Italian Fall Break: Milan

So on Monday, October 26, I flew out of Athens early in the morning to go to Milan. So interesting things about the airport security. So you didn't have to show your passport or ticket so I don't know how they stop people from going to the gate. Maybe they don't stop people at all. I didn't have to take off my shoes but they did make me take my laptop out of its case which is weird since it is nothing but a case. There are no pockets or anything on the case. Then they made me open the screen. It was weird. Then after you go through security there is nothing but the gates and waiting areas. There is no stores or places to buy food and I hadn't had breakfast yet so that was a disappointment. There is no order for boarding you just go stand in line and then they put us on a bus to drive to the tarmac to board the plane. This is what I had to do in Naples, Italy as well. Thankfully on my way to Milan they fed us breakfast! First before we took off they passed out hard candy and I was smart enough to realize it was for air pressure haha. Mom it reminded me of you when I was little and your big ciao bag. Then for breakfast we got a roll, yogurt and honey, a snack bar, two crepes filled with weird things, two little hot dogs, and then later they gave us some chocolate cookies. Way more food than anything u would find in the US on a plane ride. So when I got to Milan I had to make my way to the city which was slightly difficult to figure out. I bought a bus ticket but I thought it was a tram ticket but I eventually found the right bus. The ride into the city was about 40 minutes and we had lots of morning traffic. It was nice to be out of a city though and Italy has many more trees and fall colors than Greece.

When I got to the train station I was able to store my luggage and then I started aimlessly walking around. I quickly realized that this was not the best plan haha. I had no map and no idea what one even goes to see in Milan. I was walking for more than an hour and still had not run across anything and was starting to get overwhelmed haha. Luckily as I was walking I saw one of those double decker sightseeing buses so i started following it haha. Clearly I could not keep up with it but I was looking for one of it's stops because you can jump on them anywhere. Finally I found a stop for the bus and so after lunch I got on. The company lets you get on and off wherever you want and however often you want within a 24hour period. So this was also great because they gave me a map and told me what I should see and all the background info! This was perfect for my quick day trip of Milan. So I got on and looked at the map figuring out what I wanted to see. The bus has two different lines so I ended up doing both lines which pretty much took my entire amount of time. The things to see in Milan in case anyone is curious is the Duomo and the Last Supper. The Duomo is the second largest church in Italy after St. Peter's. I think all churches are required to be smaller than St. Peters. It is very pretty and took over 600 years to complete!!! I was not able to see the Last Supper because I didn't really have time to go into any museums. Milan also does have amazing shopping but I kept the credit card in check ;) I also stopped at this fortress and walked around there a bit. The other good news about my sightseeing bus was that one of the stops was at the train station so I jumped off there to get my suitcase and catch the train to Bologna. The train to Bologna only took an hour because I was on the fast train.

Sarah was there to meet me from the train station and we then walked to her apartment. Sarah cooked me dinner and we ate with one of the kids in her program. After dinner Sarah and I just caught up with each other before going to bed.

Milan