Milan, Part Deux...

My second trip to Milan this year had a much different feel than the first. I lived more like a local and knew to take the train from the airport instead of a taxi, I was a pro at taking the metro, and I knew my way around the city center (more or less). I returned to visit the Italian for dinner number two (see my previous post for notes on dinner number one) and to see more of the city (aka, to do more shopping). While I don't know when I'll get back to Milan again, I DO know that Italy has been one of my favorite countries to visit and I'll be back again in two weeks, this time to Sardinia. 

Today's lesson: If it feels right, do it. 

Milan, May 2016

Highlights: -A late afternoon solo lunch near the Duomo with, you guessed it, pizza and champagne (quickly becoming one of my favorite combinations).

                   -The PERFECT weather for strolling through the city.

                   -My third trip to the Louis Vuitton store in Milan.

                   -Dinner with the Italian and his friends. The ambience, food, wine, company, everything was amazing!

                   -The Italian's home cooked pasta and the special bottle of champagne he got from France, just for me. 

                   -Strolling through the Navigli (an area on the canal) while eating gelato, listening to jazz, and watching the sunset. 

Lowlights: -Getting off the train during what I assumed to be a monsoon and trying to find the bus that would take me to my hotel. Oh, and getting off the bus two stops too early (because they announced them all in muffled Italian over the speaker and there was no map of the stops on the bus) and having to walk through said monsoon to my hotel. I. Was. Soaked. 

I just love the colors of the Milanese buildings. 

My view of the Duomo during my solo lunch.

The Navigli district. 

The Italian.

Listening to jazz in the Navigli.

Heading to dinner with the Italians, with the Italian.

Booked for Italy!

*Note: I started writing this post before yesterday's earthquake in Italy. I will always hold the country and it's people near and dear to my heart and I felt it would be insensitive to post this given yesterday's tragic events. 

After weeks of watching price alerts for flights that NEVER went down, I'm happy to say I finally booked my flight for my third trip to Italy this year. I'll be visiting Sardinia, an amazing island off the west coast with a friend I've known for over 30 years (my GOD I'm getting old!). I'll update you on that trip next month.
In the meantime, take a look at some memories from my first trip to Milan earlier this year. I went with my friend who lives in Switzerland. We decided to meet up in Milan, stay the night, then take the train to Lake Como where we visited Como and Bellagio. She needed to get back to work early, so after returning from Como, I ended up staying solo in Milan for a couple of nights. I did something I don't usually do…accepted an invitation from a complete stranger to dinner (when in Italy, you eat the pizza, right?).  He's a cop, I checked him out (and took a picture of his driver's license and license plate and sent it to my friend), so I figured "Why not? I'm only going to be in Milan once." Turns out I was destined to return a month and a half later for dinner number two…but I'll save that for the next post.

Today's lesson: Take a chance, accept the invite, eat the pizza (and enjoy the wine!).

Spring Break in Milan 2016
Highlights: -The laid-back Italian lifestyle. I think I was born to sit at cafés on the piazza while sipping wine and people watching (of course, I can do this in France too…).
                   -Lake Como. It's ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. I mean, unreal.
                   -Making a new friend.
                   -Shopping. I was in Milan after all.

Lowlights: -Taking a cab from the airport outside of the city to the city center. One hundred euros later I found out I could've taken a train for about 12 . Oh well, now I know.
                  -The two-hour ferry ride from Bellagio back to Como. Apparently I get sea sick.

Streets of Milan.

Duomo di Milano. (side view)

Shopping at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

Duomo, front.

Teatro alla Scala

With Alejandra catching the tram to the train station.

Patiently waiting on the train to Como.

Como.

Walking along the lake in search of food.

Beautiful views from the ferry to Bellagio.

This doesn't even look real. Amazing. 

Bellagio.

I almost fell down these steps!

Cheers to new friends! (You'll see him again in the next post…)

         

It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you...

How many of you read the title of this post and instantly broke into "I Know You Got Soul" by Eric B. & Rakim? Oh, am I telling my age here? So here's the deal…this blog used to be about nothing but fashion…vintage and modern fashion, my very own "style remix" to be exact. That was over two years ago. A LOT has happened since then. As you may recall, I moved to the Middle East. If you don't, you can check it out here. Since so much has changed for me, I thought it only fitting that my blog change as well. (If you were REALLY into my fashion posts, don't worry, there will be more of those. A huge part of my life revolves around fashion after all.)

Like many of you, I am a visual person. I loved the simplicity of my blog before, a quick one or two sentences on the post followed by pictures of how I style vintage and modern pieces. But you never really got to know me. Believe it or not I'm a pretty private person; what you see on social media is what I WANT you to see. I'm awkward in front of the camera, but I'm not shy. I know, strange. When I first started my blog, I didn't want to put too much of me out there, if that makes sense. These past two years, however, have given me a confidence I never had before. I thought I'd share a bit more of myself with you in the hopes that you can learn from my life lessons (I can't be the ONLY person who goes through these things, right?) and see that I'm still very much a work in progress.

The posts won't be super long and drawn out (hey, even I tend to bore easily), and they will usually end with some lesson I've learned (I'm a teacher after all). Feel free to leave questions for me or comments. In fact, PLEASE leave questions and comments! I'd like this to be an interactive blog. And if you like what you read and see, SHARE, SHARE, SHARE. You never know who may be able to take something away from what I've shared with you.

Today's lesson: Change with the times. I'm slowly learning that my life is evolving and I like where it's heading. I have NO clue where that is, exactly, but I'm definitely enjoying the journey!

A few big moments from my travels to Paris and Istanbul are below. I'll post more travel pics to other cities (and Paris, again…it's one of my favs) in the next post. Be sure to check back!

Paris with my girls for the winter holidays 2014
Highlights: -My girls were with me. Need I say more? (Oh, I do? Continue reading below…)
                  -Getting a chance to share this amazing city that I love with my girls.
                  -Dancing until dawn with complete strangers.
                  -Running into my friend who's a flight attendant and just so happened to be in Paris at the      same time…and proceeding to dance until dawn.
                  -My girl Sandra and I CLAIMING we were only going to have one bottle of wine on New Year's Eve then return to our hotel room, only to end up having THREE bottles (thanks to the ex-NBA player, his fiancé and his friends sitting at the table next to us), and attempting to walk back to our hotel since all of the cabs were taken.

Lowlights: Getting locked out of the apartment I rented and trying to find a hotel at 11:30pm. Two days before New Year's Eve. In Paris. (Luckily we did, and now we can laugh about it. It definitely was NOT funny when it happened.)

Celebrating Rachel's birthday in Istanbul 2015

Highlights: An authentic Turkish bath (AMAZING!!!! However, they threw warm water on me without warning. Without a cap on my head. Now you KNOW I don't play that. With that twa (teeny, weeny, afro for all my readers who aren't fluent in "black girl natural hair speech") I was rocking back then???)

                   A seaside dinner.

                   Roaming the streets of this historic city.

Lowlights: Roaming the streets of this historic city. I was NOT ready for the hills! 

Don't forget to check back for more of my travels from the past two years in my next post...