First Day Back

Ciao tutti!!

I'm sorry for the long delay between posts, it's been a fun, but busy week and a half! I will soon be posting about my trip to Florence (weekend before last!), but first I wanted to write a bit about my first day of classes yesterday!

My class load is quite light this semester, I am taking four classes: Italian, Voice Lessons, Music Performance Workshop, and History of Italian Opera. Very music oriented! My classes are all held at the IES center, which is about 20 minutes from my apartment via metro. My Monday started out with Italian at 9:00am! I have the same teacher and classmates as I did during the language intensive, classes are just less frequent and only half as long. We talked a lot and watched a bit of "My Name is Tanino," a movie about an Italian youth who moved to America. The stereotypes are rather hilarious....! After my Italian class I had a break until 1:30pm, then it was time for History of Italian Opera!!

When I walked into the classroom, I was greeted with the amazing sight of our teacher. He is an older gent (50s/60s?) with fly away wispy hair, reminiscent of Einstein. He is a prominent music critic in Europe, so much so that La Scala has banned him from coming to their dress rehearsals! He started to teach us about the very first opera: L'Orfeo by Monteverdi. We discussed the Baroque influences and the use of recitar cantando. It was so cool to see the origins of so many traits we have just come to expect in an opera! I'm looking forward to seeing what else we will learn in his class. Oh! And he just so happens that part of the class requirements include attending the dress rehearsal of "Rosenkavalier" at La Scala TONIGHT!!! So exciting!

Immediately following History of Italian Opera, I have my Music Performance Workshop! While at first I thought this class wasn't going to be so good, I have changed my mind! The professor is one of the most acclaimed musicians in Europe. We have been working through Bach, connecting the phrasing of the music to art and literature from that time period. It's really cool to see how connected they really are! We ended class on a high note with Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Oh Rossini, how I love thee! I left class humming Figaro's tune...

This Monday was an exciting glimpse into the next few months! My schedule is a bit scattered, some days I only have on class, others I have a booked day. But I'm enjoying it! And now I have found a babysitting job for a young family in Milan, I start tomorrow! Last night we had a bunch of friends over for our "American Night" dinner. There were 12 of us crammed around the table! We had mac & cheese, hotdogs, and homefries. So yummy!

Hopefully this quick blog is an indication of just how much I'm loving it here. Life is good, the food is good, and the Italian is improving!

I'll post again soon!
Buonasera tutti!


Myself and the adorable New Zealand gal we've adopted! She works as a nanny in a little town between Milano and Torino.


Marialuisa and I on the 7th floor restaurant of La Rinascente (a huge department store). Marialuisa knows and loves Paonia!


In front of the stained glass windows of the Duomo!

Sabato a Milano!

This has been an excellent Saturday! So wonderful in fact that I had to blog about it right away!

Photos are on facebook (I tried to load them, but the loader failed and it's 1:05am. My patience has run out.): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150285935158763.335583.551278762&l=0a9c0e73c0&type=1



This morning began with an adventure. Myself, my CA's sister Francesca, and my DU gal pal Nicole decided to go find a street market! Now I must tell you about the reputation of these street markets: good food, good shoes, good clothes, cheap prices. Naturally I was excited to try it out! My lovely CA, Annalisa, helped us to plan out trip to the mercato; we were to take the metro to Cadorna then take the 1 tram to the Domodossola stop. Easy right? Hahaha, maybe not so much. We got on the 1 tram just fine, unfortunately we got on the 1 tram heading the WRONG DIRECTION! Meanwhile, we are all chatting in broken Italian (well on Nicole's and my part at least) and not really paying close attention. Finally I realize that we have been on this tram for a very, very long time. Much longer than nine stops! I quickly convey this to Francesca and Nicole and we abandon ship! We quickly realized that yes, we were going the wrong way, and hopped on the correct 1 tram heading to Castello. Although we now had to go 19 stops (!), it was a wonderful way to see the city!!

Around noon we finally get off at the Domodossola stop and make our way over several blocks to the street market. It was packed!! There were venders selling everything from fresh flowers to vera pelle (real leather) shoes, with a few octopus thrown in for good measure. The sights and sounds were something out of a movie, it was colorful beyond belief with the widest assortment of Italians. Everyone was pawing through the piles of merchandise and haggling over fresh fruit. It was AWESOME!! I purchased some nectarines (which are delicious!!) and Nicole bought me an awesome purse as a belated birthday gift :). We spent about two hours making our up and then back the street. It was excellent.

