I Live A Hard Life

Hi hi hi!

So the last I left off, I was on a bit of a personal high due to all the love I had just been showered with from Flaca and Vincenzo. As I said, the two of them are angels…little wonders that came into my life and have made my experience here in Milan an infinitely better one. Undoubtedly, I went to sleep knowing that I’d wake up in a good mood.

Tuesday 03/09: If any of you recall, Tuesdays are my favorite days of the week. Mornings are open for sleeping in, getting work done, having a leisurely breakfast, and all that good stuff in between. It was an especially good day for a Tuesday because it was snowing. Yes, snowing. We just had gorgeous sunshine and now snow. Milan you make no sense sometimes.

Anyway, I had lounged the good portion of the morning until I realized that I needed to get myself up and ready to meet my friend Katie. For those that read my last post, Katie is the girl I met on the plane to and from Amsterdam. We met, fell in like with each other, and decided traveling plans were in need of making. So we aimed for this weekend and before you know it, we were trying to plan a trip to Genoa, Florence, Pisa, and a little town called Lucca, which she has exclaimed was her favorite little town in Italy.

I met up with Katie at the Duomo and we found a cute little café to sit and discuss our plans for the weekend. We came up with this little itinerary: Friday morning head out to Genoa then leave early evening to get to Florence. Dinner in Florence followed by all Saturday in the gorgeous city. Sunday morning we pack up, head to Lucca for lunch and walking around before leaving for Pisa for some pictures with the Leaning Tower. And then it is right back to Milan. Being the organized peops that we are, we put together all the train times and agreed to meet the following day to purchase tickets.

I left her and made my way to class, only to be bored out of my mind, per usual. I don’t know what it is about Bocconi but the classes have this tendency to make you want to bash your head into the table. The teachers ramble in their so-so English and tend to go off on tangents, often leading me to contemplate self-strangulation in the back of the room.

Once class had ended, I finished up a bit of work and then made my way back to the apartment. I took a quick nap and then ran to La Standa for a few things to make some dinner with. See I had originally been invited to an aperitivo in celebration of my birthday with Stefano and his friend, Gianmarco. When I called to confirm the timing, Gianmarco broke the bad news that Stefano had arrangements now to watch the soccer game. Apparently, soccer is a lot cooler than birthdays. So he said that we would have to reschedule. I wasn’t crying over it. Downtown sounded nice right about now.

The rest of the night was spent…in a not so wonderful situation. Long story that I’ll refrain from sharing. But in life shit arises and we must deal with it, right? I reminded myself that the morning would present itself with a new day.

Wednesday 03/10: Just a regular Wednesday with Comparative Business Law at 10:30 am and then Organizational Networks and Entrepreneurship at 12:30 pm. After classes were over, Max invited me to have lunch with him, David, and a few of their friends. The two girls were freshman and from out of the country but attending the school full time. Then there was this French guy, who apparently remembered seeing me every time I take the 15 Tram. He said that he always remembered seeing my “sparkling blue eyes.” Classically French comment. Before I knew it an hour or so had passed and I needed to head home. I sort of forgot this thing called my wallet and thus hadn’t been able to buy lunch. I was ravenous and needed food pronto.

When I got home, I whipped up a little lunch. As soon as I was finished, it was onto dealing with apartment issues. For those who are just joining (shame because you should have caught up by now!), my apartment set up is a rather interesting one. We essentially rent a small part of the flat that our landlord lives in. She owns the entire 7th floor of a building and her place spans the distance of the complex. Because we are technically living in her house, there are only doors that separate our living spaces. We have a knocking system to communicate back and forth between our “units.” Well on this particular day, Anna (the landlady) had shoved a note under the door to tell us rent was due. Along with the rent breakdown, she also included the couple other expenditures we have to pay for, one of which is for her maid, Suzanna. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to have a maid but wouldn’t you think that if you were paying for a maid she would clean? Yeah not in Italy…or at least not in our Italian living situation Suazanna does nothing. Stick a Swiffer in her hand for five minutes and bam, that’s the extent of her work. Our bill was 90 Euro. 90 Euro for swiffer sweeping? I don’t think so. Ava was not pleased by any means because we had originally been under the impression that Suzanna was included in the additional 100 we pay each month. Guess that was a false illusion.

I was nominated the handler of the situation because Ana only speaks a bit of English but not the best. I’ve been working on my Italian enough that she and I could converse clearly over the issue. By the end of it all, we had managed to get a number of things figured out. Phew.

After those fun times, I ran a few errands before deciding that my hair needed to be a smidge shorter. You all know how picky I am about my hair and if it’s a little too long, you know I am going to get it fixed. I walked over to the salon (no longer than a 10 minute walk) to see my newly beloved stylist, Mirko. He was a doll about it and told me that he thought it could use a little something “extra” as well, so I let him go to work. Hair looks great.

I ran home quickly to get changed and ready for dinner. I had plans with my Portuguese girlies. They had wanted to celebrate my birthday at some point and sushi was the pick of cuisine. Alex, their Greek roommate, had actually never eaten sushi before. As you can imagine, it was a bigger night for her than it was for me. We met up at a nice little restaurant near the Duomo at which I had booked reservations. The food delivered well and Alex was sufficiently satisfied with her first affair with sushi. If her relationship with it is anything like mine, she’s bound to fall pretty hard.

The night only got better with the surprise of a birthday present. Being the incredibly thoughtful girls that they are, they had gone shopping early in the day to find something I’d like. I was too excited and so flattered that they deemed it necessary to buy me a birthday present. This was the first one I received!!! The present was a total success and I loved the perfectly wearable black clutch they picked out.

The night wouldn’t have been an A+ unless we topped it off with some gelato. We made our way from the Duomo down to Porta Ticenese where one of my favorite homemade gelaterias is located. The girls, who had both eaten gelato earlier on in the day, opted for hot crepes filled with Nutella. Gelato was my pick, obviously.

We hugged and kissed goodbye before I made my way down the side streets to find home. I climbed up the steps, hopped inside, immediately changed my clothes, and sunk right into bed. These eyes were tired and dreamland was calling my name.

Thursday 03/11: This morning we had our joyous last Permit of Stay meeting. Ava, Blakeney, and I got up early and headed to the police station only to find out that our paperwork wasn’t ready yet. Another great move by the Italian Police station…NOT!

The girls came home and got right back into bed. I ate breakfast and worked on my computer until I found myself with heavy eyelids and opted for my cozy makeshift couch bed. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep and waking up past class time. Oops! We can’t be perfect now can we? I did, however, make my Business Law Class, but not before heading to the train station with Katie to buy our tickets for the weekend.

After class, I walked to the nearest grocery store from Bocconi to pick up a few things that I might need for the apartment when I got home. Grocery stores are usually closed on Sundays so I needed to think ahead of schedule. Once that was taken care of, I was in need of packing.

I finished getting things done, showered, and climbed into bed just as the girls were making their way out to the clubs. Mind you it was 1 AM. Best part? Around 5:45 AM the girls roll in. I had scheduled to get up at 6 AM so I considered them the perfect alarm clock.

Friday 03/12: So the girls come in and manage to help wake me up. From then on it was prepping to get out of the apartment and make it to my train on time. I still had some last minute packing and cleaning up to do before I left but it was of no issue. I grabbed a quick bite to eat before bouncing out the door and making my way to Centrale to meet Katie.

While on the subway, I come to find out that there will be a public transportation strike within the next hour. Really Milan? Why do you need to have a public transport strike? Oh that’s right, you don’t. Luckily for us, our train was leaving right before the expected commencement of such shenanigans. Guess you reap benefits from waking up at the crack of dawn

Our first destination was Genoa, a beautiful port city on the coast of Western Italy. For those of you who know and love Italian food, the beloved Pesto Genovese comes from this wonderful little city. You can bet I was on a search for the best pesto I could find.

When we arrived to Genoa, the sun was shining and skies were blue. There had been word that rainy skies might be overhead but apparently the weatherman changed up his mind and decided to grant us with beautiful weather. It was one of those absolutely perfect days for walking around and so that’s exactly what we did. Genoa is made up of two major parts to the city: The New Town and the Old Town. The Old Town is reminiscent of classic Italy: splashes of bright colors on walls, cobblestones and epic mazes of tiny streets. I loved it. The New Town has a little more going on, with bigger streets, tons of shopping, large fountains, and impressive buildings. The two balanced each other well.

But as I said, Genoa is a port city and it features a magnificent little harbor. Katie and I were most excited about seeing the water for the first time since entering Italy so we aimed for finding it ASAP. Once we did, contentment sank in. We had been walking around for a few hours by now and were starving so we set out on a hunt for pesto finding. Unfortunately, we couldn’t seem to find any delicious looking restaurants near the water. That was, until we met a group of fisherman. I had asked one of them to take a picture of us, which turned into one of them taking a picture of us with the rest of them. After doing our epic photo shoot, I picked the man’s brain about restaurants. His first attempt at a recommendation was a place just around the corner. I asked him if it was really good. He said it was “okay.” I clarified my request. In Italian I said, “Sir, we don’t want so-so food…we want downright, classic Genovese food and we aren’t having anything else.” He got the point and suggested his favorite restaurant just a few streets away. He told us that we MUST order the Trofie di Pesto. Katie and I were in.

We found ourselves in front of a tightly tucked restaurant hidden behind larger streets and bigger buildings. We walked in and within seconds had fallen in love with its quaint, classic feel. We were seated immediately and the next thing we know, there is a giant blackboard on our table with a menu written in Genovese dialect. Reading was a problem. One of the waiters recognized that we were American and quickly came to assist. He spoke to us in English but I’ve made it a vow to speak as much Italian as possible so I responded in his language. We chatted back and forth only to find out that the restaurant is actually one of the best in the city and has been written about in World Traveler Magazine. Our waiter was part-time owner with his father and proudly presented us with the latest edition of World Traveler to show us the feature on the restaurant. The article was greatly written and described the restaurant just as it was. Perfect.

As instructed, we ordered the Trofie di Pesto. It. Was. Heaven. I can say with all honesty that I have never in my life tasted better pesto. The flavor, the consistency, the everything about it matched my expectations and succeeded them. The pasta was homemade and bursting with flavor and I could do nothing but sit in silence.

After lunch, Katie and I had wanted to visit the old lighthouse on the very opposite side of the port. It took us about 45 minutes to walk there but the weather outside was so beautiful and the wind against our faces was so pleasant that time was of a distant thought.

The lighthouse was set atop a steep little hill that overlooked the ocean. Once we reached the top, we just sat, gazing out onto sparkling waters and golden beams of light dancing along the rippling waves. It was a slap in the face of fresh ocean breeze. That fresh, body-consuming scent is unlike any other. It immediately reminded me of home. Days at our summer beach house, sitting on the upstairs porch while downstairs Mom and Lyn were defining what being it means to be a good cook. I missed home in that moment.

Katie and I ventured back to the train station but not before grabbing some gelato for the road. I’ve decided that you can’t go to any Italian city without eating gelato otherwise you might as well be breaking Italian law.

The train was absolutely disgusting. The seats were dripping with memories of dirty people who had sat in them before me. I refused to lean my head back. Not to mention there were these two kids in our car that kept jumping around and kicking their feet all over the place. To avoid the disgust of this sweat stained car and the rambunctious behavior of child 1 and child 2, I popped up my hood and dosed off.

Before I knew it, we were getting close to our second destination: Florence. That’s right, the classic city of Firenze. It had been ages since I had been my first time so I was more than excited to have the opportunity to revel in its beauty once more.

