Milan, Rome & Almafi Coast ’19

6 months into my first full time job, I dared to pitch a new idea to our CEO in order to potentially earn a trip to Milan to watch him speak at a conference. No biggie.

So I did it. And I didn’t hear back for a couple of months.

Then one day I got an email that said “finally got to review this, LOVE it, looks like you’re going to Milan.” And I booked my first trip to Europe, flying solo.

Milan

I was greeted by the most welcoming, lovely woman as I checked into my Air BnB who made sure that I had everything I needed to feel at home. It was the most thoughtfully decorated little flat that I absolutely loved spending time in.

The conference was an amazing experience. It was so cool to learn from people who had flown out from all over the world to teach. There were a few sessions I accidentally sat in to learn that they were completely in Italian. The rooms were too small to get up and leave without being rude, so I listened. Italian is the most beautiful language ever.

Milan was very bougie and up scale, everywhere you look you see a designer store. I took notice to the little things that made it unique. I noticed that people only have tiny cars in Italy, perfect for gliding down the small cobblestone roads.

Rome

The morning after the conference, I hopped on a 3 hour train ride with my book to Rome (after I got off of the wrong train last minute). There are no words to fully describe the amount of character and beauty that lives within every building and street of this beautiful city.

The most delicious cannoli I will ever eat, until I go back

The colosseum, where people used to watch human sacrifices to lions (and here we are nowadays thinking watching pimple popping videos is messed up)

Solo, delicious pasta & wine. I spent this dinner trying to stay present without going on my phone and it was an honest & healthy struggle.

Spent this night with another American gal I had met, talking to the bartender for hours about his life growing up in Italy and how their culture differs from ours.

Almafi Coast & Pompeii

I found a day tour that picked you up from Rome and took you to the Almafi Coast, stopping at Pompeii on the way. Sign me up.

Pompeii

It was such a trip walking around and learning about the history of Pompeii, the beautiful rich city that got taken out by a Volcano that we learned about in elementary school and sung about in the Bastille song. It was so amazing to see how beautifully preserved so many pieces of it are and eerie to hear about that day.

An art piece in one of the beautiful palaces

We got to visit a family farm during the tour and get fed with fresh ingredients from their garden; I’m still drooling.

Almafi Coast

One of the coastal views on the way down to the coast

Once we reached the coast we got to explore for a few hours. So I basked in the sun (it was an unreal 75 degree Fall day), ate gelato, and explored. At one point I was approached by an 80 year old man who pointed to his killer house overlooking the coastline and asked if I wanted to come check it out, I politely declined by telling him I liked my own company.