Caitlin Takes Copenhagen : Study Tour to Milan! (and Stockholm?!)

I spent the past 5 days traveling with my core class (positive psychology) again. This time, however, we got to leave the country! We were scheduled to go to Milan around 3pm on Saturday afternoon. Well... things didn't go exactly as planned and before we knew it we were in Stockholm--surprise! Apparently the airline booked for a much larger plane than the one that arrived in Copenhagen. Our class of 24 was patiently waiting at our gate when we heard a woman frantically get on the loudspeaker and announce that she needed 21 volunteers to take a different flight. At that point, we all pretty much knew that we would be the group to go. We took a detour up north to Stockholm for the night and half of the next day before we finally made it to Milan! It ended up working in our favor though because the airlines paid for everything (hotel, meals, transportation) AND reimbursed each of us 1,900 Danish kroner (roughly $330) for all of the trouble they caused us. The only bad part of the situation was that our bags didn't make it to Stockholm so all we basically had was the clothes on our backs for the first day and a half. The people in my class are great and nobody complained about the change of plans. Instead, we made it an adventure and had a lot of fun in Stockholm. I guess we have learned a think or two in our positive psych class :)

Waiting for our bags that never arrived

Beautiful Stockholm

Can't wait to go back this weekend!

The main attraction in Milan is without a doubt the Duomo. The Duomo di Milano is a massive cathedral that is located in the center of Milan. It is absolutely breathtaking! I remember stopping mid-step on my way up the metro stairs because I got my first look at the beautiful building. The amount of detail put into the Gothic architecture is unbelievable. The Duomo is covered in statues and creative carvings. After seeing it in person, I can understand why it took nearly 600 years to build! We were able to actually go on the rooftop, which was incredible. Even the roof had statues everywhere! The inside of the Duomo was also extremely impressive with its massive stained-glass windows and marble columns. I felt very small while visiting the cathedral and not just in the literal sense (although I did feel that). Seeing such a marvelous structure that has been used as a place of worship for hundreds of years (and is still used today) gave me this very calming and spiritual feeling that is hard to explain.

The Duomo was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. Other fun things we did included amazing group dinners, an Italian wine tasting night, and shopping. The last two days were mostly academic and were packed full of lectures and discussions. All in all, it was a very successful trip!