When we arrived to the train station, Katie and I immediately jumped off and attempted to find our hotel. Katie, being so brilliant and on top of things as she was, booked a hotel 5 minutes walking distance from the station. It makes a hell of a lot more sense to be right near a train station when you have early morning train rides, as we did.

We managed to roam around a little before looking up to the pleasant surprise of our hotel sign. When we came to the front desk to check in, it seemed as if our reservation had never been faxed to the hotel by our booking website. Uh oh. There were no more double rooms with a shared bathroom. Luckily, the woman was very helpful and offered to give us a double bedroom with a private bathroom for the same price. Umm, yeah I will happily take my own shower and toilet over the one I’d be using with the ponytail-wearing, wife beater sporting, hairy-chested guy who was down the hall.

In addition to the crazy room situation, I come to find out that this woman happens to know a girl at Bocconi. The conversation had been brought up because she asked for our reason of visit to Florence. I explained that we were American students studying in Milan at Bocconi. With a flood of excitement she asked if I knew a girl named Denise Gonzales. Well yes, yes I do. Denise and I had been in the same crash language course and she had met my buddy Joe at some point during her time in Milan. Turns out that this woman is like her grandma and has known Denise’s parents since they were children. I swear it is such a small world.

We checked into our room and threw our stuff down before turning right back around to find dinner. One of my closest family friends, Chelsea, studied in Florence in the fall of last year. She has highly recommended a restaurant by the name of Il Gatto E La Volpe. When I had picked her brain about what her perfect day in the city would be like, Il Gatto was included. I imagined it had to be pretty good then. Katie also knew a guy named Dan who was studying in Florence this semester and had also suggested we go to Il Gatto. So it was settled, we were going.

We made our way through the streets of Florence, crossing the path of the Duomo as we did, to stumble across a filled restaurant. We were seated right next to a giant group of college students, who…let’s just say were having quite a good time.

The vibe of the restaurant was homey and comfortable with friendly waiters and delicious smelling food. We had been demanded by both Chelsea and Dan to order the buffalo mozzarella appetizer and to pretty much drink spoonfuls of their homemade balsamic vinegar. I followed directions. The mozzarella ball was the size of a baseball but that didn’t stop Katie and I from going to town. The soft, perfectly milky consistency paired with fresh cherry tomatoes, homemade baked bread, and unreal balsamic made for an epically delicious starter. I wasn’t even sure that dinner could top it. Oh was I wrong.

The menu was a bit overwhelming with too many things to pick from. Sometimes you just need a few less options and it makes life a little easier to pick that perfect dish. All the pastas looked good but seeing I had just eaten pasta for lunch, it wasn’t exactly calling out to me. Chicken, on the other hand, was. The dinner was incredible and I ate every last bite on my plate, using bread to soak up the last of the sauce.

While the food had been excellent, it was the company that really made the night so much fun. As I said, there was a rowdy group of boys (with a few girls) celebrating someone’s birthday. I got to talking with one of the guys and ended up making friends with the table. The table was, well, hammered and it was hilarious to hear them go on ranting about God knows what. When it came time for cake, they were singing at the top of their lungs and clinking to what was probably their 10th glass of wine. Oh and I cant forget the limoncello shots that followed after. They offered me one but I handed it to Katie and told her to go for out.

Perfectly content, Katie and I made our way back to the hotel. I showered and climbed into bed, exhausted from the day and anxious for tomorrow.

Saturday 03/13: The morning started with the warming sound of my alarm clock. Joy. I was up and ready to go in no time, though, because…well…I was in Florence, duh! Katie and I got ready to go and headed out to have some breakfast. Correction: to have what was supposed to be breakfast. Apparently a “Continental Breakfast” at this hotel means tea and really crispy bread and that was all. If you know me well, you know I was dying. So I opted for a quick stop into the grocery store to grab 2 yogurts, a banana, and an apple. I ate them all immediately.

From there, Katie and I had planned on going to L’Academia to see the David. He apparently received a bath 2 years ago and was looking squeaky clean for our arrival. Too bad we found ourselves majorly distracted by a street market and took a little detour in our day itinerary. It was a danger zone but we entered at our own risk.

The street fairs in Florence are what I remember so vividly about my first experience there. Tons of little stands lined with everything from a rainbow of colored pashminas to fine Italian leather. Men and women call out to you in hopes of snagging your attention and making, what to them, is a precious sale. You hear the countless, “Ciao Bella!” I have something for you” and the “I will give you something almost for free” but the trick is to be savvy with your negotiating skills and never give in too quickly.

Our hunt for treasure started when Katie realized that she had forgotten her sunglasses at the hotel. It was an absolutely gorgeous day seeing that Mr. Sun had so kindly graced us with his presence. I’m always excited to see him. As you can imagine, a pair of sunglasses were a thing of need…or so we convinced ourselves. I had been dying to get a pair of classic dark aviators so I was down to do a little 2-for-a-better-rate deal. We found a little stand, tried on a few pairs, and both found “the pair.” The man tried to ask for 8 each and I said 5 each. He said 7 each. I said 5 each. He said 6 each. I said 5 each. We got them for 5 each. I should’ve started with 4 Euro but hey, beggars can’t be choosy.

From the sunglass stand, I was immediately drawn to a colorful array of scarves beautifully draped on a nearby stand. I always recall coming to Italy and watching my mom stock up on interesting new colors of pashminas. She says, “You can never have enough!” I couldn’t agree more. I pretty much wanted to buy all the colors I didn’t own but refrained from being crazy and only purchased one. It was tough but I did it. Dutch blue was my choice. Perfectly suitable for someone with blue eyes. Katie found a gorgeous salmon color that made her cheeks popped. It was a no brainer.

As we left the cute woman who had sold us our scarves, I turned around to discover Il Mercato Central. Chelsea had told me ALL about it and said it was a “must see” during my day in Florence. It’s an indoor market that is filled with numerous food vendors. You have the fish guys, the butchers, the poultry people, the produce experts, the olive oil and vinegar specialists, and my favorite, the dried fruit and nut stop. Chelsea had mentioned there was an old man with longish grey hair that had EVERY dried fruit you could possible think of. When she shared that tidbit of information, I was adamant, and I mean adamant, about finding him. She had told me I could find his little booth upstairs but when I went into the market, the upstairs was closed!!! I was nervous but hadn’t given up hope. I walked around the entire first floor. During my tour of this enchanting market, I came across a funny old fisherman who was working at one of the fish booths. I wanted to take a picture of his stand and before I know it, he has a crab in his hand and is posing for the picture. It was hands down the best photo shoot ever. We continued to walk around for a good hour but still no sign of my man. Just as I was just getting to that point of discouragement, I see an old man, grey hair, surrounded by colors of dried fruit and browns of freshly shelled nuts. Heaven here I come.

The man was adorable and I explained to him how I had heard about his products. He was delighted! He let me try all the fruit I wanted and then proceeded to fill up little bags with all my likings. Sour cherries, fresh cranberries, sweet raspberries, organic strawberries, soft apricots, yummy white peach and pear, and a handful of blueberries. All dried and all perfectly delicious. I ended up spending a whopping 12 Euro on all that dried fruit but I voted it the most worthwhile purchase since arriving in Europe.

Katie and I left the market feeling quite content about our recent purchases. We passed a few product-adorned tents before being confronted by a rather loud and in-your-face Italian man. He was selling leather and grabbed our attention by yelling, “Hey baby! Get that blonde hair over here! You know you want to see what I have for you…” Smooth mister, real smooth. We walked over and he immediately handed me a leather jacket, which I actually quite liked. It was a rich chocolate brown with the addition of a hood. He made me try it on and then raved about how perfect it was for me. He then decided I might want one size bigger because the length was a bit too short and he felt he could match me with a coat “just right.” Before I know it, he has grabbed my hand and has me following him to his store. All the while he is calling me his “California baby” and trying to convince me of how much I need this gorgeous jacket to steal the boys hearts. Okay sure.

We get to the store and he hands me the right size, slips it over my long arms, and gives me a look as if to say, “That’s the one. You’re gone for.” There was no doubt it was absolutely beautiful. All leather has a different coloration and feel and both qualities on this particular jacket were wonderful. I was taking a particular liking to it but had still not been given a price. I had asked about…oh, 10 million times but he just kept saying, “Almost free sexy, almost free.” Okay well free in America means $0 so if the English you are speaking is the same as mine, then we just might have a deal. Finally he tells me that he is going to cut me a great price because a) he likes me, b) I can speak Italian, c) he thinks the jacket is perfect for me, and d) he thought I was nice looking. The original price was 380, or so he claimed, and he was giving it to me for 180. I said no way.

Soon enough, the owner of the store, a spunky, Italian woman, waltzes in. She immediately grabs my cheeks and starts speaking to me in Italian. She was quite enamored with my ability to answer back and understand most of what she was saying. She talked to me for quite some time about all sorts of things but mostly about how I needed to recognize what an incredible find this coat. There was no doubt I loved it but I needed to think about it. No one just jumps on a 180 Euro jacket without looking at what else is out there. When I told them I wanted some time to think on it, they tried to convince me to just buy it then and there for an offer of 150. I said no. After trying to sway me to stay for a good 10 minutes, the guy says how about 130 Euro. It was a great deal but I still wanted time to think and see what else I could find. I promised that I would come back. They looked worried.

Katie and I split up so that she could get some coffee and so that I could look at what other leather goods might sway me from coat #1. Nothing was doing it for me. I did, however, meet one guy who asked me how much the first guy had offered me for the jacket. At first I ignored him and told him not to worry about it. When I came back around his way, he asked me again and I told him. He asked how much I wanted to pay and I said ideally 100 Euro. He said he could make it happen. The guy was quite nice actually and explained that he knew the woman and could try to sell it to me through her. We made our way to the shop.

The woman was pleased to see me back but confused as to why I was there with a different salesman. The guy I was with explained to her what I was willing to pay and she said she couldn’t sell this particular coat for that little money due to its particular style (which I hadn’t been able to find elsewhere) and the quality of the leather. She said she would go to 120. I said I would do 110. She agreed at 115. It was a deal. I paid in cash; she kissed me on both cheeks, told me I was a gem and sent me on my way.

From there I went to find Katie. As I did so, a number of the vendors kept asking me what I bought and how much I paid. I told them. They asked to see the coat, upon which they all said, “Wow you got a great deal.” I was feeling quite good and I knew my Dad, the king of leather jackets, would have been damn proud.

Katie wad dying and needed to get out of the market. She had had enough…or so she claimed. Within a matter of minutes, we are in a leather bag store and she has fallen in love with a particular brown leather clutch. It was great, no question, so I told her to reason with the guy and buy it. She did and that was that.

From the market, we agreed to get the heck out of all shopping vicinities. We were going to make our way to The David and there was no stopping us. Well, not exactly. We spotted a cute park on our way and sat down for some R&R in the sun. Across from us were these two funny guys smoking cigarettes that kindly agreed to take a picture for me. When they handed back my camera, they asked if I would take a picture of them. I look up and they are in posed position ready for a close up. Classic.

As we got up to leave the park, Katie and I looked at each other and agreed that lunch was in need before any museum hunting. Chelsea had told me that if she were to come back to Florence for one day that she would eat at a sandwich place called The Oil Shoppe. I located the address and we made our way to find it, only to discover that it is closed on the weekends! NOO! Thank goodness she had given me a second favorite of hers, which I desperately hoped would be open. It was! This place, called I Fratelli, was a tiny little whole in the wall sandwich shop. It was seriously popular…I am talking a line of a good 15-18 people. Luckily it went quickly and soon enough, I was standing at the counter ordering a fresh-to-made panino. I ignored the menu options and asked for turkey, grilled veggies, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, basil, and goat cheese. It was unreal. Best part? Only 3 euro.

