milan

milan was... overwhelming. and I only saw like, 3 streets. overwhelming in a good way. I've been wanting to see the duomo (catherdral) since I knew for sure I was coming to italy. it's magnificent. it commands your attntion. i came out of the subway on the left side of it, and i tired so hard as i walked around to not look at it till i was directly in front. i just stood there in awe for awhile.... too long i think, this guy (there was so many, three or four each by each subway opening thingy) came up and grabbed my hand and tied a bracelet on it. each dude was holding hundred of them, they try to talk you into buying them, they are like the little friendship bracelets we used to make out of thread... but he just came up out of nowhere and before i knew what language he was even speaking he was like, "you like? ok now pay me euro/swiss franc/american dollar?" i told him i had literally no money and came to just take pics... and after repeating it 10 times and showing him i only had a 20 cent euro coin or whaever he walked away. later i sat and watched them do the same thing to so many other people. they would sneak up and almost tie them on and want to be payed. it was weird.

so i got my self situated and walked around a bit and looked at the little stands of postcards and tourist-y gifts... (yeah i was mentally picking things out to buy when I came back) but kept coming back to the duomo. it's that spectacular. i kept being pulled back. so the whole day i didn't wander far from it. it's marble i was told, and once you get close it has this pink hue to it and it's just so beautiful. i went around three time trying to find the ticket office to go up on the roof. there are stairs and a lift. i reccommend the extra few bucks and taking the lift. 250 stairs up sucks. there was a man outside playing the saxophone when i was going up though, the echo from the inside was so hauntingly beautifuly. on the way down i caught a weird rythm and the stairs went by super quick.

The view from the roof was really nice. I looked at my phone at like, 11:09 and it didn't even register it was almost 11:11 on 11:11. I moved the other side of the roof and looked again and it was 11:13 and then realized i missed it. oh well. So i made no wish on epic wish day, but atleast i'll never forget where I was.

there was so many people on the front steps when i came back down to the ground that i couldnt find a place to sit and wait to kill time for my subway or whatever, so i went around the corner and sat up on a ledge. it was so nice, i'll never forget it I don't think. I had lunch with anna at her work so i could meet a few people she works with, they were all really nice and i can't remember any of their names at the moment. they all laughed at me when i said i felt bad for almost kicking a pidgeon. (which i did, until i walked three more feet and one almost flew RIGHT into my head so i decided i dont like them... and i didnt feel bad any longer)

then i came home because i was exaushted, from like, 4 hours... it's so overwhelming (atleast i think) when you're not used to that much comotion. it's a lot to take in. i'm going back on thursday. here are some pics.