Up North

It was Easter Monday - a national holiday - when we packed up and headed North for our week-long field trip to Northern Italy. The holiday traffic accompanied us on our day-long trip. Another thing that accompanied us was bus trouble. Since everything was closed we had to call in the local mechanic in a random town to come in and fix the bus. After a few rounds of the game "psychiatrist" and other guessing games, we were on our way.



First stop: Modena, home of balsamic vinegar! Acetaia del Cristo is a famous producer of balsamic vinegar and is known for its precious, genuine, and fully natural product. The traditional Modena vinegar is produced in the family's country house and has been for generations.








This vinegar is thick and tastes bitter and sour. It is very odd.


Taste test with gelato - interesting, but delightful.

Next time you drizzle some balsamic vinaigrette look at the back of the bottle. It will most likely say, MADE IN MODENA. :)

After our vinegar tour, we headed to Verona as the sun was setting.





Beautiful morning in Verona




The Swiss Alps

Verona is mostly known as the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.




Lauren, Mary Hester, and me with Juliet




Me and Laura Beth

Next stop was to Como - home of the lake and yep, George Clooney! (Unfortunately, we didn't run into him.)






View from funicolare


View from our lunch table


Me, Lauren, and Mary Hester in front of Lake Como

A tour of Northern Italy would not be complete without a couple days in the fashion capital of the world - Milan!


The Duomo


Group in front of the Duomo


Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II - luxury shopping mall


One of our days in Milan was dedicated to arcitecture and interior design. Max, our professor of design and contemporary architecture gave us a tour of the Portaluppi Foundation and presented a lecture on architecture.


Piero Portaluppi is a famed Italian arcitect

This unique family home, nicknamed a “Jewel of Milan,” was built between 1932 and 1935 by Portaluppi with updates by Thomas Buzzi. It is a mark of the Milanese achievement and dedication to the principles of modernity.


Villa Nicchi-Campiglio




Milanese Models


Photoshoot set-up by the pool

Inside the house...





As you can see, the house has a combination of modern/contemporary elements and traditional elements. The overall city of Milan is the same way - they are many traditional aspects of the city, but there is also very modern and contemporary.






Outside a contemporary art musuem with Madelin, Mary Hester, and Britani


One day we toured the fashion scene with Veto, a hip young fashion guru


Veto took us to 10 Corso Como.

Carla Sozzani opened 10 Corso Como in 1991 and has made a name of herself. She owns and is constantly reinventing her unique and always expanding collaborated selling spaces grouped around a beautiful courtyard. You will find this top shop in the off-center part of Milan, Italy. It is a 13,000 square foot complex, which includes the Galleria Carla Sozzani (a photography and design gallery), a bookstore (design books from all over the world), a boutique for men's and women's clothing and accessories, hard-to-find imports, and must-have luxury goods. There is also a café and the restaurant.


No pictures inside...here's one from the Internet.


Canal that goes through the city


Veto took us by A-lab fashion designers. These are up and coming designers and are really modern and really cool people. Laurel bought a dress and Mary Hester bought a little jacket!


The group with the designers - can't wait to see their work on the red carpet some day!

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening." -Coco Chanel