After our stomachs were happy and full, Katie and I finally found our David. He was just as beautiful as I remembered. It’s truly baffling how someone could have been so talented with their hands to shape such an impressive figure of the human body all out of stone. The precision is so spot on that you can actually see the veins portrayed in his forearm. It’s absolutely amazing.

The rest of L’Academia isn’t much to see so we spent a little time looking at other things before heading out. Chelsea had told me about an AMAZING gelateria right next door. We found it and ordered. I was a little disappointed, though, because I had expected it to be much better. I guess I’m still in love with my Grom.

With gelato in our hands, Katie and I took off to roam the rest of the city. We wandered in and out of little streets, admired the Duomo, saw the Uffizi, and then headed towards Piazza Michelangelo. Usually when you come to Florence, you are told to walk to the top of the Duomo to see a view of the entire city. Dan, Katie’s best friend in Florence, recommended, however, that we walk to the top of a hill to see an even more spectacular view of the city, including il Ponte Vecchio and the Arno river.

The hike upward was well worth it. The view was breathtaking. In one direction you had all of Florence and the other, classic Tuscan skies and pasture. Katie and I sat there on the steps, letting the sun spill down on us. Crowds formed along the steps and soon enough a live band (American oddly enough) started to play. It was absolutely perfect. The sun was setting and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

It started to get a bit chilly and the band was wrapping up their set. I wanted to make friends with them so Katie and I went to introduce ourselves. The lead singer was from America and had lived in San Diego at one point during his life. The rest of his time was spent moving from place to place, seeing the world, and just exploring. He had been in Florence for 6 years and his two band mates were Macedonian, one being half Canadian as well. They were a cool group of guys.

Katie and I made our way down the steep hill and over to the Ponte Vecchio to walk across, just for the sake of walking across it. It was about 07:30 pm at this point and we needed to start heading back to the apartment in order to get ready for the most anticipated dinner in Europe thus far.

We had made reservations at a restaurant called Acqua al Due. First question, so why such a special place? See, there exist two Acqua Al Dues in the world: one in San Diego and one in Florence. The main owner was born in Florence absolutely loves the city of Saa Diego. How can you blame him? So when he opened up his restaurant, he decided that he would make one in each of his beloved cities. You better believe that I’ve been to Acqua Al Due many a time in San Diego…probably a few too many to count. It wins the award for most favorite restaurant. The food is amazing (the best you’ll ever have), the people are nice, and it’s in the heart of downtown. What more could you ask for?

Our reservation was for 09:00 pm and we arrived just in time. We walked in the door to find every table filled with people and waiters running around left and right. The place was busy. I made my way to the hostess and checked in for our reservation. Next to my name said “Special guess.” I’m assuming it had something to do with the fact I had told them over the phone that I was from San Diego and that this was my first visit to their Florence location. The owner was apparently excited.

One of the owners, a beautiful lively woman, seated us right away and quickly brought the table some freshly baked bread and an indescribable white bean dip. Katie wanted to order the house wine and asked me if I would have a glass with her. Their house wine was well recommended and so I agreed to have a small glass with dinner. Based on our orders and what my dad has taught me about the world of wine, I figured that it would accoutrement the food famously.

So, onto the food. Acqua is known for what are called their “sampler” plates. Everything on their menu is absolutely unreal so they offer samplers in order to try smaller portions of their best dishes. We started off by ordering the salad sampler. It featured a delicious fennel, dried cranberry, Parmesan, and apple salad, classic caprese, and what appeared as either a Greek or house salad with homemade dressing. Let’s just say we cleaned our paltes. Next we ordered the pasta sampler, which goes down without a doubt as one of my favorite things to order in any restaurant I have ever been. Essentially, the chef chooses 5 of the many pasta dishes on the menu and whips up a sampling. Not only do you get something different every time you order, but other people in the restaurant also receive different pastas. It’s a phenomenal concept. Round 1 comes out and it’s a shell pasta in some sort of pink sauce, steaming hot and bursting with flavor. Next comes a bowtie pasta in a vodka sauce with pancetta. While usually I am not a fan of vodka sauce, this particular make was exceptionally well done. Third was a spiral pasta in a spinach puree. Incredible. The fourth was my favorite and is always a beloved favorite of mine each time it gets into my sampler. Classic rigatoni in an eggplant ragu. To die for. The 5th and final pasta was a homemade gnocchi in a dark red sauce with vegetables. Everything was perfect.

Our main order was the steak. Acqua is quite famous for their two filets. One is cooked and covered in a balsamic reduction glaze while the other is in a blueberry reduction. Both are fantastic beyond words so you can imagine the predicament of which to choose. Well what did we do? We ordered both, duh. I asked the owner if she could cut the filets in half and do a small piece for each of us. She said, “Of course!” The woman was an absolute doll and treated us like royalty, constantly coming over to check our table or to ensure that our meal was just as I had hoped. She even brought us extra wine, which I handed right on over to Katie.

Katie is a vegetarian but had decided upon her arrival to Europe that she would probably eat meat in order to get decent protein. Tonight marked her first steak back in who knows how long. She was definitely a bit nervous. I assured her that if there was one way to jump back into the meat game, this was the way to do it. When the steaks came out, they were steaming with heat and resonating a scent beggaring description. I savored every last bite, using my bread to clear the remnants of any precious sauce left on my plate. Katie concurred that it was the most delicious thing she’d ever had.

I sat at the table, ready to burst but filled with pure bliss. Katie had been eyeing the homemade tiramisu since we had walked in the door so we called the owner over to put in the order. Unfortunately, she bared bad news and explained it had just run out. Katie opted for the house chocolate cake covered in a raspberry puree instead. As she was about half way through, I spotted a man carrying a giant bowl. Tiramisu? I voted yes. I called the owner over and asked if tiramisu was now an option. She said that they had just made a fresh batch. Feeling badly that the first order hadn’t come to fruition, she insisted on bringing a free order.

Two seconds later she ran back and asked me if I would do her a HUGE favor. I said, “Absolutely, anything!” She asked if we could move to a smaller table because she had a table of 5 coming in and needed to seat them in at our table. Not a problem! I had her seat us elsewhere and she kissed me all over my cheeks, thanking me for the cooperation.

Within a flash, she was back with fresh tiramisu, 2 flutes of Grapa (which became Katie’s) and 2 Acqua al Due hats. So sweet of her! I had a bite of the tiramisu but that was all for me. The dessert was delightful but what made it so much nicer were our new neighbors. The relationship started when I asked the girl next to me if she would take a picture of the two of us. She and her best friend were having dinner together but immediately jumped into conversation and wanted to know x, y, and z about us. The two of them were so full of life and quite drunk so you can only imagine how fun they were to talk to. But things got even better when the time came and they asked for our names. Katie and I both laughed and said, “Well Katie and Katie.” They respond by cracking up only to turn to us and say, “We’re both Francesca!!!” No way. What are the odds that of all the people we could have met and started conversation with that they, too, have identical names! Just too good to be true.

As dinner started to wrap up (it had been a good 3 hours by now), I said my goodbyes to the owner, gave her a big hug and kiss on the cheek and thanked her for the impeccable hospitality. It was en evening I would never forget.

Sunday 03/14: Katie and I had an early train ride to Lucca. Luckily we were right near the train station so it wasn’t too much of a hassle to get there on time. Fortunately we were early and managed to grab seats before the mob arrived. The train turned out to get crazy crowded with what looked like a bunch of students. Every which way you looked, kids were standing, talking, laughing and there was the random guy playing the guitar. It was a loud ride to say the least.

We arrived in Lucca around 10:30 am. As I had mentioned before, Katie had spent two weeks one summer with her best friend’s aunt and uncle in Lucca. It’s a quaint, classic Tuscan town that is famous for the old wall that wraps around it. There isn’t much to see but that’s the enjoyable nature of it.

Katie was especially exited to go back to a little tile and ceramics shop to see if she could find a few pieces to match the originals she had bought her parents during her stay that summer. Luckily it was open! All the other stores were closed but the one we were looking for just happened to be waiting for us. The gentleman who owned the place was such an angel and helped us with everything, including my Italian. He would correct me if my grammar was off and added to my diction. We spent a good 45 minutes in his store before each settling on a plethora of gifts. Let’s just say I have some treasures coming home with me for some very special people.

From the shop, we went to climb the tower, which overlooks the entire city. It was a beautiful day delivering us a breathtaking view. You will certainly have to check out my pictures once I post them.

Katie had rented a bike and wanted to circle around the wall. Being on feet and pressed for time, I said I would meet her afterward. I sat down in a cute little restaurant and ordered myself a delicious lunch of fresh salad, homemade Luccan soup, and nicely warmed bread. It was exactly what I needed to reboot. Katie met me when she was done but we were pushing it for time so we grabbed her food to go and booked it for the station.

As we were leaving, I spotted a gelateria that listed yogurt as one of their items. I rushed in. OMG yes! There was a frozen yogurt machine. I made sure to sample before ordering a large covered with fresh strawberries. European pinkberry at my fingertips.

We took a quick train and jumped to Pisa. Pisa wasn’t a very impressive city but all we’d really come to do was take pictures in front of the tower and see the Duomo. Check for both. After goofing around in front of the tower, we made our way back towards our baggage and the station. It was a long, long, long train ride back to Milan and all I wanted was a hot shower and bed.

As soon as I got home, I put my stuff down and got ready for a much-needed shower, only to find out that the hot water was out AGAIN. Are you kidding me?! This meant that I had to go back to caveman days and reenact my first attempt at a shower when the water had gone out. This meant boiling a giant pot of water and then bringing it into the shower to then use a cup as a wetting device. It was an interesting experience but I didn’t care. My hair was dirty and I felt gross from the train so if that meant sucking it up and squatting in the shower with a pot of hot water, so be it.

I was clean and now exhausted. I hopped into bed and set my alarm for the 7:30 am wake-up call I’d need to get to class on time. I wasn’t phased…the weekend had been too good. Not even no hot water was bringing me down.

Monday 03/15: I was a little late to class but managed to get there within 5 minutes of start time. Thank goodness today’s lecture was interesting…I’ve had enough of hating my life at school.

After class, I was in major need of grocery shopping so I made my way back home to the apartment and then to La Standa, which for some reason is now known as BILLA. I came home, unpacked my groceries, made lunch, and was right back to school again. This time class was B.O.R.I.N.G. I don’t know how my teacher does it, but she progressively gets more and more horrible every lecture.

I’m starting to get a little freaked out about school, to be honest. I haven’t been following along with my reading materials, as I should be. There is so much to be done here and I’ve been traveling nonstop that I haven’t been as dedicated to my schoolwork. It’s a bit worrisome that I can be so dismissive of school, when usually I’m so diligent. Oh well! I’m only here once.

Woah, back up a second. I completely forgot to tell you about the BEST part of my day. Yours truly chipped her tooth. Yup, that’s right. Two baby chips on my right front tooth. It was nothing major but I was a mess over it. I have never chipped a tooth and while no one would really notice unless you were up in my face, one of the chips was lateral and needed to be fixed. I immediately emailed every person I could possibly think of. Both the people I know in Milan, students from Bocconi who studied at USC last semester, the International Student Desk, the head of the international students from USC, and a woman I know in San Diego who was born and raised in Milan. I figured that someone out of the group might be able to help me. Luckily Monica, the woman in San Diego, responded pretty promptly and gave me the recommendation for a doctor she claimed was the absolute best in Milan. Dr. Brachetti had a private practice in Milan, used to work in Los Angeles for 7 years, speaks fluent English, and is well known for being a good oral surgeon. I immediately went online, Googled him, found his email, and sent an urgent message out right away.

