5-24
So I’m sitting here sweating up a storm in this hot, hot hostel! I am taking a shower as soon as I finish and passing out. The plan was to sleep in until 9 ish this morning but I woke up at 7 all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed so I got up and got some water and went through some pictures. I still hadn’t loaded yesterday’s pics onto the laptop so I did that and named some of the pictures on here. Then we went and hopped on the subway where we were serenaded by a guitarist and violinist. It was pretty sweet, let me tell you.
We were actually on our way to the university here in Milan to listen to some lectures. First of all, let me tell you that there were butterflies on the wall in this room. Like crazy artwork sculpted butterflies that were beautifully painted and looking like they had just taken off. I was a little amazed. The first lecture was over non-destructive techniques used to diagnose historic masonry structures, which sounds super dry but I actually enjoyed it a lot. It was all about how they have to take different things into account when repairing old, historic buildings or else their “repairs” might do more damage than good in the long run. The next one was over a project this group had worked on with how to best protect “Cultural heritage” stuff. That one was interesting but so hard to stay awake for because I just didn’t get enough sleep last night due to the temperature of our hostel room. Whoooey!
After those we grabbed some lunch and took a tour of some of the testing facilities they have. Got to see some small examples of the tests they had been talking about that morning. Then we had one more lecture, which I am ashamed to say I don’t really remember at all. The woman talked really softly so I couldn’t always make out what she was saying. And the afternoon nap syndrome definitely started creeping in on me so I fought through and stayed awake but it was a challenge. We had a museum that we went and saw after the lectures. I actually enjoyed some of the paintings but I definitely was speeding through. There was one called Il Bacio that was really pretty. I actually really liked it a lot. There was just something about it that took me into the scene. I wondered who the two people were and thought it reminded me a little of Robin Hood; him being all scraggly looking and her being so nicely dressed.
We took the scenic route home and I just ended up lying on the bed this afternoon. I didn’t sleep, just lay there, looking at the ceiling. Then we had supper together. It was super delicious! Jeff and Kathryn went shopping and got stuff to make tacos and they were awesome! I was so thrilled not to have to go find a pizzeria. Then me and Linsey and Alaina decided to do some laundry. I’m still recovering from that ordeal. To use the washer here costs 3 euro which I just didn’t want to pay so I sink washed. I also decided that I wanted to wash all my pants and most my shirts. Bad choice. My fingers cramped during the wringing process and we found out the dryer is good for nothing so our room is full of the wet clothes of 4 girls. I feel like we were pretty clever in the spots we found to hang it all up. Good thing we have a couple days here to let it get completely dry. I have decided that between the stairs and sink washing I am going to have a beach body by the time I get back. Probably not, but still it feels like I should.
Ok, I am exhausted, I still have to shower and we have the worst day of the trip schedule-wise tomorrow. So I am going to hit the sack and try to sleep in this sauna of a room.
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