After our adventuring through the market, Nicole and I split off to go get some panzerotti from Luini's near the Galleria. If you don't know what a panzerotti is, I'm sorry for you. They are Italian fast food, very similar to calzones. Essentially a pizza turned inside out and then lightly fried. So I got a pomodoro e mozzerella and Nicole got a prosciutto e mozzerella. We then parked ourselves on a nearby curb (don't worry, it isn't a faux pas there, everyone does it at Luini's) and proceeded to gab about boys, Italy, travel plans, and life in general. Poi, we grabbed some gelato from this exquisite chocolate/gelato shop right next door! It was fabulous. When we felt that we had rested and refueled sufficiently, we made our way to a purse shop called Carpisa.

On our way to Carpisa we come across an Indian parade! There were gigantic cows, loud music, and people dancing in the street! And it was all followed by a giant cart from which people were throwing macaroons!! Definitely didn't expect that in Milan!! Hahaha! We made our way from there to Carpisa and I was in heaven! I love my purses, and this shop was nothing but! I found something I loved, as did Nicole, and then we split ways and I had some down time at home before meeting up with Nicole, my friend Maya, and my housemate Qianning for the Italian Gospel Choir!

At 9:00pm we were standing alongside hundreds of people, watching a 450 person gospel choir, made up of Italians, singing American gospel tunes! It was bellissimo!! We were dancing and singing along, I couldn't get the grin off my face :D. The concert was held on the front steps of the Duomo, and the entire piazza was full of people watching the performance! We definitely had a great time. Which was of course followed by grabbing gelato from a nearby vender. May I say that I am getting quite good at ordering una coppetta piccola al....geltao perfavore?

Well it's now going on 1:00am, so buona notte tutti! A domani!

Cassidy

MILANO Part III

And the blogging of the epic orientation week (finally) continues...

WEDNESDAY

We started nice and early (again...) with choosing our classes! We don't get to register yet, classes will start Sept. 26, but we got to hear about a variety of courses. This orientation session was held in the hall where most of them have been, in one of the Universita Cattolica buildings. Next it was time to fill out our Permesso di Soggiorno applications! This is a lengthy bureaucratic process that is absolutely mandatory for all persons staying in Italy. And it is all in Italian. So with the help of one of our amazing staff, a giant, jovial fellow named Walter, we all followed along as he filled one out over the projector.



Next came our music orientation! We will be auditioning at least three times for this program, even though we already sent in an audition tape! Once for our private voice teacher, once for the IES music ensemble, and then again for any choirs we wish to be a part of. Some choir options include gospel and a cappella! We have two practice rooms in the IES center, with one bigger room in the basement that has a baby grand. There is also the possibility to take music classes at an outside university, such as La Scuola Civica della Musica. Not sure if I'm interested in that just yet. We shall see!

Lunch was soon to follow, and was again held in the Universita Cattolica cafeteria. It was yummy, but I'm really getting ready for something more than pesto pasta! After lunch my fellow vocalists and I made our way back to the IES center to have a meeting specifically for vocalists. That was more information about choirs and such, and wrapped up fairly quickly!

Finally we had some free time in which to get ready to go out to another IES sponsored aperitivo!! This time we all went to the club NOON. It was SO FUN!!! I arrived with my fellow housemates on time (for once! we're getting the hang of it!) and were the first to get there. Once a few more IESers had shown up, we made our downstairs to the level that IES has reserved for us! It was SO COOL! Floor to ceiling, the room was painted a bright white with stunning photographs hung around the walls. There were benches with tiny red cushions built into the walls. The tables were small and made of stainless steel, and were accompanied by white benches. We staked out our corner, placed our drink orders with a waiter, and then proceeded to talk our ears off. NOON was pumping out loud, but not excessively so, techno which only added to the Zoolander-esque vibe of the club! Soon there were more waiters bringing around trays of delicious goodies. My favorite? Mashed potato balls. Like tater tots, but with mashed potatoes! Yummy! We spent a few hours laughing and socializing until we decided it was time for gelato!


Awesome!

A group of le mie amiche!

Isn't this place COOL????


