Milan, Italy

Most people I have talked to about traveling to Italy told me to skip this city altogether, but I really enjoyed it! I traveled here on a whim--I was feeling restless in Spain and so the week before a 3 day weekend decided to look up cheap flights with Ryanair (I seriously should be a spokesman for how many of their flights I have taken, but then again they are so cost-cutting they probably don't even have a PR or Marketing Department). Anyways, I was deciding between Santiago de Compostela in NW Spain or Milan. I decided to go to Milan so I could hit up Cinque Terre as well.

I really liked the town! I didn't stray too much from the center, but it felt like a nice, relaxing visit because it didn't have any of the pressure of having to visit a ton of sites like Rome or Florence. The Duomo is also amazing; I have never seen such a cool rooftop! Plus the Italian food needless to say was delicious and carb-laden, and the aperitivo was a wonderful discovery. Here are some pictures:

Duomo di Milano at night, taken right when I arrived.

Entrance to the indoor shops on one side of the square.

Daylight view of the Duomo 

I climbed up all the stairs to reach the roof of the Dumo! I loved all the stone carving on the many pinnacles and spires. You are going to see several more of these pictures...

Views of the square from the roof of the Duomo. 

The perils of having strangers take your photograph when you are traveling alone is that they will awkwardly frame you in windows instead of catching the beautiful stone detail right above your head.

Banca Popolare di Milano with an interesting sculpture in front. 

Another interesting discovery in Milan was the Negroni cocktail. From wikipedia: The Negroni cocktail is made of one part gin, one part vermouth rosso (red, semi-sweet), and one part bitters, traditionally Campari. I wish I had known how strong it was before I ordered it! I really enjoyed it, but won't be ordering one again anytime soon.

Ciao!

Bleinham Palace, Woodstock, England

My friend Arthi and I took a day trip from Oxford to Bleinham Palace, which was about 30 minutes away by bus. Bleinham Palace is the house of the 11th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, who is related to the Marlborough family (the 9th duke was his cousin and close friend).

There is a huge lake on the property, and we saw a few people in little boats fishing!

This used to be one of the entrance gates to the palace grounds. The gatekeeper actually lived in here, and there are a few rooms and kitchen somehow nestled in here. 

All in all it was a beautiful, sunny day, with no rain!

Oxford, England

I have the good fortune of having a friend living and studying in Oxford, so I went to visit her for a few days! Lucky for me, Ryanair had a super cheap flight out of Reus Airport (tiny airport on the outskirts of Tarragona) and that was it!

Oxford is beautiful! It is absolutely a university town, with cafes everywhere, and gorgeous, centuries-old colleges all around the town. Also, since many scenes of Harry Potter were filmed among some of the colleges, that is their "claim to fame" and they definitely benefit from the association, aka create tourist traps. Here are some of my favorite pictures:

This is the courtyard of Merton College, where Arthi goes to school. It is one of the three oldest colleges, which all dispute among themselves to determine which was actually established first.

The gardens of Merton College

 

View of Christ Church Chapel from the Merton College gardens

The courtyard of Christ Church

Christ Church dining hall-where the dining scenes in Harry Potter are filmed!

The Isis River, the portion of the Thames that flows through Oxford

 

 

Two of Oxford University's boathouses. Merton College's crest is on the left, where Arthi rowed!

 

Apparently I love purple and color-coordinating my whole outfit in different shades of it. I think most of you (girls) knew that!

 

Radcliffe Camera, one of Oxford University's many libraries. I had the opportunity to go in and it's beautiful! You can't check books out of this library though, so they have a strict check-your-bag-when-you-exit policy.

Another view of Radcliffe Camera with what I believe is All Souls college to the right. Athi--correct me if I'm wrong!

Bodleian Library Courtyard--love the subjects people studied in the olden days! 

 

Brasenose Lane--I just loved this narrow little pedestrian/bike street

 These next pictures are all different views of Balliol College and its gardens. The college was established in 1263. Some famous alums include three British prime ministers, Adam Smith and Christopher Hitchens.

Speaking of Harry Potter, I bought the new J.K. Rowling book, The Casual Vacancy, while I was in England. I just started reading it...let's see how she writes outside the magical and mystical world of Harry Potter!