So everyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I am in no way, shape or form a morning person. Waking up early has never been my thing. However, I think that if I plan to travel economically here in Europe I may have to change my ways.
We went to Milan this weekend and bought tickets for the 5:57 train out of Bologna, but they were only 10 Euro! It sounded like a great idea, and of course, being the young, smart students that we are, we decided to try and stay up all night in order to avoid the unpleasant part of waking up at 4:30 a.m. That plan never works though. So come 3:45/4:00 am we decided to call it quits and just go to bed. 2 hours later, I realized just how terrible that whole choice had been. We made it to our train though and even found our own private compartment. It's an interesting feeling to climb aboard a train where everyone is asleep. It felt a little like Polar Express, or as we discussed while aboard, like we were on the Hogwart's Express. Once the sun came up I was able to take in the beautiful Italian countryside that was passing by and the majestic, snow-capped mountains off in the distance.
We reached Milan around 9:30 am and took the Metro to a stop near our hostel. This was our first experience aboard an Italian metro, not so bad. The hostel wasn't too bad either, it was really more like a really cheap hotel, where the heat in the room didn't work. It was nice to be able to have a room all to ourselves though (there was three of us girls from Bologna and my friend visiting from Paris).
Milan itself was a little disappointing, or maybe we just didn't plan the trip well. We saw the Duomo, which was breathtaking. I can honestly say I have never seen a building like that before. It was so ornate and massive. Every one of us gasped as we came up from the Metro and saw the Duomo in all of its glory. Wow. That is all I can say. Other than that though there didn't seem to be much to see. The food was the most disappointing part. We have been more spoiled than we realized here in Bologna where a whole margherita pizza costs only 3 euro and is delicious. In Milan we managed to get a slice of pizza for 2.70 and it was not even close to even Dominos level. it was a sad moment when I bit into that piece. We decided to splurge on our last mean just so we could say we ate at least one good thing while in Milan and even our 25 euro meal was sub par. But now we know: DO NOT GO TO MILAN! I had been warned but I thought "hey it can't be that bad!" Wrong. It can. It was. If you must you must, but I suggest finding an alternative.
All in all it was a fun weekend because I got to see my friend Jake from back home, but we all agreed that we may need to do another visit where everyone is less bitter about the locale of the trip. kelly and I are going to go visit him sometime in April in Paris, that should be a good time.
Tomorrow I start my classes, well one class, the others don't start until March still. I'm really excited about the class tomorrow though. It's a class about citizenship and how globalization is expanding and changing the definition of it. I'm sure it will be tough, and I'm really nervous but so excited.
I will have to update again after I go so I can let everyone know how it feels to be a part of a real Università di Bologna class!
I'm off to get my beauty sleep now! Love to all! Buona notte!
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Ahh, Des, how I do love to read of your adventures. We are looking forward so much to visiting you in Bologna and sharing time with you there, however brief that may be this time around for a country so rich in history, cultures, people and life. OK, maybe not in the Milan you experienced, but we don't plan to go there this trip anyway. I think it would be great just to shop the markets, prepare some meals together, eat, drink, laugh,talk, glimpse what we can and, above all relax and enjoy our vacation in Italy.
ReplyDeleteLove always,