Benvenuti a Milano

It is quite amazing how time flies. The weekends are flying by and I will be back in Washington DC before you know it! So, to continue our travels, Alicia and I went off to the Italian part of Switzerland and Milan for the weekend. Alicia has a friend in Milan, Mattia, and he graciously hosted us for the weekend.

We left quite early on Friday morning with two other Americans who are getting their masters at the Graduate Institute. The Italian part of Switzerland is warmer and the Swiss call it their "Riviera." As we traveled along the train, all of sudden the clouds cleared, and it was sunny!  We stopped at Bellinzona, where there are three castles. It's amazing the transformation from French to German and finally Italian. It is quite amazing!

Our first stop was in Bellinzona. There are three castles all in one city, but we only made it to two. You definitely felt more in the Italian part of Switzerland- the roads, the architecture, and the food were all Italian like!

After a nice lunch in Bellinzona, we traveled to Lugano, which is a resort town right on Lake Lugano. It is definitely beautiful, but there was not a lot to see there! Alicia's friend, Mattia, and his girlfriend, Alice, met us for a nice dinner in Lugano, where I ate the typical Italian Swiss meal, risotta and sausage, and had my first gelato!

 That night we traveled to Milan, but I feel asleep on the car ride home because it had been such a long day! For all of you know that know me well, this should not surprise you at all! We woke up early the next day, where we had an Italian breakfast (cappachino and a brioche). Then we headed on into the center of Milan, where we walked down Via Buenos Aires, took the underground into the City Center and saw the Duomo, and walked around the castle. After a long day of walking in Milan, Mattia's mom graciously made us the most amazing home cooked Italian meal- with pasta and homemade sauce, buffala mozzarela, and proscuitto! I could barely move! But it wouldn't have been so great without all the great food and people that made the trip so special :)

In front of the Duomo in Milan