I spent the rest of the day in a rather quiet mood. There was no denying that I was pretty upset and sometimes we just need to take a step back from the world. I talked to my Aunt Mel, though, which always comes through as the perfect pick me. Seeing that I have no privacy in my apartment, I walked up the tiny stairs to the rooftop and let the sun kiss my face while I listened to her calming voice. Since I know you’re reading this, I love you so much Aunt Mel. You are an absolute blessing in my life and I can’t thank you enough for being my second mom!

After I got off the phone, I hopped onto my computer to get on top of my traveling plans for the weekend. See last Wednesday when Carolina and I went for sushi, she invited me to Rome with her best friend, Maria, who was visiting from Portugal. Maria has an ex boyfriend in Rome and he was letting us stay in his apartment. He’s also an apparently great cook and would be hosting meals at home. I was so on board for going. Now it was just about finding transportation. I looked everywhere online to find good flights because the fast trains to Rome are generally pretty expensive. I couldn’t find a thing. The only option we were looking at was an 8-hour train ride that left at 10 am on Thursday and a 9-hour ride home that left Sunday at midnight. Hmmm, how about not?

I wasn’t discouraged, though. I did some serious research and discovered that the Italian fast train, which usually costs 89 euro each way, was on special for 48. After checking some 30+ different departure and arrival times, I finally found one going and one returning train with available seats. YES!!! I talked to the girls and they were all about it so I went to book the tickets for all three of us. Enter credit card fail. The credit card system wasn’t working and despite my countless efforts, everything was being denied. I called my credit card company and tried to see what they could do but they assured me it had nothing to do with the card. All the while I been trying to call my mom (probably about a million times), who of course didn’t have her phone on her. Typical Laura Wile. I did find out that she had been at the tax office, so she was excused. :) Love you mom!

So anyway, the tickets couldn’t be bought, I was drained from trying for the past 3 and a half hours and still upset about my stupid tooth so I took a shower and climbed into bed. Tuesday was waiting and I love Tuesdays.

Tuesday 03/16: On this particular Tuesday, for some reason I woke up early and checked my phone. Dr. Brachetti had sent me an email back! Thank the Lord. Oh but wait…today was his LAST day in the office for 3 months! He was having surgery on his shoulder and would be out of commission for the entire span of time. This meant that I had a VERY small window to have him fix my tooth. I called the second I read the message. He explained that if possible, I could come down for a preliminary check up. I scurried to get ready and ran out of the house as quickly as possible. I wasn’t about to miss my chance.

I made it to the office and shortly after he met with me to check things out. He assured me it was not as bad as I had thought but that both chips should most definitely be fixed. Yes, good answer Dr. Brachetti. He took a mold and said that while it usually takes about a week or two to have the molds imprinted, that he would have the lab process them immediately so we could fix the tooth that day. He scheduled me for a 4 pm procedure. I did have class but I said screw class, this is way more important. If I could manage to take care of this sort of an issue in a foreign country all in the span of 24 hours, you bet your life that I was going to and nothing, I mean nothing, was going to get in the way.

I thanked Dr. Brachetti as many times as I could before he convinced me it was absolutely nothing and sent me on my way. I had a bit of time to kill since the procedure wasn’t until 4 pm and I didn’t have a lunch arrangement until 1 pm. I jumped on the metro and headed to Centrale to see if I could work out my train ticket predicament. Luckily the line wasn’t long and I worked everything out with the ticket man. The seats were available and I snagged three as soon as he gave me the green light. Rome was officially booked.

From the station, I went back to San Babila in order to shop around before being on time for my hot little lunch date. Interestingly enough, Dr. Brachetti’s office and the meet-up location for lunch were within 5 minutes of each other. Perfectly convenient. So come 2 pm, I waited in front of the fountain at San Babila to meet my lovely lunch guest: the one and only Claudio. If you recall, Claudio is the adorable older gentleman I met at Fashion Week. He had invited me for lunch in order to catch up, find out all about me, or so he insisted, and to discuss “my future.”

As I looked around, I saw a sweet old man waving his hands. I was greeted with two warm kisses on the cheek and a large smile. Claudio laughed and said, “Finally I catch the traveling girl!” He’d been teasing me about how difficult it had been to get a hold of me lately seeing that the past few weekends in a row, I’ve been here, there, and everywhere. He insisted I don’t disappear to any of my foreign cities otherwise he’d have to shut down the train and airline system to keep me from getting away again.

As our afternoon continued, I couldn’t get over how absolutely delightful this man was. He kindly showered me with compliments, treated me to lunch, and made me laugh but more importantly, shared with me his past and life story. Claudio has worked in fashion for the majority of his life and was the first person to bring Guess Jeans from the United States to Europe! Can we all say impressive? The man knows it all and is so well versed in both business and fashion that I can only hope to be in a similar position one day. Despite living alone with no wife or children, he seems so perfectly content in the world he has built for himself. This brought us to discuss his point on love and commitment during which he told me that while love is magical, he couldn’t bring himself to make the vow of marriage before God for he felt he would be lying. It was a really interesting and enjoyable discussion. I think he likes the option of being free and changing his mind whenever he deems it necessary. I asked him if he was lonely at all to which he said, “at times, yes.” He grabbed my hand and said, “But I hope that I can share you for as long as you are here.” I assured him that ANY time he wanted to share dinner or lunch or especially gelato, I would happily oblige. He touched my cheeks and said, “Bella, you are my very special little princess!” Italian old men are the greatest, I tell you.

After a delicious lunch filled with laughs and great stories, I was ready for a gelato...obviously. I asked him if he’d ever had Grom, to which he looked at me like I was crazy. Claudio said he was taking me somewhere infinitesimally better. Better than Grom? You know I’m there. We walked a block or so before finding a beautifully adorned pasticerria crowded with people. The gelato looked to. die. for. They had every flavor I could have asked for and Cladio assured me that they made all of their own gelato fresh every morning. Perfection. I ordered a medium cone and pretty much died and went to heaven. The flavors tasted just like the real thing. It goes without saying that Claudio’s little gem of a gelateria was the best I’d had since arriving to Italy. I’m guessing I’ll be a regular by the time I leave.

Claudio decided that he wasn’t ready for our lunch outing to end so we walked around with ice cream in our hands and sun in the sky. We discussed the potential for working in the city and his hopes to see me immerse into the fashion world. By the time he had to leave, I was excited for what was to come next.

Ten ‘til 4 pm, I arrived at the dentist’s office and waited patiently to be taken back for the procedure. It wasn’t too lengthy and while having your tooth repaired isn’t the most comfortable of things, when the mirror reflected my “old” mouth, I couldn’t remember any of the last 40 minutes. Dr. Brachetti had lived up to this reputation and surpassed it with flying colors. Let me not forget that he only charged me 60% of what the usual initial meeting and repair costs would have been. Not only did he fit me in on a busy last day of work but he also gave me a major discount. I’m going to nominate him as an angel. I insisted on bringing him a nice bottle of wine or taking him to dinner as a thank you for his immense amount of help and utter kindness. He insisted it was unnecessary but I beg to differ.

I left his office in an exceptionally good mood and made my way back to the apartment to grab my suitcase filled with laundry and get down to Arco for joyous laundry doing. In addition to washing dirty clothes, I was meeting with Brittany to finalize some of our Spring Break plans. We have been discussing traveling around Budapest, Switzerland, Prague, Vienna, and a few other places so we decided that Spring Break deemed a promising time to accomplish such aspirations. We managed to get a few things taken care of but it looks like a lot of our travels between countries will be by train. We were having issues with that minor detail. Let’s just hope the booking process gets a little easier.

While the laundry, trip planning, and running up and down the stairs to and from the laundry room 6 times were all great fun, the best part of the night was the homemade hummus that Brittany made. Hummus wins as one of my favorite things to eat but it doesn’t exist anywhere in Milan. Brittany had decided she would attempt her own batch. Props Brittany because it was delicious and we ate the entire Tupperware full of it. No big deal.

When it hit 11 pm, I was exhausted and desperate to go home so I bailed on the continuation of trip planning, headed for the tram, and made my way back to the apartment for much needed sleep.

Wednesday 03/17: When I woke up, the sun was peeking through the blinds and I could feel the warmth radiating from outside. Sun, was there really sun?! I pretty much died and went to heaven because for the first time, yes the first time, since I have been in Milan I only had to wear ONE pair of pants! Usually I have to layer my pants with a thick pair of tights in order to ensure my legs don’t freeze to death. But on this day of all days, I had the pleasure of slipping into my jeans tightless. I was flirting with the weather so heavily that I almost didn’t realize that I was running late to class. I ran up the stairs to Aula 202 to find a math class being taught in Italian. Hmmm, definitely didn’t sign up for this class. Apparently, my course room had been changed. Strike Bocconi. Sometimes I think that the people who manage this place are on serious crack. How do you ignor emailing your students to let them know that the classrooms change? I mean, come on now, this has happened countless number of times…probably every week sometimes twice a week. It’s infuriating to bust your butt to the class you believe is the right one only to find a random group of faces and a professor speaking a language you probably wouldn’t be able to understand business law in.

Bocconi hating did not stop there, however. My professor for Comparative Business Law, while brilliant, is an absolute tard when it comes to explaining things. She assigned us a group assignment but only yelled out our group member names in class (last name followed by first name). It was a giant jumbled mess of names being yelled out sounding a little something like this: “Wile, Katie…Santini, Gianmarco…Faletti, Francesca.” Super effective. Oh and only one person in the group gets the assignment handout and you have NO idea who the heck the people in your group even are so I’m not quite sure how that’s really supposed to work. On top of that, there are no emails attached to the names of your group members so how in the world are we supposed to be in communication? She didn’t bother to explain the directions for the exercise but did mention that it was worth a decent part of our grade and that for those who didn’t participate whole-heartedly, they would be receiving no credit. Thanks for nothing lady. I was so irritated by the time class ended that I didn’t even have the patience to ask her for clarification. Should be an interesting process to figure this one out.

I did some computer work during the 30 minutes before my next class. While Organizational Networks and Entrepreneurship is usually my most loathed class, the case study for the day was on Versace and I had actually read. It was quite interesting and I even opted to participate in front of the class by speaking about the main points she had wanted us to pick up on. Brownie points for sure. She likes people who are willing to “express their thoughts” so maybe that will do me some good when it comes to final grades.

After class, Max, who also shares this class with me, and I walked for a bit discussing the potential of my stay with him in Munich. His sister is coming to visit next weekend and I may drive back with them to stay in his house for a couple days while he shows me the city. I’m thinking it would be incredible.

I had to leave and head home in order to get a few errands run before I was off to Rome in the morning! First things first and that meant taking care of my Internet key. My first month was up starting tomorrow and I wanted to make sure that I could get wireless while on the train to and from Rome. Too bad when I finally got to the store, they told me I needed my Sim card. In otherwise, I had to turn right back around to go get it. Semi-annoying. Once the recharging process was finished, though, I was quite content.

I ran back to the apartment and needed to shower quickly so that I could dry my hair before heading out for dinner. I was meeting up with an Italian girl named Arianna, who knows Monica, the Milanese woman from San Diego. Monica had put me in contact with Arianna when I was looking for a salon to have my haircut. Ever since I first contacted her, the two of us have been chit chatting back and forth about x, y, and z. I figured the proper thing to do would be to finally meet face to face and have dinner. Oddly enough, she asked if I wanted to go to Trattoria Toscana, which if any of you remember is my FAVORITE restaurant! We made a reservation for 8 pm and set on finally meeting.