So with a few of our CAs, we made our way down the street to a gelatteria. I decided to be adventurous and ordered a stracchielleria! Essentially vanilla chocolate chip. It was scrumptious! More rearranging of tables occurred, to meet the demands of our enormous entourage, and we all exchanged flavors! One of the best, and richest, flavors was my fellow DUian's chocolate and orange...sooooo.....goooooood!! But so rich you needed to drink a gallon of water after it! Sometime there after my little group made our way back home to Via Tiziano and our lovely, lovely beds. Oh! And one of our new house mates finally made it! Her name is Katie. That makes seven of us now!

THURSDAY


Standing in front of Il Duomo!

Tour Time!! This morning we met up on the stairs of Il Duomo. Yup, my first time at the Duomo. It took my breath away!


"We're at the Duomo!! EEEEEE!!!"

The intricate details on such a massive building...it was outstanding. One of the CAs was explaining to us that sometimes they hold concerts on the roof, I need to go to one of these ASAP!! Either way, I'm definitely planning to climb up there and take a look around.


Impressive, isn't it?



The entire piazza was filled with tourists and men trying to con you into buying their pigeon feed (*shudder* pigeons...) or bracelets. the rest of the IES group showed up and then we split into three groups for the tour of the Milan fashion and financial district! I chose to go with the director of the program, Roberto!


The main entrance of La Galleria

We walked through the Galleria, there were these four paintings up on the columns above the center of the Galleria, each one represented the discovered nations:









Europe, America, Africa, and Asia. Then we made our way out into the piazza della Scala! We were surrounded by a Spanish diplomatic center where the Spaniards had control of the city, La Scala (!!!), and another diplomatic building. There is a giant statue of Leonardo DaVinci is the center of the piazza!!


Immediately taken from the exit of the Galleria....I believe it's the town hall building.

Then we made our way through the piazza and down several streets. To be honest, I don't know exactly where we were, but it sure was Italian! One really cool thing about Milan is that it has been taken over and then rebuilt so many times that it has a very patchwork kind of look. There are 15th century buildings right next to modern structures! We got to tour this really awesome hotel called Hotel Bostelo. The story goes that the architect had an amazing career and then decided that he wanted to have some fun and made a hotel that looks like Alice in Wonderland! It was awesome.


Cassidy in Wonderland. It's a thing!


The downstairs bar...ritzy and super funky all at once!

We trekked through the fashion district, ogling all the beautiful things, all of which had hidden price tags.... In fact, Roberto said that some of the shops are so expensive and exclusive that you have to call ahead and make an appointment to go shopping. Then they roll out the red carpet and treat you like royalty (Ok, made up that part, but all I can think of is the shopping scene from "Pretty Woman"!). After the fashion district we ended up in the banking district, which is where all of the really beautiful old buildings are. Apparently, they are so expensive that only the banks can afford them! We walked through a piazza that has the statue of Manzoni, the church that he and Verdi attended, and, of course, some really gorgeous banks.


For those who don't know: Manzoni is a famous Italian writer who decided what was to be the language of Italian. Why was this necessary? Well you see, Italy used to be made up of lots of little city states, each with it's own dialect! When Italy started to unify and become a single country they decided that it was time to have a unified language as well. Now which one to pick? There is this famous guy named Dante who wrote the "Divine Comedy." At the time, Dante's work was one of the most well-read pieces of literature; if you were educated, you read Dante's work. Dante used the most musical and beautiful sounding version of Italian, so Manzoni chose this version as the official language of Italy. That is why Italian is still regarded as one of the most beautiful languages of the world, and why it is wonderful for singing opera!! The above photo is a statue made in his honor. The church behind was where Manzoni, in his old age, fell to his death on the stairs. Verdi, being Manzoni's buddy (!!), was so distraught that he composed a requiem for Manzoni and premiered it in that very same church. (Are you getting goosebumps yet? I certainly had them when we were on the tour! I was in the same church as Verdi and Manzoni :D!!!!)

Speaking of Verdi, the window with the blue European flag is where he spent his last days:


Verdi was unusual, he was actually loved and worshipped during his lifetime (unlike DaVinci...). He was beloved by all, but he was a kind of grumpy old man, so when he knew he was dying, he requested that there was no big fuss over his funeral. Thus, his casket was wheeled through the streets of Milan at 2:00am...amidst hundreds, if not thousands of mourners. Yes, they loved him so much that they came out into the streets, in the dead of winter, at 2:00am to watch his funeral procession. Now that is fame!

