Italia (Milano & Firenze)

Let's just get this straightened out first: I am never going to Italy alone EVER AGAIN. Now, let's hope I can stick to this promise... Why, you may ask? Well, for starters, I had no one to talk to all day, so I began talking to myself most of the day and babbling to kind anglophones the rest of the day. More noticeably, though, is because, as a female in Italy, I have never been so aggressively approached by men before in my life! More to come on that later.

So, I got into Milano Easter Sunday near midnight and realized that, my god, I no nothing about Italian. Sure, reading it is something like reading Frenchpagnol, but listening comprehension? I got nothing. So, I grudgingly shoved a piece of paper in front of a cab driver's face with the address to my hostel. That was an interesting carride conversation. I find myself going up 2 flights of not-so-familiar staircases to find a hostel located on a single floor of an apartment complex. Luckily, the guys running the hostel were very nice to me, and spoke simple english while placing me in a bedroom shared with 2 sleeping guys. I didn't want to wake up the sleepers, so I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed in complete darkness. One of the sleepers woke up around a few hours later at 5am, though, and decided to un-and-repack his entire bag before noisily leaving.
I woke up to find out that our bathroom was a handicap bathroom. This would be fine, only it meant that the shower floor was also the bathroom floor. And the showerhead was located as low as my chest. That was an acrobatic shower, my friends. I've never had to sit on my knees to clean myself before.
I got out of the hostel early to realize that, because Italy is a very Christian country, most everything in the city NOT in the tourist trap areas would be completely closed. Dead city, really. Nevertheless, I took a half-hour stroll from the hostel to the center of town.
The best sight in the entire city handsdown was the Duomo. Simply breathtaking! The Duomo is this massive cathedral in the middle of Milan that is built with golden-rose stones and intricately frosted/decorated with lavish spears. I was in awe. To my surprise, I found out that I could actually climb all the way up to the top of the Duomo onto the roof and walk around to see the skyline. And I did just that. Just.....beautiful. Milan really is a pretty city, and walking around the roof of the cathedral, around the spears...I must have been up there an hour. The inside of the cathedral wasn't nearly as impressive (rather simple, really, but all for the best I guess...), but I went underneath the cathedral to some of the ancient city ruins. THAT was intriguing, but too bad I can't understand Italian...or Latin, for that matter.
I then walked around Milan aimlessly, seeing as I had no agenda. I saw a bunch of nice buildings. I walked around the old castle, Castello Sforzesco. Kind of a not-so-pretty buiding, but then again how can one compare to that of the Duomo? There was a lovely grassy knoll/garden behind the castle, and I felt like I had been transported back into the early 19th century.
Otherwise, I walked around a lot. The perogative: to not stop walking. Just keep walking. Need to just see everything. And I think I did. I made a decision to not see the Last Supper, but I'm not upset about it. The Royal Palace cost money to go in and see the art exhibits, so I just enjoyed the outside view. Oh yeah, I also made it a choice to spend as little cash as I could, to no avail (the food costs were hefty).
For dinner, I noticed that I possess buyers anxiety even more when I don't know the language at all. I sat down at this nice OPEN restauarant and started (or, attempted) ordering. He responded in Italian, and I got nervous. He asked me what to drink, and I tried saying water, bu then he asked "and?", and I buckled. Oh god, what do I say now? What would he understand? Uh...uh....capuccino? That seemed to please him, and he left, though I DO NOT drink capuccino. I ate a Milanese pizza with that capuccino, and finished off the meal with a very nice tiramisu.
Having conquered Milan in less than a day, I strolled back to the hostel early and made friends with the men running the hostel. We watched "King Arthur" dubbed in italian. Well, I looked, they watched. I made friends with a few Swiss/US girls, and we all bonded over hot chocolate.

