Mi piace Milano, tutti i giorni!

It's been a few weeks since the last blog, which can be attributed to my European traveling. Hard life, I know. After the Oktoberfest fiasco, I laid low until the next weekend. My next trip was to Milan to see my girlfriend who is studying in Florence, Italy. We decided to meet in Milan, which isn't quite half way, but flights are very cheap to Milan from Madrid. It was a fiasco getting to Madrid between rush hour traffic and the rainstorms dispersed throughout the "campo". The only downfall of flying cheap European airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet is they often fly to smaller or more obscure airports that require extra traveling after arriving. I had to take an hour long bus ride from Milan Malpensa to the Stazione Centrale.

It was nice to finally be back with Sarai since we hardly get to see each other whilst abroad. Our hotel was a one star on the 4th floor of an apartment building. Very cheap and surprisingly warm and welcoming, the hotel served its purpose. We were skeptical to use the elevator, since it seemed like it would break at any second, but it was reliable and much easier than climbing five flights of stairs (In Europe, the ground floor is zero instead of one).

Highlights of the trip: seeing Milan's famous Duomo. A bit darker in nature than the Spanish cathedrals that I'm use to. "Shopping" in the eight-story designer department stores, which hold the likes of D&G, Prada, Emporio Armani, etc....you get the point (anything out of my price range). Going to an Internazionale Milan game, better known as Inter Milan. We bought Eto'o jerseys and cheered when Inter scored in stoppage time, causing flares to be set off in the stands. Insanity. La Bella e La Bestia (Beauty and the Beast) musical, translated into Italian. We got some of the last tickets for cheap and we ended up with amazing seats on the second level, towards the front. Again, simply brilliant. Apart from appreciating the time with Sarai, I experienced my first professional soccer game and Broadway play.

After making it back for lunch on Monday (flight at 630am on Monday), the week started over again. More class, more Spanish life, more of the magic that never seems to leave Salamanca. I read in a tourist book that Salamanca is the Emerald City of Europe, likely accredited to the cathedrals that rise like the spires of Oz. More on my weekend in Porto soon......