Milano

Today was the most amazing day! I went to Milan to meet a girl named Valeria.  Valeria was an exchange student of the Brainards in San Diego.   She went to SDSU but I never got to meet her in San Diego, so today was the first time I met her.  I am so happy I got to meet her!  Valeria works at the Duomo which is the famous Cathedral of Milan.  I am sooo lucky that she works there!  I got to go on a private tour of the Duomo because Valeria knew all of the people that worked there.  I was able to go into the altar where typically only the priests are allowed to go. All the other tourists were staring at me.  It was amazing to be so high up looking down on the church.  In the altar there was a little attachment to the wall that was able to be pulled down because apparently there used to be a very short cardinal.  They don't want to get rid of it in case there is another short one. Hahaha.  Also I got to go down into this area where normally you have to pay to go for free. It was called the treasures and it had all things of gold and crystal.  There was also the bones of the cardinal of the church.  I guess they display the bones once a year in September to honor him.  Also during the walk there was a famous statue in the church of San Bartolomeo.  It is the most famous statue of the church and one of the most famous in Milan.  It was not lit so the security guard turned the light on especially for me so that I could see it.  I also got the guided audio tour for free so I got to listen to the explanation.  The artist of the bottom had carved "Non me Praxiteles, sed Marc'finxit Agrat" - It was not Praxiteles, it was Marco d'Agrate who made me.  Praxiteles was apparently the greatest sculptor of that time and Marco d'Agrate did not want people to think that the statue was his work.   The statue was amazing and so intricate....but kind of gross since it was a statue of a man who was carrying his own skin and didn't have skin on his body.   But I am so lucky that I got such an amazing tour, especially considering that I am a Religious Studies major!
After the Duomo Valeria took me to a place called California Bakery.  It was supposed to be all types of California food.   It was kind of similar I guess.  But then everyone there kept asking me if I knew how to make the things on the menu. Hahaha.  Being from California is a novelty in Italy.  After California Bakery we went shopping and a ton of the stores had shirts all about California.  You can get more California and America stuff here than in the U.S.!  They also sold converse with the American flag and scarves. It is so funny to me.   Milan is shopping heaven!  They have so many great stores. And everything is on sale right now for winter.  I got a new coat that was supposed to be 150 Euros for 30 Euros.  And it matched my outfit better so I switched coats the second I bought it. :) We also went to a store that is really similar to Nordstrom except this one has 7 stories!  They even have a cafe at the top that overlooks the Duomo :) Also, I saw the really nice shopping street.  It is similar to Rodeo Dr.  in Beverly Hills.  On the really nice street we saw a famous Italian soap opera star.  I had no clue who she was though.  And it was so different then in the U.S. because there weren't any photographers around trying to take photos of her.  They were actually just letting her shop like a normal person!
After shopping,  Valeria took me to meet her boyfriend, Simone He was really nice as well.  He totally wants to be an American.  He loves tattoos and hot rods and american rock groups.  I told him that Papa had the Starfire and the old TBirds and he was amazed.   I guess he also tattoos at his house or something and he had an upcoming tattoo so we went to their favorite restaurant/bar to talk to the man who was getting a tattoo.  They gave us appetizers and a delicious orange drink called Crodino.  We only stayed there for a little bit and then we went out to dinner.  The restaurant was funny because it was a "German" restaurant with Italian food, that played American music and had a ton of Japanese people inside.  A ton of cultures all rolled into one. :)  After dinner Simone and Valeria drove me home to Pavia so that I didn't have to take the train home and night and then walk 10 minutes by myself.  It was so nice of them!  And then... sleep :)

After shopping,  Valeria took me to meet her boyfriend, Simone He was really nice as well.  He totally wants to be an American.  He loves tattoos and hot rods and american rock groups.  I told him that Papa had the Starfire and the old TBirds and he was amazed.   I guess he also tattoos at his house or something and he had an upcoming tattoo so we went to their favorite restaurant/bar to talk to the man who was getting a tattoo.  They gave us appetizers and a delicious orange drink called Crodino.  We only stayed there for a little bit and then we went out to dinner.  The restaurant was funny because it was a "German" restaurant with Italian food, that played American music and had a ton of Japanese people inside.  A ton of cultures all rolled into one. :)  After dinner Simone and Valeria drove me home to Pavia so that I didn't have to take the train home and night and then walk 10 minutes by myself.  It was so nice of them!  And then... sleep :)