Friday Photo: Pompei, Italy

Oh hello, Mt. Vesuvius. And Fido ‘nem.

Touring Pompei and seeing the ash “casts” of the pterified bodies that were killed by that infamous eruption of Mt. Vesuvius was a cool – yet chilling- experience. Must do.

Travelin’ through Time: Window Shopping

So, I just realized I haven’t really had many photos or stories of my own experiences while I was abroad in Milan.  So Travelin’ through Time will be a series of posts dedicated to photos, stories, memories, and thoughts all from my semester spent in Italy (and Barcelona, Spain, & London). So without further ado, my first Travelin’ through Time post:

Window Shopping in Milan

So this photo from my time abroad showed two things I noticed about Milan within the first week I got there: (1) shopping is a serious sport and (2) dogs are EVERYWHERE (not quite as bad as LA though).  Window shopping is a legit national pastime – as you can see, even the dogs partake in it (I really wonder what he was shopping for that day!?). The only problem with this being a national pastime is that I, as a foreigner, was not familiar with the idea of staying on the outside of the window.  Instead if I saw something cute in a window, I investigated and subsequently purchased said item – hence, my first bout with credit card debt.  But Italians can spend an entire day just walking down those famed streets like Via della Spiga in Milan or Via del Corso in Rome.  Saturdays, Sunday afternoons, any day really was perfect for taking a shopping walk.  And there aren’t any malls – simply streets or districts where all of the retailers have decided to call home. Quite amazing.  Even more amazing are the shops I would find with premium Italian leather goods for what I like to call the “low” :). My only regret is that Italy wasn’t still on the lira back in ’06.  I blame all past credit card debt on the Euro and Italy’s unofficial national pastime!