Milan

Finally got to go to Milan today! Me and Amy went together, which was a lot of fun. It was amazing to say the least. The day started out by taking a 45min train ride to Milan. (I've never been one a train before so it was a cool experience.) Once we arrived in Milan. We had to get on the metro, to go to the Duomo. I think one of my favorite parts today was when we walked up the stairs from the metro, and the sunlight starts to hit your eyes. And all of a sudden. BAM! Literally there's the Duomo right in front of you. It was beautiful, and huge. And just amazing. Like the architecture, and all the art that is on the building is beautiful. 

Just look at that. Amazing. 

Me being a tourist 

We took some pictures then walked to some stores and looked around. It is so expensive in Milan. We went to this famous shopping mall called the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. It's one of the oldest shopping malls in the world. Built in 1865.

It was so pretty when the sunlight came through the roof. 

We got some lunch. Pizza if you wanted to know. Which was kinda expensive, but it's pizza so it's always good. And walked around some more. Of course we found Gelato. (You can't go too long without eating that amazing stuff.) And saw this group of breakdancers. it's so cool how all the people who are always moving so fast stop to watch these people just dance. We went back to the Duomo so we could look inside of it. I've never seen such a big church before. It was so beautiful, and the stained glass was just perfect. 

It was really big.

After that we had to find our way back to the metro. So we could get on our train back to Lecco on time. Of course we got a little confused about where to go. But once all the was figured out, it was all good. So yes, it was a very nice day and I'm so glad I finally saw Milan. 

My night ended eating Mexican food (yes Mexican food in Italy.) and drinking a margarita. Now to start another week and more adventures :) 

Ciao! 

IL Resegone

So today I climbed the mountain IL Resegone. Which means Big Saw. It's one of the bigger mountains that is in Lecco. And you can see it very well from the city. Now climbing mountains is fun and all, but being from Florida. I am so not use to it. The climb up took about two hours, and I thought it would NEVER end. But once we made it to the top the view was totally worth it. 

City of Lecco. In the distance you can see the Alps. 

Cross that's at the top. 

It was so cold. 

We stayed at the top for about an hour and had lunch. Then headed back down. The climb up and back down took about 5 hours I think. Now I am super tired and sore. But it was worth it. And I'm going to sleep...

Ciao! 

A day on the lake

I've been in Italy for four weeks now. I can't believe how fast time is going here. It has definitely gotten easier to live here and I'm not as nervous to go out anymore. Plus I made two new awesome friends! Amy and Erica. They are both Au Pairs nearby. Amy is from South Africa. And Erica is from Scotland. It's so nice to have English speaking  people who are my age to hangout with.

 Yesterday (Sunday) we were all planning to take the train and go to Milan. Well we found out the trains decided to go on strike (which was so frustrating.) So we had to change plans and we went on a ferry boat to go to Bellagio and Lenno. It took about an hour and a half to get to Bellagio. It's such a beautiful town looking over the lake. We walked around and looked in some shops. Then had lunch at this cute little restaurant that over looked the lake. (The food was good too.)

A pretty street in Bellagio. 

We then got onto another boat to go to Lenno. It is another nice town on the lake, that has a famous Villa called the Villa del Balbianello. It was built in 1787 on the site of a Franciscan monastery. 

( I didn't take this.) But that's the how it looks from the water.

I found out that a scene from the second StarWars movie was filmed here too. Thought that was pretty cool. 

 My favorite spot at the Villa. 

I'd love to live here. 

After we finished looking around. We went and got Gelato and sat by the water. Then got on the boat to go home.  Overall it was a perfect day. I look forward to many more adventures with Amy and Erica :) 

Ciao! 

21

Well my 21st birthday was today. I've been waiting for this day forever. And I never throught I would spend it in Italy. It's crazy how life can change so fast. I will admit it was a hard day, not being able to be with my family, or friends. But the family I'm living with made it a really great day. I started my morning with a sunrise run which was awesome. Later on I went to my favorite bar (Covo Nord Ovest Cafe) for a Cappuccino and croissant. 

Best. Drink. Ever. 

After breakfast I went to downtown Lecco. And walked all over town. I love looking in all the little markets and shops here. They have some really cool things. I got to go on a boat today that went up the lake Como. It was cool being able to see all the different towns on the lake, while drinking a Corona. (With lime of course) The rest of the day was relaxing and chill. Later we had dinner, and the family I'm with opened this bottle of amost 10 year old wine. Which was so good.

 

And the family surprised me with an awesome cake and gifts. It made me really happy. We spent the rest of the night sipping wine and coffee, and eating gelato.

My cake. It was great 

  

 Overall it was a great birthday. I'm so grateful for all the sweet messages from my family and friends back home. No matter how hard it is to be away from home, I'm really enjoying my time here. 

Now after Skyping with my family, it's almost 1am and I really need to sleep. 

Italian life

I've learned a lot about how the Italians live the past few weeks. And let me tell you it's so different than what I'm use to. For one they eat A LOT! Like they think something is wrong with me because I don't eat that much. At around 6pm bars have what they call Aperitivo. Which is basically a snack before dinner. And you have drinks with it. They don't eat till very late here. Like it's usually 9pm or later till dinner.(it's almost 9pm and I haven't even eaten yet) And the meal typically consists of: antipasto (appetizers) Primo (pasta or rice dish), Secondo (meat or fish course), and Dolce (dessert). And coffee is welcomed at nearly every hour (which I love). So yeah, a lot of eating happens. They also drink achohol like it's water haha. I've tried a lot of different drinks since I got here. But the wine is my favorite so far. And the Gelato is so good. I've had gelato in America, and it is nothing compared to the real thing. 

 I live in a town called Malgrate in the providence of Lecco which is in the northern part of Italy. Surrounded by beautiful mountains. There are not many houses here almost everyone lives in apartments. And the way they drive over here is terrifying. The cars are smaller. the roads are very small, and they drive so fast. (It's kinda fun sometimes tho). 

Those are some things I've learned so far.

Ciao! 

How I got here

I arrived in Italy on August 27th. To be an Au Pair for an Italian family. I've always wanted to come to Italy, but I never thought I would actually get a chance to come. So, it's a funny story how I got this job. I found out about the job back in June. The day I found out I was actually looking to go to a school in Gainesville for the fall. I was pretty sure I was going to go to the school, and I just had to give them the application. But that night when I got home, I got onto Facebook and a lady I was a nanny for had tagged me in her friends post about a family (in Italy) looking for an English speaking Au Pair. I quickly messaged the family, and over the next few days we talked with each other. And they asked me to come to Italy! I took that as my sign that I was not meant to go to that school. I've been here for almost two weeks now, and I'm slowly getting use to living the Italian lifestyle. But I'm loving it. I hope to learn Italian while I'm here, and be able to travel all over Italy.  

The city of Lecco