Wednesday I met for the first time with my Italian Language Partner. The language partner is an optional IES program where you're paired with an Italian student and speak in both English and Italian to have practice for both students. I finally decided a few weeks ago that I felt prepared enough to speak in Italian so I signed up. My partner is Francesco and he's a fifth year (last year for Italian universities; you do 3 years of general studies and 2 years of specialized studies) law student. We met up at the IES center for the first one as most do and also got some lunch when we were done. Luckily he speaks fantastic English (I'm his third language partner and he also studied in Washington state). He's very nice and I'm excited to meet again.
On Thursday I finally had another "Thursday Adventure" after almost a month. I started by heading to the Arena in Parco Sempione (near the castle) which I couldn't get into but I saw the outside. Then I headed to the Aquarium next door which is tiny. However, it was free and pleasant to walk around. They have a nice terrace with pretty views. It is definitely becoming fall here. Milan isn't very green. There's not many trees until you find a full-blown park so it's hard to tell the seasons sometimes. Parco Sempione was on fire though. Lots of yellows and reds and oranges on the leaves. After leaving the aquarium I walked around the front of the castle just because I never had and there's a pretty fountain there. I also walked to the Triennial Design Museum but didn't feel like paying to see an exhibit.
I got lunch at a place near IES and was going to see Sant'Ambrogio church. Saint Ambrose (Sant'Ambrogio) is the patron saint of Milan and a big deal. The church is the oldest in Milan I believe and is supposed to be gorgeous. However, it was closed for two hours and I was right at the beginning of when it's closed. Guess I'll have to make it back there now that I know the times it's open.
I went over by the Duomo to La Scala and went into the museum. It was really nice. Lots of old instruments and paintings and busts of famous composers and singers. You can also walk out into the nice boxes and see the lobby area. Sadly I could not take pictures inside but I enjoyed wandering around. I also went to see Peck a very famous grocery store near the Duomo. It was really nice but I was slightly overwhelmed. I will have to make a trip back with my parents when they're here since they are the ones who told me to see it.
I took the metro back towards my apartment but stopped to see the first park in Milan the Giardini Publici. Again, fall was in full bloom and it was very pretty to walk around. Also, while looking for the park I finally stumbled across my parent's favorite gelato place in Milan: Bianco Latte. And they were right. It might be the best gelato I've had so far this trip (I don't know if it beats Vivoli's in Florence or Giolitti's in Rome from my last trip to Italy). The dark chocolate had chunks of super dark chocolate in it and there was also an orange chocolate. So good! I balanced out the chocolate with some biancolatte (since that was the name of the store).
I have just found out that Friday is a strike day in Milan for public transport. Luckily it seems that our train to go to the Umbria region will be running and we'll just have to take a cab to Centrale to get there.
Showing posts with label thursday adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thursday adventure. Show all posts
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Thursday Adventure #1, Wine Tasting, and Lago di Como
Whew, I've had a busy past few days.
THURSDAY:
So, if you've read my earlier post you know that I am extremely fortunate not to have classes on Thursdays. Therefore I have entitled it my "Thursday Adventures" and I get to go around the city to various sights.
I started off my Thursday this past week with the Orto Botanico di Brera...the Botanical Gardens at the Brera. These are free and very pretty. It's small but intimate feeling and I had a great time wandering around and taking pictures of pretty flowers and plants. However, it was an adventure just to find the gardens as they are not located next to the Brera is it appears, but behind it. I also discovered that the Astrological Museum at the Brera is free and may have to visit that sometime.
After the garden I headed to Maria della Grazie. I was trying to get my Last Supper tickets there and not deal with the online hassle. I got some nice pictures of the outside and found out they only sell tickets a week in advance at the box office and that they were all booked up. I got the website address and headed off. Later I checked it out and they said it was totally booked until the end of December (which is how far they're selling tickets in advance). I ended up finding a third party vendor and paid a little more for my visit but I do have a knowledgeable English speaking guide which I guess is nice. I will be visiting The Last Supper on November 2nd.
I met a friend at IES quick who needed something before heading to the Archeological Museum at the Castello Sforzesco. I found out that there are about six museums in the castle and that it's only 1,50 euro to see them all if you're a student. I thought this was fantastic and went through the Archeological Museum (which is gorgeous, there's a room painted by Leonardo Da Vinci and a Michelangelo sculpture...luckily I was able to take pictures so everybody can see them), a bit of the furnishing museums (I skipped modern times kinda on accident), some of the art museum, quickly made my way through the ceramics and such, and spent some time in the musical instrument museum. Apparently I missed the Egyptian museum which I would very much like to see. But for 1,50 I'll totally go back another time.