Anyway, enough geeking out over those dead guys, it's back to the rest of Thursday! After the rest of the tour (I love this city!!), I had some time to go home and spruce up before the aperitivo at Autogrill, which is conveniently located right by the Duomo!




There we were, eating our finger food, sipping wine, and watching the colors of the sunset transform the Duomo. It was magical to say the least!





My CA was telling me later that night, after we had gotten home from the dinner, that "Cassidy, you were so funny!" because I went up to everyone at that event and introduced myself! This was quickly followed by an imitation of "Hi! My name is Cassidy!" in her silliest voice. I do so love Annalisa ;). Suffice it to say, I met many wonderful IESers that night! And I am loving my group of friends here!


Callie (housemate), Senhica, Nicole, and I chillin' in front of the Duomo!

Myself, Nicole, and Lisa enjoying our cena!

After aperitivo, a group of about 20 of us made our way to a giant piazza (yes, I will learn the names! Someday...) where the "young folk" like to hang out!


There were hundreds of people hanging out! Some were sitting on the ground, others were chilling on ancient stone benches that date back to the Romans! It was really cool to see a bit of the younger crowd. We all hung out and chatted for a good long while before my housemates and I decided to call it a night. We hopped on the tram and made our way home.

As I was rereading, I realized that I almost forgot to mention:

LUINI'S!!! Home of the Panzerotti!! Sooo delicious! If you're ever in Milan, go to Luini's. I will give you very easy to follow directions. Also, the gelateria right next store is DELICIOUS.

Ok everyone, I have so, so much more to write about. But for tonight I am all blogged out. La vita 'e dolce!

Buona notte!

Photo Link!

Buongiorno tutti!

Life here is wonderful, but busy! Thankfully my afternoon has freed up so I have a bit of time to update my blog. I would like to invite you all to check out my exciting photos on Facebook:



It is much quicker, and easier, for me to post photos there.

So far we have only had Italian class in the morning from 9-11:30 at the IES Center. We have it Monday - Friday! My teacher is wonderful! She is very clear and has us speaking as often as possible. Today my house mates and I had a meeting with our CA to discuss cleaning schedules, community purchases, and to learn how to make an amazing tuna pasta sauce! OM NOM NOM! Later this afternoon there is a Folk Dance seminar that one of the CAs is putting on. I think I may go try it out....

Ok, one of the biggest things that I will have to get used to are the strikes! We all received an email from IES telling us that today from 6pm on the metro will not be running because the transportation people are on strike! The trains have been on strike since 9am, and will be until 5pm. It's so strange! The last strike I can remember made national news in the US! Here it's an inconvenience, but quite common.

Thursday I have an audition for the IES Music Ensemble, and on Monday I audition for my voice teacher. One of my house mates has been sick so I've been pounding tinctures and cold snaps. No getting sick for this soprano!!

I have taken photos of my apartment:

End of Orientation....

Ciao tutti!

I will be finishing my posts on the last several days soon, but I want to try and keep up on a daily basis for now. Today I woke up at 7:45am to get ready in time for my first Italian class! We took the metro to the Cadorna station and then walk the four blocks to the IES Center. It takes about 20-25 minutes. I have been placed in IT200 along with about 15 others. The teacher is wonderful! She is upbeat and easy to understand. The class is two and a half hours long, five days a week for the first three weeks. Italian intensive indeed! The entire class is spoken in Italian, I've been able to understand everything, but am having a touch of hesitation before speaking. It's exciting to think that soon I will be walking around and speaking Italian with no hesitations!!

After class I went home to Via Tiziano, 18 and took a nice long nap. It was very difficult to wake up in time to go back to the IES Center to go to the post office. All of the students need to apply for Permesso di Soggiorno (Permission to Stay), which is a rather lengthy process. Thankfully I got mine done fairly quickly, now I just have to wait for my date at the police station to give them my fingerprints and such.

Around 3pm, my flat mate Quinning and took the metro to Buonarotti, our stop. We went to the grocery store and stocked up on some food! It was actually pleasantly inexpensive! Yet delicious. My go-to food? Fresh baguette, fresh mozzarella, tomato, and pesto! OM NOM NOM!

