It is truly hard to believe that my time abroad is starting to near its end. I remember the first week I was in Italy feeling like it lasted a lifetime, so I thought this experience would drag on. But as I look at my last full month abroad, I’m still acting like September was yesterday. Here are the trips I went on in November that were outside of Milan.
Lecco, Italy (Nov. 4)
Going to Lecco on a day hiking trip was a very spontaneous trip after my friend asked me the night before to come at 10 p.m. Even though it meant waking up at 6 a.m., I knew that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go on a hike in the mountains surrounding Lake Como.
The hike was one of the most beautiful hikes I’ve ever been on. Since the mountains are so tall compared to the surrounding lakes and towns, you’re able to see everything up there. I could turn in one direction and see the town of Lecco, then turn to see the other mountain ranges, and then look at the lake. I couldn’t tell if the hike was really hard or if I just hadn’t hiked in a while, but I was so unbelievably sore the next day.
Along with the natural beauty of the day trip, the people that I went with also made it worth it. Since I was an exchange student, I didn’t have a lot of chances to interact with a lot of permanent studying Bocconi students. This hike was with only permanent Bocconi students, so it was a lot of fun talking with them and hearing their different perspectives on the school and Italy. If you ever come to Italy, a hike in the mountains is a must!
Pisa, Italy (Nov. 11-12)
This trip was incredibly bittersweet since it was the last time that I would be seeing my Italian friend, Elisa, whom I had met more than six years ago. We weren’t sure when we were going to see each other next, so we planned one last trip to Pisa since neither of us had been before, and we felt like I couldn’t leave Italy without seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa (it was basically a rite of passage).
The trip was a lot of fun, and we felt like we were able to explore every single thing that there is to see in Pisa since it’s such a small town. You can walk from one side of the town to the other in about 20 minutes, so it’s quite easy to get around. The two of us even took a quick bus trip to the coast just to see the sea, though that was cold and windy and mostly deserted. Most importantly, I got a silly tourist picture of me holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
While I thought that Pisa was, for the most part, ‘just okay,’ hanging out with my friend made it much better. We had some great food and fun conversations and watched “Gilmore Girls” at the end of the night. We’re hoping to see each other in the next five years—but until then, the memories we’ve created in Milan, Bologna, Rome and Pisa will have to do.
Cinque Terre, Italy (Nov. 18)
I’ve been planning to go to Cinque Terre since September, but things either kept changing or there was bad weather which made me not want to go. I’m so glad that I decided to wait to go with my roommates, however, because it was a nearly perfect trip.
The Cinque Terre towns are really one of the most beautiful sights I’ve seen while in Europe, with the bright buildings of the towns next to the bright blue water. The weather was so warm that we didn’t need a jacket, and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. It was fun jumping from town to town on the train and exploring the alleys and trails.
While we didn’t hit all of the Cinque Terre towns, we managed to hit four of them: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, and Riomaggiore. Vernazza and Riomaggiore were my favorites, and we managed to catch the sunset at Riomaggiore, making for some of the best pictures I’ve taken while abroad. Since we went during the tourist off-season, there were hardly any people as well.
Lugano, Switzerland (Nov. 20)
This was the first trip that I took with my parents while they were here in Milan for Thanksgiving break. I enjoyed Switzerland a lot when I went in September, so I decided to take them to Lugano, somewhere none of us had been to before. The funniest part was seeing my parents in awe of the Milan Central Station since it was such a fancy train station. This was my Dad’s first time on a train as well, and he fell asleep for most of the ride (classic dad).
Lugano is a very beautiful and hilly town. None of us were expecting so many stairs down from the train station, but it dropped us in the downtown area to explore. We walked around Lake Lugano and got lunch before doing some shopping and walking around some more. Since we didn’t make any formal plans, it was a pretty casual trip but still fun. Overall, the best part of this trip was hanging out with my parents after not seeing them for so long.
Genova, Italy, again! (Nov. 24)
While my parents were in Milan, my dad only had one request on where he wanted to go for the entire trip: the Genova Aquarium. The Genova Aquarium is the biggest aquarium in Europe, and even though I had been there before, I decided to take him again.
We were only in Genova for three hours, and half of that was spent in the aquarium, but it was still a fun trip. The weather was quite nice, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so it almost felt like it was summer. The three of us got something to eat downtown, then walked around for 20 minutes before we had to leave for the train station. Even though it was a short trip, I loved Genova the first time I went and loved it all the same this time. I just wish I had more time to show my parents around the awesome city!
Malta (Nov. 25-27)
I’ve wanted to visit Malta since high school since it was a small, unknown island, and I was devastated when I had to cancel the trip back in September due to a transportation strike. However, when my friend and I were randomly looking at flight prices to Malta and saw that the tickets were $39 for a round trip, we couldn’t resist and booked the entire trip right then.
The trip was amazing. Malta is filled with such a rich history that my friend and I were watching YouTube videos in our hotel room, just trying to wrap our heads around the history of the country. It’s unlike any place I’ve ever been to as well: it has mainly Middle Eastern-style architecture, drives on the left side of the road, speaks English and Maltese, and has more churches than I’ve ever seen in my life.
My friend and I explored catacombs in stormy weather, went to architectural ruins from the first century, visited war rooms from WWII, and explored all sides of the coast. It’s super easy to get around, where you can go from one side of the country to the other in just 20 minutes. It’s absolutely a place worth visiting, and it’s been one of my favorite trips so far.