La Dolce Vita

Trying to keep a written diary is prooving extremely difficult so i'm relying on these blog posts to not only keep up to date but to remind my future self what I spent my 5 months in Milan doing, so here it goes…

I've had a bit of a roller coaster week (and a half considering it's already Thursday.) It went from being extremely quiet to busy to now quiet due to the departure of my Mother & Co.

We're starting to get a better feel for the lessons here at the Politecnico. We've chosen 4 courses;
Colour and Experimentation (Bachelors)
Fashion and Made in Italy (Masters)
Man's Blazer (Production and Design) (Bachelors)
Trend Forecasting Jewellery. (Masters)

The masters are luckily enough in English and therefore we're at a massive advantage, the Trend forecasting is so interesting and definitely a smart choice. However the Fashion and Made in Italy course is a little tricky. Our professor has a fascination with pretty much the only words he can say in English being Ferrari and Scenario (HE SAID IT 37 TIMES?! How is that humanly possible?!)
The colour class is extremely different to the typical Fashion classes we have in Birmingham however it's something new and I'm sure there will be a way to adapt our new learning's across to fashion? Right?

We finally embarked on our first night out in Milano visiting 'Hollywood' a typical underground bar/club. 10 euro entry with 3 drinks - you just can't go wrong! Italian men are a little bit creepy - words of wisdom, they act as if they have never seen blonde hair before. Standing at the bar waiting for a drink, I felt someone tugging on my hair, only to turn round and catch a guy peering at it as if its gold. Bloody weird - I walked away briskly as you can imagine.

My Mum and her school friends arrived Saturday lunchtime and before I could say Ciao we were already sipping on Prosecco and being offered free shots of Lemoncello (they're not alcoholics, it was just a really, really long flight …. )
A little tiddly we strolled on the Castello Sforzesco. Spending the next day showing them around the Duomo, Como Corso 10 and then for a very pleasant aperitivo in Navagili.
A couple of cocktails later and the gaggle of laughing women were playing a humming game at a bus stop drawing all attention to them (me and Jess looking at each other proclaiming we didn't know them…)
We FINALLY ventured up the Duomo - only being 7 euros to walk up about 200 steps seems a bargain for the beautiful view you receive when you reach the top. Walking on the actual roof of the cathedral is quite something - the views are breathtaking and I could honestly say I could stay up there for a good few hours without getting bored (or cold.)

        

Being surprised with Strawberries and Prosecco by Jess and Lian for getting a placement in NYC was the beginning of an incredibly memorable night, If this month is anything like the following months I have to come then be assured this is the best experience of my life to date.

Over and out.
S xx

Adventures in Milan

Into our third week and still full of illness and grossness, wondering whether I'm ever going to walk around Milan without coughing at this rate! Here I am sipping on my honey and lemon infused water that my flat mate kindly offered me. (we're friends now that we made them all a Victoria Sponge (sort of cake) to make up for our lack of mopping.)

So we've officially finished our first whole week of University. If someone said to me this time last year  that I would be completing my second year of study abroad, I honestly would've laughed as my degree is hard enough let alone with the added complication of the language barrier. 

Our Wednesday lecture on the use of colour was cancelled (boohoo) - so what other way would we spend a day off other than sunning ourselves around Milan. 

After little deliberation we caught the bus to the Castello Sforzesco, a beautiful 13th Century castle with a gorgeous cascading fountain nicknamed 'the wedding cake.' We roamed the castle's grounds and took a particular interest in the moat of cats - yes cats. How and why I don't know however these cats were fascinating who cares about the old ruins around us?!?!

So after tirelessly walking around for 10 minutes we found a bar and tried our very first Aperol Spritzer - never ever ever again. This orange syrupy cough solution tasted just the same and only tasted faintly better when diluted with the ice cubes - the mojito on the other hand went down a lot easier. 

We manoeuvred over to Porta Genova on an old tram (so cute) and found ourselves tasting our first Aperitivo.

In Milan most bars or restaurants serve a small unlimited buffet accompanied with a drink for around 10 euros from around 6pm till 10pm. Absolute bargain if you're feeling peckish but not hungry enough for dinner. So lets just say we pigged out, definitely felt judged by the male servers but the cheesy lasagne was just too good to not have seconds.

                                          

     
                                   

Our mission to visit Lake Como last week was put on hold due to train strikes however for only 10 euro return I feel its not just a one time visit! So instead of a trip to the Lakes we decided to visit the Gianfranco Ferre as well as the Van Gogh exhibition (as it as only around for the week.) I felt both offered such an array of pieces and it had an air of exclusiveness knowing I was viewing the collections in Milan. 

All in all the week has flown by and I cannot wait to be reunited with my Mother and her friends this Saturday. 4 days of unprecedented fun and laughter! Updates to follow - wish me luck!

S xx

Do you understand?

