The never-ending-round-the-world 21st

For a first time celebrating my birthday in winter, it wasn't half-bad. While yes I did miss the beautiful hot day and pool party that tends to accompany my traditional birthday celebrations, being able to run around and play with some freshly fallen snow does have its benefits. I will however say that my love for snow and winter is coming to an end, I cannot wait to be able to walk around without a jacket on and different shoes to my boots! A shout-out and a thanks needs to go towards everyone who pitched in for my present, I have invested in a lovely pair of thick boots and a nice coat to wear, which I am sure I will get a lot of use out of as the cold weather does not seem to be leaving (however, the temperature hit 0 today- a sign of it heating up!)

We have had a lot of birthday celebrations and visitors around over the last few weeks, so celebrations have been on-going. There were a lot of aperitivi (9euro cocktails and free food for those who didn't already know), pre-drinking birthday celebrations, big-birthday meals eaten at cute cafes this week, and I am certainly loving the feel of a home cooked meal right now! I have slowly started to eat more than just pasta for every meal... and pizza isn't even my staple either :) 

As mentioned before, there was fresh snow the night before my birthday, so I spent my birthday walking around Milan with Shira and playing around in the snow... After a bit more exploring and touristy stuff we were definitely ready for some warmth, so to food and more shopping we headed! I came home to some lovely flowers sent from Australia, so even though I was over here on the other side of the world, there were still bits of home with me throughout my birthday- thanks everyone! 

The rest of the weekend was again filled with exploring. There were some awesome markets that went on for ages, but we were pretty frozen by the time that was all done and headed to the Armani Caffe for coffees, very EXPENSIVE coffees! They were pretty good, but even the warmth of the caffe was worth it. The rest of the day was pretty much spent wandering around seeing Milano in its frozen state, as well as doing a bit more shopping. There really isn't that much to do in the city other than shop, but by the time you walk inside, find something you like, you then have to take off about a million layers to try it on and its simply not worth the money- I am pretty sure my bank account is loving it being so cold here... The money can stay warm in there!

Now that all the celebrations are over I have to actually start trying to work out classes. I have managed to find some that look quite interesting (and that I can sort-of understand) so with those and my language classes I am beginning to find a routine. More updates to follow soon, maybe next time I will write about my attempts at cooking (so far only one cooking-related-injury) and then off to Venice for CARNIVALE! But until then, next task- getting fingerprinted by the police for my permesso di soggiorno!