Milano

It's grey.
It's full of people. And amongst the normal-looking crowd you spot some individuals created to make us feel inferior with looks, tall skinny people you just know model professionally.
It's busy, and fast-paced.
The driving is ridiculous. I'm still to decide whether drivers here are stupidly dangerous and inconsiderate, or extra-alert, skilful and talented. It's fun to watch anyway.
It gives me cheap coffee at every corner.
It could also give me very expensive coffee and clothes. But I prefer to admire those places from the outside.
The Duomo is absolutely wonderful.
I have not gotten lost yet, which is weird.
I had a fairly big Friday night with some locals I knew, and got a fair dose of salsa and bachata in... finally! It was a bit like breathing again ;) We'll check out another Latino place tonight.

My apartment is lovely! It has everything we need, except a large caffetteria/mocha and a BIN. Yes, there is no rubbish bin. They've been using plastic bags hanging on the wall :p But it's heated, quite roomy, and I have plenty of space for all my things in my room. Stefania, the housemate I hadn't yet met, is really nice as I imagined.

My university - Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, sede di Milano - is beautiful.
An old monastery, it has really high ceilings, a couple of courtyards, and is situated next to a basilica.
There are a lot of American exchange students.
My roommate Mary brought me to "quietly sit in" her (advanced) Italian language class and I ended up being bombarded with questions by the teacher and students.
The mensa (caffetteria) is very convenient. A 3-course meal is E3.50, which I think is cheaper than making a good lunch at home, and saves me a lot of time.
The aperitivo is good too. This is a time in the evening, before dinner, like happy hour. Except you get free full buffet included!
Things are NOT as expensive as everyone said.

Saturday I did a day-trip with some students to Verona. There is currently La Festa dell'Amore on, in honour of St Valentine's coming up, so there were big markets in a couple of piazzas, seeling everything from Carnevale masks to cheese and wine. Lovehearts everywhere and bits of paper with love messages on waaay too many walls. We visited things like Juliet's supposed palace and balcony and a nice castle-museum. Walking around the whole day was lovely but quite exhausting after less than 1 hour's sleep the night before.

Tomorrow, Monday, I will go back to Conegliano until Sunday next, when I will 'permanently' move in here.

That is all for now, alla prossima :)