Today was our last day in Milan. We had one final media visit to Hearst Italia. Hearst Italia owns many different magazines, but the main ones we learned about were Elle, Marie Claire, and Cosmopolitan. Every speaker stressed the importance of each of these magazines having their own identities, even though they were owned by the same company, and were produced in the same building. Italy produces their own content for these magazines because they know what sells.
We first talked to Lisa Manchi, a fashion editor, who explained that her job involved coming up with ideas and then making them happen by finding clothes, models, and photographers.
We learned that Cosmopolitan used to be a housekeeping magazine into the 1960s, where it morphed into what it has become today.
We toured the facilities and even got to meet the editor in chief for Cosmo Italia, whose name was Francesca. Even though she had a very busy schedule, she made a point to see us and she was very nice and welcoming.
After, we had the rest of the day to ourselves. We stayed near the duomo and walked around different shops. For lunch, I found a donut as large as my head and ate it as we walked. It was like a glazed donut with sugar coated on the outside. It was delicious.
We then had an adventure trying to find the bus back to our hotel. We had broken into small groups, and had taken the metro to get there in the first place. We finally spotted the bus out of luck and managed to catch it back to our hotel.
We then got ready for our farewell meal, which took place at a place just around the corner from our hotel. We were all seated at a long table that wrapped around a patio. Our first dish was a plate of cured meats, which looked a bit intimidating. A lot of the meat looked raw, and so I stuck with salami, which was what I knew.
The next course was ravioli, which was incredibly good. We weren’t sure if there was going to be another course or not. Little did we know there was a lot more coming.
Next they brought out steak, which, like the Florentine steak, was a bit rare, so I could only eat part of it. It was also served with salad and potatoes that were incredibly good. Then they brought out a brownie that was very rich and covered in powdered sugar.
We were brought glasses of champagne and we toasted our trip many times. It was a great night with a great conversation and great food. I realized how much I was going to miss being in Italy with everyone.
