Welcome to Italy.....10 Euro!
Much to my happiness, the UK decides to make Good Friday and Easter Monday public holidays. This news led to the planning of the longest trip of the term and what better place for it to be, than the big one - Italy. We elected to hit up the northern area of Italy, Milan and Venice, and save Rome for another venture. Thursday night, we flew in, quickly dropped off our bags and made our way for the extravagant nightlife of Milan. Someone must have forgotten to mention said nightlife to the people of Milan, because the main clubbing area was pretty dead. We did find one place, but after a couple of pricey beers, we were done for the night.
Friday was a much better day as we met up at the unbelievable Duomo Cathedral. It's well documented that my interest in Cathedrals/Churches/Anything religious has been fading quickly since arriving. However, Duomo was so unique and well crafted that it made all of the other buildings look like a bunch of old dingy buildings. As well, for only 5 Euro, you could climb the stairs to the top of the building, which allowed for a great view of the city and you could even make out the Alps in the distance.
The only bad part about Duomo was these incredible con artists. I'm sorry if you were conned by these guys, but you have to be a bit stupid to be had by these guys. There are two forms of artists. First, there are the Friendship Bracelets guys. These fellows approach a group of tourists (or anyone touristy looking) and try to throw a friendship bracelet into your hands. Of course, they keep saying it's a free bracelet. However, as soon as you take it or let them tie it on you, they immediately demand 10 Euros for the bracelet.
Second, is the Birdseed guys. These individuals will throw birdseed at you, at which point you will be swarmed by pigeons. With all the birds surrounding them, they offer to take a picture for you. I still don't understand why people want pictures with dirty pigeons, but I digress. Once the pictures are taken, they demand 10 Euro for the bird seed they used. Call me a cruel person, but I don't think it's hard to realize what these people are doing and I don't feel bad for people who get had.
I really enjoyed Milan, because since it is not a very touristy area, you can gain a true feeling of an Italian metropolis area. Ordering panzerottis at the local corner shop amongst other Italians or spending two hours in a cinema watching an American movie dubbed entirely in Italian (no sub titles of course - nothing like a crash course in Italian) made the experience unforgettable.
Saturday afternoon, we hopped on the intercity train to Venice. I would say that Venice is a once in a lifetime kind of place. It's unbelievably unique and I don't think there's really any place like it. However, there really isn't anything to do there. Once you've seen the canals and gotten lost in the tiny little streets, you've experienced nearly all of Venice. Gondola rides are very overpriced and at 80 Euro for a short ride, I don't think they're worth it.
With respect to the other places visited, Milan ranked pretty high on the list, while Venice was very low on the list. I expected much less out of Milan and much more out of Venice. For the opposite to happen at both places, it was quite surprising, but I'm quite pleased with the way things turned out.
