On my 8th day in Milan, I signed up for a school-hosted tour of the Galleria. It was a bit rainy, but after a summer of commuting to NYC every day, I learned the importance of always carrying an umbrella. The Galleria is home to a number of high-end fashion stores, as well as designer outlets and restaurants. Admittedly, my short attention span lead me to an early pasta dinner (featured in the food section), but first we stopped at some of the most trendy stores in the world. The tour lead us through Gucci, Prada, Valentino, Tom Ford, and more. I was impressed and a bit unwilling to acknowledge the fact that Milan fashion may be even trendier than NYC fashion. Even the window displays demonstrated the uniqueness and extravagance of fashion, here. The sunglasses, heels, jackets, and pocketbooks were really unlike any I have ever seen before. The most famous stores were located inside the actual "Galleria" structure, but other high-end shopping stores lined the outside of the building and ran throughout the streets of the city-center. Although no purchases were made on my first trip here, I noted a pair of sparkly Prada heels and Tiffany sunglasses.