The next day I ran to catch my train to Florence.
I get out of the station and hailed a cab to my hostel. BIG mistake. My hostel, that is. It was literally BARELY in Florence!!! It was a villa on a camping ground on one of the hills north of Florence. The cabfare was dismally expensive. Couldn't have been more inconveniently placed. It took 20 minutes to get INTO the city. AND it had a curfew. The hostel itself was meh; I was reminded of my many mission trip living shacks.
After fuming about this for about an hour, I rushed into the city. Only a day to do it all, must do it all ASAP! Florence, as opposed to Milan, is extremely busy and full of sights to see. I was frantically racing up and down streets trying to see it all.
I managed to find the Duomo Firenze first, go figure. It is huge, and beautiful (but not at all like that in Milan). The inside is simple, though, which has me think that that is the way the Italians do their cathedrals. I appreciated that. But, no time to think! I walked so quickly I got lost immediately. Luckily, I found my way around after some time, and continued my rampage of tourism. This church, that square. This historical landmark. The museums, I concluded, were going to be seen early the next morning before my train back. That bought me some time.
I met up with Tigist for a late lunch. We sat over some pizza and insalate caprese and talked about our studies abroad. She is such a lovely person, and I really enjoyed talking with her. A lot, actually. We had so many good stories to tell, so many tips for travelling, and future concerns about returning to Stern after such an amazing semester. Afterwards, she showed me around some of the areas that I had yet to see, and showed me a little gelato shop that had the most delectable gelato known to man. It was so good, I actually found myself speechless for a few minutes, mouth gaping open (after swallowing, of course). And beautiful Tigist paid for it, which was too kind.
Busy with a presentation, though, we parted ways at the Bridge Vecchio, a very old bridge riddled with houses and buildings on it. From there, I walked to the southern side of Florence and hauled myself up many-a-flights of steps to the Piazza Michelangelo. At this place, you can see all of Florence; completely surrounded by the Tuscan hills. I am so glad I went up there. Peaceful, beautiful, and the sun was setting so my view was painted with a purple sky.
This is when, after being approached by a man on the street ("Oh no, sir, I can't get coffee. I'm meeting up with some friends..." LIES!), I ambled my way back to the middle of nowhere to read before sleeping.

The next morning I was at the Galleria Dell'Academia before opening. With my 10 kilo bag on my back. The line was already wrapped around the building. It took me about 1.5 hours to get in. But the David was very much worth it. He is immaculate (the sculpture, that is). You can even see his VEINS! ON THE ARMS! I loved it. And the Rape of...Sabine? The other paintings were merely icing that I was alright with, but not in love with.
Feeling proud, I decided to wait another 2 hours (yes, standing in a line in the morning, with a 10 kilo bag) to get into the Ufizzi. I'm so glad I did. I love Boticelli, and the Birth of Venus was a treat to see. And there were so many pictures that I relished. All 3 floors were full of surprises. I was like a little kid during Christmas. Afterwards, the lunch I had was great. Salade and DELICIOUS fruit!
The rest of the day was lazy. I read in a park, ate some gelato, and then went to the train station for my train back. Where I met a very nice Italian guy who teaches graphic design in Milan. He gave me his ever-so-chic biz card and proposes we get a drink in Paris sometime. Sure. Networking at its finest.

Milan was Milan. The hostel was the same. I got back in for the working men to greet me excitedly (surprisingly...). Not understanding just what I had gotten myself into (apparently being nice = flirting in Italy...), one of the working guys starting coming on to me. Thinking it was just in my imagination, I agreed when he offered to change my room to a less inhabited room full of vacant beds. I finished getting ready in the bathroom and got out to find my designated bed having been pushed up with a nearby bed. Natural skeptic, I concluded to sleep in another vacant bed on the other side of the room. This guy (whose name is Mario, go figure) comes in and says "What are you doing? I wanted to sleep with you!"
Kim: Oh no, I sleep alone.
Mario: But we are supposed to sleep together!
Kim: Ummm....I don't think my boyfriend would be alright with that....
Mario: You have a boyfriend?!?!?!
Kim: Yes...
(insert boyfriend interrogation here)
Mario: But we can still sleep together. I just want to talk to you.
Kim: I don't talk when I'm asleep. I sleep.
Mario: Kimberly.....please.....
After moving the beds apart, I agreed to sleep in the first bed. He got upset because I didn't face him while I lay in bed. I said that it was good for digestion. I turned off the lights. He whined he couldn't see me. I said it didn't matter when the lights are out. He started petting my hair, and I had to conclude the night with a stern "Goodnight NOW, Mario."

Nightmare.
I woke up, went for a jog (where I got lost), left the hostel, and chilled out in the park (with my 10 kilo bag) to read for a few hours.
I walked over to the train station to get the bus to the airport, when another strange male approached me. After trying to coax me to talk and say my name (Teresa, right?), he tried to convince me to stay with him and "get to know him", where I simply replied that I had a flight to catch soon and though nice meeting him, no.
I got the airport far too early because of that. At least I had a book to read. For hours. And hours. Just to get on a flight to Frankfurt Hahn.