conniethai:

Okay, leaving Italy was heartbreaking. I remember sitting on the bus from Milano Centrale to the airport. Chelsea and I were both staring out the window from each side of the bus (we sat on opposite sides) as we waved goodbye to Milan. I looked over at her with tears running down my face and she’s…  

CIAO! Running Wild here, my good friend Connie Thai summed up leaving the most enchanting place in the world I have ever been to so far in my almost 22 years of living… so I decided to reblog her departure post, giving her all the credit. Also, I am confidant that Italy might be one of Gods gifts to our world. I plan on traveling a lot in my lifetime but I can’t stop thinking about how I can get myself back to that country that touched me in so many ways; the people, the old world ambiance, the food, the way of life and the way I seemed to fit into it. I think about it all the time and try and fit little things into my everyday life that I had adapted while being over there. Italy might be a small little country hangin’ out in the Mediterranean sea but it’s impact is huge (at least for me) in such a soft and welcoming and inspiring way. This is a shout out to all the people I gained a liking for and the friendships I hope will blossom until I grow old. So if you read this you guys, you know who you are:)

Until next time,

Chelsea 

So I’ve managed to visit Genoa and Venice and pay for a hotel room in Roma last weekend. I wasn’t physically there because of the train strike….

Very upsetting but we preoccupied ourselves  with other activities in Milano, I don’t want to talk about how upset I am for not going to Rome but lets back track…

Venice was beautiful and everything that I have ever imagined. I rode on a Gondola with Mario the rower and the city looked amazing from the street canals. I snapped so many photos and took in every little detail of the city. 

Unfortunately my camera got broken due to the fact that we went to a soap-sud  party in Genoa but I’ve been using my Iphone to take great pictures for you guys!! I only have a week left and I still want to go to so may other places in Italy but there is so little time… 

I’ve met so many people that have showed me Milan from a different perspective. I got to go on top of a rooftop and have some food and wine right in line with the cathedral top. It was awesome!

The next night we got into a disco called “Just Cavalli” the designer Roberto Cavalli’s club. We had something called “Apperitivo” which is pretty much a buffet of fresh food and its free if you buy a drink. I had such a great time! 

This week we are going to Torino. I can’t wait to see it! I’ll post more details in due time…

Ciao Ciao !! 

I’m not leaving…

Hi pretties, I would just like to recap my first week living in Milano, Italy! I’m staying at Camplus Turro which are really nice hotel-esque dorms. We lucked out with getting a balcony because not everyone got one and a TV which I have been auctioning off to the guys but Connie keeps saying she’ll watch it. She hasn’t, love her, 10/12/89 bebe. 

Milan is amazing. Living in Italy is (corny) a dream come true. The first place we went was around the Duomo which is a huge cathedral in Milan. The picture is under this post. It took over 600 years to build and it is the 4th largest cathedral in the world. Pretty cool, huh? Around the Duomo is some pretty intense high-end shopping but there are also reasonable priced stores as well. The out door cafes are all super cute with excellent food and wine. One thing thats’s a plus is no matter where you turn there is a gelato place. Connie and I love to get lost in the city and just turn down a random side street and take in the character of the city and maybe buy some things during the process. It’s so hard not too, we are in the fashion capital! I have a obsession with the balconies on all the buildings in Milan. The different color stuccos, shutters and rod iron balconies are everywhere and not what I’m used to so I love them. Also, I like but am not used to Cobblestone and vents that are all over the streets and I don’t know how girls don’t ruin those expensive shoes I see left and right. I surely ruined my black Steve Maddens the first night out!

The italian students are that are staying in the dorms were fun to meet and talk to. Most of them know english pretty well and are really nice. One night, I was down stairs with a couple of people from the program and some italian students and we decided to go up and continue drinking wine on our balcony. The next thing I know people are filing in our room along with a DJ that sets up on our desk. The impromptu party was fun while in lasted under the hotel next door called our front desk and we had to shut down. It was crazy, I had never seen a party start that fast in my entire life. 

On Wednesday night we went to a outdoor disco called Old Fashion. It was so much fun! I had never seen a club so big that was outside and they played mostly American music. Our group stuck out like a sore thumb because of how much we were singing but after a couple drinks we didn’t really seem to care about well…anything. 

One thing here in Europe and now Italy is that my “gaydar” is very off. All the men dress to impress with their fitted designer outfits and stylish hair cuts. During the day most of the guys wear what we call “jorts” but they are cuffed and pretty tight fitted. We don’t know who is straight or gay! 

Over the weekend we went to Genoa, it was what I always thought Italy would look like. City below and colorful villages high in the hills above. I took the best pictures and I go to see the Mediterranean for the first time along with hairy pits and boobs…The highlights were swimming in the Mediterranean, my delicious spaghetti dinner, red wine on tap and the Cotton club which was a disco right on the harbor. The disco shot out soap suds on the dance floor which was amusing! 

Last night we went to the canal in Milan which has bars, pubs and restaurants on either side of it. There are bridges where you can get to the other side if you are in the market for bar hopping. We went to a place called Luca and Andrea’s Kitchen. They made amazing drinks and if you bought a drink you got to eat for free. It was delicious! That was one of the best places I had been to in Milan so far, I just love anything by water.

