Like hundreds of European students I participated the students’ exchange programme. While doing my postgrad studies I went to Milan in Italy and spend there six months studying Chinese and Japanese cultures and languages. What may I say about this time? It was a long time ago but today I am pretty sure this was a sort of a turning point.
Suddenly, I was left alone in a big unknown city with a task to study and to live for half a year. I was lucky. I met some marvelous people- both the natives and the foreigners- who became my friends. I got easily fascinated with Italy as a country, with the language and culture. I got so easily seduced by the atmosphere of this city that later in my life I spend there almost 6 years. But this is a very different story that I will tell you some other time.
If you are thinking about Italy as a holiday destination I would say: YES! You need to see this country. For all architecture students this is a MUST SEE! While Milan might not be a perfect place to start it is still a fascinating place to be. One of my first impressions from Milan was the look and sound of a bar. This might be pretty tricky to describe as I am thinking about the overwhelming atmosphere that you find in every bar at every corner in Italy. So, try to imagine a crowd made of all sorts of people in their morning rush to work. They enter the bar saying loud Buon giorno! They don’t sit, they just stand around the bar shouting their favorite kinds of morning drinks. Then, you can smell the coffee. Gosh! This is really an essence of Italy: morning espresso.
You can often smell cocoa or cinnamon that are being used on the top of your cappuccino. Background music contains voices and a sound of turning page of the morning newspaper. And then you hear the sound of cups and plates, coffee machine and steam. And when you squeeze through the crowd and shout the name of your drink in Italian (forget about English in places like this!) you finally get it: the real Italian coffee that will make your day.
I love Ferrara – alternative way to spend your holiday
Have you ever thought about visiting Italy? Here is an alternative way on how to visit Italy and get really close to the Italian way of life. I created a project ‘I love Ferrara‘ so you could join me and experience how beautiful and tasty Ferrara is. If you wish to immerse in Italy book your holiday now!
