Milan it's like a cleaner New York

Well I had a virtual interview for Teach for America on Monday, and they asked us to block off 8 hours for it. So my Monday was essentially gone. I didn't wake up til like 9 and the interview was at 3. So my day was done. My phone still was not working and I was scarred I would've lost all my pictures from Austria because they were all on my phone. Not only that but my phone is my alarm, my camera, and my connection to back home. How could I survive without it? The apple store is in the mall outside of Florence. From my apartment it would take a minimum of 90 minutes to get to the apple store. That's if everything goes perfectly (it's not very likely). Then I have to wait for them to fix my phone, if they can, then I have another minimum 90 minute travel time back. If they can't fix it, I need to have time to go buy another phone for 100 Euros at the Vodafone store near me. So as you can understand this was in my eyes an all day affair. So I blocked off Tuesday for these activities. As I was getting ready to go to the mall, I plugged it into the charger to see if it would magically work and it magically did. So I went to the train station to reserve a seat for a train to Milan for tomorrow and one for the way back later that night: 

My train for Milan was slated to leave at 7:30 A.M. and there were a few things I needed to do. I needed to get my rail pass validated, pack, eat breakfast and other stuff. Unfortunately I was a little slow getting out of bed, and when I did get out of bed, I went running (die to my phone not working properly, I hadn't run since Vienna). I know it sounds weird that I like my phone to work when I run but I like to listen to music when I run so without music, it's not as fun to run and the music is on my phone. So I went running showered and managed to leave by 7:08. The train station is a 20 minute walk, so there was no time for breakfast and no time to pack anything extensive. I got to the train station by 7:22 due to some speed walking and a light jog here and there. I got my pass validated and had 3 minutes to find my train and get on it. I found and little ran up to my car and got on at 7:29. With a little help I managed to find my seat:

I got to see a good bit of the country side:

Everytime I had heard of Milan people only mentioned a few things about it. They would say it's just like New York or it's the fashion capital of the world or it's all industrial. First of all, nothing is like New York, because New York is New York. Second, Milan is the most populated city in Italy with a little over 7 million people in it so there is definitely more to offer than just fashion and I only saw smoke stacks coming into the city so assuming you stay in the city center, the city won't seem industrial to you at all. I feel as if people underrate Milan to much it's a beautiful city and I discovered this as soon as I stepped off the train onto the beautiful station:

It was stunning even from the outside and in the rain:

The first sky scrapers I've seen in Italy:

This is the first fashion shop I saw in Milan. The first jacket was only 280€. I was going to get it but decided against it:

There was a giant park in the middle of piazza Republica. It was very pretty:

The buildings had the typical Italian beauty that I had become used to while here:

This was a giant radio and television building:

The trams are everywhere and I imagine they are very similar to the ones in San Fran:

As I wondered around the city with essentially no idea where I was (I did have a map that was actually really good, I just looked like an idiot using it so I asked people where the Duomo was inItalian  and followed their directions.this was good because I got lost enough to find some great things and then I used my map to tell me what those great things were:

Some old arches:

Even the sides of the buildings had great art:

Just a church on the street, that I saw. I thought it looked very pretty. Unfortunately it was not on my map so have no idea what it was:

A pretty fountain dedicated to the people of Milan:

A beautiful bank building:

Piazza Scala: a large great place:

Teatro Scala, a famous theatre in Milan:

The entrance to Piazza Duomo:

The galleria next to Piazza Duomo. It was a really beautiful enclosure filled with expensive stores. I spent a lot of my time here because the rain was pretty bad:

The truly mesmerizing cathedral of Milan. It is truly awe inspiring in person. Unfortunately the first time I walked by it they weren't letting anyone in:

More of the piazza Duomo (it was pretty big):

One of the entrances to the galleria:

There was a Louis Vutton store in the galleria even though it's based in Paris. Who could've guessed this would've been here? :

Also there was a Gucci Cafe for those feeling rich. The cost of a Rum was €20. A bottle of wine, a little over €100:

So I walked to the palace, which was right next door to the Duomo. Inside, there was an Andy Warhol art show going on so they didn't let me in, but it was still pretty and plenty of leaders had stayed there including Napoleon: 

After leaving the palace I went to a soccer store and walked around before moving past a large amount of expensive stores. This was the Basilica of St. Charles, there are 46 of those pillars on the outside:

This was St. Charles. He has a clear tomb and anyone can come and pray to him at any time. I was there at around 10:30 and there were only 3 other people in the church:

The amazing artwork of the Basilica:

The city seems to be holding an expo here next year and they are a leading prepping:

This was another fantastic church:

After that I walked back up past all the great stores and decided to stop at foot locker. It was just an American one but double the price:

Went into another store and it seemed like Italians were addicted to Anerican culture. They even had Penn State bags. Seriously, why Penn State?: 

The center of the city was still beautiful even in the rain:

This was the old castle and I particularly enjoyed walking the grounds of it:

Pretty sure I wasn't supposed to walk down here but I did anyway:

A great map of old Milan. I don't know if anyone has noticed but I think old naps are so interesting. I distinctly enjoy reading them:

The park behind the castle, I think there was a carnival or something there that was going on; however, it was empty:

The arena:

The arch of peace, which was first started by Napoleon and was originally supposed to be an arch of victory. It would be at end of the road that tied from Milan to Paris. Although when Napoleon lost, construction was halted. Construction began again when Milan was under Austrian rule. When the Austrians lost Milan the arch was still unfinished. Finally the people of the city paid to finish the construction of the arch and named it an arch of peace. It as at the end of the park and it separates the park from the huge road next to it:

One of the large gatehouses built on either side of the arch:

A large art building on the outskirts of the park:

The arch from the middle of the park:

The castle from the middle of the park:

Going down the highway that at what time allowed Napoleon to get from Milan to Paris at any time:

The giant television building:

There is a giant block of the city boxed off called City-life and I have no idea what it means:

Scala teatro- the really big theater here in Milan. I think it's the largest in Otaly but I am not positive:

Piazza Scala:

At this point in time, it was pouring, I was tired, a little bored, and pretty miserable. I had essentially run out of things to see in Milan because I could only look for things on the map and I had already wandered for miles. Literally I got there at like 9, and I didn't leave till 8. That was a poor idea cause I was bored and tired after like 6 hours and I had like 5 left still. But anyway this was an old building that was now a natural history museum:

The public park behind it:

Across from the museum:

The museum was actually pretty crowded but I didn't go in (cause I don't got money for that! but mainly because it's most likely completely in Italian and it's safe to say my Italian science vocabulary is incredibly limited):

The rain started to slow down and I found the coolest piazza in Milan:

Very cool church, there are so many in Italy! :

The city seemed like it came to life at night. It was awesome. I wish I could've stayed here for a night:

This giant square was Piazza Della Repubblica which I thought was significant because we have a Piazza Della Repubblica in Florence and it's a very important square for our city:

The train station was of course very intense and had plenty of fashion shops below it:

Then I was back on the train headed back to Florence:

Milan was definitely a very cool city. I would live to go back soon. I really wish I would've stayed the night there. It was definitely a classy city and I recommend it for all!