Milan, Italy

The next stop on our Euro loop was Milan, Italy--One of the fashion capitals of the world. I admit, I did not know about this reputation until the day before we arrived, but it immediately made sense. Shopping is about the only thing to do there. Since that was not a part of either of our budgets, we just walked the long streets of the massive outdoor mall. There was a huge, beautiful church right by it, but I was not allowed in because I was wearing a dress. So while Logan ran through the church, I sat and people-watched. The styles I found extremely common all throughout Europe for women was skinny jeans, boots or heels, and leather jackets. So as a woman, I naturally craved boots and a leather jacket the whole time I was there. The men's fashion: considered totally hip and hot, would be considered totally embarrassing and "tool-like" in the States. I loved all the social differences between continents that I was finding. For one, I'm sure Europeans don't know and would not even be able to understand the concept of PDA (public display of affection). If you're into someone, you show it. On a train, in the middle of the street, who cares? Making out on any level is perfectly okay and doesn't even attract attention. Also, the whole concept of speedy customer service appears to be foreign to them. In every city we visited, whether you were eating dinner in a nice restaurant or grabbing a sandwich to go, you were on the waiter's/worker's time. I understand that they see eating a meal as a slower and more relaxed affair than in America, but after slowly dining for well over an hour, why must it take another hour to receive the check? As long as you aren't about to pass out from hunger, it's best to just take these events as amusing and be patient.
We didn't do all that much in Milan, but honestly I was glad. We had been go go go for well over a week, and taking a day or two to just relax and regroup was definitely needed. Finishing off our Italian excursion with some walks through some beautiful parks and one last Italian dinner, we then headed to our last new country: Switzerland.

Mall Entrance--Proving itself as fashion capital of the world