Day 7: Gucci Museum, Uffizi Gallery, Hills on Hills on Hills

What's Gucci, everyone? Me, because we went to the Gucci Museum today! The museum had different exhibits on the many works of the Gucci brand. For many of the things in the museum, I hadn't known beforehand that Gucci bag had created them, such as a car, silverware, and golf clubs. My favorite exhibit was one room filled with beautiful gowns. These one of a kind resses were designed by Gucci specifically for certain celebrities to wear on the red carpet, then they were sent to the museum. Some of the celebrities who have worn Gucci dresses are Blake Lively and Jessica Chastain. Other exhibits were dedicated to the famous bamboo bag and the floral prints.

After the Gucci Museum, our tour guide took us to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge, which was beautiful. The grass next to the water was the most vibrant shade of green I had ever seen, and there were cute little pink and white flowers growing by the water as well. There were even some people on boats in the river.

For lunch, some of the girls and I went in search of a specific sandwich place, All'Antico Vinaio, which had been suggested by at least 3 people. When we finally found it, the line was out the door and down the street. There were actually 2 different venues on the same street, which we figured was because it was so good and so popular. I got a sandwich called The Summer, which had bacon, lettuce, tomato, and cheese and it was one of the greatest things I’ve ever eaten. The sandwich was HUGE, it was the size of my head. And the bread was good and crusty too, which I really liked.

After lunch, we met up with our whole group again to go to the Uffizi Gallery, which holds the largest collection of Italian Renaissance Art. We got to see the paintings of the Madonna and child, the birth of Venus, and the Immaculate Conception, the childhood masterpiece of Leonardo da Vinci. We also saw a few sculptures by and inspired by Michaelangelo. I think this is one of my favorite musuems we’ve been to, because it was really cool to see all the Renaissance art in the city where it all began.

After finishing up in the Uffizi Gallery, we had the rest of the day free. A bunch of us decided to walk up to a former fort that protected the city. It was a long walk uphill, but we eventually made it. The view was breathtaking; you could see almost the entire city. The only problem was that the trees in front had grown too tall so they blocked off a portion of the view. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful sight. Then, because we just love to walk up hills, we walked along uphill roads and sidewalks to get to am even higher point, which had a big statue of David. This view was so much better than the first, because the trees were cut so you could see everything: the Arno River, the Duomo, the Medici Palace, the mountains in the distance, each little building in the city. It was a truly spectacular view and I couldn't help but just stare. No picture I took could fully capture the beauty of it. It was definitely worth the walk up and down.

Day 6: First Day in Florence

Today was our first day in Florence! We hopped on a train to get there. My first impression of it was that it was a lot more tourist-y than Milan was. It was really crowded and there was always someone trying to sell you something. Walking to our hotel was miserable, because it was down pouring. I swear, the rain follows us whenever we go outside, because when we were on the train, there was no rain. As soon as we got off the train, it started to rain. And once we were inside our hotel, the rain stopped.

Anyways, we dropped off our luggage in our rooms then headed out for a walking tour of the city. It was raining the whole time, so our tour guide made out so we were inside for most of the tour. Our first stop was Florence's Duomo, where we could only walk in specially roped areas to preserve the marble in the middle of the building. The dome was the most beautiful part of the building, because it was completely covered in paintings like the Sistine Chapel, known as a fresco. There were scenes of angels, saints, and Jesus Christ. The walls were covered in beautiful frescos of saints as well.

After the Duomo, our tour guide took us to the Florentine Leather School, which I think is one of the coolest places we've been so far. We got to watch artisans and students cut and style different types of leather into bags, wallets, belts, etc. The types of leather used included cow, deer, ostrich, lamb, crocodile, and python. But the coolest part was watching one of the artisans, Francesco, put gold designs on leather by engraving them with heat stamps. He put a very thin, delicate piece of 22 carat gold foil on a leather coaster, then imprinted designs on it with stamps that were heated by fire. When he removed the excess gold, the design remained and it looked amazing. After our tour of the leather school finished, we all excitedly went to the gift shop to get leather goods to take home, which Francesco engraved for free. I got presents for my family members here. Then we got dinner at a small restaurant, where I had gnocchi (my third time having it, because it's so good).

After dinner, a group of us went out to explore the night life in Florence. We went to a karaoke bar where we totally rocked, and by "rocked" I mean "completely butchered," Thrift Shop. Then, after we left the club, the unthinkable happened: one of us got their pone pickpocketed. Said person realized it right away and we tried to get it back for a few minutes, but we soon realized that it would be a fruitless effort and we decided to walk away. We all got back to the hotel safely but we were all shook up. It's funny, you never think that something will happen to you but then it does and you can't believe it. I'm definitely holding my purse a little tighter from now on.

