Milan

Finding a gym in Milan can be pretty tough. I spent weeks calling and visiting various gyms to find a well-priced place. Depending on your location, there may be a gym for a good price but are often not the best or the biggest. Since I live a little bit far out of the Milan city center, there were not as many gym offerings for me. Some gyms also only allow you to visit it once a week only. A lot of gyms were asking for over $300 for only 3 months and I also had to spend money to get a physical checked by a doctor. IES Abroad has a partnership with Boconoi University, but it was just too far for me to commit. I decided to try out Barry's and was very pleased! The class was pretty small (around 5-7 people) so it almost felt like I was at a private class. The instructor was super nice and taught me everything as it was my first time at a Barry's. Having someone push me was definitely helpful and made me work even harder! They also have a student discount which is sooo worth it!

A few days after, I went to a Inter Milano soccer game. I am not the biggest fan of soccer but decided to just go for the experience. It turned out to be such a fun experience and definitely not what I expected. Getting there was insane. We took around 15 stops and we were all squished side to side like anchovies because everyone was also taking the metro to the stadium. If you plan to attend, bring cash! I was so thirsty and hungry as I had thought they would be selling food and drinks. Although they do sell things during the game, it is mostly just small packaged snacks and soda/beer that you have to pay with cash. It was crazy how dedicated the fans were, constantly playing drums and cheering. I was also able to meet so many new friends. 

I have been loving all my classes, and my Managing Made in Italy course is particularly very interesting. We learned about the jewelry and leather industry in class, and we visited the Van Cleef and Arpels exhibition by the Duomo for a class field trip. It was so cool to know that all the field trips we have are related to the content we learn and my professor, Donatella, is absolutely amazing! 

This was week 3 in Milan! We had 3 weeks of intensive Italian and finished with a final exam. We ended up walking around after our exam and ended up at Palace Sforzesco which was a pleasant surprise. This place had been on my list to visit but I never knew how close it was. We walked from the Cadorna station and it only took about 10 minutes. It was such a beautiful day and there were not as many tourists so we were able to explore and take lots of pictures. I think one of my favorite things about Milan is that its a big but also pretty small city. I could walk around without a clear direction and somehow end up by the Duomo or to an area that I know. No matter how many times I go, I never get sick of how pretty Duomo is. 

That weekend, my rooomates and I traveled to Zurich for a weekend trip. Surprisingly, I was pretty exhausted from all the traveling and decided going by bus would be less tiring on my body. We took Flixbus which was SUPER convenient and so much more reliable than the buses in the U.S. Zurich was definitely an expensive but beautiful city and makes me even more thankful that I was able to go (I never thought of visiting Zurich). The best part was definitely the raclette and fondue we had. It was so super fun to actually make the raclette ourselves and then fry our meats into the fondue. We were so hungry we even ordered an extra cheese fondue afterwards. Overall, Zurich was 7/10!