By the time Quinning and I returned to the apartment, all of our flat mates were home so we congregated in the kitchen and talked about all the important stuff: Italian classes, shopping, and, of course, guys. It was one of the first times we've had all six of us there (one of the girls was a late arrival, thanks a whole bunch Hurricane Irene!). We gossiped, compared sheet and towel prices, and then I made some coffee. My friend Nicole, from DU, came over, so we could all go shopping for sheets and towels around 5:30. Theresa (my roommate), Nicole, and myself got our act together and went to Zara Home where we met up with another friend, Hannah. It was a lovely store and we all had a great time shopping the sales! We found some wonderful things and had many laughs along the way.

Due to our shopping excursion, we all were in desperate need of food. And pronto! So we went to a place called Pizza OK near Hannah's apartment! P.S. There was a gelato shop right next door! I had una copppetta piccola di Yogurt Greco and a few nibbles of my friends' pizza. Dopo cena, we all went our separate ways and Theresa and I went home to take lovely cold showers and prepare for bed.

As it has been a most excellent, yet tiring week full of activity, I must now say buona notte. It looks like there will be IKEA, sleeping in, and time to finish catching up with my blog tomorrow. I hope that this finds you all living life to the fullest!

Ciao, ciao!

MILANO Part II

MONDAY (continued)

So, where were we? Oh! Dusseldorf, DE. We managed to get on our flight, and one very quick flight later we land in Malpensa airport, right outside of Milan!!! We quickly gathered our luggage (everything made it! Huzzah!), and made our way out to the waiting IES representatives. They were two kind University students doing an internship for IES, to improve their English. They helped us to change some money in Euros (1.6 $ to euro conversion rate) and then buy train tickets for the 30 minute ride into Milano. We arrived at the Cadorna station and somehow managed to wrangle all of our suitcases off of the train! There we met another IES rep (also wanting to improve her English) who helped us find a Bancomat (the Italian ATM) and then put Avery and I in a TINY white taxi! Madison's apartment was just around the corner from the Cadorna station so she walked! Avery and I got the best taxi driver! I told her that I speak Italian, so she continued to ask lots of questions and point out exciting land marks as we made our way to my apartment.


Madison, Avery, and I at the Dusseldorf airport, BEFORE the rain...!!

Upon arriving at Via Tiziano, 18, I hopped out, the driver helped me to unload my two suitcases, and I said "Ciao!" to Avery for the afternoon. She whizzed off in the taxi and I made my way up to the first floor (a.k.a. second floor in Italia) and my apartment with the help of our wonderfully kind doorman. Seeing as I arrived quite a bit earlier than the other girls, I was able to pick my own room! I chose the largest of the doubles (it's a three double, one single apartment) which is equipped with floor to ceiling mirrored closets, two desks, two twin beds, a red area rug, two bedside tables, two bedside lamps, light yellow walls, a glorious fan, and (best of all!) a balcony!! We look down onto Via Tiziano, which can get a bit loud, but there are giant trees that shade us from the hot sun. My CA, Annalisa, is from the southern end of Italy. She says, "You know that Italy is shaped like a boot? I am from the heel of that boot. It's where all the good food is." After giving me a little tour of the apartment, I excused myself for a blissful shower; there is little more enjoyable than cleaning up after a looooooooooong day+ of travel. Annalisa then made lunch for the two of us. My first meal in Italy: pesto pasta with fresh tomatos on the side and glasses of blood orange juice. It was delicious! She and I had some wonderful conversation, mainly in English, I was too tired to even remember my own name in Italian. Afterwards I went ahead and started unpacking, basically doing everything in my power not to fall asleep!


Five of us plus our awesome CA!

Not too long after, another girl arrived! Her name is Qianning and she is from Houston, TX by way of China. She chose the double room across the hall from me. Her mother had accompanied her, so the two of them set into unpacking right away. An hour or so later, three more of the girls showed up! Callie from Portland, Jessie from San Francisco, and my soon-to-be roomie Theresa from Reno. The girls got a little tour, Theresa chose to room with me and the other girls chose to room together. We were still missing one girl, but she didn't show up for another couple of days thanks to the hurricane. Once introductions had been made and everyone had settled in for a little and we had had our apartment safety talk, it was time for a tour around our neighborhood! We all got cellphones at the nearest Vodaphone store, saw where the grocery store is, and then took the metro to the first IES group activity: aperitivo!!!


After aperitivo outside of YGUana!