So funny story. I had been expecting Arianna to be a little older than she was. Monica had told me that Arianna worked in the fashion industry and was thinking about moving to San Diego to potentially do some work there. Monica is in her 30’s so I automatically assumed that she might be too. Yeah, no. Arianna is 24 years and young as young can be. Sweet from head to toe, was such a pleasure to spend time with. We swapped stories about San Diego and Milan seeing that I’m here and she’s headed there in a month. As ou can guess, dinner was shared over delicious food and amazing company only to be followed by an even better gelato at Grom. I think I may have eaten gelato every single day for the last week and a half…it’s only going to continue while I am in Rome. We only live once, right?

I jumped on home after dinner to clean up for bed and finish packing. I had to be up at the crack of dawn in order to get ready, eat breakfast, make sure I had everything I needed, and get to the train station by 7 am. Rome here I come.

So I’m sure you are all dying to hear about Rome and while I have tons of great reading material all about it, I realize this was a bit of a heavy load. I’ll do you all the favor of holding out until next post to keep you up to date on what went down in the capital of Italy.

Ciao, Ciao and lots of love always,
Me!

So This Is What I Call A Full Load

Monday 03/01: So have you all just been dying to find out what crazy adventures went down on Monday? See, I thought so.

So let’s back track…I went to bed Sunday night ready for an early rise and that’s exactly how Monday started. I got myself up and out of bed, did the morning routine, and stepped out into the most beautiful sunny day I could have ever asked for. We are talking the warmest weather I have experienced thus far in Milan and sun shining from every which way. As I’m sure you can imagine, I was ecstatic. Could hardly contain myself even. I jovially walked down the cobblestone streets, weaving in and out of the human traffic cluttering my pathway.

Class was so-so. We had a speaker but I’m not so sure the Italian speakers know how to entertain their students. It was more or less a lot of blah, blah, and some more blah. After class ended, I managed to do a few things on my computer before walking home to get some lunch. I had needed to stop into the Vodaphone store because my dang Internet key was still out of whack but go figure they were closed. Oh Italy and it’s retarded closing of stores during the world’s most random hours.

So I ran home, grabbed food, did some more stuff on my computer and jetted back to class for round 2. Fashion management is always interesting but Organizational Networks and Entrepreneurship literally makes me want to rip my hair out! That woman talks like a zombie and while she may be brilliant she hasn’t a clue what it means to teach a class. Only 2 more weeks left and she’s going on sabbatical. I’m not complaining.

I was in an especially good mood because Brittany, my friend from UNC, had decided that she wanted to come to Amsterdam with me!!! I was thrilled! First of all, I’m always up for company on a trip and what better than someone who actually wants to go with you? As much faith as I had in my boys, I knew they’d slack it big time and probably never call me. We shall see. On top of that, the two of us were trying to plan going to Venice and Bologna together. We were hoping to make dinner at her place and finalize plans but I wasn’t 100% sure I could get everything done before making the 30 minute tram ride to the dorms. I was hopeful, though.

After class ended, I had plans to meet up with Carolina and Mercedes (my beloved Portuguese goddesses) to go shopping. Too bad they ditched class early and finished their fun before I got out of class. They ended up meeting me at the Vodaphone store where I battled to explain my situation and end in some resolution. The guy was semi-helpless and couldn’t seem to understand what the problem was. How about the Internet does NOT work mister! I’ve come to the conclusion that Italian technology and I apparently just aren’t in love.

Carolina wanted me to come over and hang out for a little so, of course, I said yes. She and Mercedes live with the most amazing Greek girl named Alex. The lucky ducks overlook Bocconi and are set up in a beautiful apartment that has all new appliances. They did, however, have to buy all the furniture so it may or may not be as amazing as my first impression told me. The three of us spent time hanging out until Mercedes decided to take a little nap. From then on, Carolina and I spent some time hanging out in her bedroom trying to plan trips together. Alex, being an absolute sweetheart, made us some coffee and tea so we all sat around in the kitchen with steaming cups in hand. Soon enough, their friend Leandro showed up. I had met him the other night at Lukas’s apartment but hadn’t had the opportunity to really get to know him. There’s no better time than the present though. After a great conversation, I deemed him incredibly nice and super easy to talk to/hang out with. He’s planning on joining in the birthday celebration upon my arrival back to Milan.

I unwillingly had to leave the girls’ house in order to make my way up to WIND to see if I could FINALLY get this dang cell phone issue worked out. On my way out, I noticed I had a missed call from an unknown number. So, logically, I called it back. It was Claudio! Recall that Claudio was the elder gentleman/designer from Fashion Week who had so kindly made friends with me. Enter bout of amazingness. He had called to tell me that a) he had sorely missed seeing me at his fashion show that morning and looked all over so that he could give me front row seats (I had class! Damn you Bocconi!) and that b) he had spoken to some people about me and was adamant about making me into a “star.” Haha I was beyond flattered and he insisted that he take me to lunch next week to discuss my “big future plans.” I mean wow! I can’t believe this guy, on his own will, bothered to see something in me and put forth the effort to do something about it. I’m honored to say the least.

I walked along the streets feeling a bit bubbly inside. The mini-rush, however, was interrupted by a giant mob of people throwing some sort of riot near the Duomo. Of course I couldn’t get through any of the shouting people so I wiggled my way across the street so that I could try to make it to WIND. Despite my success, I still ended up having to take a little tiny side street where this rando guy goes, “girl! What’s going on?” I was on the phone at the time so I turned around and said, “Yo, I’m on the phone!” He starts laughing and as I continue to walk away starts yelling after me, “Gorgeous, where you from? I wanna know yo’ name!” Oh God. He then proceeds to run after me until he can talk to me face to face, all while I am still on the phone. He told me he would find me again and that we would get to know each other. Apparently he wants me to know about Africa, which is where he’s from. All right, bud.

WIND was another fun experience. Guess who was there? Same girl with the same bad odor (pee-yew). We called the customer service people like 5 times only to find out that I would have to wait until the end of this month’s plan to get reimbursed. Joyous.

At this point, it was way too late to have dinner with Brittany so I headed home to make some din and kick it casual style. I was down for sweats, a shower, some food, and some nothingness. But the mellow evening vibe was interrupted by the appearance amazingness #2. One of the people I met at the Missoni show, named Yigit, “friended” me on Facebook. He’s this really amazing guy from Turkey who was sent here by Versace to get a fashion marketing degree at Bocconi. He defines the term Fashionista and is extremely well versed in both the fashion and upscale social world. But that’s not to forget the most important factors: he is both incredibly kind and fun to know. So anyway, we get into conversation about all the work he is doing here in the city with fashion P.R. and designers (such as D&G) along with his past fashion history in Turkey. I was so impressed he was managing such a glamorous life while still keeping up with his Bocconi schoolwork. Impressive. As we continued our interesting conversation, which at this point had touched on Milan Fashion Week, he suddenly throws out the world’s most amazing comment and tells me that had he met me earlier he would have booked me for the shows! Say what?! You have got to be kidding me! I couldn’t believe it. I told him that had I known him before, I would have accepted the offer with pride. But to make a long story short, he wants to make me his little muse and turn me into a working girl here in Milan. Yigit, you are far too kind and I adore you! Looks like the fashion world is sending me some signs to hop in!

Maybe, just maybe, everything these people have to say is true and something works out. Only time will tell…

Tuesday 03/02: Oh how I love my Tuesdays! I can sleep in ‘til all hours of the day (class doesn’t start until 04:15 pm), just catching up on whatever it is my little heart desires. Don’t we all love days like those? I think so.

I spent the mass majority of the morning sleeping and woke up around 12:30 pm. I hopped up starving and made myself some breakfast. I finished cleaning up the kitchen and then got to travel research for my spring break and the rest of my time here in Europe. As I’ve said about a million times, I want to try to visit as many countries as possible and hop from country to country, city to city, and town to town. Why not make the best of every minute here in this beautiful continent? There’s no rebuttal to that one.

I finished being lazy in bed and got ready in time to head to class. We had a really interesting consulting simulation, in which our professor acted as a client and my group and I would have to put together a proposal based on his predicament. It was really cool and I was looking forward to what I could contribute to the team effort.

After class, Gaetano bumped into me and we chitchatted a bit about my birthday and how he is absolutely adamant about getting me wasted drunk. Silly boy, he doesn’t know me too well does he! I may have a glass of wine or champagne for traditions sake on my birthday but that certainly doesn’t mean the classic Katie Wile is disappearing. While we were arguing back and forth about the extent of my future drinking in life, I saw my Australian friend, Daniel. The poor guy had fallen on his bike in one of the tram tracks and was cut up everywhere! I was there to the rescue, though, and cleaned everything up with my handy dandy sanitizer, tissues, Neosporin, and band-aids that I keep in my backpack. And to those of you who are thinking, gosh Katie is a dork, the answer is duh I am. He and I talked a bit before I needed to head out but we agreed to hang out that evening because I was making my way down to Arco Boleno (the dorms) to do my laundry and plan Venice with Brittany.

After I had eaten something and grabbed my giant suitcase filled with laundry, I headed for the the tram and made my way towards Brittany. Laundry was a MUCH simpler process this time and Brittany and I got pretty far in planning Venice, Bologna, and the addition of Verona (had to throw that in for my one and only Aunt Mel!). We also talked about Amsterdam and how incredibly excited we both were to finally go!

To even better the evening, I met up with Daniel and he came and chilled with us in Brittany’s room. This kid is so legit, incredibly nice and down to earth. He ranks high on my list of people that I have met here in Milan. I think the two of us are going to try to make it to Morocco in a few weeks or so. Would be so sick.

I left around 10:30 pm so that I could get home at a decent hour, have something to eat, shower, and get ready for bed. 10:30 am class lingered the next morning.

Wednesday 03/03: Only one more day until I leave for Amsterdam!!! Can hardly contain myself. I have heard the most amazing things about how absolutely charming and gorgeous the city is. I’m thinking I did a rather key picking of location for my special weekend.

Okay so what happened Wednesday? I had my early class at 10:30 am, which I had to rush to because I was a total bum that morning. I did, however, make it on time but had to coyly sneak in and around the back.

My second class was boredomville again but I decided to talk to the professor about her presentation and what she might be able to do to make the course 1) more engaging, 2) easier to understand, and c) well organized. I tried to be as polite as possible and I think I managed to succeed in helping her understand that she needs to switch up her crap learning style and try something else. We shall see on Monday.

After class it was major errand running time. I took a little detour and walked in and around a few different areas. I was putting together another package to send back to the states because round 1 failed epically. Apparently Italian mail hates me too? So I was in and out of different stores searching for the various items I needed in order to make the package a success and get it off in the mail. I also ran to the grocery store to pick up a few more things I could eat before I left the fridge empty for traveling.

I got home around 07:30 pm, finished writing my letter, and made some dinner. The girls decided that they would go to Ava’s friend’s house together for dinner so I was home alone. I whipped something up quickly and tried to get some homework done. Valiant attempt but I got side tracked. I packed and organized a few things. The night ended up taking a turn for the not so great and the tears made an appearance. Tomorrow was a new day and I was headed off to Amsterdam. How could I not wake up in a better mood?

Thursday 03/04: Busy day to say the least. Finished packing in the morning, had breakfast, cleaned up my area, and made my way to school. Class one was down and I hadn’t listened to a word because Brittany and I were sitting in class together way too excited to finally get out of Milan and do some international traveling.

Class ended, I made my way home as fast I could but still had to run a few important errands. Then I realized I was getting a little pushed for time and had to put myself into high gear. I had a chance to talk to my mommacita before getting dressed, ready to go and onto the metro.

