Today was the perfect day to walk into Milan and enjoy the city!
After a light breakfast at the hotel, we took the subway to the Duomo where we found the Starbucks Reserve Roastery.
Reserve roasteries are different in that all of the coffee they serve is roasted and ground in house, and their selection is a rotating, limited supply of rarer coffee varieties. This is the first Starbucks of any variety in Italy, and the first European Reserve. It is entirely different from an American Starbucks in how they prepare their drip coffee, bake all of their goods in house every morning, and even serve alcohol alongside their coffee. They don’t serve frappuccinos, either! Honestly, I’m a little spoiled by this Starbucks. The black coffee is mindblowing in how sweet and not bitter it is!
I wore my silk scarf I got from Mantero today! š 
The roastery. There’s multiple levels with different bars for different beverages. 
We tasted a Guatemalan reserve. 
Beans in different stages of roasting. The unroasted beans are much heavier! 
The roaster! It tumbles the beans in the drums. 
These copper tubes carry beans from the roasters to and from different reserve tanks!
It’s interesting to see the success that Starbucks has had in Italy, a country whose residents live and breathe for coffee, particularly the cappuccino. The idea of drip coffee, or americano, is still not very popular among Italians, so to see the wild success that Starbucks has had is really something. For the first few months, the line was out the door to get a taste of Starbucks!
We walked around Duomo and Galleria for a bit, and enjoyed seeing different street buskers perform and the beautiful weather. After a pizza lunch, we met up with Luca again and headed to Navigli, where the Armani museum is located.
Starbucks had a really fancy bathroom as well. 
The street outside of the Navigli subway stop. 
A beautiful gelato parlor! 
#lunchgang part 2
Armani’s entire collection is available to the public through digital archives that can be accessed when visiting there. It is a great resource for young designers, and Giorgio Armani strives to inspire young designers and students to be their own trendsetters, comfortable in their own skin and own style. To quote him, “Elegance is not about being noticed. It is about being remembered.”
The museum is in an old chocolate factory! 
Collections are not chronologically sorted, but thematically. This is meant to illustrate the timelessness of the pieces. 
The models have no bodies, and do not display who wore the outfit. The viewer should be able to “see” anyone in the piece. 
This blue dress is actually made out of neoprene! Armani uses different materials in interesting new ways. 
I only photographed a few pieces, but there are over 600 dresses in the collection. 
Armani is inspired by the traditional fashion of different countries and ethnicities. 
Some catwalk accessory pieces. 
Armani is a large pioneer of androgynous women’s fashion, and the advent of the suit jacket in women’s professional clothing.
I really enjoyed the Reserve and the collection, and I look forward to more company visits tomorrow to learn more about Italy’s rich textile history!