MILAN

Second year is when I moved out from my first house. I went much closer to the university and therefore to the city center. At the same time, my social life was starting to take off and so I would spend more time outside, especially in the areas close to me: Navigli and Duomo.

That is when I started to like/hate Milan. I really liked to hang out in these places and to be around other young people. At the same time, I felt that the city had no public space where one could go to reflect, to stay by himself, and I really missed this kind of place.

I stayed two years in my second place and then I moved out in search of a place where I could live alone, cultivate my relationships and interests without feeling a stranger at my own place. My third place was a bit out of the center, 20 minutes walking southwards from the university. This, I now realize, is when I started to live more my neighborhood.

I really liked living this more "local" experience of Milan. Even the fact that I had to move out again (the contract was only 1 year long and it was not renewed to me) did not change this, as I found another place where to spend my last semester in the same neighborhood.

My current thoughts on Milan are that its greatest strengths (being so full with interesting people & opportunities) is also its greatest flaw (sometimes it is difficult to take a breath, also because air quality is shit). But overall, my experience here was more positive than not.