Wednesday, June 18th

Today was a very busy day - our busiest day yet. It was the first time that it wasn't cold and rainy since the day I arrived. The sun actually came out, so Rita and I woke up early (7:30 for her, 8:30 for me - if you know me, that's really early!) and walked to the Bocconi university campus. It wasn't bad - about a 25 minute walk to the main campus. However, it turned out that the MBA building is not on the main campus. It's actually a little closer - about a 15-20 minute walk from our apartment - but in the cut a little. We passed the building and didn't even realize we had passed it. We went inside but the guy at the reception desk didn't speak any english and my italian is horrible (Rita is a step above me - she actually did Rosetta Stone, compared to my 50 page pocket guide that I didn't read until I was on the plane to Milan - but we're both pretty bad). We were able to get a copy of the English yellow pages and some booklets on Milan but we didn't go past the reception desk. We walked back to the apartment and passed a lot of shops and boutiques. For anyone who loves to shop, you will love Milan - stores are everywhere. We found a new supermarket and went grocery shopping for the third time in five days, then stopped by the fruit market on our way back to the apartment.
Afterwards, we decided not to waste the day, and we went back out to the Duomo area (which is quickly becoming our second home), but this time we took the tram which turned out to be much more direct. The interesting thing about the tram is that no one pays the fare, which is so bizarre. Rita and I were the only oddballs sitting there at the fare machine for 5 minutes trying to make sure we put our cards in the right way - dead giveaways that we're tourists (as if you couldn't tell just by looking at us). Meanwhile everyone else is walking on and walking right past the machine to their seats. Anyway, we stopped by the tourism office in Duomo Plaza and got some brochures and maps of the city, and made a quick stop at "La Rinascente" (this high end department store in the plaza) so I could replace my MAC lipstick which has about 2 applications left. It cost me 17.50 euro ($27 at current exchange although I try not to think about what I'm paying in dollars b/c it always turns out to be depressing).
Next, we headed to the area around via Montenapoleone and via della Spiga (aka the "Golden Quad") which is like the 5th Avenue of Milan (or rather, 5th Avenue is the via Montenapoleone of NYC). We took pictures of the major designer stores (Gucci, Prada, LV, Dior, Armani...you name it, it's there - there are 4 Prada stores, 4 D&G stores, 2 Gucci...it's ridiculous) and checked out Gucci for Rita and Dior for myself. I was a little disappointed in the handbag selection at Dior, which was limited, but with my budget, I wasn't purchasing anyway. Prices were generally the same (in number) as price tags in the states, except that the amount is in euros - so basically everything was at a 60% premium to what you would pay in the states. Rita was also disappointed in Gucci (which was huge, by the way - three levels) because they didn't have the loafers she was looking to replace, but I really liked their clothing and handbag selection (again, can't afford it, but it was nice to look at).
After window shopping, we went to Teatro alla Scala - the famous theater/opera house - and took pictures there, then headed back to Duomo plaza. Around 6pm, we went to a coffee house in the plaza for coffee (an espresso for Rita, cappuccino for me - I'm not a big coffee drinker but it was really good) then we went to the movie theater to see (gasp!) Sex and the City - the second time for both of us, except this time it was in Italian! The movie was the same, except they used Italian voiceovers so the words didn't match the sound, but it wasn't annoyingly obvious. I enjoyed seeing it in Italian although it's a good thing I saw it in English first - like I said, my Italian is horrible. The theater itself left a lot to be desired though. Stadium seating was unheard of, although that didn't bother me as much as the woman at the concession stand who called herself "cleaning" the counter by taking her hand and swiping popcorn in my direction. That, in addition to the flies swarming around and the pigeon that was walking around inside the theater caused me not to order anything there. After the movie though, we went to Corso di Porta Ticinese, this beautiful strip of shops and restaurants along the water, just several blocks from our apartment. We went to the creperia, to get crepes. I got one with white and milk chocolate, strawberries and rice krispies - I know, it sounds like a lot of gook, but it was yummy! No, I cannot resist chocolate. It cost me 4.40 euros though (about $7) so its not something I will be indulging in on a regular basis, but trust me, I will be back. That concluded our evening. I took lots of pictures today which I will be posting as soon as I can figure out how to post pictures on this thing. Until next time...