I met Brittany at Centrale (the central station) so that we could grab the Malpensa Express Bus to the airport. The ride there was filled with incredible conversation and realizing just how well we get along. By the time we arrived, our friendship was that much better than it had been 45 minutes earlier. We made our way through check-in and after a seriously long, hot wait in the security line we found our gate. It wasn’t long before we boarded and I managed to fall right asleep.

The flight was easy and not long at all. As we were getting off the plane, I noticed two girls that I had seen earlier that day on the metro when trying to make my way to the train station. I asked them if they lived in Milan and one of the girls answered yes and the other two were just visiting from Venice and Florence. Turns out that one of the girls, whose name is also Katie, goes to Bocconi as well. Her two friends were studying abroad in Italy but they all go to BC and had decided to take a trip to Amsterdam for the weekend because their buddies would be there. Hmmm…sounded interesting seeing that my buddies were from BC and going to be in Amsterdam that same weekend. I asked if they happened to know Kirk, Taylor, Eddie, and Ryan. The answer: “Holy crap, ya!!! We’re hoping to meet up with them!” This world is really too small. We all laughed over the situation. But it got better. Then the other girl, Emily asked where I went to school and I said SC, to which she responded, “Do you know Lexi Aiassa?” Of course I know her and love her to death!!! Apparently, Emily and Lexi are best friends along with Emma Fish, who is another amazing girl from USC. I was so excited! What are the chances that I bump into these girls on the metro then see them on our flight then find out that one goes to Bocconi and that they all go to BC, know Kirk and the boys, are going to hang out with them too, and know my friends from USC?!! Umm I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark and say pretty slim. We swapped BBM pins (finally people with blackberries!) and agreed to meet up at some point during the trip. I was beyond stoked.

So after that amazing realization, Brit and I were off to grab our bags from the belt. Too bad there was some crazy package all tied up in Brittany’s stuff and we couldn’t figure out what in the world it was. We opened the giant bag-like thing to find a huge folder/envelope. We decided to take it to the KLM counter and found out that it was a special mail package for KLM. Random much? Luckily, the gentleman at the counter was super friendly and we got directions to the train and from there to our hotel. Dutch people are the nicest!

Brit and I found the train ticket office with ease and again bumped into Katie, Emily, and Dan. They had just grabbed Starbucks because they DO NOT exist in Milan or anywhere in Italy for that matter. In other words, they had died and gone to heaven.

Brit and I bought our tickets and snagged the train right before it was about to leave. The ride was short and soon enough we found ourselves outside the most beautiful train station I’ve ever seen. You’ll have to check out the last picture in my Amsterdam album on Facebook to get a feel.

Oh man was it chilly, though! I was freezing…one giant tall popsicle with a suitcase! We were debating getting a cab or stowing away on the tram. I voted for the stow-away option and convinced Brittany to join. It was perfect and my plan worked ideally. The conductor even helped us find our hotel. What a g.

We got to our stop and found our adorable little hotel tucked away on the corner, smack dab across from the Rijksmuseum. Talk about a sick location. We walked our way up a steep little set of steps and rang the doorbell. Someone let us in and what do we find? The STEEPEST dang staircase you will ever see. I am talking some serious hiking upwards. I was cracking up, especially because we had our bags and it was going to be some serious fun trying to get up these bad boys. Brittany was wearing heeled boots so I can only imagine the excitement she was experiencing.

We made it safely up and rang the bell to check in. Mind you it’s about 11 something at night. The girl, Nina, who came to the desk was super nice and immediately asked, “So which one of you is the birthday girl?” That would be me!!! She had written a bunch of recommendations for us and listed all the things we should do and go see. She even busted out a map and had circled the places so we would know where to go. So thoughtful of her. We thanked her for her help and she sent us up two more windy, backbreaking steps to reach our quaint little room. It was adorable.

Once we got ourselves settled in, Brit and I agreed that we were in serious need of food. We asked Nina if she had any places for us to try out and she suggested a Greek place. We called. They were closed. She said that pretty much all the restaurants in Amsterdam close their kitchens at about 10, sometimes 10:30 pm. Dang it! We were dying of hunger. She sent us in the direction of the popular Leisenplein to check out places and said we would have a lot more luck finding food.

The walk was only 10 minutes or so and we found a restaurant called Pancake Corner and called it a day. We walked right in and were immediately greeted with a waft of marijuana smoke. It’s so funny that you can just smoke whenever you want, wherever you want. I wasn’t fazed, however, because I was too hungry to even think about it. We literally sat down and checked the menu out without thinking twice about it. After 5 minutes we both looked at each other and agreed to get our own entrees and split another. That’s right people, 2 girls, 3 entrees. Be impressed.

After stuffing our faces, we took our tired butts back to the hotel. Before we did, however, I saw a little stand that had snacks, postcards, and things of that nature. I wanted to pick up some fruit to have with breakfast (it wasn’t served apparently). The fruit stop turned into much more when we found some seriously provocative postcards. I took pictures and almost died laughing at one particular postcard. All I have to say is that the Dutch have a serious love for jokes about the vajayjay. In addition to potty talk, we were greeted by some marijuana paraphernalia. While taking a picture of Brittany, the most random guy pops out of nowhere and joins in. Then he demands I take a crazy picture of him with two bananas. Awkward. Then he insists on taking a picture of the two of us. He reaches for the camera in my hand and starts to try to take it before I snapped it back and said, “we’re okay but thank you.” Come on buddy, I may be blonde but I’m not stupid. Don’t think you’re getting away with stealing my camera.

Brittany made some purchases at this special little stand and we hurried back to the hotel. Before we made it back, though, we spotted a kitty in the window of a restaurant. At first, I thought how adorable but then I started thinking about it and gross!!! That cat was up on the table that people eat on and had probably been roaming around the kitchen earlier. For sure not eating there anytime soon.

We made it home safe and sound, made the hike up our stairs, and plopped into bed. I was exhausted. Brittany was exhausted. And all we wanted to do was sleep so we could wake up and start out first day in this amazing city.

Friday 03/05: I woke up earlier than my alarm and was pumped and ready to go. I sprung out of bed and immediately started getting ready. I opened the curtains to find a beautiful sunny day and an even more beautiful view. Mom did a pro job of picking this location. Thanks momma!!! We soon headed down to a cute little breakfast nook for a classic breakfast of fresh Dutch brown bread, jam (Nutella, peanut butter, or honey), a small glass of orange juice, tea or coffee, a soft boiled egg, and a piece of ham and cheese. We both skipped the ham and cheese but most certainly enjoyed the rest. The orange juice was fresh as fresh could be, the tea was perfectly brewed, the egg was absolutely delicious, and the bread…holy crap the bread. I could have eaten that stuff all day it was so good. Seriously contemplated buying a loaf and bringing it back to Italy.

We finished breakfast and headed off for adventure #1. We had planned on doing a Free Tour of Amsterdam (yes they give free tours!) at 11:15 am so that we could have the rest of the day to do whatever it is we wanted. Brittany and I wanted to do some looking around as we made our way towards the National Monument to meet with the tour so we left early. We meandered in and out of the cute shops, taking pictures left and right. We spotted quite a few places that we wanted to come back to. I mean if I spot frozen yogurt, you better believe I’m going back. Come on now! So as we made our way down the main street, we couldn’t stop gushing over the gorgeous canals and majestic architecture that lined them. I was falling in love every step further. Amsterdam is a seriously beautiful city; so full of charm.

When we arrived at the National Monument, we found a man with a giant sign that read “FREE TOUR.” We got our little ticket stubs and roamed around until they would call us back. While looking around and losing ourselves in the amazing side streets, my camera made the executive decision to die. NOOOOOOOOOOOO! How could you die 10 minutes before I was about to take a tour of the city?! I was not happy.

Seeing that it took me as kind of pointless to take a tour of the city without the ability to capture memories of the experience, I asked Brittany if she would be willing to rain check (totally applicable usage…read on) the tour until 1:15 pm that day (the next time it was running). The trooper she is, she agreed and reminded me that it was MY birthday weekend and we could do whatever I wanted. I was super duper thankful and really glad she understood. I would have been so bummed out had I not gotten some great pictures.

The two of us headed back towards the hotel to drop off the camera. Before we did, though, we continued our exploring of little streets and taking detours here and there. We finally got back to the hotel and I sprinted up the mountain (aka the stairs) to charge my camera. We were going to the Van Gogh museum and I most definitely didn’t need my camera there…it’s prohibited. Prohibited eh? Too bad I had my blackberry and was planning on sneaking some photos when the opportunity presented itself.

We found the Van Gogh museum and quickly immersed ourselves into the work of one of history’s most talented artists. Gosh was his artwork incredible. The simplicity of his brush strokes is truly fascinating and you sit there baffling at his ability to create such images with little swipes of his brush. His use of color is beyond impressive and you wonder where his inspiration and imagination all came from. I obviously had to try to snag some photos after seeing such spectacular pieces. I busted out the phone and pretended like I was writing an email. I figured I was in the clear because the person next to me was actually using a camera. Dumb. But nope, I was wrong. The security guy decided to yell at me, not the camera peops. How does that make any sense? I convinced him that I was just writing a message and even showed him a fake one. He brushed me off and Brit and I moved on. We made our way through about 15 paintings before I tried to snap another one. I looked to make sure the coast was clear and I was golden. Wrong again. Before I know it, the same guy is behind me shouting and shaking his finger, warning me that he is going to have me taken out if he sees it again. I convinced him that there was no way I had been taking a picture and showed him another message I was in the midst of. He walked away. Phew close call. Can you imagine if we had gotten kicked out? Brittany would have killed me.

After we finished seeing the museum, I thought it would be fun to have lunch in Vondelpark. Too bad it had started to rain so sitting out on the grass was no longer an option. I remembered that when I had asked the receptionist at the B&B, she had mentioned this cute little place in the middle of the park that she claimed to love. I was down to give it a shot. Brittany and I walked our way into the park and walked around it before finally finding the café. It was cute, quaint, and had a simple menu. I was starving and everything looked delicious. I ordered a hummus sandwich that had cucumber, lettuce, tomato, hummus, and this spicy chutney-like spread on it. I added chicken to the sandwich to get some protein in there. That one was for my daddy…he’s always all about me and protein intake. I need to build up these scrawny, child-sized arms I have going on. Anyway, when they brought my food out, I was excited to find the most delicious seedy roll filled with all the good stuff. Literally, BEST SANDWICH OF ALL TIME! I’m drooling just thinking about it. I may or may not have ever had anything quite as delicious. I want to go back now. Brittany agreed that her choice was the most delicious thing she had ever had as well. We sort of contemplated coming back again the next day for my birthday.

We left the café so happy and continued to walk around the park until it got too nippy and we needed to grab a tea and hot cocoa to warm up. We ended up having tea at the very top of a department store that overlooked the city. Despite the rain, it was amazing. After we had regained feeling in our hands and feet, we were ready to shop it out. Amsterdam is filled with great shopping areas and we had the best time looking in and out of stores. I bought a couple cute things but nothing too big. I did, however, find an ice cream/sorbet place called Australian (apparently a really well known place in Amsterdam) that had drawn my attention earlier that day. Despite the cold, I insisted on getting some and I tried the passion fruit and strawberry. That was all I needed. Didn’t want to go anywhere else, not even the fro-yo place. (SHOCKING!) If Milan has passion fruit flavored sorbet gelato, tell me where you’re at so we can fall in love and share in each other every day. It could be magical.

Brittany and I walked back to the hotel for some rest and downtime. We had been walking around in the rain for hours and were pretty pooped out. We had missed the tour and decided to go the next day instead. Our warm room and comfortable beds were calling our names. The beds in our hotel were like heaven on Earth. You would sit, sink, and fall into the embrace of a soft, super sleep friendly mattress. I couldn’t wait to get back.

