It's Been A While!

It's hard to imagine that things get busy in Italy, but it actually does happen. The past two weeks, along with the next two are full of activities, loads of school work and random adventures! Let me start by trying to catch up on the two biggest trips of last month.

MILAN

    Milan was absolutely amazing! I could write a whole chapter on Milan alone.When we first arrived we were whisked off to appointments immediately.Unfortunately we were running a bit behind schedule because one of our professors and fellow students got their wallets stolen while we were in the train station.They luckily got things settled and we were able to make it to the trade show. The trade show was Overwhelming. It was very neat to see all the collections for fall 2011 and actually talk to the designers about heir work. Our next stop was the antique market. It was about two miles of vendors selling antique/vintage goods! I felt like I had reached heaven on earth.
     Our second day was quite early. We started at 5:00am on a bus to Lake Como(One of the most beautiful lakes in the world). There, we visited the silk factory where we saw future prints for Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci and many more while they were in the works!  We then went to the  fabric archive that had famous fabrics from the 1800's it was insane! After all of our industry appointments we were able to have a little free time to eat lunch and enjoy the views of the lake.When we returned to Milan our next visit was Corso Como 10.  Corso Como is one of the most famous stores in Europe. It's a concept store that tries to sell an entire lifestyle. It included a bar, bookstore, art gallery, rooftop lounge, retail store and small hotel. We did spot Taylor swift picking out a few items  to be sent to her hotel. After Corso we were free for the day. A small group of  us decided to do a little retail therapy and grab some "appertivo," which is an appetizer buffet and drinks at a small quaint little bar.
    Our next day, we went to the Dali exhibit, which was AWESOME. Then we had a meeting with the Rinascente  (one of the most incredible European department stores) executives and a store tour. After that we went to the Gucci headquarters and met with their executives.It was very interesting to look at their business structure and listen to their ideas behind their brand image. We were also able to offer our opinions and suggestions on how to better build their brand. We then got tickets to see the original painting of "The Last Supper" which was extremely cool! That night was our night to go out and boy was it an experience, to say the least. That's the most detail I am going to give on that subject.
    The last and final day we spent climbing the Duomo and shopping in the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle is poison for a shopaholic's wallet. Lucky for me I'm not a shopaholic so I am proud to say, I came very close but, did not purchase anything!  Although Milan is a lot like Manhattan, I was happy to return home to quiet, quaint, little Florence.

Oktoberfest

    Our next adventure was OKTOBERFEST, Boy was it amazing! We took a bus at midnight through the night and woke up in Germany. We arrived a little late, so finding a tent that would let us all in was a little bit of chore. Eventually we found one but couldn't find a table for thirteen of us to sit. So we split up and put on our American charm to get invited to join strangers tables. It didn't take very long for four of us to find one, but the rest had a bit more trouble which was frustrating. My first table was hilarious. I met my new best friend, Alessandro, in a matter of  five minutes. He was quite the character to say the least. After a while I got a little tired of that table and went to join another table.
     My second table was by far my favorite. It was a group of guys that had studied abroad in tiawan years prior. They are from all over the world  but they manage to meet every year at Oktoberfest and they were so much fun! We got to know them well after eight hours of endless singing, dancing, jumping on table tops and laughing! The guys were planning on going to eat at a restaurant across Munich, so we decided to tag along. The restaurant was great, but we were exhausted after 10 hours of Oktoberfest. We headed back to the park to ride bumper cars, get waters, load up on  memorabilia and head to the bus. All in all it was a fantastic day. If I had to recommend anything that you must do at least once in you life, Oktoberfest is definitely it. Beers are huge and delicious, (and I am not a beer drinker) the music is super fun, and your among thousands of the happiest people you will ever see.

Florence 

    I am now back in Florence for a little bit. It's been nice to be back for a week but these next few weeks are full of papers, presentations, tests and midterms it's unreal. Unlike most study abroad programs, we are actually full time students. We take 18 hours of school. Most schools send students abroad having two classes that are pass/fail but, we are hanging in there. Somehow we find time to hang out with our Carabinieri friends. This trip would not be same without them. This weekend they are making us dinner at their weekend house outside of Florence and  then we are all road tripping to a chocolate festival on Sunday. We have tried our best to fit in as many adventures as time and money will allow us for this semester. Coming up we have Lucca for the jazz festival,  Halloween,Venice, an Italian ballet and soccer game, Xavier Rudd in Paris and maybe a sick trip to Morocco. I will do my best to blog about all of them!