I have arrived!

Ciao,
So, it is my first day in Milan and today was fun but really long. My plane ride was an adventure to say the very least. LAX security check wrapped terminal 1 and passed terminal 2 and to I had to rush to my gate without getting any Euros or any breakfast. Once I got on the plane I was greeting by a fat smelly man who sat next to me and kept scratching is flaky scalp. Then we were put on a hold route in the air for an hour outside of Philidelphia, which made me almost miss my connecting flight. Luckily on my plane I found a family who was on my flight to Milan and ran with them to the gate, not getting any food again. Once I got on that plane I was feeling sick and shakey from not eating so I had to argue with the stewardess to let me off the plane to run and grab some food-obviously I got my way. The one good thing about that flight was the in-flight movie was 27 Dresses. I made it 13.5 of the 15.5 hour journey over here without breaking down and crying. The last 2 hours on the plane I looked like a crazy person hysterically crying while everyone around me dead asleep. Getting from the airport to Stazione Centrale in Milan was easy and Tara and Christina were there to welcome me.  We went straight over to my hotel which was actually quite nice considering the crappy location and cheap price, but they didn’t have my room ready and I was in the middle of a nervous breakdown so I ate the cost of the room and decided to just stay with Tara and her roommates in her apartment which is right next to a canal (and is closer to the city center and all the sights).
After settling in and changing my clothes I went with Tara and her roommates, Christina, Lauren, Noelle and Kaley to the Latteria to get a cappacino. Then we walked across town to get lunch at the cutest restaurant, Casa Como, passing through the Piazza del Duomo, and the Brera neighborhood, where there are lost of cute little shops and boutiques. Lunch was pretty expensive, but well worth it. I got the Papperdelle pasta with mozerella and pomodoro (tomatoes). It was amazing! I cant even begin describe how delicious it was! After lunch we just walked around Milan. It was nice not doing all the touristy stuff and rather acting like a Milanesi. I didn’t go into the Duomo yet, I am going to save those activities to do with Katie when she gets here, like climbing the tower in the Duomo. The Duomo itself is breath-taking. The hand-crafted detail in the pink marble will leave you speechless. I could have sat there for hours just amazed. The people in front of the Duomo are annoying. There are men trying to make you pay for bird seed so that the pigeon will sit on you and take a picture, kinda like the parrots in Hawaii except that they are disease infested rats. Everytime I walked though the piazza and I saw people actually paying for that I could not help but die laughing at the pure stupidity of some tourists. While Tara’s roommates went back to the apartment after lunch, we stayed downtown and walked through the Golden Quadrangle (where all the window shopping takes place-OMG Valentino had the most beautiful gown in the window), saw La Scala Opera house and the Piazza della Scala where there is a statue of Leonardo da Vinci, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and got some gelato at Grom (pronounced like “home”). I got yogurt gelato with albicocco (apricot) sorbet. Oh my gosh, it was the best thing I’ve ever eaten and the best part of all is that the dairy in Italy doesn’t make me sick! It is like I am meant to live here. Nothing I have eaten has made me have a stomachache-not the pasta, not the gelato, and not even the café!!! Tonight, the girls are meeting up with some friends they met at Bocconi (the university they did their exchange at) to go clubbing. I on the other hand am going to try to get as much sleep as possible given the fact that people do not go out in Milan until 12:30 or 1:00 am. It is now 2:00 am and I am trying to get some sleep before they come in around 5:00am. I am just not chalked out for that kind of activity.
Tomorrow we are just going to hang out. We are going to get brunch somewhere, stop by a huge shopping mall/department store, go grocery shopping and then go to dinner with their friend Gretchen. Hopefully I’ll be able to write again soon!

Buona notte