So, I started writing this blog entry in my first lesson on Fashion and Made in Italy (sorry Mum) - it was the choice of distracting myself by writing this entry or tag teaming a tactical sleep with Gina and Jess. The room was extremely stuffy due to the weather being warm enough to wear sunglasses (well for the Brits anyway!) - the Italians seem to still be fashioning the thick winter jackets with gloves and a hat.

It also didn't help that the lecturer felt amused by suggesting a chair is called 'smile' because the material caves to form a smiling expression whilst also proceeding to say 'bye' to every slide on his presentation.
All in all I came out of the lesson more confused than I was going in despite it being in English - perhaps I would've understood it or even more looked to understand it better if it was in Italian in the first place.
Hey ho, its safe to say our first two days at the Politecnico di Milano have been hilariously brilliant and something I don't think I'll ever forget.

After enjoying a typically chilled Italian weekend which concluded with getting lost most of the time which we didn't mind as the streets are just beautiful, the colours of the buildings, the structure and individuality of each of the balconies are just incredible.
We finally sorted out our Italian numbers and can return to being the socialites that we are, we drank copeless amounts of cappuccinos with the view of the Duomo whilst testing out our first Gelato in the Sunday afternoon sun. It was a fab weekend.

So starting University dropped on us like a ton of bricks, excited and nervous the four of us proceeded to sit under the teachers noses in our first briefing. Despite saying nothing the teachers all knew we were Erasmus students. (They have a tendency here to stereotype the Erasmus and that's all we're known by - I guess it'll have to stick.)
It was obvious something was going to go wrong and so an hour in, Me and Jess are running around this oversized building trying to find the class we're suppose to be in - only an hour into the briefing stage, standing outside this room looking as if we've been told off! We finally decided to enter after much debate and the rest is history. We're now making a Man's Blazer which is hilarious to achieve being taught in a different language but we'll get there, the teacher is lovely and I think we'll get by just fine (I hope.)

In the afternoon we were told that we had another class to attend. Sitting at the back the teacher gestured us forward in order to form a group with 2 other Italians. The teacher then proceeded to ask the class who was interested in joining us, everyone looked the other way (typical scene where the uncool kid is last to picked on a sports team - yeah that was us, so so embarrassing!!)
Long story short, we now have friends AND they're Italian so things must be on the up? Right?

Can't quite believe we're one week down already, only 19 to go and who knows how much wine we'll need to drink between now and then but if its anything like this week I suggest we should invest in a vineyard.

Over and out
Sxx

Mi dispiace non capisco

Weekly forecast of beautiful sunshine and warm weather, er yes please. Everything is more beautiful in the sun.
So our week of gradually moving and settling in has turned into full day events of meeting and greeting, University enrolment and trying to explore this new, exciting City we live in.

After bidding farewell to my Mum, I was very kindly taken out for dinner by Jess & her dad. The food so far in Italy has been amazing, everything tastes SO good - I'm seriously starting to worry about over-consumption, so happily sticking to yoghurt and strawberries for breakfast (at the moment anyway.)
The seafood Risotto was overflowing with all kind of fruitti di mare and at such a good price too!

We then indulged in some amazing cocktails just 5 minutes away from our humble abode - brilliant. I think we know where we'll end up every quiet night.


The University is extremely health and safety conscious. So far we've sat a basic level test of what to expect in the Fashion Lab rooms, and then a very hard online test (of which you need to pass) testing on your knowledge of the Italian Legislate 2008 - me & Jess just scrapped a pass thankfully and can both say that we will never use that information in our lives ever again.

The Duomo is pretty impressive, the gorgeous white and cream marbled exterior is so pristine and the sunlight bounces off it. The 'selfie stick' men trying to flog you some awfully made goods are avoidable as long as you're good at dodging.

The travel here is so cheap €22 for a months unlimited travel and the rate we're getting lost, it definitely comes in handy.
Wine is also very cheap, after drinking a litre of their house wine at a bar that evening we decided that a €1 bottle would be a smashing idea despite having to get up at 7:30 the following morning - we'll learn I'm sure…..

Milan has its hidden treasures which in day 4 we've already discovered a couple. The main street of Buenos Aires is brimming with high street shops and local shops, phone shops and restaurants. The back streets are lined with gorgeous Italian restaurants displaying pizza after pizza after pizza.

I think I'll be on a constant carb overload whilst living here.

We met some Erasmus friends for dinner at Porta Genova, a Milanese equivalent of Birmingham's Brindley place. It was breathtaking, restaurants and bars lining the canal on both sides displaying class and elegance. We decided to eat at a cheese restaurant I'M IN HEAVEN. There was even Parmesan ice cream, I will definitely be returning with my Dad, I don't think he'll want to leave!

So to sum up my last few days it's been non stop, hectic to the extent where we are so grateful for a lie-in past 8 this morning (typical students) but we're having the most wonderful time.



S x