I had the opportunity to go to Warsaw and Milan this pastweekend for our first extended break. The two cities were completely different,and I would do the weekend all over again if I could! I remember whendiscussing traveling plans with everybody for the long weekend, my friend and Idecided to go to Warsaw, and we were met with blank stares. From that, Iinferred that not many people at CIMBA (or at home) have been to Poland beforeand that excited me even more. I have zero regrets about choosing Warsaw.
In Warsaw, we went to the Palace of Culture and Science,where an elevator took us up thirty stories in less than thirty seconds.Reaching the top, we were met with all-encompassing views of the city –skyscrapers, shopping centers, trains taking locals where they need to go, andeven Old Town. The historic site of Old Town included vibrant tones of yellow,orange, and other colors that contrasted well with the muted nature of theweather that day. We had pierogis and other intriguing food that I had never seenbefore. I was thoroughly impressed with the city, and almost having aMidwest-American feel to it, especially with how it looked.
Contrarily, Milan was compact, expensive, and boujee in thebest way. When we arrived in the city, we saw the train station which wasnotable to look at and people watch in. We stumbled around the beautiful Duomoand walked into the main center for fashion in the city. One thing was apparentimmediately – Italians know how to dress! Seriously, there was not one personthat was less than above average looking. My tip would be to budget out Milanbefore you go because otherwise you will likely overspend trying to seeeverything.
Travel never looks as perfect as it does on Instagram,however. There will more than likely be delayed trains, flight issues, baggageallowance, unclear transportation logistics, etc. For us that manifested inhaving booked a bus ticket through Trenitalia and having no direction on how toget to said bus. I assumed it would be in front of the train station we got offwith the other buses, but it was in actuality two blocks away and we missed thebus, so we rushed to the airport in a taxi instead. Needless to say, do notbook a bus ticket through a train ticketing company, even if it is cheaper.Those costs in the end may add up quickly.
Feeling refreshed after our first extended weekend, weCIMBians had pizza making after the first day of classes back. We went to alocal pizzeria where we were very graciously welcomed by Servio and his son whoran the business. It was apparent how much they valued serving pizzas tocustomers and the quality was top-notch. I made the best pizza I have had inItaly yet, with help from Servio of course, with a simple combo of pepperoni,mushrooms, and mozzarella.