Never thought I’d be writing a post like this. Alas, not long ago, I, a renown homebody and recluse, was in Milan to have my girly girl moment. I.E. See Taylor Swift in concert.
This was very spontaneous. Not me being in Italy. That is actually something I was thinking about and then planning since December 2023. I am here as an au pair; however, I did not figure that this opportunity would have led me to the gates of the San Siro Stadium. I knew Taylor Swift was going to be in Milan the time I was in Liguria, but I had no way of getting there, no place to stay, and it all seemed too daunting. However, my first day in Arenzano, my host family introduced me to my friend Alessia, who I came to find out was also going to the Taylor Swift concert in a week’s time. I wasn’t sure I could find a ticket, but Alessia and her family generously offered to let me room with them in their AirBnB and had room for me in their car! I am forever grateful for their generosity and was glad I could share this experience with another swiftie.
My former best friend always got to go see Taylor Swift when we were both in our huge swiftie era and I never got to before. Taylor Swift remains one of my most listened to artists even though my music taste has kinda drifted away from pop. I know I’m going to get backlash and hate for all of this, but shut up and let me like Taylor Swift. My whole life people have ridiculed her and I and I don’t understand why so much energy needs to be put into belittling mine and millions of other people’s interests. I also firmly believe that if you hate Taylor Swift so much that you feel like you need to make fun of other people, you actually don’t understand her nor do you understand what her music does for her fans. And before you say it, nope, not all her songs are about her ex-boyfriends. If you could do some critical thinking and also sit with the songs, you might see it too.
I digress, but people hating predominantly female interests is something I will talk about until I die. The fact is that i was at the Eras Tour for the two nights she was in Milan and it was the most safe, happy, positive, girlhood moment I’ve ever experienced. It reminded me of when the Barbie movie released last summer. Everyone was singing and trading bracelets and connecting over this shared interest.
The first night we did a little Taylor-gating outside the stadium with a picnic and lined up for merch. There was a whole sort of market that had assembled around the stadium with food and merch, which was really cool to walk through. Some of the fans were doing reenactments of the performances inside the stadium as the songs were playing, others had set up a bracelet-making station, and I got a free eras tour manicure from another fan. The mosquitoes were so bad, but listening to the music from outside of the stadium was pretty cool, especially knowing tomorrow night I was going to be in there!
The next day we had some time to spare before the concert, so we went to visit an old castle, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and the Duomo in the centre of Milan. I also got to try a delicious Naples-style pizza.
We got to the stadium quite early, mainly because I wanted to make sure my film camera and sunscreen could make it into the stadium. I was blistering from the last day at the beach and so SPF was crucial to this experience. Also forgot to mention, but I woke up Sunday morning after Taylor-gating with the biggest rash up my leg. It was itchy and red. We went to the pharmacy right near the Duomo and I got this over the counter thing. Not sure what it is but it worked. Also, I am convinced this was bedbugs. No one agrees with me and they think it was the mosquitoes from the night before, but the way the bug bites trailed up my leg scared me a bit. Staying on the side of precaution, once I got back to Arenzano at 4AM on Monday morning, all my clothes and bags went immediately into plastic garbage backs to cook out in the sun for two days because NO way was I bringing that back with me.
Anyways, backtracking. When I got to the stadium I was told there was going to be food inside, but upon entry and past security I realized that all they meant was chips and gummies! Actually, the lady at the bar counter told me they sold out of everything on night one. Whatever, I was starving, itchy, and blistering, but I persevered. I drank a total of five water bottles because it was HOT. It was so crazy but honestly the craziness made it more memorable so I’ll take it.
This stage is huge and kudos to Taylor for literally running across this thing while singing for three and a half hours in front of 75, 000 people. Being Taylor Swift is insane. I also have trouble even now (after seeing her live) believing she is real.
I bought my ticket the week of the concert, so my seat was not perfect but it was dead center. I wish I could have been closer though and get my VIP package. Nevertheless, I am SO glad my ticket wasn’t a fake. I had so much trouble sleeping the night before because I kept on thinking of how disappointed I’d be if I lost this opportunity. It was crazy seeing my ticket get approved and being let in. I did drop quite the bag on this so I didn’t want to loose my investment.
Here are some photos of the concert and my time spent in Milan. I have more to be posted later that are on film waiting to get developed as soon as I touch down in Montreal at the end of August.
