Across the Pond: not Rome, for school, but still fun.

Alright. So now you've read about Rome and I've gotten a little less tired so I think I can write up the second part of my week in Italy - on the tracks of Verdi and Puccini, two famous Italian opera composers from the Romantic period.

It started off VERY EARLY in the morning. Rome traffic can be pretty bad, so we woke up at 5am to get down to Termini to catch our 7am train to Milan before the traffic got too bad. Shout of to Francesca, the sweetest girl in the world, who woke up with us, made us coffee, and drove us to the bus stop. The train took about 3 hours and it was a pretty nice train - there were no stops so it went very fast! In Milan we met the rest of our class and the professor at the Duomo cathedral. It was beautiful!

:: why hello there Baroque period ::

Milan was alright, but it was a huge change from the rest of Italy that I've seen. We enjoyed some shopping and looking at the fashion streets where we couldn't buy anything, but the impression I got from Milan the entire time we were there was… grey. I don't know how else to describe it. Still it was a very beautiful city. For our class, we went to see the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, a home for old musicians who couldn't support themselves that Verdi built. It was a really interesting place and it is still in operation today. We were able to meet some of the old musicians and see a concert for them put on by a Japanese University. We also visited the Teatro alla Scala, one of the most famous opera houses in the world. Not gonna lie, I'm kinda interested in operas after all this. I would love to get all dressed up and go see one sometime if it was in a place as nice as this.

I was EXHAUSTED so I didn't do much at night in Milan, but in the morning we got up early again and drove to Busseto, the birthplace of Verdi. We toured the house he was born in, the house he built once he was famous, and had a private concert of a few of his arias. Our tour guide Federico was our age and spoke great English, and since he was with us like all day we got to know him a little bit. At night we went with him and his family to a small restaurant where we got a huge Italian meal and a wine tasting. It was good, but not going to lie… it didn't scratch my top five Italian meals. Still, can't go wrong with a free meal!

:: the whole group... minus me ::

In the morning we made the long drive to Pisa. I took the obligatory picture holding up the tower and got lunch with my friend Erica. We got majorly hit on by a kinda creepster Italian waiter who ended up giving me his card, but his English was really really good because he studied in London and he was actually really cute… so that was nice I guess. Haha it was an experience. After that our tour guide failed to show up so we went over to a nearby town called Lucca for the rest of the night. I really loved Lucca! It was so cute and beautiful. We got to see Puccini's birthplace and I got to eat yummy gnocchi with pesto. I wish we could have stayed there a little longer, but our hotel was closer to Pisa. In the morning we got up and in the morning went to see Puccini's large home in Torre del Lago right on the coast of the lake. It was absolutely beautiful! And the tour was probably the most interesting of the whole trip. While Verdi was a very serious, philanthropic man, Puccini was like a fun-loving, free-spending playboy. So that made for an interesting tour. Haha.

:: don't worry. I had it under control ::

After that we drove alll the way up to Lake Como. Como was probably my favorite location of the study tour. It was SO SO beautiful. I would definitely go back there with my family or friends or someone special. :] We got the night free in the city and I definitely enjoyed my last night in Italy - celebrating with two gelatos in one day instead of my usual one. The next day we got up early and made the long drive back to Luxembourg. We drove through Italy, Switzerland, France, and Germany to get back, so it was never a boring drive. Driving through Switzerland was GORGEOUS. Seriously gorgeous.