Milano at night!

On Wednesday night, my sister and I went out. We went to Old Fashion a club near the castle. It was packed. We met some of her friends, from the exchange program, on the way and we met more of her friends from Milan there. Going out in Milan is not like going out in America. First of all, you pay 10 euro which is about 12 dollars to get in and they give you two tickets for free drinks. I watched them pour my drinks. The fist was a Strawberry Invisible. It has two shots, but a shot for them is pouring until they feel like stopping. Which was about two-thirds of the cup. The second drink I had was a Long Island and the four shots were poured to the top with a splash of cola inside! By that time you don't want another drink, which is good because and extra costs about 10 euro.

The music is mostly American and there were two dance floors, inside and outside the club. Some guys are pretty aggressive, but for the most part they are not different from the guys in America. They will try to dance with you and you better decide fast if you want to stick around and continue to dance with them. They think that American girls are very easy so you don't want to give them an inch. I don't blame them however, one of the girls we were with disappeared for 5 minutes and we found her making out with one of the guys! Most of the guys are very nice and will ask you questions like where are you from, how long have you been here, etc. If you say you are from Arizona they will sometimes ask where and you will have to say California and they will say California is like a dream, it doesn't exist. If you say you are from Philly they say Will Smith and if you say you are from Puerto Rico they say Ricky Martin. The boys are also more friendly with each other, hugging, kissing each other on the head or on the cheeks. Its really normal. I think I liked that. I feel like they get along better than guys in America do. They are closer, like brothers.

The bathroom is also very different. Girls and boys go into the same bathroom. The sinks etc are the same there are separate stalls for girls and boys, sometimes, but not every time. It is so funny, but I think it makes more sense then having separate bathrooms. You don't have separate bathrooms in your home.

Milano Day 2!

May 19th

Milan is so interesting. The buildings are a mixture of different styles. Today we spent time touring the city. We took the train into town and ate breakfast/lunch at my sister's school.

It wasn't long after that when my feet started to hurt. Cait said I should wear boots but she didn't know that they had heals. They hurt the rest of the day but didn't spoil that much of the city.

After going to eat we went to Caitlin's school. It was really awesome. There is a courtyard area that has a curse, if you walk straight across it you won't graduate, you have to turn in the middle not walk straight across. I didn't walk through it I wasn't sure it extended to the states.

We went to see the Duomo, a huge amazing Church. It is the fourth biggest in the world. There are so many statues and each one is different. It took over 500 years for the Church to be completed. There are pillars inside that are labelled by the year and the creator, the pillars have statues on them so they are not all the same. There archways are huge. There stained glass windows all tell different biblical stories. Inside there is also a tomb to San Carlos. You can even see his casket. We also went to the top of it. There were a lot of stairs but that didn't hurt my feet going up them was more tiring on my legs. But it was really worth it. I could see the alps, plus you get really close to the statues that you can't see from the ground. It is amazing. We took some good pictures.

After the Doumo, we went to get Gelato. It was really good. Sweet and refreshing. Plus we got to sit down!

Then we went through Via Donte a huge shopping center. It had a 6 star hotel inside it, and there was a Mercedes Benz clothing store. I got to spin on the bull's balls. It's supposed to be lucky. I hope it works.

We saw the Lenardo statue after that and the opera house. Lenardo was sent to Milan to provide art for the Duke that lived there. We went to the Duke's Castle after that. It's a huge castle about 15 walking minutes from the Doumo. It is seriously a castle! With room for military. There is a huge park next to the Castle. There is an Arch there and it was fun to see all the people hanging out, running, working out, playing soccer and just lounging around.

Finally, we came back to Caitlin's apartment and her roommate cooked for us! It was delicious. It wasn't Italian but I appreciate eating something else since we will probably have our share of Italian food when we leave.

Tonight Caitlin and I are going to Old Fashion a club in Milan! I am super excited about that. I just need a little rest before we go and then I will be ready!

Day 1 Travel, Travel, Travel

We travelled all night and day in that order. It was exciting at first. Then, it was pretty boring. Finally, it was exhausting. I watch three movies, slept and played video games. Mom was happy that they had free wine and that the lay over in London was a piece of cake!

Now, we are in Milan! We took the train to Milano Cadorna. Cait met us there and took us to her apartment. We met her two roommates. They were cooking but didn't have enough food for us. So we went to Planet a Japanese/Italian mixture. We ate diavola pizza, ghnocci alla sorrentina and risotto alla milanese., a Typical Milan dish.

Lessons I learned don't eat pizza with your hands and ordering coffee after dinner is common.

One day before trip.

May 16th, 2010

Italy awaits! Only one day until I am on a plane to Italy. I am going with my Mom, Melissa and we are meeting my sister, Caitlin. Caitlin has been studying in Milan, Italy for the last four months. She says she really enjoys it there, but she is excited to have us join her.

Today, we prepared to go on our trip by not packing. That's right I still haven't packed. I'm planning to do that tomorrow before the flight. Yikes! I hope I don't forget anything. I think I am so reluctant to get started because I'm not sure what I want to bring. It's so complicated. Some items won't be necessary like straighteners and blow dryers because my sister already has those things. There will be things that I need that I don't usually pack for vacation too. I'm planning to bring two cameras and lots of cute clothes. Instead of packing, I helped my little brother, Tyler, with his history assignment. It was fun. I got to create a timeline about 1999. It feels like it was yesterday. It is also Tyler's birthday on the 21st. We decided to celebrate by opening presents and going to dinner.

Mom bought trip insurance because she is worried that something could go wrong. Apparently, British Airways is threatening to go on strike Tuesday, the 18th. That is the day we arrive in London, from London we go to Milan, hopefully. I will let you know how that turns out on Tuesday.