Coming back from Northern Italy I can only say that, in summary, it was disappointing.  You always hear about the gathering of great architectural minds found all over these cities.  And the architecture was amazing.  While I enjoyed this aspect of the trip, in everything else it fell short.  Sure it's cool to go up the Duomo in Florence, but what happens when you come back down?  For me, it was nothing.  Florence was full of young, good-looking Americans and other tourists.  And that's most of what I saw there.  Everyone seemed to be going to a place that I either couldn't find or couldn't afford.  Everything there was very expensive.  It seems that a lot of people go to Florence for the shopping.  With shopping at the bottom of my itinerary while abroad, the city seemed to have little to offer me.  Venice was very similar.  The network of canals and bridges was fascinating, but once the architecture was exhausted it was... dead.  I walked a good portion of the city - only to find few signs of life in tiny dark alleyways.  It was also very cold there, which didn't help my view of it.  Verona was a kind of joke to me.  The only thing we saw there was a balcony associated with a fictional character and an old castle outfitted by an over-hyped architect.  Vicenza (or I as I like to refer to it, Palladiopalooza) was just another lifeless town that no college kid my age would enjoy.  Unless you like to start race wars in front of McDonalds you won't have much to do.  My favorite city was the last one we visited: Milan.  From the moment I stepped off the train into the gigantic steel vaults of its station, I knew I would enjoy Milan the most.  From its Duomo (the coolest Gothic church I've ever seen) to its high fashion (beautiful, tall women), I enjoyed every minute of it.  The city had the life and the youth I was looking for.  I really understood its motivation.  Milan wants to be a city of the 21st century.  The rest of Italy, it seems, does not see it this way.  I enjoyed it because of this.  The rebel city.  Skyscrapers were a welcome sight.  Any project by Renzo Piano is also a treat (especially when there's an Aston Martin dealership in it).  I wish we had more time there.  I seemed that, in the 3.5 hour delay we had from Milan back to Rome, the world was trying to keep me in Milan.

I don't regret the trip.  I had some of the best times of my life on it.  I think the most fun I had was at our three group dinners.  I just like when we're all together eating and talking.  I'm just bitter because, once again, I had high expectations.  I'm interested to see what Venice would be like in the summer, when frigid temperatures aren't driving people inside.  Maybe Vicenza comes alive on weekends.  I don't know.  Although it was packed with beautiful architecture, the combination of the expense, cold, and lack of things to do in the north left much to be desired for me.  All I can say is that, based on my experience, I hope Istanbul is better than Northern Italy.