I feel like my face is melting...

So much has happened since I last posted, so I'll be brief.

Sunday I woke up and Ernesta made me breakfast per usual. I would walk into the kitchen and there would be a cup on the table and these sort of dried bread biscuits. I would put nutella on a biscuit and she would heat up milk and then make coffee (actually espresso) on the stove and then make me a latte right there. I would dip the biscuit into the latte and eat it while she squeezed oranges for my juice. Literally I felt so guilty that she did all of this for me but she insisted! What a great lady.

Then her nephew, Michele, took me on a long walk around the city (I think 2.5 hours) and we saw the Duomo and other sights as well as what seemed like all of the fashion district. AMAZING. I wore these heeled boots I got for the trip and by the end my feet hurt but it's fine, they seemed to be plenty fashionable enough for the people around me, so I was glad I looked Milanese! My feet will have to catch up to my shoe taste eventually, so I'll start now.

After the walk I took a nap because Ernesta was taking one so I thought, why not? I'm not usually a big napper but with the weather constantly raining I was all for it. Then we had dinner all together which was, again, amazing as usual and then went to bed.

Monday was move-in day which was a whirlwind but by the late afternoon I was completely unpacked and all 5 of my other roommates had arrived. We get along extremely well which is a positive sign! Monday evening we had a dinner sponsored by IES, the study abroad program, at a restaurant near the Duomo and the food was either very, very good or we were very, very hungry… I think both.

Turning my heel in the symbol of the city - a boar. It means you'll return to Milan!

Today (Tuesday) we woke up early and Maria, the Italian Community Assistant who lives with us, took us to breakfast at a place near our apartment where I had a cappuccino and a pastry with vanilla filling. EXTREMELY FATTENING but beyond delicious and I must be mentally strong and not go to this café too often.

Then the day was filled with meetings and info sessions and a tour of Universita Catticolica, the academic partner of IES. The most exciting part of the past two days happened tonight and is where the title of this post originated. This evening we had “spa time” where IES booked us all to attend a very posh spa in the middle of Milan. This included many types of saunas, Jacuzzis, foot baths and scrubs, outdoor heated pools, champagne, and dinner in a beautiful white marble hall with our very own piano player. It was literally beyond amazing. Dad, if you are reading this and thinking “I knew this was vacation abroad” you would in fact be correct about this evening. In one of the hot saunas you covered yourself in sodium bicarbonate to exfoliate and it was so steamy in there that you could barely see the person two feet away from you. We were sitting on the top bench, where it was hotter, and even though the heat was so intense it was the best feeling in the world. You could just feel the toxins leaving your skin… it felt like my face was melting and it was amazing! The website is http://www.termemilano.com/ for pictures.

Now back at the apartment and about to go to bed. Ciao! Let’s hope tomorrow is just as good as spa night today!

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