I made my way to the hotel I was to stay in for 4 nights before moving into the apartment, to meet my room mate, Suparna from Boston/New York. Thanks to the internet and facebook one has a chance to somewhat get to know the other person to an extent. Realities may always be different, but so far we get along well. We're both well traveled, have a good amount of work experience under our belt and have both experienced living outside of home in different cities and countries so there wasn't much of a cultural clash.
Milan (the classmate) moved in with a current MBA student, Anna R, who graduates soon. Thanks to her we set up our cell phones, got some advice on the city and lots of advice on the MBA year ahead. We were also introduced to some of her classmates who have been absolutely friendly and hospitable.
In the first four days we saw some of the main attractions of Milan and got over jet lag. We then moved to our apartment close to the campus in the city itself. The building is pretty average looking on the outside. There is a big iron gate that is locked and one has to buzz to get let in. Followed by a marble-y tiled walk way and stairs to the main door of the building. The walkway is flanked by foliage and grass on either side.
As we waited outside for the owners, the coordinator from the school who helped connect us with the landlords and our third room mate, Daniele who was arriving from Rome, we assessed our surroundings. It was a quiet neighborhood and our building was on the corner of a side street and a semi-main street.
We were then greeted pleasantly by a tall Italian middle-aged (mid 50-ish) couple and their adorable Dachsund. The Dachsund inspected our luggage as we headed in.
As I walked into the apartment I was wowed! It was even nicer than in the pictures! We were incredibly fortunate. The landlords were super nice and friendly and spoke good english. They had bought two apartments when they were first married and combined them through renovations to create a 3 bedroom apartment with a ridiculous amount of storage space. There is almost a whole apartment in storage space with closets and attic cabinets everywhere. As you will see from the pictures in this album, it is also very bright and spacious. We have been told by many that we are not only lucky to have found a place to live in Milan, but that we've found a great place in a great location with good landlords who speak English.
Knock on wood!
Daniele returned to Rome that evening. He moves in at the beginning of May.
The apartment:
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