college of Milan, the Cattolica University, where we were given a lecture on sustainability in the textiles and fashion industry by expert, Romana Rinaldi. Essentially, sustainability encompasses the three P’s: the planet, people and profits. How can a firm generate sufficient profit while doing right by their plant and people? This is an area of focus that requires attention from engineers and business professionals alike, as suggested by the attendance from both of these schools at Pitt on this Plus 3 Program trip. The university is home to approximately 40,000 students, including many international students. Following the class lecture, a program director from their international programs office explained more of their study abroad opportunities for foreign students, such as ourselves. The speaker discussed their exchange programs at the Cattolica University for a full semester in fall or spring, or for a shorter period in the summer or winter. We then met a couple students from the university to show us around their campus and share their school’s traditions and superstitions. Pretty cool how it’s an urban campus, just like Pitt!! The students were extremely helpful in offering great places in Italy to check out and get food. Actually, for some food later, I think some of us will be trying out a suggested aperitivo place that’s located on one of Milan’s canals. Aperitivo is a fun and common food ritual in Italy that involves a pre-dinner drink accompanied by some salty snacks and, of course, friends to chat with. The Milano student said that aperitivo was a must because it’s one of the “most Italian things you can do.” After eating lunch at the university and saying “Arrivederci!” to our new friends, we made our way to the National Museum of Science and Technology, which is dedicated to Italian painter and scientist Leonardo da Vinci. Spending some of the most intense years of his artistic career here, Leonardo da Vinci left an impact in the city of Milan. On this guided tour, we saw canvasses, sculptures, and notebooks from da Vinci and took a moment to appreciate the world-famous Last Supper. It was especially cool to see da Vinci’s work since the city is currently celebrating his 500th anniversary since the year he passed away. The museum was a nice wrap-up for the day’s schedule, and the group parted ways after taking the metro back to the hotel. Catch me by the Naviglio Grande later!