I went back to my apartment for a bit before I headed to the Verdi Orchestra concert. IES has three tickets for every concert that we get for free, we just have to sign up. There's one ticket a student then but if nobody signs up students that have gone before can go again. This was the second one of the season and I saw Schumann no. 4 and Mahler no. 4 both of which were beautifully done. The conductor was actually a woman which I thought was amazing and she did the entire Schumann without a score. Wow!
FRIDAY
The deal with our Friday classes is that every once and awhile we have them off (it's actually about every other week). As a result the weeks we do have Friday class (we only have Italian) the class is three hours long from 9-12. However, this week Italian class was pretty fantastic. Instead of meeting at IES and having class we met and went to a wine club (an enoteco I believe they're called). We learned about wine (half in Italian, half in English), had to answer some questions, and got to taste two different wines. A prosecco and a Chianti. It was odd drinking wine at about 10am but both were good. I enjoyed them and it was interesting to learn about wine from somebody who has been in the wine business his whole life (it's a family owned club).
SATURDAY
So, in lieu of spending lots of money on a weekend trip this week I decided a day trip would be nicer. I headed up to Lake Como (Lago di Como) in the morning. I was supposed to make the trip with a friend but he never showed and his cellphone fails so I ended up going alone (don't worry, I was safe and on a train back by dark).
I started off in the actual town of Como. I wandered for a bit, not sure where I was going before I found a stand that sold a map which helped a lot. I went to the Duomo which is quite beautiful and then headed up the side of the hill (Lake Como is surrounded by hills) on a funicolare. A funicolare is like a train that goes up the hill but it's actually built on the angle of the hill. It was pretty interesting. I got some nice views of Como and the lake from above, although it was a bit overcast and not as pretty as I bet it would be on a clear day.
After heading down I made for lunch. I tried to go to this osteria my parents recommended but it was packed. Apparently it is good. I ended up at a smaller cafe instead and had gnocci al pesto which was quite good. I've never really dined by myself in public but it was nice. I sat outside and people watched. Plus I got all of the bread to myself. After lunch I got on a boat and headed to Bellagio.
Bellagio I discovered was much hillier than Como which was rather flat. I tried to go to a villa that my map recommended (it had little tourist hints on it) but the map failed and it's apparently a private residence. Oh well, I wandered the town for a bit, got some gelato, before I got on another boat (this one smaller and open aired which as great) and headed to Varenna which is also on the lake.
I think I liked Varenna the best. From the ferry stop I walked this cute little path along the coast to the main part of town which I liked a lot. I ended up visiting the Villa Monestero which has really pretty gardens and a museum with the rooms displayed as they would have been when the villa was built. It was very interesting.
I went to a very early dinner, again attempting to go somewhere my parents had recommended but it was out of my price range and not really open yet so I went to a bar right on the water and had an asparagus pizza (which was good and rather interesting) while I watched the water and the cute little dog dressed in a shirt to advertise the bar. Not wanting to stay out alone after dark I headed to the Varenna train station which has trains into Milano Centrale. However, I got a little mixed up a boarded the wrong train. Luckily it was going the right direction but after we sat at one stop for awhile it backtracked. Whoops! I had to get off and wait for about forty minutes for the next train to arrive at that train station (in Lecco) to take me back to Milan.
I had a good time and now know that I can travel by myself (although I wouldn't want to do more than a day trip that way).
I'm now dedicating my Sunday to doing some work for class, some laundry, and practicing. Oh, and uploading my pictures. Look for those soon!
THURSDAY:
So, if you've read my earlier post you know that I am extremely fortunate not to have classes on Thursdays. Therefore I have entitled it my "Thursday Adventures" and I get to go around the city to various sights.
I started off my Thursday this past week with the Orto Botanico di Brera...the Botanical Gardens at the Brera. These are free and very pretty. It's small but intimate feeling and I had a great time wandering around and taking pictures of pretty flowers and plants. However, it was an adventure just to find the gardens as they are not located next to the Brera is it appears, but behind it. I also discovered that the Astrological Museum at the Brera is free and may have to visit that sometime.
