When I am visiting Italy I have this strange frenzy, a FOMO urge of not sleeping just in case I am missing something. And although family is always a priority, this time was lots of friends catching up.

Moving around in Milan means a bicycle with a wicker basket or the tram. This is how it looked, an usual Monday afternoon in July. More a July-going-on- November if you forget the temperature.

No panic: grab the Mackintosh or buy an umbrella for 10 Euros from the guy at the corner and hop on the n.5 with an all-day pass.

[I am digressing here for a sec for a taste of #italianstyle]

I walked by a tabacchino and bought the tickets. A sweet memory of my youth is the smell of the tabacchino, a mix of wood, tobacco and wrapped candies one of those specialty stores that only exist and survive in Europe, where they sell cigarettes and any legal smoking accessory, candies and chocolates, the lotto and phone cards, oh and public transportation tickets.

So, by the time I made it to via Tortona it was still raining, just those sprinkles through which you can walk and not get wet.

The sweet thing of having friends is that after years it feels like yesterday, you are phone call away.

“Trends come and go, style you don’t buy.”

It was a late afternoon press day and the showroom was hustle and bustle, I was able to touch and feel the collection while buyers were still writing numbers and waiters serving sparkling water and cruditees. I was sitting on the couch next to the sign and was catapulted back to those Jil Sander summer breezy days.

Pride, happiness, contentment all under the rain that was thin and persistent.

Friendships resist years and miles of separation can spark lively conversations about anything from life to vitamins.

Trends come and go, style you don't buy. Meanwhile Alice became a super blogger, a whimsical stylish one that cooks and 'speaks love' in poems while wearing lace and red nail lacquer: A Gipsy in the Kitchen aka OttaLoveMuffin.

And you've got to love her as there's no one like her.