This series is a collection of my immediate thoughts on what I saw and lived through in Italy, where I moved for work in September 2025. Sometimes it's diary entries, sometimes it's poetry, sometimes just runts about everything and nothing. Enjoy.
Missed Logs 31-40? Read them here. ;)
LOG 41
As minutes go by, more and more people are coming to the cathedral square. They’re feeding pigeons, taking pictures and lining up to get inside of the cathedral. I don’t follow the suit. I’ll see the interiors another day, when there’s not so many people. If there ever is a day like that.
I stay outside and observe what’s going on around instead: Social media influencers are recording videos, models are walking around in beautiful outfits followed by photographers and video makers.
Suddenly, all of the pigeons take flight and the crowd yells.
The birds make three turns above the square before they sit down between the visitors again.
It’s a lively place, this Milan.
28-9-25 – Milan
LOG 42
The shopping galleries in the centre of Milan are full of beautiful luxury items. I rarely feel anything, looking at them. They are out of my price range and will likely stay that way for the rest of my life.
That’s fine, I have no use for them.
However, at one particular window display, even I, a person with zero fashion sense, stop to swoon.
The dresses there are simply beautiful.
28-9-25 – Milan
Window display of a brand called ‘Luisa Beccaria’. Absolutely stunning!
LOG 43
‘I’ll give you one for free, because you look like Shakira,’ says the seller of woven bracelets in front of Castello Sforcezco and puts the bracelet on my hand before I manage to move away. Luckily, he’s not trying to weave it on my hand so I give it back immediately:
‘Ah, that’s nice, but I don’t need it, thank you.’
‘No, no, it’s for free! Do you have a boyfriend?’
‘Sure, I have two!’ I say, impatient to get rid of him.
‘Keep the bracelet, for luck!’
‘I have enough luck, but thank you.’ I tell him and give it back anyway.
I feel bad about it, because who am I to turn away ‘given luck’. It’s just that I have enough experience with ‘bracelet guys’ from Paris.
But maybe this guy was sincere.
I hope he made another Shakira happy with a free bracelet.
28-9-25 – Milan
LOG 44
After four hours in sunny Milan, I am sure of one thing:
Even if I choose to spend every Sunday for the following eight months in Milan, I will never run out of things to do.
The city is damn beautiful.
28-9-25 – Milan
LOG 45
I visit an ice cave,
three times a week.
The production of ice there
is uncontrollable.
It’s our freezer.
30-9-25 – Undisclosed town near Bergamo
LOG 46
‘We call Lake Garda ‘The sea of Germans’.
Because most of the tourists there are Germans.’
– My student
1-10-25 – Undisclosed town near Bergamo
LOG 47
‘I think that women are much more intelligent than men. Men only think with… you know, not their brains.’ Says my student and I am surprised. I don’t know so many men of his age who think this way.
He continues: ‘You know, my wife, she is a housewife. But it’s because I know and I see how many hours of work she puts in everyday, and I appreciate it. Plus there is one baby in the house,’ he says, and points at himself.
I praise him for his progressive way of thinking and I am genuinely happy that he thinks so highly of women.
I also secretly wonder if his wife would agree with what he says. If she feels appreciated and if she’s happy to be a housewife.
I will never know.
We continue chatting and he is being very critical towards Italian men and the society that in his opinion is ‘too traditional’ when it comes to the stance of women in society.
1-10-25 – Undisclosed town near Bergamo
LOG 48
I’m looking at my schedule for the upcoming week and dread is spreading across my chest. I’m getting to an amount of teaching hours I never wanted to get to. Plus I need to fit in my two long-term private students.
By the end of next week, I will not even remember my own name. There won’t be any time to go for a run or to learn Italian. If things continue like this, my life will revolve around teaching and lesson preparation.
Is this ever going to get easier, I wonder.
Or will I eventually have to give up on teaching, in order not to lose my mind?
4-10-25 – Undisclosed town near Bergamo
LOG 49
We are coursing through the streets of our town with my colleagues. There is a flea market every first Saturday of the month and it is probably the biggest flea market I’ve ever been to.
The offer is incredibly wide: old postcards and stamps, jewellery, pots and pans, mugs, photoframes, paintings and all kinds of stuff you find in the collection of your grandma or grandpa. It’s almost overwhelming.
I will definitely be back next month, to search for something that would end up reminding me of my time in Italy forever.
4-10-25 – Undisclosed town near Bergamo
LOG 50
I’m taking the same train to Milan for the second time.
It’s Sunday, 7:40 AM and the train is as packed as it was a week ago.
I wonder where are all these people heading so early. What business do they have in Milan on Sunday morning?
I need to remind myself that Milan is a city with over a million inhabitants and that there are over six million of us in the metropolitan area. If 0.01 % of those people decide to have breakfast with a friend in Milan, no wonder the trains are full even on Sunday morning.
5-10-25 – On a train to Milan
More photos in HQ in Italy through my lens: Lombardy and Veneto.
