Thursday, July 20, 2006

already?

My parents arrived yesterday and one of the first sentences from my mother was: Milan, what an ugly city. Granted by the end of the day she had reconsidered her judgment, I started reflecting on this city. At lunch with Grazia and the other student interns we had discussed whether Milan was a nice city. And it is. It's no Rome with fountains and history seeping out from the mortar between the stones, it's more of a big city, it has a different soundtrack than the peaceful Tuscan town, it has a rich aesthetic.

At first I was turned off by Milan, slightly industrial, slightly cold. That Italian warmth of spirit seemed absent from this urban landscape. But, after a time, I discovered that once you meet a Milanese and break that cold IknowwhereIamgoing exterior, you find a really warm and kind person. You just have to dig.

Somehow Milan is aesthetics central, people dress just right, simply but put together. And thus it wows. People dress with confidence, having the attitude to match the outfit. Cosmopolitan style. Everyone dresses pretty nicely, so everyone is on the same level, no one sticks out. Unless of course they are all legs or super built or something of the like. A man wearing pearls for instance.

I've felt very much at home in Milan, falling right into routine the Monday after the Sunday I arrived and being welcomed warmly by the family I have been staying with. It's hard to believe that within 2 days, I will be driving in a car with the parentals down to Tuscany.

I'll miss the family very much, we had fun, laughs, expriences together. Everything from cooking paella, to laughing at my desire to iron, to strategizing how low I could go with my SPF. Many evening were spent chitchatting with Dorota, with her claiming that I am the only one who will listen.

Geez, I can't even write this, I don't know what to say. I give up. To sum up, I've had a nice time, I will miss the family, Milan is hella aesthetic. That is all.

1 comment:

Purple Pebbles said...

yo stefan =) funny that we're both in a family-state-of-mind these days. hope you're taking lots of pictures of all that aesthetic (and postcards! you don't even have to send them, but please do get them!)

i like that we do a lot of this co-posting... it's like we're in touch everyday =) --love you!