From Romeo to Juliet

Holy catfish.  Almost three full weeks down and I still can't believe I'm in Italy!  Every day in Paderno is a completely new adventure but I will admit it still doesn't feel real.  Maybe a regular schedule it will help make it seem like less of a dream but right now I'm still in the stage where it seems like a constant vacation.  Going for a run every day with a perfect view of the mountains would be enough by itself to make this an ideal semester, but throw in constant travel opportunities and I cannot even express how happy I am to be living the Italian dream for another three months!

My first experience as a world traveler took Emily, Abby, Beth, TJ, Joey, and I to the city that inspired one of the most famous love stories of all time - Verona, Italy.  Leaving the comforting gated walls of Instituto Filippin for the first time was a bit intimidating but the minute we all hurriedly collapsed into our seats on the train that we hoped was ours, I knew there was absolutely nothing I would have rather been doing at that moment.  And the longer the trip progressed, the more I realized how much I was loving every single second of it!  It didn't hurt that when us four girls arrived outside our hostel/apartment that we were greeted by the sweetest Italian lady who instantly made us feel welcome and completely at ease.  Maybe it was the beautiful, enormous apartment (properly named after Romeo) that was a block from the Ancient City Gates, had a roof terrace view, a Jacuzzi, and a fridge stocked with Pepsi and Proseco but from the minute I got there, I knew we had discovered something completely unique!

Exploring the city that night (in typical Italian fashion we ate pizza!) and then waking up to a beautiful Veronese day really started the trip off on the right foot!  Just walking around that day we were able to see the beautiful Arena di Verona, the Piazza delle Erbe, the view from the top of the tallest church tower in Verona, and both the house and tomb of Juliet.  Not only did we get to see all of the sights but I had the Italian street vendor version of a "Pizza Roll" (much better than the frozen ones in the box!) and a religious first official experience with authentic Italian gelato.  I wasn't nearly ready  to leave when it came time to board the train back to Bassano but I think that just means it was the perfect way to kick off the semester's travels!  Stay tuned for details from the Slovania trip in the next post...ciao!!

Also, here's a link for the apartment we stayed in while we were in Verona - I would highly recommend checking it out if you're ever there!!
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Romeo-Apartment/Verona/36354


And just a few more lovely pictures!

Streets of Verona

Arena di Verona

368 steps later we made it to the top!