We napped and rested for a while until we both agreed it was time for dinner. I had been recommended by a friend here in Milan to try out a place called Bazar. It was a Moroccan/Indonesian style restaurant, of which Amsterdam is especially well known for. I had never really tried too much Indonesian food but I was up for trying anything new. We contemplated whether or not we wanted to go there for my birthday instead but agreed to follow our gut and stomachs and go tonight. So happy that we did.

The restaurant was a bit of a walk a ways but worth the treading through the rain. We arrived to a tall building with blue and green lights outside and a huge sign that read Bazar. We walked inside to find an awesome atmosphere, beautiful mosaic walls, and tons of people. And we all know that where there are lots of people, there usually means good food.

We were seated immediately upstairs, right next to the railing so we could see all the way around the restaurant. Our waiter came over and handed us two menus in Dutch. He undoubtedly heard us speaking perfectly clear English when we came in and thanked him for seating us so why would he bring us Dutch menus? He disappeared in a huff so I found a nice waitress to replace them. The food on the menu all looked so tempting. I was in the mood for chicken but the dish that really screamed at me was what was being served with a shrimp kebab. I figured there was no difficult in swapping chicken in lieu of the shrimp. Yeah, not as easy as I thought. Our douche waiter couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t just order the chicken dish and kept telling me to order the one I DID NOT want. What don’t you get buddy about not wanting the chicken dish but wanting the other one that has all the good stuff? We had to ask for another waiter because he just couldn’t get it. I explained to her what I wanted and she complied.

The food issue doesn’t stop there, though. We also ordered a huge plate of hummus to share as an appetizer. The plate came with pita but no crudités. I figured that we could pay a little more to have them add crudités as well to make it a true hummus platter. These people didn’t understand the concept of raw veggies, pita, and hummus. At first they brought us a salad, which I had to explain wasn’t the right thing. Thank goodness when round 2 arrived, it was sliced bell peppers, another kind of pepper, some tomatoes, and cucumber. There we go people, now that’s exactly what we were looking for. It hit the spot.

The dinner was absolutely delicious and I cleaned my plate clear. If you want proof, see pictures in the album. Brittany and I were so content and ready to head home before making our way out. In just 2 hours I would officially be 21 years old!

After touching ourselves up, we were ready to leave. Too bad all the boys who I had come to see in Amsterdam were completely across town and not ready by any means to meet up. Oh how boys will be boys. I figured we wouldn’t actually end up seeing them until way later on because let’s be serious, boys in Amsterdam will do what boys in Amsterdam do and that could mean for a VERY different state of mind if you know what I mean.

Brittany and I gave up waiting and made our way towards the Leidseplein area again. It was raining so we found an overhang and jumped under. Suddenly, a guy asks us why we hadn’t gone into the bar yet. Adam was from the UK as was his friend Chris. They were also with their friend, who I’m just going to call Steve because I don’t think he ever told me his name, who was from Scotland. They insisted that we come into the “best bar in Amsterdam.” I said if they were so adamant about us coming in that they could do something about it. And they did.

The Watering Hole was the name of the bar and it was more or less a dive bar with pool and things of that nature. Nothing too special in my opinion. The music was decent and there were a lot of people but that was about it. The guys were nice though and excited to celebrate me turning 21. They insisted that they were going to get me drunk but I reminded them that no one, not even the people back home, have been able to do that thus far so they had about .00001 chances of making it happen. 5 minutes before it turned 12 am, I had to rush to the bathroom. By the time I made my way back through the crowd, it had already turned 21 and Adam was waiting there with an opened beer for me to chug. I understand that when you turn 21 you’re supposed to take a drink or whatever but it did NOT feel right by any means. I was actually really uncomfortable and I wasn’t so cool with the fact that they had opened the beer without me being there. Granted they seemed like nice guys but I knew them for a mere 15 minutes. Seemed kind of sketch and I didn’t want any of what they were sending my way. I thanked them for the gesture but refused the drink. Sorry boys!

We stayed at the bar for a little until I figured it would be fun to move on to the next place. I went to grab my coat check ticket and…it was gone! I had a mini panic attack and ran back to the bathroom to see if it had fallen out of my pocket. The woman manning the restrooms was a total bitch and dismissed me as if I were some idiotic child. I ran back to Brittany and explained that it was gone. This is where the night takes a major hit.

I walked up to the woman at the coat check and explained my situation. Essentially she didn’t give a rat’s ass about it and told me to get away from her counter and to wait until 04:30 am to pick it up. No way, not happening. I tried to discuss the issue with her until she finally said, “You stupid American girl get the hell away from me and wait until the bar closes. Rules are rules.” Now I’m pissed. A) don’t call me a stupid American, b) its my damn birthday, and c) I’m not about to sit here for another 4 hours waiting for a jacket that is so distinct and doesn’t look anything like anyone else’s. Before I knew it, the bouncer has his arms around me and is physically moving me from the counter. I was literally looking for my phone because it was ringing and was in the midst of turning around when captain tool bag decided to pick me up. I explained my situation and asked if he could please help. He said, “Nope! A rule is a rule girlie.” Tons of bystanders felt really badly for me and were trying to talk to both the bouncer and the coat lady to see if they could help me out. Not a chance in hell. I decided that my last hope was to try the water works and plead with him to get my jacket. Oh was I wrong. Bouncer guy says, “you can cry all you want bitch but you ain’t getting your jacket.” Ahhhh, birthday celebration part 1 = epic failure.

Finally a nice guy that had overheard the situation, found my ticket on the floor, handed it to me, wished me happy birthday, and with that I wanted to get the heck out of there. Adam said that he would take us dancing so that made me feel a little bit better. That was until he took us to the nastiest dance bar I’ve ever seen. It was so smoky that after 15 minutes of being inside, I already had a raspy voice. I didn’t want to say anything, though, so I sucked it up for about an hour until I looked at Brittany and said all I wanted to do was go home. Turning 21 blew big time and I was over the night.

As we were walking home, all of a sudden I see a familiar face. KIRK! I ran through a crowd of people and jumped into his arms. Finally! I was so excited to see him and what was even better was that Ryan and Eddie were there and oddly enough my two amazing friends from USC, Shaun and Will, were also there in Amsterdam and happened to know Kirk’s best friend, Taylor. I was beyond overjoyed to see them and said screw going back to the hotel. We stayed out with them for a while just catching up and hanging out until it got pretty late and Brittany and I realized that we had to be up somewhat early the next morning.

I walked home with a huge smile on my face and was so glad that the night had turned around. Thank you God for looking out for me and giving me a perfect pick me up at the end of the night. It was a much better start of my actual birthday day.

Brittany and I got home and wreaked of cigarettes/weed from all the bars we had been in. Having both forgotten perfume, we hung our clothes outside the window and tied them to the railing to air out. Ingenious plan we thought. Then we both agreed we were in need of showers. Too bad the showers are in the hallways and not in your room. She took the big shower downstairs and I took the little one upstairs. The light didn’t work however so I had to leave the door open and just hope that no one could see through the closed glass shower door. It would have been one heck of a shower for our neighbors.

OMG that reminds me! That same night before dinner, we asked for directions to the restaurant. There was a couple at the front desk and while I was talking to the receptionist, the guy asked Brittany if she would join them that evening. She looked a little confused and asked, “What?” He said, “Will you come sleep with us tonight?” Again she looked confused so I butted in and said, “Excuse me, are you asking her to have sex with you?” Not to my surprise, he and this girl nod their heads in agreement. Dude, what the heck! Brittany was pretty creeped out and I just thought the whole situation was nasty. The guy was a total creep both mentally and physically. I made sure that their room was NOWHERE near ours.

So anyway, Brittany and I finished showering and are clean and ready for bed. We both sunk into our heavenly twin beds and dosed off. Birthday day was just a couple hours away.

Saturday 03/06: Today is officially my 21st birthday!!! I woke up in a great mood and got myself ready to go. I was having one of those, “ugh you look hideous” days but I dismissed it and reminded myself that today was going to be great. We headed down for breakfast and enjoyed the same deliciousness from the day before. From there on out, we were in for one seriously busy day.

We decided to take the 11:15 am tour so that in the afternoon we could see whatever we hadn’t seen earlier that day. While the sun was shining, I kept debating whether or not I should bring an extra sweater with me. Brittany reminded me that we would be walking around and could easily get hot. I thought to myself, yeah she’s probably right. Yeah no, I was totally wrong. The entire time we were on the tour I was shaking with utter frost. I could barely stand still and had to run into two different coffee shops throughout the tour just to get hot water to attempt to warm up. It had gotten to the point where all the muscles in my arms had tensed up, my feet were so frozen that it hurt to walk, and my fingers could barely bend. I was such a joke. I kept laughing at the situation because outside it was so beautiful and the sky was blue, sun was shining, and here I am shivering to death during this incredible walking tour of the city. I am such a handful sometimes.

Overall the tour was great and we got to see a ton of interesting parts of the city. Our tour guide, Amy, was from Australia and was incredibly fun, lively, and helpful. She and I talked for a large portion of the tour because I was always in the front. Keep in mind I walk sometimes faster than people can jog. She even laughed at how fast I moved due to how long my legs were.

After 3 hours or so, the tour ended and Brittany and I decided to go visit the Nine Streets, which are these little side streets that run perpendicular to a number of the canals. They are scattered with cute cafes and restaurants, tons of interesting stores, and beautiful buildings. We made our way up and down a number of them before getting pretty hungry. I had read about this amazing little placed called Café Nielson. We had been looking for it as we walked around but still hadn’t found it. I was about to give up and had just finished saying, “I really hope we find it soon!” when all of a sudden, I turn around and there it is.

The food and people were wonderful and it ended up being the most perfect little birthday lunch. I was happy. We continued our street exploring until we reached the Westerkerk and the Anne Frank House, which is what we had really been looking for. We waited in line for about 20 minutes until we finally reached the ticket counter and were let in. The museum was really incredible and I’m so happy that we went. I had wanted to go all along but Brittany was worried that the lines would be really long and that we should skip it if so. Luckily when we went, they weren’t too awful. The wait was worth it though because the story of Anne Frank is simply amazing and being in that house, seeing the pictures, getting a true feeling for what they were trapped in for 2 whole years was really remarkable. It was 10 Euro very well spent.

After we finished spending our time revisiting history, Brittany and I agreed that we needed to see the Red Light District a little more up close and personal than the tour had given us. We ended up getting lost going over there and were roaming around in the freezing cold until we found the main canal. The getting lost, however, did bring us to Rembrandt Square and a couple other of cool places that we hadn’t seen yet.

We really wanted to explore the Red Light District because Amy had told us that it would be shutting down in the next 5 years. Amsterdam wants to have it completely eradicated by the year 2015. Thus, we had to see it. The area looks like the rest of Amsterdam but there are windows rimmed with red lights with red curtains, in which the women stand. Let me tell you, there are women of all sorts. Big, little, old, young, you name it. The oldest prostitute in Amsterdam is actually 83 years old! Guess some grandpas out there still need to get some.

We explored the area, the absurd shops, dealt with snide comments on the street and weird people until we looked at our clock and realized it was getting late. Guess no down time today. Brittany still wanted to get her brother a gift so we made our way back to the main shopping street near our hotel and tried to find something she liked. While she shopped, I wanted ice cream again so I found another Australian ship and satisfied my craving. By the time she had finished and I had finished, it was a good 7:20 pm. We hustled back to the hotel to defrost and get ready for my big birthday dinner.