Day 5: Fashion and Costume Museum and Shopping in the City

Today we went to the Fashion and Costume in Milan. The rooms were absolutely stunning. The walls and ceilings were completely covered in paintings of people and landscapes. Although, I don't really understand why it was called the Fashion and Costume Museum because there were only like 3 outfits on display. We were told that the clothes couldn't be kept out for long periods of time because they would get damanged and lose their shape. One of the clothing displays was typical women's wear from back in the day. The dress covered the body from head to toe and looked very tight and restricting. It was interesting to see how modest the women of the olden days had to be.

After the museum, we went to Ermegildo Zegna, a menswear store and tailor. The manager, when asked about the company, said “We used to sell wool. Now we sell lifestyles.” He walked us through the 4 levels of te store, where you could buy and customize anything from a shirt, jacket, pants, belt, shoes, tie, and more. You could choose the fabric, color, pattern, cut, fit, and buttons. One multicolored leather jacket on display cost 7000 euros! It seemed crazy that someone would buy that. The manager told us that the company utilized vertical integration, meaning that they own every step of the process. This typically adds to the profits of a company because they don't have to go another company to do some of the work.

After the visit to the tailor, we had lunch at the UNA Hotel Restaurant. We all had two courses. I had lasagna and grilled beef. The beef was probably the most American thing I've had since I arrived in Italy; it even came with fries on the side. After lunch, we were supposed to hear a lecture about business customs in Italy from a manager at the Italian Chamber of Commerce, but he got sick and cancelled, so we had the rest of the day to ourselves! Some of the girls and I decided to use this time to shop. We went to a bunch of outlet shops in the streets near the Duomo. I bought two shirts and a necklace for myself. For dinner, we went to a restaurant near the Duomo where I had delicious bruchetta.

Day 4: Rainy Day in Como

It was harder to get out of bed today for two reasons: one, it was raining, and two, we had to get up a little earlier than usual because we were traveling to another town. We took a train to Como, a small town outside Milan, for our first company visit to the Como Textile Lab Center. They specialize in supplying services for the support and development of textiles. They can perform over 350 tests in technology, physical qualities, mechanics, flammability, chemical properties, and dyes. We watched a multitude of videos of the machines performing the tests. The company has over 450 active clients at the moment, many within the Como area, since it has a very large textile industry, silk in particular due to the abundance of mulberry leaves, which silkworms feed on.. The company was basically created to allow other companies to find out the quality of their textiles and learn how to make them better. The even have their own trademark, Seri.co, that guarantees the silk products to safe, high quality, sustainable, and made in Italy.

One very interesting thing that Como has developed is a machine to electronically inspect silk. Usually, silk is inspected manually by someone who loops the silk around a board and inspects the strand for impurities like knots, tangles, and splits. But with the machine, the silk can be inspected by sensors that find impurities electronically. This is much more efficient than doing it by hand because a person can only inspect 10 bundles of silk a day, whereas the machine does 12 an hour. Overall, it was cool to see the machines used by the Textile Center to inspect the quality of the textiles and how they can even create a new machine to be more efficient.

After our visit to the Lab, all of us went to lunch together at Numeronove, a local pizzeria. The name translates to "Number Nine," which refers to the business being in the family for nine generations. The owner was so nice and so excited to have us. He looked up Pitt on Google after we told him we all studied there. For lunch, I chose to have the lasagna, which was delicious. Everyone else got different kinds of pizza, which I also happily tasted. For desset, I had the most delicious creme brulee.

After lunch, we had a short tour of Como. Our first stop was the lake, where we all got on a boat to see all the villas on the lake. It was a little hard to see though, because the windows on the boat were covered in water from the rain, but it was still beautiful. Sadly, George Clooney's was too far out for us to see. We also unfortunately couldn't see the Alps, because the fog was too dense. After that, we saw yet another cathedral, this one with pagan and Christian gods on the outside. The funniest thing about this cathedral is that the bell tower has random holes all over it. Old buildings have holes due to scaffolding, but the architect who built the tower didn't know that but was trying to mimic the aesthetic, so he they just put holes in random places.

We would've toured Como for a little longer, but it was still raining so we had to cut the tour short. In our spare time, we all went shopping. many people bought silk ties, a staple of the area. After shopping, we traveled back to Milan. Once we got back to the hotel, some friends and I ate dinner in the hotel restaurant, then we all went to a club with the Italian college students we had met the night before for a fun night out.

