First day in Italy

We did squeeze one more walk in the morning we left Switzerland. It was gross out but I wanted Jeremy to see the lake. 

Misty but still beautiful! 

We grabbed some lunch on the way to the station and caught the 1:30 train to Milan. Another beautiful ride!

Our train was a little delayed- we're not sure why because the announcement was in Italian. Something about the fire department... But it was fine. We got to Milan 45 minutes later than expected, around 5 pm. Then it was the usual stress of getting to the hostel, paying- this time finding an ATM to pay in cash- getting food. The food was great though, actually, because we had Italian food in Italy! We met a nice German guy who took us to a place he liked. The wine was  cheap and the pizza was HUGE- literally falling off the plate. 

YUM! Tuna pizza is awesome. Definitely something I will have to try at home. 

We were exhausted from traveling all day so we went to bed right after dinner. 

Then this morning (Friday) we got up, had crappy hostel breakfast (cereal or bread) and set out to see Milan. 

First, a few pictures from our walk...

The Milan duomo ^

Duomo piazza ^

Sforza Castle ^ and below

We found out that it was only €1.50 do students to see the inside, which includes museums and original rooms, so we decided to have a look. 

There were several art and design exhibits. 

Ancient roman columns

Painting by one of da Vinci's pupils. 

Armor and weaponry display. 

Portal of the Medici bank. 

One of Michelangelo's last pieces- the unfinished "Rondanini Pieta"- no crowds and really cool to see part of his process.

 Cutlery

Furniture exhibit

A private viewing booth for a famous person in a church. Kinda cool!

And now just some pictures of this gorgeous Italian castle. 

Then we went to the VERY cool musical instruments museum. All the explanations were in Italian but the instruments were cool to see. 

It was definitely a cool way to see some neat Italian stuff, and the inside of a castle, for a couple hours. 

We left the castle and got some paninis at a little Italian stand and headed to the castle gardens. Also very beautiful. 

We sat for a bit and then walked back to the hostel, past the duomo again. 

We stopped by a grocery store and picked up stuff for another chef salad and some wine. We got back, had dinner, and showered. At night we walked back to the duomo just to see how it looked lit up. Stunning, as expected. 

Me with a box of white wine- it was €1.15- about $1.50. Wow!

So first impressions of Italy- the streets are windy, not in a grid, so it feels much different than other cities. 

Map of Milan- no straight lines. 

It's relatively clean. People are gorgeous and wear beautiful clothes. Milan is supposed to be one of the ugliest Italian cities, and I still think its pretty. The wine is cheap and the food is awesome. Nothing is too expensive unless you go to the shopping streets. 

To sum up- I am loving it so far. Can't wait to see what else the next 2.5 weeks bring!

More later. 

<3