After the garden I headed to Maria della Grazie. I was trying to get my Last Supper tickets there and not deal with the online hassle. I got some nice pictures of the outside and found out they only sell tickets a week in advance at the box office and that they were all booked up. I got the website address and headed off. Later I checked it out and they said it was totally booked until the end of December (which is how far they're selling tickets in advance). I ended up finding a third party vendor and paid a little more for my visit but I do have a knowledgeable English speaking guide which I guess is nice. I will be visiting The Last Supper on November 2nd.
I met a friend at IES quick who needed something before heading to the Archeological Museum at the Castello Sforzesco. I found out that there are about six museums in the castle and that it's only 1,50 euro to see them all if you're a student. I thought this was fantastic and went through the Archeological Museum (which is gorgeous, there's a room painted by Leonardo Da Vinci and a Michelangelo sculpture...luckily I was able to take pictures so everybody can see them), a bit of the furnishing museums (I skipped modern times kinda on accident), some of the art museum, quickly made my way through the ceramics and such, and spent some time in the musical instrument museum. Apparently I missed the Egyptian museum which I would very much like to see. But for 1,50 I'll totally go back another time.
I went back to my apartment for a bit before I headed to the Verdi Orchestra concert. IES has three tickets for every concert that we get for free, we just have to sign up. There's one ticket a student then but if nobody signs up students that have gone before can go again. This was the second one of the season and I saw Schumann no. 4 and Mahler no. 4 both of which were beautifully done. The conductor was actually a woman which I thought was amazing and she did the entire Schumann without a score. Wow!
FRIDAY
The deal with our Friday classes is that every once and awhile we have them off (it's actually about every other week). As a result the weeks we do have Friday class (we only have Italian) the class is three hours long from 9-12. However, this week Italian class was pretty fantastic. Instead of meeting at IES and having class we met and went to a wine club (an enoteco I believe they're called). We learned about wine (half in Italian, half in English), had to answer some questions, and got to taste two different wines. A prosecco and a Chianti. It was odd drinking wine at about 10am but both were good. I enjoyed them and it was interesting to learn about wine from somebody who has been in the wine business his whole life (it's a family owned club).
SATURDAY
So, in lieu of spending lots of money on a weekend trip this week I decided a day trip would be nicer. I headed up to Lake Como (Lago di Como) in the morning. I was supposed to make the trip with a friend but he never showed and his cellphone fails so I ended up going alone (don't worry, I was safe and on a train back by dark).
I started off in the actual town of Como. I wandered for a bit, not sure where I was going before I found a stand that sold a map which helped a lot. I went to the Duomo which is quite beautiful and then headed up the side of the hill (Lake Como is surrounded by hills) on a funicolare. A funicolare is like a train that goes up the hill but it's actually built on the angle of the hill. It was pretty interesting. I got some nice views of Como and the lake from above, although it was a bit overcast and not as pretty as I bet it would be on a clear day.
After heading down I made for lunch. I tried to go to this osteria my parents recommended but it was packed. Apparently it is good. I ended up at a smaller cafe instead and had gnocci al pesto which was quite good. I've never really dined by myself in public but it was nice. I sat outside and people watched. Plus I got all of the bread to myself. After lunch I got on a boat and headed to Bellagio.
Bellagio I discovered was much hillier than Como which was rather flat. I tried to go to a villa that my map recommended (it had little tourist hints on it) but the map failed and it's apparently a private residence. Oh well, I wandered the town for a bit, got some gelato, before I got on another boat (this one smaller and open aired which as great) and headed to Varenna which is also on the lake.
I think I liked Varenna the best. From the ferry stop I walked this cute little path along the coast to the main part of town which I liked a lot. I ended up visiting the Villa Monestero which has really pretty gardens and a museum with the rooms displayed as they would have been when the villa was built. It was very interesting.
I went to a very early dinner, again attempting to go somewhere my parents had recommended but it was out of my price range and not really open yet so I went to a bar right on the water and had an asparagus pizza (which was good and rather interesting) while I watched the water and the cute little dog dressed in a shirt to advertise the bar. Not wanting to stay out alone after dark I headed to the Varenna train station which has trains into Milano Centrale. However, I got a little mixed up a boarded the wrong train. Luckily it was going the right direction but after we sat at one stop for awhile it backtracked. Whoops! I had to get off and wait for about forty minutes for the next train to arrive at that train station (in Lecco) to take me back to Milan.
I had a good time and now know that I can travel by myself (although I wouldn't want to do more than a day trip that way).
I'm now dedicating my Sunday to doing some work for class, some laundry, and practicing. Oh, and uploading my pictures. Look for those soon!
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