Global Fashion Collective (GFC) showed at Milan Fashion Week again this month, this time surrounded by glorious frescos in the 16th-century San Barnaba church. Led by Jamal Abdourahman, director of Vancouver Fashion Week, the second largest fashion week in North America, GFC is one of the top showcases of new talent from around the world, producing runway shows in various fashion capitals. In addition to Milan, GFC creates shows at New York, Paris, Tokyo and London fashion weeks and plans to add showcases in Mexico in 2024. As well as being a keen advocate of emerging fashion, Global Fashion Collective has partnered with a popular new makeup brand for all their runway needs. The healthy, mineral-based, chemical-free brand BullyBlocker, was founded two years ago by American businesswoman Donna Baker Brittingham and is fast becoming a top choice of makeup artists. Seven international talents were in the spotlight in Milan during an exclusive Spring/Summer 2024 runway presentations.
Sitting With My Grief on the Train From Milan to Rome
14.09.2023 - 21:51 / cntraveler.com
Last summer, my dad was diagnosed with cancer. I’d just moved to Milan from Rome, where my family is based, and, ever since then, I’ve been going back and forth between the two cities every other week, taking the high-speed train from Milano Centrale to Roma Termini.
I recently counted the booking confirmation emails in my inbox: There’s 37 of them. Thirty-seven train journeys to visit him, accompany him to the hospital whenever I could, and try to grapple with his illness on my own terms.
Most of the 300-mile, three-hour-long rides have been slight variations of each other. I’ve spent them calling doctors and speaking to my family with updates on my father’s health, googled ‘bladder cancer’ and the differences between chemo and immunotherapy too many times to count, and regularly checked in with my dad to let him know how far or close I still was to Rome. After particularly hard visits, I strived to claim some space for myself on the way back to Milan by reading, listening to podcasts, or just sleeping, lulled by the repetitive motion of the train and its by-now familiar, even soothing, surroundings. In recent months, as he got progressively worse, I cried for most of the journey.
Staring at the panoramas at eye level, the fast-paced rhythm of the train as the main background noise, I felt my breathing settle, my mind clear. It didn’t heal me—but despite everything the act of travel felt like moving forward.
But I also, increasingly, found myself taken in by the world that sped by outside: The golden crops of Lombardy, the flat fields of Emilia-Romagna, the vast, green expanses of Umbria, the rolling hills of Tuscany and quaint borghi of Lazio—and back again. I started noticing different hamlets I never knew existed, valleys awash with olive groves, and mountain ranges that looked untouched. I made mental notes to look each one up and plan a trip with my dad if he ever got better—all of which would be experienced by train. Gazing at the scenery felt oddly comforting, as if the rivers, farmed lands, and forests I could see from my seat were trying to remind me that, despite grief, life and beauty go on.
Over time, the window seat became my go-to whenever I could reserve it. It allowed me to cry privately by turning towards the window, but I could also just get lost in the landscape and be distracted by the view. More often than not, it worked: Staring at the panoramas at eye level, the fast-paced rhythm of the train as the main background noise, I felt my breathing settle, my mind clear. It didn’t heal me, not by any stretch of the imagination. But despite everything the act of travel felt like moving forward.
Early morning light in the Umbrian countryside, a regular sight on the train route writer
Delta Is Adding New International Flights From These U.S. Cities in Time for Next Summer — What to Know
As the summer travel season comes to a close, one airline is giving travelers a reason to start planning next summer's vacation. Delta Air Lines announced it will be operating its largest trans-Atlantic flight schedule ever, debuting just in time for summer 2024. The airline will be adding new destinations including Naples and bringing back service to Shannon, Ireland. According to Delta, next summer it will operate 260 weekly flights to 18 countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). This includes a new flight from JFK to Munich three times a week that will start on April 9, 2024, and a daily nonstop flight to Shannon, Ireland that will begin on May 23, 2024. The carrier will expand its existing service to Italy — it already flies to Milan, Venice, and Rome — with a new daily service to Naples. It will also resume service between Atlanta and Zurich, Switzerland, four times a week, which had originally been cut in 2019.
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