This is where birthday celebration bust #2 comes in. Originally, all the boys, Brittany, and I were going to have a big birthday dinner together and we were going to order a ] champagne in order to clink to my first glass of anything. I wanted to do something simple and that seemed like the perfect, mellow, easy thing to do. I had no intentions of getting drunk or taking shots or doing anything of that sort. It hasn’t interested me for 21 years so what changed now? Nothing. So anyway, I wanted to do dinner at 08:30 pm but the boys said they were tired and wanted to rest for a bit. I waited until 09:30 only to find out that all the boys were bailing and decided to just nap instead. I wasn’t going to push the issue because it was there vacation too so I just agreed that Brittany and I would go out together.

Well we ended up spending an hour and some time roaming the streets of Leidseplein trying to find a place (long story as to why but its not to be included). Too bad almost all of the kitchens were closing and/or closed and the majority of the open restaurants were really touristy and not very nice. Freezing my butt off and starving, I finally just said, whatever let’s just pick anywhere. I walked into a place and sat down, only to have the waiter come over to take our order and tell us the kitchen was closed. Doom. I said, “Sir, it’s my birthday, we have been roaming around the streets trying to find a place, we’ve had zero luck, no one can give us any recommendations, so can you please help us.” Thank goodness he pointed us in the direction of a place across the street. I could hardly wait. Wrong. I would have to wait. The kitchen was closed there too and all they would make us was warmed up pasta from the fridge. I said I would pass.

At this point, I dismissed that it was even my birthday. There had been no singing, no candles, no true celebration and all I wanted to do was share in some delicious food with my amazing travel mate, Brittany. I found a Mexican restaurant and said, Let’s do it! Mexican has never tasted so dang good in my life and the diet coke I had (yup a diet coke on my 21st, thank you) hit the spot.

My stomach was satisfied and I had shared in perfect company so it was a huge success in that regard. We headed home around 12:30 am to climb into bed and prepare ourselves for a seriously early rise. We had to be out of the hotel by 07 am if we wanted to reach the train station and get to the airport on time.

My 21st Birthday had its amazing points and its low points but the celebration isn’t over. Just because it wasn’t filled with the usual birthday joys doesn’t mean that they still aren’t waiting in the future. Overall the time in Amsterdam was truly a wonderful vacation and I had an incredible time with Brittany. If you are reading this, thank you so much for a great weekend babe!

Sunday 03/07: Brittany and I got ourselves up and out of bed right on time, cleaned ourselves up, finished packing, and checked out. We waited for the tram only to find out it wasn’t working yet and thus, caught a cab. We made it to the train station in great time and found our platform. Weirdly, the train was sitting there but the doors wouldn’t open. As time passed by, larger and larger crowds of people were forming outside the train doors waiting to get in and get to the airport. After 20 minutes or so, I went to go ask because I was getting a little worried that it wasn’t in fact leaving. I found a woman at a help desk who told me that the train had moved platforms. Wait what?! I asked why there had been no announcement and she said that it had been unbeknownst to them. Well crap, now we had to wait until 7:59 to take off from the platform and hope to make it to the airport, check in, get through security, and board all before our plane left at 09:35 am.

Brittany was tripping out about the whole situation but I was totally calm. If worst came to worst, we would have to take another plane. I wasn’t about to worry about something that I had no control over. We would try our best to get there and make it work and if we didn’t, we didn’t.

As soon as we arrived at the airport, I jetted to find KLM check-in. We used the automatic machines and then started to wait in line to check our bags. Realizing that it could take a while, I spoke to a woman about our situation and she sent us to Business Class to have our bags checked. We rushed over and the woman kindly let us through. We then got stuck in another line where I talked to the woman in front of me and again explained our situation. She was extremely kind and let me go ahead. Success. Security was hardly as long as it had been coming so we got through that quickly. Within a matter of no time, we were at our gate waiting to board. And guess who we see? Katie and Emily! They were heading back on the same plane. Katie and I got to talking and started discussing the potential of traveling together because she was looking for someone she could do so with. I told her that I was more than happy to go anywhere and so we started listing off all the places we want to go. I think that this weekend we’re trying to work something out by hitting up Genoa, Pisa, and Florence. I’m super stoked about it, especially since she is such a cool girl and we hit it off immediately.

The plane ride home was really bumpy and I wasn’t feeling too hot by the time we landed. Brit and I grabbed our bags and bolted for the bus as soon as we could. We got on and immediately started to reminisce about the weekend. We honestly had such an amazing time together. Sometimes friends aren’t always the best to travel with but in our case we get along great. We both were cool with just doing whatever. We both love to eat and enjoy great cuisine. We both loved exploring the streets and walking around. And we both were really respectful of each other’s space and time in the hotel. We have tons of things planned out to do over the next few months so it’s going to be one heck of a semester.

Once we got to Centrale, we hugged goodbye and I thanked her for making my birthday weekend a special one. We set off in opposite directions and made our way home. I could hardly wait to relax.

I finally made it back to the apartment and waited for the girls because they had forgotten their keys in Madrid over the weekend. The two of them had been stranded outside for hours and had gone to a little café to eat lunch. They were more than happy to see me to finally let them in.

The rest of the day was spent unpacking, showering, running to the grocery store, and sleeping. I got to talk to my momma and she immediately started singing when I picked up the phone. I finally heard the birthday song, which made me so happy! It was a day late but a birthday song is a birthday song. We talked about my weekend and then she had to jet off to do mom things. I left to get on my computer.

Later that day I was really unpleasantly surprised with one of those things that just brings tears to your eyes and it most definitely did. I was emotionally exhausted and didn’t wake up for 4+ hours only to make dinner, do some homework, and climb right back into bed. Monday was looming, laughing at me with is 08:45 am class start.

Monday 03/08: Class was boring as all possible today. The speaker we had in my first class was a total dud, spoke poor English, and doesn’t understand the concept of being engaging. I could hardly focus the entire time.

After that class, which I share with Gaetano and Renato, the two of them and their friend Donatello, invited me to share in a coffee/tea with them. I gladly accepted the offer. We went to Taxi Blues and had a pretty deep conversation about graduating, work life, internships, and the potential of them ever being able to work in the states. I have a feeling that being as smart as they are, that they all have a decent chance of proving themselves worthy of working for a company in the US. They were pretty hard on themselves but I hope I gave them the encouragement to pursue their aspirations.

I had to run home to grab lunch before making my way back to Bocconi for another two boring courses. My Fashion class, which is usually great, was awful due to another bad speaker who again didn’t understand what it means to speak clear English or entertain a classroom. My Entrepreneurship class, which I’ve said is the world’s most boring class ever, was pretty bad, too. I had to sit in the front in order to charge my computer, which was a huge mistake because the professor kept asking me questions about the reading that…well, I hadn’t read. I tried to BS something but I don’t know how smart it ended up coming out. Oh well.

After class, I did a lot of work on my computer and made some important phone calls. I also booked a hair appointment!!! See I have been craving to have my hair done since it is in major need but was terrified to go to someone other than my amazing stylist at home. I had asked my friend who works in the fashion industry if she knew anyone in Milan that could give me recommendations. Luckily she did and the woman she put me in contact with (Arianna) gave me three different names to try. The first salon I called never picked up the phone nor responded to the emails I had sent a week ago. The second was a dang fortune. I am talking anywhere between 250-350 Euro for a cut and blow-dry. Okay no thank you. The third could fit me in that day. Bingo.

My appointment was for 6 pm so I came in just before hand so he could play with my hair and give me his thoughts. I was super nervous about it but he seemed to know what he was doing. Being the MOST particular person about her hair, I tried to explain as slowly and clearly what I wanted. The language barrier definitely causes a bit of an issue when it comes to hair explanation but we managed. I put my trust in him and let him go to work.

When it was all done and I turned around to look in the mirror, I was shocked. My hair looked AMAZING!!! I was beside myself, jumped up, gave him a huge hug and told him I wouldn’t be going anywhere else in the city for the rest of my stay in Milano. He had been incredibly kind, did an unbelievable job, made my hair look sex-worthy, and had given me the best head massage I may have ever had. The whole experience was heaven. I was hap, hap, happy.

I rushed home, though, because my best friends, Vincent and Flaca, were taking me out for a really special birthday dinner. Hence, this is why I wanted to have my hair done. That and it was way overdue for a cute. The little angels they are had booked a table at Corso Como 10, a really beautiful restaurant on the infamous Corso Como. They wanted me to finally be able to celebrate my 21st birthday properly. I was so excited to share my birthday celebration with them and even more excited because I downright love spending any amount of time with them both. There isn’t a moment spent with either of them where I think anything but great things. It’s how true friendship should be.

They picked me up around 09:45 pm in a cab, and I came down only to be greeted with lots of “oohs and aahs” over my hair, my outfit, and my overall look. The two of them looked gorgeous as always and kept wishing me happy birthday and building up the hype for the evening. I doubt they could have been any more amazing. I was feeling pretty special!

We showed up to our beloved restaurant to find hardly anyone there. It’s Women’s Day in Milan so all the ladies are at clubs with their boyfriends, girlfriends and friends alike seeing strip shows and probably getting drunk. Thus, the restaurant was pretty much ours. We were seated in a perfect little corner table that suited us just right. The restaurant is gorgeous and the outside patio area is even more impressive. Too bad it was cold otherwise we would have been sitting there. We’d al been here before during Fashion Week for an after party but none of us had dined in the restaurant. The menu was to die for and we had the hardest time picking our orders because literally every last thing on it we kind of wanted. We ended up ordering three entrée and two other dishes for the table. We figured it would be enough food but then again, the three of us all know what it means to eat and actually enjoy food so we figured we would have room for dessert too.

The three of us were sitting around the table chit chatting when our waiter brought us over some steaming hot bread, mozzarella cheese, and roasted cherry tomatoes. We all died. But then he brought us out a bottle of champagne that my two lovebirds had ordered for the special occasion! The bottle was popped, we were all poured a glass, and we raised our glasses. The two of them toasted to my first drink and my 21st birthday and showered me with lots of love. It was absolutely perfect.

The night only continued to get better and better as they brought the food. Our dishes were incredible. I mean simply incredible. I know I talk a lot about food, but it’s been a part of me since I was little. Ask my family. But yes…We ordered chicken in a yogurt, basil sauce, pappardelle pasta with mozzarella and fresh tomatoes, and Vincent ordered gluten-free (hahaha) spaghetti with tomatoes and basil. The restaurant serves only organic, fresh food so everything was heavenly prepared. We all shared our dishes along with the grilled vegetables and steamed broccoli that we had ordered for the table. Every last bite on each plate was cleared and we made a “best friend vow” to come once a month and order something different every time so that by the time we leave Milano, we will have eaten the entire menu. Best meal I have had in Milan, without question.

We shared in great conversation and I couldn’t get over how lucky of a person I am to have two such amazing people in my life. To treat me to such a special dinner for my birthday and compliment me with comments made me feel like a million bucks. I was truly touched.

Dessert came and we each ordered something. Between the three of us, we shared a bowl of fresh blue and raspberries, gelato, and a chocolate tart with red currents. We were there so long that we ended up closing the restaurant down and the owner had to finally tell us they were closing. Haha Oops! He clinked to us, though, and kissed me on both cheeks, wishing me a happy birthday and insisting that we come back and have dinner again soon. No worries, we will be.

We took a cab home and the two of them dropped me off, gave me lots of love and hugs, and sent me on my way. All in all it was the perfect night with two absolutely incredible friends. I’m an incredibly blessed person to have such people in my life. Amongst Amsterdam and Brittany, my new hair, all the love from my family and friends, and the best birthday dinner a girl could ask for, my 21st birthday was everything I had hoped for and then some.

Xoxo
Me