Una Settimana Dentro Paradiso

It’s already been a full week here in Milan and I can’t believe it! I can confidently say I call this place a home now as I now have my bearings straight and compass sorted out. I’m familiar with the neighbourhood but still seem to discover new things everyday. The weather has been spectacular and almost 10 degrees everyday – sorry about the snow over there! Here’s a recap of the past few days here in Milano!

Once settling in, I knew I need an Italian SIM card to access my phone while on exchange. All of my friends that already went on exchange recommended getting one here rather than using a data plan from home. Let’s just say four or five trips to the store, seven or eight phone calls and chat bots later and one conversation between Dad and a store manager later, we got the thing to work. Shoutout to Dad who had to call the local manager from him office and sorted everything out!

My new roommate arrived this week and she’s super sweet! She’s a student from Western and surprisingly very excited to live with 3 Queen’s girls. Our 4th roommate arrives on Wednesday so soon we will have a full house. It is a great group of girls who are all eager and excited to start the semester.

I also went to visit Bocconi – my beautiful host school for the semester! The campus is about a 7 minute walk from our apartment which is absolutely great. The whole campus ranges from ancient castle-like buildings to modern mansions. They have tons of amenities and a ton of friendly students! I start my Italian crash course on Friday so I am very excited to start meeting new people.

This past weekend, two of our Queen’s friends on exchange in Germany (Caitlin and Carlin), came to visit and spend some time with us. They also fell in love with Milan as we toured them around the local spots and the major attractions. They were quite sad to leave but super excited that they got to taste some Italy for a bit.

We got to experience apperitivo with them which is 5 euros for a drink and endless food! We tried a campari and soda which was quite delicious. Speaking about food, we also went to this amazing restaurant called Un Posto A Milano (a 2-time Michelin Star winner !) and had a delicious meal.

We also got to do a little shopping here and there because the stores are too cute to ignore! My friends got some nice leather shoes, clothes and other little things. I got myself a nice dress I will definitely wear to fit in with the gorgeous Milano Fashion. You might even see me as a model on Fashion Week!

On Sunday, it was my roommate Amanda’s birthday so we got a bunch of groceries and made her a nice birthday dinner before the girls left for Germany again. It’s amazing that our apartment’s kitchen is up to par with Nonna’s kitchen which has everything you would need and more. We made some roasted veggies, antipasto, caprese salad and some chicken. It might have been the best meal yet!

Overall, a great few days we got to experience in Milan! I am nothing but more excited for the rest to come. Arrividerci e a dopo amore!