VIEWS FROM VERONA #HogsAbroad #WanderlustWednesday

mi primera vez en italia !!!!!

YEAH ! so remember when i went to sevilla my first weekend alone in spain with 2 new friends?? i went to verona, italy for the very time with them too (not so new friends now) !!! the BEST part is my lovely friend G speaks italian and her grandparents have a house in verona!!! seems like we had been planning this trip for forever … so when our 2 day school week after semana santa was over (very tough schedule)… 45 min or so metro to the airport… 2 hour-ish flight… and we were in ITALIA (G’s homeland) …

sidenote… after 1 semester of italian i like to pretend i can speak to G fluently (she is a very good friend) !

some favorites from verona…

FOOD… FOOD… FOOD

so for starters, sometimes food can be weird (especially while studying abroad)… and i don’t think i was super picky before, but i am definitely not now.

verona happened to have the best food i’ve had since leaving home… more than likely because a lot of it was homemade from G’s nonna… but also, probably because it is italy too after all…

pizza !

more pizza (al taglio) !!!! a bit thicker crust than authentic… my favorite

geLAto.. (G’s nonna taught me the correct pronunciation…)

i love love love geLAto…

pretty places… and views !!!!

in reality, i spent a lot of my time in verona (96%) with a high fever, crazy all over chills, and really really achey … but i tried my best not to let it stop me !!! (when in doubt take 3 more ibuprofen) … G and L are also the sweetest friends ever and tried their best not to let me pass out in the street… haha.. but really.

top of the torre dei lamberti … love the warm tones of italy ! everything i had hoped for…

looking left to right … verona was occupied by the german’s during WWII… G’s nonna told us stories about living here as a young girl during the war… all of the bridges were destroyed by the nazis as they left verona… the bridge in the bottom pic is incredible in person (in pics too) and it was the last to be rebuilt (roman-style classic)… each stone was collected from the bottom of the river and restored to original condition.

quaint beauty… i am so thankful that my first time in italy was visiting verona. it is not overwhelmingly touristy (with a population of just over 700,000), extremely picturesque, and how crazy ideal is it to have G and her family (originating from verona) to introduce me?

feeling so lucky !!!!

in bloom…

a few more favorites…

brightly colored vespas… i’ll own one if i ever live in europe (preferably electric blue or bright red)

first turkish toilet experience… use your imagination lmao…. !!!!

old roman theater… operas are preformed here now, concerts, etc… also, verona is the setting for 2 of shakespeare’s plays (romeo and juliet !!!!!)… AND, most importantly… pictured… a clear progression of me thinking i’m going to die here … if you’re worried about my health (haha…. why me) i went with my host mom directly to the ER when i arrived back in madrid… at that point i couldn’t move my neck any longer… bacterial infection and my throat swelled completely shut… pretty dramatic… all better now though !!!!!! and enjoyed italy regardless !!!

and FINALLY… the absolute peak of my trip… dancing on a ledge of puente de castelvecchio with these 2 !!!!!



promise the performers below only got tips from our moves…



again, i feel so so fortune to have experienced italy for the first time with G (and her family) and sweet L… it is the first time i’ve felt i’d like to start somewhere and travel throughout an entire country (small towns and cities alike)… cin cin to visiting again so soon!

ciao (for now), italia !!!!!!!

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Spanish major & Legal Studies minor Chloe Riggs is spending the spring 2018 semester in Spain with our U of A Exchange Program at Universidad Nebrija in Madrid.

Read more from Chloe at cocothecreator.wordpress.com

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