Autumn or Fall (?) and Milan Fashion Week

It's September 23 today. What does it mean?

a) It's the first day of fall/autumn today!!! (BTW, which word do you use normally?)

Welcome in our lives!!! : ) Goodbye swimming suits, sun blocks, flip flops and hats! Welcome sweaters, jumpers, umbrellas and socks! : ) Where are you my beloved scarves and gloves? Has anyone seen my purple hat? I can't wait to put on my favourite violet boots.. : )

b) Milan Fashion Week starts today! : )

Fashion Week. According to Wikipedia:

"A fashion week is a fashion industry event, lasting approximately one week, which allows fashion designers or "houses" to display their latest collections in runway shows and buyers to take a look at the latest trends. Most importantly, it lets the industry know what's "in" and what's "out" for the season. The most prominent fashion weeks are held in the fashion capitals Milan, London, New York City, and Paris."

Now NY and London it's finally Milan's turn.


- 8 days,
- 203 collections of the most important Italian and foreign designers in the world,
- 96 fashion shows for 88 brands,
- 94 presentations for 80 various brands,
- 35 presentations "by appointment"

If someone is in Milan, here is the complete calendar of all the events and shows. Don't forget tomorrow Armani at 2.00pm, Moschino at 5.00pm and Prada 6.00pm!

Wherever you look, you can see models walking down the streets, taking Metro or a bus, running from one location to another from one show to another. You don't believe me? Look here. Gosh! I wish I could be there! : ))))

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I'm back!

Hello everyone! This weekend passed sooo quickly! : ) To my surprise, I managed to entirely follow the program I prepared before leaving! : ) The weather was gorgeous, we stayed in a wonderful hotel and ate delicious food in various bars/restaurants. I love Milan (and Rome too!). If I was to choose I would definitely move to one of those cities immediately. (Un)fortunately "serce nie sluga" (it's in Polish and if translated would be sth like: "the heart knows no master"). In this case, I wouldn't associate this with a person but with a person and his work together. Nevertheless it's nice I have possibility to come back there now and then, to visit various cities and countries, to be able to travel during the holidays. I can't complain, I'm lucky. Please take a look at some of the pics I took and tell me what you think about this city : )

1. The hotel and Navigli

The hotel is situated in Navigli district. According to the travelplan:

"The origins of the Navigli date back to about 1100, but this stretch of water was only made navigable from the Ticino to the center of Milan at the end of the 14th century, to help transport the marble that was needed to build the Duomo. The Milan Wharf, that was an important commercial port for river transport for many centuries, was still working up to the end of the Second World War, and then closed permanently in 1979.

Today the Naviglio Grande and the Naviglio Pavese (that connects Milan to Pavia) make up one of the most charming places in Milan, with the old, typical “case di ringhiera” houses, antique shops and hundreds of clubs standing on each side, that are invade the banks of the rivers from April to September with their open-air tables."

To our surprise during the weekend there was the annual art exhibition (which I had no idea even existed) along the canal. More than 200 Italian artists showed and sold their pieces of art. It was amazing!







2. Fashion, design & Vogue exhibition








3. Things we saw, places we visited

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Milan, I'm coming!

Next weekend my bf, his parents and I are going to Milan for weekend. We visit that city quite frequently since my bf's brother lives and works there. I love Milan. I remember going to Milan for one of my very first dates with my bf (I flew from Warsaw, he flew from Catania). It was just as I imagined it. It was February (so quite chilly and cloudy). The city was clean, the public transport worked perfectly well (no delays!), I met skinny and tall like trees models in the underground. There were art exhibitions and concerts, and to my astonishment, shops were open from 9.00 to 8.00 p.m. without the famous siesta break from 1.00 to 4.00 (which you can "experience" even in Rome). There aren't many spots to sightsee, though. There's the famous Forzesco castle (amazing!) but apart from that, it's all about art, shopping and having good fun (i.e.what Jo actually loves).

What is my plan? It's just 2.5 days (Friday-Sunday) so in order to do many things it should be well planned and organized.

FRIDAY
1. 12.00 noon arrival at the airport
2. 13.00 check-in at the hotel, a short nap + a quick shower
3. 15.00-20.00 Shopping in the Corso Buenos Aires, Piazza San Babila and Piazza del Duomo
(Shops I cannot miss: Zara, Bershka, H&M, Furla, Bagatt, Geox, Tezenis etc....)
4. 20.30 Dinner in a fancy restaurant

SATURDAY
8.00 wake up
8.45 breakfast
9.00 leaving the hotel
9.30 visit at the Palazzo Reale (Duomo) to see the art exhibition dedicated to Monet
11.30 visit at the Palazzo della Ragione to see a photo exhibition organized by Vogue America (with the collaboration of Dolce&Gabbana) entitled Extreme Beauty in Vogue.
13.00 free for lunch
15.00-16.30 visit at the Planetario (lecture "Stories told by the stars: costellations, myths and leggends" and a guided observation of the sky)
17.00-18.30 rest at the hotel
19.00 a classical music concert
21.00 dinner

SUNDAY
9.00 visit at the Pinacoteca di Brera which offers an amazing journey in time thanks to the collection of exquisite pieces of arts (paintings, sculptures, drawings, etc) by the greatest artists in history; to name just a few: Rubens, Van Dyck Canaletto, Caravaggio or Rembrandt)
13.00 lunch
14.00 check out from the hotel
18.00 departure for Catania

Well, that should be it. Hopefully my plans will not fall apart. keep your fingers crossed and wish me good luck/a good journey! : )

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Work = ...Work?

How was my weekend? Well, here's the list of things I did:

• having classes on Saturday morning
  
• washing clothes
• doing some shopping at Carrefour
• buying a present for my Friend who loves animals and in particular cats and dogs very much:

• cleaning the appartment
• ironing
  
• correcting students' homework
• meeting our friends for a dinner in Blu restaurant (the food wasn't as good as I expected but the good company was the most important that evening)
• having latte caffé in my favourite local bar with my bf on Sunday morning
  
• making a decision about what to do with the hole in the main entrance to our building which "appeared" just under the mail boxes (some of the floor tiles got broken and so there's this hole getting bigger and bigger everyday) which becomes a real problem especially for the postman. We decided having talked to an engineer and ask them about the cost of the reparation.
• having delicious lunch (both on Saturday and Sunday) at my bf's parents.
  
• studying Modulo 10, 11 and 12
• watching Ferzan Ozpetek's old film (2001) "Le fate ignoranti"
  

• It was good. Not perfectly good or fabulous but good. He's one of my favourite film directors ever. Has this unique capacity to see through people's eyes and paint people's souls without exaggerating.
  

This week is really pleasant for me... The students are on their Spring Break (yes, they have one week free which means they travel and visit countries in the whole Europe), so the school is all mine (until Tuesday at least). It's calm and silent. I need it in this period more than ever. I bring my books, my "modules" to school and I study. I wish it was April 18 today... After the exams. I could finally think about taking up step or aqua fitness classes again... Grrrr...

The good news is that just after that (2 weeks approximately) I'm going to Milan again! And funny to say but it turns out that I do my shopping only when I'm away, therefore Milano rulezzzz! : )

Ok, going back to Modulo 11. Speak soon. Jo.

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