Aperitivo is this wonderful mix of a buffet and happy hour. Essentially one buys a drink for 7-10 Euro and then has access to the delicious finger food buffet. IES took us all to YGuana, which is down in the Piazza della Vetra area. IES reserved the entire upstairs for us! YGuana has a rainforest theme, so the walls were painted with lions and tigers peeping out of foliage, colorful birds, and an immense amount of green paint. Although exhausted from a long day of traveling, it was so fun to meet my fellow IESers! As well as the 10-15 DU students who are also here this semester!! We all were talking at about a million miles an hour and many a laugh was had. Around 9:30 or 10pm my flat mates and I decided to call it a night and head home. The second my head hit the pillow, I was out. I didn't even move until my alarm went off the next morning!

TUESDAY

A little after 8:00am I was woken up by sun streaming in my window (the alarm helped too ;D), my window in MILANO!!!! We all got ready and then headed out with Annalisa to a cafe' right down the street. We ordered cappuccinos and croissants and ate them under the tent outside. It was wonderful! Then it was off to the Universita Cattolica for IES orientation. We took the metro, as expected, and then walked a ways. The orientation started with pretty usual stuff: immerse yourself into the culture, don't walk around alone at night, etc. We met the staff of IES and learned how they can help us and heard about housing and heard from our CAs. Lunch was served in one of the Universita Cattolica lunchrooms. We had pasta, salad, watermelon, and several other choices. After lunch we had rotating sessions which were about medical services and safety. Then we split into different groups for tours around the Universita Cattolica campus; we have been given student IDs for this university so we can use their facilities (library, coffee shop, etc). Then the tour proceeded to include the IES center where the majority of my classes will be. At this point I was essentially a sheep in the herd and had nooo clue as to where we were! But it sure was cool! With the help of a CA, myself and a few others went to an athletic shop to get swimsuits (I was just along for the ride). It was crazy! It was like an REI on steroids!! My friend Airiel found something and then we headed to our next activity.


Colazione con Callie e Annalisa!


Il Castillo we passed on our way to the swimsuit shop.


The archway to the IES center from the courtyard.

Now comes the best part of Tuesday: the spa. That's right, IES took all of us to a spa in downtown Milan!!! It was amaaaaazing! You walk into a massive stone/marble building and get your robe, towel, locker key, and flip flops from the front desk. Then you walk into the red locker filled dressing rooms, change into a swim suit and then proceed, in your robe, to the main hall. At the end of the main hall there is a giant room in the center of which is a giant table filled with an extravagant assortment of fresh fruit, good food, and beverages. You can then eat to your heart's content while listening to the talented pianist in the corner, or head outside to the pools. There are three pools, each with a different healing power, such as sound waves! And the entire area is surrounded by ancient Roman walls made of red brick! If you don't feel like getting wet there is also the Relaxation Theater. It is a gymnasium sized room that is dark, except for the various soft colored light and projections lighting the different stations. The stations are divided by tall paper walls. There was a giant dome with beds arranged in a circle where one can lay down and watch soothing images make their way across the roof. Or perhaps the fire room which had a fire in the center surrounded by giant square pillows to lounge upon. Or perhaps one may enjoy the nest: a giant round mattress that is under arching iron bars, above which a soothing movie of swimming creatures is playing. Of course there are the music stations where one can plop one's tired butt down in a squishy chair, pop on the headphones which play 10 different genres of music, and stare at the projections of water on the ceiling. I think my favorite though was the Cloud Room. It is an all white room which holds multiple beds on which one lies down and stares at the glorious projections of clouds floating along the walls of the room. Let's say though, that you ARE in the mood to get wet. Then do they have the spot, or rather spots, for you! Downstairs there are over 10 different rooms in which one can find hot tubs, long tubs of hot and icy cold water in which to walk through, foot soaking stations, as well as my other favorite: a waterfall room. The soft rainbow lighting is the perfect setting for the cascades of water that massage any knot one may have. It was wonderful! Once one has finished relaxing away the day's stress it is time to graze the food table once more, then make your way through the locker room showers and hair drying station before making your way back onto the streets of Milan. Overall I'd have to say this is one of the most amazingly relaxing experiences I've EVER HAD.

Making our way home from the spa was quick and easy, and since we were in such a stay of relaxation I quickly dozed off.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY will be in MILANO Part III!! Right now I'm off to IKEA to find a laundry hamper....