I started out this week in the fashion capital of the world, Milan! While I was in Milan the main things that I wanted to see were the Duomo and the Last Supper. Milan is the second largest city in Italy, but it’s first in my heart. I loved my brief time in Milan and I can easily see myself traveling back for another week or weekend of art, history and expensive fashion. After Milan I finally headed back home for
LOVE MY HOTEL
I decided last minute to book a room at the Doria Grand Hotel and I am so happy that I did so. After the sketchy flight and delayed take off from Malta, walking 10 min from Milan Central train station to my hotel at midnight was a much needed treat. The Doria Grand Hotel was charming and perfect for my stay in Milan. The front desk service was super hospitable and they even let me check out extra late. I loved the Liberty Style / Art Nouveau design and layout of the hotel and my room. It made me feel like I was in a movie. Despite the picturesque decorations of the hotel, my favorite part was definitely the complementary breakfast. I don’t know if this is just an Italy thing, but all of my complimentary breakfasts have been 10/10 experiences. This one was in a dining room with full wait staff and food made fresh to order. Sorry, but America’s continental breakfast needs to take some notes…
DUOMO
I was very excited to see the Duomo while in Milan. Not because of it’s famed status as the fifth largest Christian Church in the world, but because my Grandma told me that when she was in Milan in her 20’s she was wandering around on her own and ended up at the Duomo. The architecture and sheer size of the Duomo is astounding. It’s one thing to read that it’s a large church, but then to step inside and be surrounded by the high stain glass windows and statues is surreal. One thing that I think is really interesting about the Duomo is that the sundial originally built into the building is still accurate to this day!
When I went to the Duomo I arrived extra early and was the first person into the building. I immediately bee lined it for the back so I could soak in the empty church for as long as possible. After admiring the stain glass for awhile I decided to light a candle for Molly. It’s her birthday on Friday, so it was perfect timing. I’ve now lit candles for Molly in over 5 different countries!
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
This Galleria is the oldest shopping mall in Italy and one of the most beautiful I have ever been in. The giant glass and iron dome is lovely to look at and fills the shopping center with huge amounts of light. It makes for a beautiful backdrop to blow through absurd amounts of money at all of the high end fashion stores inside the Galleria.
The LAST SUPPER
The Last Supper is another must see stop in Milan and I woke up extra early to make sure I could have quality time with this famed painting. One, slightly embarrassing, thing that I did not realize about The Last Supper… it’s a mural. Am I the only one who didn’t know this? The Last Supper isn’t a tiny painting, it’s a giant mural across the entire wall of a church. I guess because I have only ever seen it in textbooks or on posters I thought that it would be a normal size, but I was wrong. It’s giant and gorgeous. The room is kept dark and there is only a few lights illuminating one of Leonardo’s many legacies.
My Last Supper… in Rome
The grand finale of my two weeks in Italy was supposed to end ceremoniously with one simple eggplant and marinara pizza from La Colubrina in Milan, but then I got hungry again and ordered a mushroom and Marinara pizza at the airport too.
BACK TO BERLIN
I made it back to Berlin! I love traveling around to new places, but one thing that I learned on this trip is that I really love having a home base. It’s fun to take a break and relax on the couch with everything familiar. I also love coming back from trips and decorating my room with the new art I collected on my travels. My favorite piece from my most recent adventure was the little fat lady statue from the Megalithic temples in Malta.
COFFEE MIT HAFERMILK UND EIN CROISSANT BITTE
I have been around the world and back, and I swear these are the best in the world. I may honestly be addicted to them at this point.
GIFTD SWEATERS
During my first week in Berlin I went to a zero waste festival at Malzfabrik and met the owner of Giftd. Giftd is basically a platform for sharing “pre-loved clothes” to friends, family and neighbors. The Giftd tent at the festival was doing a live demo of how the app works and I was gifted two cute sweaters from & other stories and COS. I have been traveling around for the past month, so it wasn’t until this week that I could finally bike over to the Giftd headquarters and pick up my new sweaters!
New Bike!
This week I carried on the theme of being giftd things by receiving an old bike from my friend Caroline. It was a hand me down from her old boss and she decided to pass it on to me too. It’s missing the seat and someone stole the pedals, but it sounds like a fun winter project! I can already tell that this bike will be a labor of love, but I think it will be fun to build my own bike from scratch.
I STARTED WEIGHTLIFTING!
This was inspired by Nicole and Jenirae when we were in Malta. We decided it was time that we all started weightlifting and I followed through by kicking off my gym journey this week. After my first workout I treated myself with vegan cookies and a milkshake because I DESERVE IT!
HALLOWEEN in the house
Parties in Berlin don’t really start until Midnight, so my roommate and I decided to have an impromptu Halloween pregame. Halloween is not really a thing in Germany, but I lucked out by finding a huge group of expat friends that were equally as excited to dress up for a fun night out. We all decided to go to Birgit for the Birgit´s Halloween Bambule, It was such a cool club and each section of the venue had different music. There was a room for Techno, 80s 90s, Pop & Hip Hop. I loved bouncing around to the different music. It made the night fly by!
SPOOKY FRAU NETTO
This Halloween I decided to be a meme from berlinauslandermemes called Frau Netto. This is going to be hard to explain to anyone that doesn’t live in Germany, so instead I’ll just add some of the memes below.
SUNDAY STROLLS
Everyone said that I would be annoyed by stores being closed on Sunday, but actually I really love it. I like that my Sunday’s are dedicated to resting and hanging out with friends. I also love that I’ve kept up the tradition of Sunday strolls now for a whole month. Grabbing coffee and a croissant before walking down the water is the perfect way to fight off a hangover and the Sunday scares.
SUNDAY SCARIES and Sushi
This Sunday was actually Halloween, so instead of fighting off the Sunday scaries, Alice and I leaned into the vibe with a psychological thriller and sushi. We decided to watch Der Nachtmahr by AKIZ and for dinner we got a ‘Badass Legend’ sushi box, miso soup and edamame from Sushi Gang. The food and the movie were both amazing. Honestly I may have to order the miso soup from Sushi Gang all the time. They practically deliver a giant tub of delicious miso soup and I could easily stretch it out over a few days. The movie was amazing, but so incredibly confusing. I still don’t really know what happened, but that’s the point and I loved it.
Spoiler – I think that the creature in the movie represents her alcoholism and addiction. At first she is really scared by the monster she has created, but by the end of the movie she grows to love the creature. Other theories online suggest that the nightmare is actually real or that it’s a visualization of an unseen abortion. There are a lot of theories on this movie and I don’t know what is right. If you have time to watch it and make up an interpretation of your own, please let me know.
