2nd December 2011. It's Friday today. Next Friday will be the last of the first term and on that next Sunday I'm going home for my Christmas break. That's out of my mind now though because I'm looking at stunning pieces of art and enjoying mulled wine and minced pies. All for free as I'm on the Free Gallery Night Tour - free bus shuttling between 5 galleries which are open for free up until the midnight! Unfortunately I have to leave early to catch my megabus to Bristol.
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| Learning to take selfies while waiting for Megabus - more challenging than expected! |
Megabus was late - as usual as I found out later - leaving me and others stand outside in freezing cold. {for those who don't know megabus is super cheap but they don't have a coach station, they just pick people up from a bus stop} About an hour later another driver let us sit inside his bus until ours came - faith in megabus restored! Besides that I successfully reached Bristol and even managed to catch a brief nap on the way while a guy besides me was watching Big Bang theory.
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Bristol cathedral
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Another aspect I didn't plan for was that a girl going across the city (had to find my way from where megabus dropped me off to the station for shuttle to the airport) alone in the middle of Friday night wasn't a perfect idea. Even though I managed to catch a glimpse of the iconic places of Bristol, I received quite a few offers for free drinks and more. A pic with the lovely and most persistent lad!
After getting a nap at the airport and being surprised by extremely smiley faces of the airport staff I boarded the plane. Oh the glorious feeling of perfect sleep when you don't have to worry about your backpack as it's safely under the seat in front of you and about oversleeping as they will most definitely get you out of the plane before taking off somewhere else.
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| Didn't catch it right but Milan has yellow pedestrian traffic light! |
I had a bit of a stress when I arrived to Milan (took me another hour on the coach - typical Ryanair) when my cousin wasn't at the station to pick me up and I didn't have enough money on my phone to call her. Ask other people around you for the phone? Nope, not gonna work - in 21th century 3/5 people do not own a phone while others have no money on it. So did she apparently. By a lucky coincidence we managed to meet up and my short stay in Milan began!
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| By Milan Central Station |
First we walked around the city towards her student halls to drop off my stuff. Must say my first impression wasn't the best - I found Milan a bit... grey. Evidently it was sunny all the days before I came, it was sunny for long after I left, but throughout the whole length of my stay (less than 24 hours but still!) it was cloudy. Despite that I had amazing time with a great guide. I saw Teatro alla Scala, visited the Pinacoteca di Brera (bought a postcard with
Il Bacio ♥), Duomo del Milan, and all the places were more than wonderful.
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| I loved the parks: they had ponds with ducs, merry-go-rouds and joyous feel to it in general. |
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| Serious by the Galileo Statue |
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| Streets are so much lovelier with Christmas lights on! |
However, what really made my stay was not the sights of iconic buildings but rather the whole atmosphere of walking round the tiny streets decorated with Christmas lights (and the fancier the little shops around, the more impressive the decorations), having the lucky hour (cocktail plus buffet dinner for a really studenty price) in a cosy corner cafe, tasting roasted chestnuts for the first time or having the true Italian pistachio ice cream by the canal, sitting down in a flat full of students, drinking mulled wine and having Italian desserts and having a warm and lovely chat about everything in this world, especially love, - that's what Milan is for me.
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| Turning around three times will make your wish come true. |
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| Canals with Christmas lights! \(^o^)/ |
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Duomo del Milan - architectural wonder. I was standing there until I couldn't feel
my toes and still couldn't take my eyes off because it's so so so beautiful.
Had to walk rather far away to get it all in one shot - it is massive!
And had a Christmas tree of matching size. |
On my flight back I couldn't believe my eyes and I still don't have the words to describe this, so here are the pictures:
After getting a nap at the airport and being surprised by extremely smiley faces of the airport staff I boarded the plane. Oh the glorious feeling of perfect sleep when you don't have to worry about your backpack as it's safely under the seat in front of you and about oversleeping as they will most definitely get you out of the plane before taking off somewhere else.
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