A Love Letter to Milano
- Ahona Anjum
- Sep 1
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 7
June 2025
August 2024: I embarked on a journey to decide where to study abroad; I’ll be honest, Milan was never my top option. I was thinking about Barcelona until I realized my school required knowing Spanish to study in Spain. As my Barcelona dreams crashed, the only other place with good enough weather for someone horrible with the cold was Milan, Italy.
January 2025: I had just spent almost two months back home in Dhaka - the first time I had stayed that long since moving to the US. Naturally, I felt excited about Milan but also the agony of leaving home again. I was also scared since I was the only student from my university attending Bocconi University that semester. That meant freshman orientation all over again - the rush and the overwhelming pressure of finding your people in a new place. But I had no idea what my experience would shape up to be by the end of it all.
February 2025: I met a girl - Constanza (now known as Coni in my life) - in class, and she invited me to see a match at San Siro Stadium, a canon-event experience for anyone doing their exchange in Milan. I wish I could recall who the match was between, but honestly, I have no clue. What I do recall is gaining a group of girlfriends I would cherish for the rest of my time in Milan and beyond.
February was also the start of my other beloved group of friends - “Piri’s BeReal Victims.” The perpetrator in question - Piri - as the name suggests, takes way too many BeReals, more than usual. But her unusual habit tied our group together when we first took a trip - my first ever study abroad trip - to Bologna. Bolognese lasagna was, in fact, not that great, but what was great was this amazing group of girls and the bond we cultivated together.
Milan was transformational for me - it wasn’t my first time away from family, but it was the first time I felt confident being away from family. I maximized everything - I refused to take “easy” classes just because they were easy. I chose classes I found interesting and balanced them with trips every single weekend. Of course, it was tiring, but not once did I regret taking courses like The Economics of Institutions, Culture and Religion, which reignited my love for economics and reminded me how deeply it intertwines with everything. The versatility of economics is why I ever started studying it, and taking classes at Bocconi - while connecting with peers and professors - made me fall in love with the subject all over again.
One thing I love about cities is their public transportation system. For Milan, I maybe went a bit overboard. I got myself an unlimited pass and decided: I have five months in this city, I will explore it like a local. So whenever I had time, I hopped on the metro and got off at a new stop. I would explore the area and either get coffee or gelato. One great thing about Italy was that the coffee and gelato never missed, so every trip was a success. I even saw a real-life example of when this exploration paid off. I was at lunch with friends in Rome when our server mentioned he was from Milan. When asked where in Milan, he replied, “Comasina.” Without missing a beat, I exclaimed, “Last stop on the yellow line!” I still remember his expression - first, surprised I even knew where that was, and then impressed. I felt so happy because one of the things I love most about geography is recognizing where people are from - if I told someone I am from Bangladesh and they asked, “Dhaka?” it would make me so, so happy.
Regardless of which stop I landed at, I never failed to see the beauty of Milan. Whether it was aperitivo with friends or walking around a park, Milan was stunning. The architecture was even more breathtaking. My friends know this - I was, and probably still am, obsessed with the Milan Duomo. There is something so beautiful about a monument because it reminds you where you are every day. With the Duomo just a 20-minute walk away, I was there almost daily, and each time, the stunning monument reminded me how lucky I was to call a city like Milan my home.
With making a place your home comes local favorites. Panfé, a small, unassuming café just two minutes away from where I lived, became mine. As much as I love Italy, studying in a café is (perhaps rightfully) frowned upon. But Panfé always had my back. During exam season, like clockwork, I would go there, order a pistachio croissant and a cappuccino, and study. The baristas knew me by name and would always say, “Ciao bellissima” when I walked in. My favorite aperitivo place - DeAmicis Uno - was another staple. From meeting my friend Greta before our Gracie Abrams concert to hour-long yap sessions, DeAmicis saw it all - including the time Piri discovered my friendly “beef” with the bartender, Luca. That started when, twice in a row, I beat the aperitivo cut-off by two minutes. Needless to say, Piri was baffled, but the beef was short-lived and ended with a hug from Luca when I told him I was leaving Milan on my last visit to DeAmicis on May 29th.
June 2025: Whether it was strolling around Navigli, trying one of the hundreds of amazing restaurants in Brera, or again being in awe of the Duomo, when I flew back to the US on June 1st, I was leaving a home behind. The last day still aches in my heart. As my friends and I walked around the Duomo for the last time, we talked about how the city would never be the same. We could all return to Milan - maybe in a few months, a year, or several years - but it would never be the same again. It would never be “us” again in “our” city, Milan. And just like that, my city of Milan became just another Italian city I hope to return to soon.
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