Milan

And so begins the #CalTriEurope reunions!

The weekend of Oct 20th I traveled up to Paris, France to meet up with my friend from Cal Tri, Ben Khoo.

To get there, I did a day trip to Milan where after some exploring, I caught a night bus to Paris.

I loved Milan. My dad joked that I every time I went anywhere that would become my new favorite place. Unlike Venice, Milan is a place I can see myself living.

Milan is part of Northern Italy. Northern Italy is significantly wealthier and metropolitan than the rest of the country. It reminded me more of London, with its city atmosphere, than anything else in Italy. Looking back, there was not a specific monument in the city that I liked. It was mainly the atmosphere and the people. Straight off the train, I found myself in the financial district, where, while dressed to the 9s, office workers were enjoying lunch and talking with friends. Perhaps it was my love for San Francisco, but I felt right at home.

Previously, coming back from Naples I talked to two ladies on the train who lived in Milan. They were sweet enough to recommend me places to see, all which were beautiful! They included the Duomo, a couple squares.

Highlights from Milan include their central park as well as a burger place called Mama’s Burgers. Actually, lets be real the main highlight was the burger place. It was the BEST vegetarian burger I have ever had in my life. It was made almost entirely of spinach and had fresh cheese melted onto it. And it included ketchup. KETCHUP!!!! I was in heaven.

After wandering the city, I made my way to the bus station where I caught my overnight bus to Paris.

This was my first time traveling by bus, alone. I actually really enjoyed it. It was cheap and relatively comfortable and safe. We did have a couple of little hiccups. The first was at the French border, where two people on our bus got taken off for not having a proper visa. Then when we were picking up more passengers in Geneva, our bus broke down. We had to wait an hour for the new one, meaning we didn’t leave Genvea until about 2am. In the end, I made it to Paris in one piece.