Where I am attending school is at Scienze Politiche Universita Milano. It’s a beautiful yellow stucco campus with a cafe right in the front. Very convenient. We have to be at lecture on most days at 10pm and we take the metro. I have never taken public transportation in my life, I love not having to drive! Italy would not be Italy if one of the main ways of transportation wasn’t vespas, smart cars and the metro! The stop to our campus is called San Babila and we only have lecture for 2 hours given by a different italian professor. The lectures consist of italian film, television, newspaper and culture so far. We have already watched 3 italian films and learned about the neorealism in them. The school part is not bad at all :) I just have a 10 page paper due on Thursday…

On that note, Ciao Ciao and until next time! 

obsession and doing my photography project on these little bursts of architecture 

At the Marc Jacobs Cafe.

Getting the much needed “Cafe” or espresso shot

one of our professor Massimo! 

First night out OH the next time that we went out was our first Friday, we hit Corso Como which is known for fun nightlife and from there we went to a gay bar for our friend Martin. It was an experience and we didn’t stop dancing until 5am, its fine. Who knew?

xo

We got lucky! After sitting in the train station for 6 hours waiting for a train we didn’t know if we were going to make…we did!

What I did: I walked up to some guy that looked like he operated the train and looked really sad and pathetic.  He said some things in french to a lady behind info and they turned our missed train tickets into official tickets for the “full”  via stamping it. Phew. 

We got settled in our train which was Harry Potter style and I loved it. We kept mocking the metro from the previous day, “this is the Piccadilly line, please mind the gap.” I soon came to realization that I was delirious from not sleeping since I arrived in London (thank you time change!) and climbed up to my bunk in the train. Goodnight! I woke up to pyramid-like mountains and I was in awe. The cabin was full now with 6 of us in our bunks but I was the only one awake. I had never seen the alps before and trust me, they are nothing like the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was so happy we made it to Italy and I couldn’t wait to get out in Milan!

The Duomo

We probably deserved it but to be honest with you the ticket machine at Paris Nord Station would not accept Connie’s credit card. Our tickets were paid for we just needed to print them!! We missed our train because everyone spoke french and the canadians we managed to find to help us were 5 minutes too late. Connie tried to see if we could just catch the next train to Milan because the lady at the platform said there would most likely be one in two hours. That was not the case, the next train was full and leaving from another station according the lady at information that I had to go talk to after Connie’s message from her got lost in translation. She told us we could just go over there and hope there is room. We did exactly that but we were really freaked out because the next train with room didn’t leave  Paris until July 5th and we didn’t have a place to stay anymore and our program started the next day and OH we didn’t have phones yet to let our professor know we weren’t arriving that night anymore. Perfect. 

Stop #2 Paris, France. Connie and I literally ran down a street in London in order to make our train on time to Paris. The hostel guy told us that it was going to be a 10 minute walk but it took over 20 minutes (probably because Connie’s duffle bag around her body is equivalent to a 7 year old and my suitcase is from the 1800’s and kept flipping over on the cobblestone, oopie). Anywho, we asked around because we were afraid we got bad directions and I was bitching we should have just took a taxi. The guy was right and all of the sudden I see London St. Pancras pop up. We barely made our train but bookin’ it down the streets of London paid off despite the fact I couldn’t feel my arms. I will never overpack again. 

Culture shock started to set in after all I was hearing was French. I knew a little bit from high school but now I was in the city of romance and love and I didn’t even know what was going on. I didn’t really even care because everything was absolutely beautiful. Connie and I walked Paris for two straight days and here are some pictures to sum it up.

Escargot, very good and it takes like muscles! The green stuff was only the seasoning the snail was black! 

^ The courtyard at Woodstock Hostel. 

^ The frenchest kids I could find.

such an icon and to see it in person…

Didn’t go and see the show but I want to one day!

<3 Bonjour 

It was finally real. I got out of that flippin’ airport and set out on the streets of London. Connie and I were trying to figure out where in the bloody hell our hostel was. It was called Smart Russell Square. We found the street but probably passed the hostel once or twice due to the fact that there was no sign. After check in, we put our stuff in this sauna of a room along with 24 other people. It was early and we had the whole day ahead of us to explore London. We shopped all day at Top Shop, Harrod’s and other places I can’t even remember. We tried a random resturant down a side street that was super cute and had out door seating. We ended up meeting some Mason students at Piccadilly Institute which was a club with at least 3 levels and multiple bars. It was happy hour so we finally got to relax, take in the jet lag and enjoy a cocktail at happy hour. I looked out the window from the third floor and people watched for a good 10 minutes. Connie’s sorority sister that was studying in London took us sight seeing and we got to see Buckingham Palace, Parliament and Big Ben. It was actually really really exciting to see this giant clock tower that you saw in Peter Pan when you were about 5 years old! We went into a pub for a drink so we could get the whole English experience. I soon became obsessed with Europe. I had only been to London but the excitement overtook my jet lag and I was ready for Paris!