Hi again! Today was a long day as we had two business visits and a lecture at the hotel. Lineappelle, a leather consortium, was our first visit. The majority of the lecture was about all of the different kinds of leather and animal leather used: cattle, goats, sheep, deer, alligators, fish, and many more. For every animal discussed, we would examine and pass around samples of the leather. Every time I thought that was the most exotic animal we would feel, it became even more. We went from deer to lizard to snake to alligator to toad to tilapia to ray to shark to ostrich to kangaroo! It almost made me uncomfortable at times feeling the exotic animal leather, especially when the shape looked exactly like the animal. For example, the crocodile leather was in the shape of a crocodile with eye-holes. However, I would probably never know what the scales of a crocodile felt like if it wasn’t for today.
Next we had free time for lunch and I got a sandwich. It’s always exciting eating protein and vegetables and drinking water, even in small amounts, because most meals are all carbs and I often feel dehydrated since I drink so much water back at home. I got a delicious espresso + nutella drink (10/10).
The second place we visited was the Milan Fashion Library. They have over 70,000 fashion publications, some dating back to the 1800s. We only stayed for a short period of time but it was awesome browsing through editions of Vogue from the 40s, 50s, and 60s, which they had from countries all over the world! The picture below is of the social area designed for parties and gatherings held at the library and for the staff. After a short afternoon siesta, we had a lecture from Velasca shoe company at the hotel. The lecture was very interesting, but I was a little disappointed we could not see their company onsite and receive a tour.
It is very cool that we are in Milan this weekend because there is a big celebration for the one hundred year anniversary of the Alpines, a military group from the Alps. From my understanding they are similar to the National Guard and assist during national disasters. We see them everywhere we go in the city the past few days, and they are easy to recognize because they wear green elf-looking hats with feathers out of the top.
