Milano – 17.4.2010

Maggie, Renae and I took a night train at midnight from Orte to Milano. This was my first over night train experience. Luckily we decided to pay a little extra to have our own three person sleeper cabin. I was excited and then the movie White Christmas pop into my head as I walked into a closet with three beds hanging from the wall on the left. The only standing room being enough just to have three people stand and do nothing else but some how we changed and made it into our beds. “You and our nook of the North” by Bing Crosby in White Christmas is the exact quote that ran threw my head once I woke up and was asked how I slept, just like a baby. The scene where Bing helps Rosemary Clooney down from the top bunk played in my head as I climbed down from the middle bunk. After seeing that movie, way too many time, as a kid growing up I dreamed about what it would be like to go to sleep on a train in one place and wake up in another. I was excited as I stepped off the train at 6:45 to looking around absorbing the beautiful station. I was able to get more than just a glimpse like I did last time I came through to catch a bus to the airport for our flight to Ireland. We went to drop off our bags for the day until we could check in later at the Marriot off of Washington Ave. Three of us walk into the rich lobby in our jeans, tennis shoes, and t-shirts carrying our back packers bags on our backs. The expression on the receptionists’ faces was priceless. They were surprised to see us especially at 7 in the morning. To our amazement they allowed us to go ahead and check in. We entered the room with our name on the TV along with their greeting. This was the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. We freshened up and left for the Duomo. The Duomo is huge and covered in an extensive amount of detailed relief carvings and sculptures. Inside was extremely dark because the windows were all stunning stain glass windows. The newer ones (1500s) were like a painting. The most beautiful I have seen. The crypt was smaller than I expected. The roof by far was the best part. To walk on the marble roof tiles and buttresses was unimaginable. It sounds unsafe but I felt extremely secure. Gargoyles and sculptures were everywhere in all types of sizes. Some were so small you could only see it from the roof. From the ground you would never know that the spindle looking thing has in reality open archways with the dome connecting them protecting a sculpture from the elements. Detail out the wazoo that people would never see if we did not travel to the roof. At the very top was an amazing view of the city. From above I was able to see the crowds of people in the Piazza del Duomo for some kind of school event as musicians played on a couple of stages. I was disappointed I did not bring my sketch book to sit for awhile and enjoy the outdoor space created on the roof to the fullest by sketching one of the many details. As we started to be pelted with rain drops we ducked into the Galleria. It is just like the one in Napoli. The funny thing we caught in pictures was each one of us improving our luck. There is a mosaic of a bull on the floor and if you spin three times with on the bulls balls you will have good luck. So many people do it that they have to restore it every so often. I was shocked to see the stone completely concave and a hole where the balls are supposed to be from all the wear of people spinning on it. The bull is never lonely, you can spot where the bull is by the crowd of people that never seems to dissipate surrounding it. The we decided to do some shopping, why not we are in Milan. In the middle of shopping we met up with some of our fellow IA students studying abroad in Germany. We stood in the middle f the busy and packed H&M talking and catching up. In the conversation they told us about a big event going on in the design district with the end result convincing us to stop shopping and go check it out. We continued to talking the whole way, in the streets and subway to the event, Zona Tortona. It was like a carnevale party with food vendors everywhere, pedestrian only streets and hoard of people anywhere you looked. We wondered around and entered the buildings or exterior spaces that had signs with the logo for the event. At each location there was something different and each one equally astounded me. The exhibits were of works by professional designers and students with all kinds of ideas and designs. There we also ran into another friend of mine. She is from Germany but studied abroad last year at K-state in the IA department with us. We got to know each other and shared a common interest in salsa dancing. It was great to see her again and I was pleasantly surprised to hear she was coming back to visit us in the states this coming August. We spent a couple of hours exploring and absorbing the inspirational environment. Then our feet began screaming with pain signaling that they needed a break so we went to grab something to eat. We ended up at a chic bar for their apertivo special. We had not stopped talking up a storm with Paul, Christa and Melia. We split ways when they had to leave to catch their bus. The bed back at the hotel was the perfect medicine for our exhausted and aching bodies.