Week fifteen: (21/05/12 - 27/05/12) Cultural

Milan

With two weeks left of our Erasmus adventure DarÓma and I set off for our last cultural experience outside of Poznań and headed to Milan. When we arrived we found the Giro d’Italia race was being held in the centre of the city, so there were huge crowds of people and sales promotions everywhere. The Giro d’Italia is a World Ranking, long distance cycling competition and the final stage was being held on the 27^th May in Milan. Although, we had not planned to see this race it was hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the crowds of people waiting for their country to cross the finish line.

                                       

Before travelling to Italy I was aware that Milan was famous for its fashion, so I knew not to expect the typical mountains and scenery I had seen from pictures. I was very impressed by the city centre with its grand buildings and high street fashion shops, such as Ambercrombie and Fitch, Prada and Versace (even though I could not afford to buy anything, I enjoyed looking!) The building that stands out is the Cathedral, Duomo di Milano, located in the centre of the main square - it is hard not to miss! Later I found out that it was the fourth largest cathedral in the world, taking nearly six hundred years to complete. Even though there were a large number of tourists within the cathedral, I liked that there were still areas where people could have privacy to practice their faith without being distracted by the visitors. I have visited many churches when I have travelled and do find it unusual that there are more tourists in them than religious people. Although the buildings are very grand and made for that purpose, they are now ‘places to see’ on tourism websites.

My teacher in school, Kasia, who had lived in Milan for a period of time, suggested we make time on our visit to travel to Lake Como, (the home of George Clooney, so how could we resist!) It was difficult to work out the train stations however; when we got there it was worth all the hassle. I can honestly say it was one of the most beautiful places I have travelled too. Poznań is very central and therefore not close to any seas or oceans. It made me realise that I missed the ease of travelling to a beach within ten minutes over the past four months, as it is something that is so quick to do at home. However, I have really appreciated the opportunities I have had to travel whilst in Poland! DarÓma and I have  traveled to Wroclaw, Warsaw, Berlin, Krakow, Vienna, Prague and Milan in less than four months, an opportunity we would not have been able to achieve otherwise.

                                       

Bubble day

Something I like about Poznań (and Poland) is that it maintains traditions that bring people together, for example; Long Night of Museums, where all museums stay open until 1a.m. and let everyone enter for free and Juwenalia, where students are given the keys to the city and celebrate for a week with parades and parties. However, a cultural event which cannot be called ‘traditional’ is bubble day! In the main square, Stary Rynek, hundreds of people gathered to try and break a world record by blowing thousands of bubbles into the air. I think this was a great way to bring different areas of the community together and it was evident people came together to enjoy themselves. A great way to spend a Saturday afternoon :o)