The following weekend we went to Milano for an architecture field trip.  This is actually the first of three field trips that I've been able to go on with the architecture studio.  It was fun to see things with a new group of people and Bianca Maria and Carlo did a great job of leading our tour through Milano.  The reason why we went there this weekend was because Milano had an interior design expo.  It was great to see something that had been designed and built within the last few years, rather than 200 years ago.  I really like interior design and custom designed furniture so this exhibit was perfect for me.  One of the best parts of the whole thing was the new restaurant designs.  Some designs were way out there but fun to walk through.    Carlo, our teacher, says that a lot of the designing that we saw last weekend will be the future of architecture. 

The way the exhibits worked in Milano was there were little satellite exhibits everywhere through out the town, so with a little walking, we were able to see about half of the exhibits.  One of the best was in the basement of a museum.  The subject was new small eateries or quick places for food.  We tried shots of coffee that were jellified on the outside and coffee in the middle.  We also had pizza in a cone.  The cone was made out of dough and the sauce and cheese was in the middle.  It was an interesting idea, but impossible to eat.  At the exhibit we tired new pâté, new champagne, and mini ice cream cones.  We spent a lot of time at this exhibit getting free food and looking at the designs of the spaces. 

After the food exhibit we took a trolley to the center of Milano.  In an exhibition center in the middle of the park, Martini was hosting a party for all of the interior designers and architects.  It was a lot of fun to have a few martinis with our teachers and kids from Roger Williams.  At this party there were small bars that were handing out drinks.  I noticed that they had these glowing ice cubes underneath their bar so...when they left I gabbed a couple.  Little did I know that everyone wanted one of these little glowing ice cubes.  I ended up taking out tray full of these little ice cubes and I've never seen people be so grabby.  When the guy came back to his bar he only smiled at me and went on with handing out drinks.  It was fun to play with the cubes because I think that Bianca Maria loved them the most. 

The next day was our trip around the city center and the Duomo.  It was fun to see how diverse the city was with its architecture.  I was amazed that there were so many different types of architecture all crammed into the downtown.  After lunch we went into the Duomo.  The duomo was amazing.  I can't believe how big the building was.  When you looked down the nave it litterlay looked like a forest of columns.  In the duomo, the church has its main nave with two side isles.  This provides two sets of columns on each side of the nave up to the transept of the church.  In Milano, the duomo has four rows of columns and two sets of isles on each side of the nave.  This is where the forest like affect comes in to play.  The interior of the church also had amazing stain glass and statues.  My favorite part of the Milano Duomo however was the top.  For 3.50 euro you can climb up the roof of the church and walk around and look at all of the detail of the flying buttresses.  I was absolutely amazing at how everything was built so strong that you could walk anywhere on the roof without a problem.  There was also wasn't a sign of standing water or staining anywhere on the church.  Although impressive, the Duomo in Milano was build way after the Duomo in Firenze, the 4th largest church.  This is why the Duomo in Firenze is still more impressive to me.  

After the Duomo, we walked around Milano a little more before getting on the train for home.  We were looking forward to going home because Drew and Andy were on their way back up to Denmark and were going to be in town for the night.  The five of us ended up going back to Faces.  We once again played beer pong and danced.  I had a great time this night because beer pong is only getting easier and we went up with some really cool people.  The next day Drew and Andy were going to take off for Denmark but ended up missing their train so we had them here until Monday.  It was fun to hang out with them once again and I can't wait to get up to Denmark in a few weeks