I have fallen in love with Milano, I think it may be one of my favourite places. But I thought that about Nurnberg too, so we'll see what else we encounter on the rest of our trip!

I can't even begin to describe the city- the hustle and bustle, and yet its a slower hustle than was in Paris. The old architecture, which never ceases to amaze me. The old churches- Il Duomo reminds me of a peice of white lace because it is so intricate and detailed. They also have an old castle, like just about every other city or town we have been in so far. Its red brick and has round towers on the corner and a gelato vendor outside. Dani and I tried some pistachio gelato (sadly, I think I'm allergic to pistachios)and sat in front of the fountain. It was nice to feel like we could slow down and relax for a bit- we sure weren't able to do that in Paris! If you don't know what I'm talking about, look it up! I'll get around to posting pics eventually. And then there is the shopping!! Everything from Prada and Armani to little trendy boutiques to specialty stores. I saw a store that sold only boxers! It made me laugh!

When we arrived in Milano we saw that just outside of the train station MTV was setting up a huge stage and preparing to block off half the road for some kind of concert. At least, we were hoping it was going up and not coming down! Throughout the day we watched the progress as lights went up and balloons were filled, getting more curious by the minute. Who on earth was MTV sending to do a concert in Milano? And surely it wouldn't be anyone we knew, it was probably just some Italian artist we wouldn't know of, or else it would happen after we left. Our luck wasn't that great! Imagine our excitement when we looked it up and found out that we just happened to be in Milano at the same time as a huge music festival- featuring some big name Italian musicians as well as Dani's fave Rihanna!!! We kept saying over and over to ourselves how we couldn't beleive our luck!

So we went to the concert on the last night of our stay in Milano. We felt even luckier when we found out that it was free! It was amazing! The place was packed 3/4 down the block, with people even watching from the balconies and office windows of the nearby buildings. We got there early and were able to stand up pretty close to the front, and were crammed in there with a bunch of Italians like sardines in a tin! The Italian artists that performed were actually really good, I'm going to have to find out who they are now! But Rihanna is who we came to see. Like I said, Dani is a huge fan of hers and has always wanted to go to one of her concerts. I'm not as big a fan as she is, but I do like her songs! Everyone screamed and yelled and cheared and jumped up and down when she finally came out to sing, last of course. It was really funny to listen to all the Italians singing along to:
"Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella..."
Hehe they sang it all with an Italian accent and it made me giggle to listen to them. It was really cool to just stand in the crowd and soak it all in- everyone around me swaying or singing to the music. It was hard to beleive that I was actually there, in Milan, Italy, attending a Rihanna concert with 15,000 Italians. I think its going to be hard to top this one!!

Right now we are in Verona- famous for its 1st century Roman arena which still olds open air opera performances, and for being the place of Juliet's balcony. (although this is up for some debate, popular myth holds it as her balcony, but I have read also that the balcony was added in 1963 and they just called in Juliet's house to attract tourists- Romeo's house is supposedly down just a few blocks.)I was more impressed by the walls covered in lovers grafitti- a homage to Shakespeare's romantic tradgedy. Layers upon layers of grafitt, messages to Juliet, or people declaring their love for each other, things like Jane + John = true love 4 ever. It was actually really cool. There was grafitti everywhere.
Tonight we are attending Aida at the old arena. I am really excited- I love opera, and to attend one in an old Roman arena is probably a once in a life time experience. If you aren't jealous that I got to see Rihanna in concert in Milano, be jealous that I get to see an opera in a 1000 year old arena!

Hope all is going well with everyone back home... keep in touch please!