Day 3: Leonardo Da Vinci Museum and Meeting Local College Students

Today was a little different from the others so far, because we basically had our while schedule pre planned (Not a complaint, just a description). We started off by going to the Leonardo Da Vinci Science and Technology Museum. The museum showcased many of the ideas and inventions of Da Vinci by displaying blown up pictures and diagrams from his notebook and then displaying the replicated models next to them. It was crazy seeing how much Da Vinci accomplished in is lifetime. I couldn't even imagine being so talented that I could excel in multiple fields like he did. His contributions to society have applications in the arts, botany, anatomy, mechanics, and engineering. He did so much that the museum couldn't fit all the models into one area; the museum stretched over multiple buildings. I think my favorite exhibit was the building with the ships and planes. Since I will be joining the Navy after college, it was cool to see where the technologies I will one day be working with got their start.

After a few hours at the museum, we had lunch and a restaurant called Bebel. The food was almost overwhelming, because we didn't realize what was considered an appetizer and an entree. We ate two different kinds of pizza (shrimp and veggie), octopus, shrimp and cantaloupe salad, and risotto with pumpkin leaves. The pizza was actually an appetizer! After I finished my meal, I tried my first cappuccino. My first taste was a little too bitter so I ended up added a packet of sugar to it (like the American I am).

After lunch, we were given a tour of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, the largest Catholic university in Europe. Our tour guide, Gloria, started off by talking the statistics of the university. Average tuition is a little less that 7 thousand euros, and textbooks only cost around 20 euros! Then we walked through the beautiful courtyard in the heart of campus. The grass was so green because nobody is allowed to step on the grass. The way tat students are deterred from stepping on it is that it is believed that stepping on te grass brings ad luck. The only time the are allowed to step of the grass is on graduation day. We also got a glimpse of te largest classroom on campus, which looked more like a UN meeting room because of the desks rising high above the front with multiple people sitting at a table in the front. Also, the girls were allowed to explore a literal "girls only" courtyard/garden, where boys would get kicked out by campus police if they were found there.

After the tour of the campus finished, we met up with actual students of the university to talk and mingle. We ate dinner together at a buffet style restaurant, where I loaded up my plate with carbs. Most of the students were upperclassmen and we exchanged conversation about our lives in the different countries and what our impressions were of the other country. One guy said that when he thinks of America, the first thing he thinks of is skyscrapers. It was very interesting to learn about life for college kids in other countries and get a primary source for the day of a young adult in Italy.

Day 2: Crash Course Entertainment and Walking Tour

We started today with breakfast at the hotel, which was quite different than a typical American breakfast. There were a variety of pastries, cold cuts, cheeses, and even a Nutella dispenser. After breakfast, the whole group participated in a Italian crash course session with a professional actress. We learned a lot of key Italian words and phrases, such as asking simple questions and counting to 20. Many of the ways we learned the language were through little games that forced us to repeat the words until we pronounced them correctly. It was a great experience and a fun way to be introduced to the Italian language.

After the crash course, we went out on our own for lunch. A group of girls and I went to a cute little café near our hotel. I ordered a caprese salad, which consists of lettuce, tomato slices, and mozzarella cheese. I covered it in balsamic dressing and olive oil and it was really good, but the portion was way too big so I couldn't finish it.

After lunch, we met back at the hotel to go on a walking tour of the city. Our first stop was the famous Duomo cathedral, which was absolutely breathtaking. It was almost surreal seeing it at first, because we walked up from our subway stop and the cathedral was literally right there. Our tour guide walked us through the inside of the cathedral. Even though there were many different styles of architecture present in the cathedral, it all came together beautifully. Everything was built with symbolism in mind. For example, there are 52 columns in the cathedral to represent the 52 weeks of the year. And around each column, there were 8 statues of saints to represent the number of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who the Duomo is dedicated to. The walls were also adorned with beautiful stained glass windows. The tour guide explained that the light passed through some of the windows differently because when the windows had to be replaced, they used regular glass that they painted, rather than real stained glass. On a similar note, the cathedral is constantly undergoing renovations, and some of the bricks and marbles were significantly more white in color than the rest. This is because they were recently replaced and hadn't yet been grayed by time. But I think the most memorable part of the cathedral was a statue of a guy who skinned himself alive and then wore the skin like a robe.

