Milan turns into a magical place with amazing Christmas decoration and lightening during the holiday season. With its many boutiques, shops and streets decorated in Christmas accessories the city shines splendidly.
Between the Cathedral Square and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, there is one of the most famous Christmas markets in Italy where you can find festively decorated small wooden huts offering Italian specialities and handmade arts. One of the main attractions in Milan is the illuminated Christmas tree on the cathedral square. During the season the illuminated cathedral attracts many visitors. Every year illumination starts in the first week of December. Another lovely Christmas experience is the musical advent calendar.
Each day another door is opened at 6 p.m. including a little concert on the festively decorated Cathedral Square.
To celebrate the cold season of the year, a huge ice ground is built at the CityLife shopping district. The operator provides enough rental equipment for young and old why it is not necessary to plan the visit. In general, the CityLife shopping district is a place worth visiting all over the year. Especially in winter, the whole complex maintains a Christmassy touch. Besides the nicely equipment shops, the shopping district is adorned with an enormous Christmas tree.
A very special event, only organized for the foreign students, is the yearly St. Nicholas celebration party at the Istituto Marangoni. At St. Nicholas Day the university management called us in without us knowing what was going to happen. It turned out that they wanted to drink to our time in Milan and get to know us better. Typical Italian cake called “Panettone” as well as champagne was offered. It was a very nice evening with a cozy atmosphere. For us students it was a nice gesture by the university’s management and showed us that foreign students are valued very well.
Since the semester abroad in Milan lasts from October till March, we had the opportunity to stay in the city over New Year’s Eve. We had a lot of fun during this night and it was a worth experience to celebrate it in Milan. If you take this into account as well, here are some useful advices for you to make the night even better:
The Milan menswear fashion shows took place from 11th to 14th January 2019. Some of us had the pleasure to be part of the casting and fitting of the brand “beyond closet”. It was the perfect opportunity to see the work behind the scenes of a fashion show. We worked there voluntarily as assistants and dressers and met a lot of people that could be great contacts for the future like fashion stylists, photographer, models and designers. We will also participate at the Fashion Show in a few days, which will take place in Florence. I am very grateful about the opportunities the Istituto Marangoni provides us and I am excited about the next couple of weeks!
