enjoying Milan

Finally getting around to posting some pictures that I've taken while out and about in the city this school year. I'm really enjoying living in the city and being close to everything! The past two years in Opera were peaceful and quiet... but it's so nice to be in the city and able to get around more easily and so much faster.

There are many industrial buildings around my neighborhood. I found one that now houses a large leather purse outlet! Ummm yes, please! (I've bought a few so far... just a few...)  :P

Metro ridin'

Great piece of street art about a block from my apartment building.

An entire crew of teachers all ended up on the same tram heading home one night!

Just gorgeous. 

Santa Margherita and Portofino

Yesterday, Ali (a friend and co-worker) and I took a day-trip to Santa Margherita and Portofino. These are two small sea-side towns in Liguria and it takes just over two hours by train from Milan! I am really glad we went. The day was a bit overcast but I loved being by the water and it wasn't too cold to be out and about, enjoying the views.

Starting out in Santa Margherita:

We hopped on a local bus for a 15-minute ride to Portofino! Nice to see another town... and one with such a cute, picturesque harbor! We had a seafood lunch here and took a walk around.

Funny enough -- Ali and I both went to St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY for our undergraduate degrees! She is two years younger than I am but we overlapped. She actually recognized me when we started working at ASM here in Milan. During our orientation week, she said I looked familiar and then we figured out that it's from Fisher! Funny... small world.

enjoying the FOOD Italian-style

Mmmmmm the food and treats in Italy :D

I have about 3 months left in Italy... I'm going to miss breakfasts like this one!!!!

My mom will like this one! Focaccia bread with green olives!

This was my breakfast one day at school:

On a recent Sunday morning, I enjoyed a muffin and caffe latte with a book about careers:

Third-grade twins from China brought me a moon cake for the Chinese Lunar New Year!

This was reminiscent of my time in Vietnam when they also celebrated the New Year with moon cakes : )

Hoooooomade tiramisu by an Italian! Perfetto!

Our Help Desk Manager made tiramisu for a staff member's birthday:

I love walking through the markets here. The colorful fruits look great here:

Winter Concert - Santa Maria delle Grazie

Soooooo my school's winter concert was in the Santa Maria delle Grazie -- which is the church where THE The Last Supper is! The Last Supper is painted on a walk within the refectory building, attached to the church. Amazing!

The entire program was absolutely stunning. The choir, string orchestra, and band played. The mix of holiday music was well done and I am always so impressed with the students' talents. I was blown away. All of this, within such a great structure -- the inside of this church is very beautiful.

The pictures above were taken by staff at school and posted onto ASM's social media sites -- they are not my pictures. The two below are ones that I took during the concert with my phone : )

antique and first edition books

A mother of two high school students collects antique and first edition books. She brought some in (wrapped and packed safely) one afternoon and I oogled over them!

The book covers and illustrations inside were really beautiful to see. So much detail -- even in the edging and design on some of the book spines!

The illustrations in this book were actually glued onto each page:

East Market, Milan

East Market takes place in the northeast part of the city and it's a lot of fun. I've been a couple times now -- the photos below are from my second visit, when I went with Carrie, a friend from school.

The market takes place in two different buildings - both large warehouses. There are new things from many local designers, used/vintage things, an entire record section, and food trucks!

Mmmmmm cannoli food truck!

And we took a super cute tram back home... I love the one-car trams with wooden benches.

Friend Time in Colorado

It had been over a year since I had visited Colorado and it was so nice to see some of my friends there!! I really miss them. The 4 years that I lived in Colorado were some of my favorites. I feel extremely fortunate in life to count many years as favorites (does that even count as 'favorites' then??).

Seeing my buddy Andy is a must when I'm in Denver. It's always nice to catch up with him. Andy, Lenny, and I went to a new tea cafe near where they both live. My pumpkin tea latte was deeeeelicious!

Wendy! We went for a walk and out to lunch on a gorgeous sunny day. She's the best candy buddy I've ever had :P  Not long after returning to Milan, I received a great Valentine's Day care package from her that was packed with goodies!

A bit hazy... but I adore the view of the mountains from Denver. It's really a great city.

I met up with Julie a few times and this day (shown below) took us to the Cherry Creek Mall and a nice, free view  : )

I tried to see everyone while I was in town, by hanging out at our favorite local dive bar for an evening and hoping people would stop by and hang out for a bit. It was so much fun to see so many faces that I've missed! This turned out to be a really nice night   : )

I miss you already, Denver!