After the Duomo, we walked through the Galleria. It almost felt more like a museum than a shopping center, because all the stores were expensive brands that I felt like I couldn't even afford to go in them! After that, our tour guide took us to one of her favorite stores, a specialty boutique that and made all of their products with crocodile leather. They had everything from purses, wallets, and belts to even shoes, baseball caps, and cell phone cases. We were all amazed to learn that everything cost at least a few thousand euros. One jacket that we were allowed to try on cost over 30k euros, which is the equivalent of one year college tuition!

After going to a few more shops, our last stop was an enormous castle/fort. Like the Duomo, the castle had a mix of different kinds of architecture. Two of the towers were circular and the other two were rectangular. This is because after the two circular towers were built, cannons and gunpowder became commonplace, so the rectangular towers were built to provide better protection from the cannon's shots. The castle was even surrounded by a moat, although it was more like a valley of grass than a surrounding of water. Overall, it was a great tour and I learned a lot.

After the tour ended, a group of girls and I decided to stay in the area for dinner, which turned out to be the best decision ever. We found an amazing restaurant called Obicà. They gave us all fresh bread and mozzarella balls covered in balsamic to start. I ordered potato gnocchi in a walnut cream sauce and it was the best thing I've ever eaten. Others ordered pizza that was also really good. As we headed back to the hotel, we ended the night by listening to a street performer. It was the perfect end to a great day.

Day 1: Traveling and Exploring the City

After a day of traveling, we finally arrived in Milan! We departed from Pittsburgh International Airport and arrived in Newark, where we had a 3 hour layover. From there, we embarked on an 8 hour flight to Milan-Malpensa Airport. The plane ride wasn't too bad, it was just hard to find a comfortable sleeping position.

We arrived in Italy at 8am local time, whereas it was 2am back in the States. I thought I was gonna be super jetlagged because of the six hour time difference, but I was wide awake, probably because I was excited to be in Italy! After we got our luggage, we were met by our study abroad program directors, Diego and Luca, who escorted us to the hotel. On our bus ride to the hotel, I eagerly stared out the window to take in as much as I could. One funny thing that happened is that I forgot that almost every country aside from the US uses the metric system, so when I saw a speed limit sign that said "90" I was really confused and a bit concerned for a second lol.

We got to the hotel around 10, but we couldn't check in til 3pm, so we dropped off our luggage and then Luca gave us a short walking tour of the neighborhood around the hotel. First he took us to the ATM to get Euros. Then we walked through a nearby park, popular for walking dogs, jogging, picnicking, or just relaxing. There was even a carousel and bumper cars for little kids to play on. As we walked through the park, Luca pointed out the Gucci house, where Mr. Gucci, head of the world famous fashion line, was murdered by a hitman. The hitman had been hired by Mr. Gucci's ex wife, who wasn't taking the divorce very well. She is currently doing time in prison for this crime.

After the short stroll through the neighborhood, most of us went back to the hotel to eat lunch. Many of us chose to get a glass of wine with our meals, which we learned was very common in Italy and part of the experience. For lunch, I had a Margarita pizza and it was delicious. Then, we all went back to the room where we had put our luggage for a "Welcome" presentation from Diego and Luca. They talked to us about all the places we were going to visit over the next couple of weeks and what we were going to see. They also touched upon things we had to be aware of while we were in Italy, such as protecting ourselves from pickpocketers and being smart with alcohol consumption. It was important to have all of this, because the last thing any of us want is to have someone be caught in a bad situation.

After the meeting, we could finally check into our rooms. We were all so relieved, because the jetlag had caught up to us and we all wanted to shower and nap before dinner. I had originally planned to nap for only 20 minutes, but it quickly turned into an hour long nap (whoops). I would've slept through dinner if it wasn't for my roommate who woke me up just in time for me to put on my shoes and meet everyone else downstairs. Diego and Luca took us to a quaint little restaurant, where they had already pre ordered all our meals. I'm grateful that they did, because I was still a little overwhelmed by everything that I wouldn't have been able to decide on what to get. Our appetizer was literally a plate of four different kinds of meat, which took me by surprise, but Diego assured us that this was not the norm for all restaurants. Our entree was two different kinds of pasta, both of which were very good. For desert, we had vanilla ice cream with strawberries, and maybe I was just psyching myself out because I was in a foreign country, but I think it was the best vanilla ice cream I've ever had.

After dinner, some people went back to the hotel to turn for the night, but a group of us went exploring in the city. The first few streets were almost deserted, but the shopping center we walked through was full of bustling people. We walked around to check out the shops and bars in the area, and a few of us even got gelato. Then, we started to make our way back to the hotel. We may have made a few circles trying to navigate through the streets, but we eventually made it to our hotel, safe and sound. Overall, it was a great first day in Italy, and I can't wait to see what else is in store.