Running shoes and Turri Olive Oil

     Hello from Verona! We've been here two days now, but it seems like it's been so much longer because we've been so busy! We arrived Sunday afternoon at the Centro Carraro, which is a convention center in Verona. It's a big building with our rooms on the upper stories and classrooms on the ground level. It's a gated building surrounded by gardens and soccer fields behind the building. The building itself bears striking similarities to the hotel in The shining, and i'm just hoping that Jack Nicholson doesn't break down our door!
     The first thing I did upon arrival was take out my running shoes. I haven't been able to find a place to rent a road bike yet so my need to explore has taken me to the running trails. My Saucony Kinvaras are going to be getting some serious miles on them in the next month! Upon arrival, we saw hundreds of cyclists out. I actually thought there was a cycling event that day because so many people were out on the roads. There are absolutely NO 'freds' in Italy. I've yet to see one mismatched kit. I'm trying to find a bike but for now, I'm absolutely loving my runs here in Verona. My first couple runs here have been idilic. There is one main road in front of our hotel with a path that follows the Adige river, so that's my home base for running, although I'll take short side roads when I know I can find my way back!
      Later in the afternoon, we went to a villa in the heart of Verona for our orientation dinner. We were able to meet the staff that will be instructing us on the ins and outs of the Mediterranean Diet, eat an amazing meal that included potato leak soup, various meats and cheeses, fresh strawberries, and of course, wine. The food here is unlike anything that I've ever had before. There is a high standard here for fresh, local, and non-processed food. Even simple things like strawberries and tomatoes taste completely different here because they aren't artificially enhanced. Also, the wine is incredible. Italians love their wine, and it's typically extremely inexpensive here. In fact, many of the places we've visited have had wine that is actually cheaper than water, so why not go with the wine! Going back to the typical Yellowtail and Cupcake wine in the US is going to be an extremely difficult transition.
      Verona is the most beautiful place I've ever seen. From the surrounding mountains, vineyards, and the Adige River, it truly is a magical place. Growing up in a desert, then moving to another desert has me deprived of the color green. Thankfully, there is absolutely no shortage of that here. Everywhere you look there is a vineyard. The people here are extremely friendly and forgiving of our terrible broken mix of english/spanish/italian that we use to communicate. The atmosphere is incredible and being here makes me want to branch out of my comfort zone and try new things. There really isn't a bad thing you can order on a menu, so I've been trying to get things that I wouldn't normally order.
      We have successfully made it through the first day of school here in Verona!   Today, we had an excursion to the Turri Olive Oil plant near Lake Garda, Italy. This was pretty cool because we learned not only the health benefits of olive oil, but also how it is made, the season it's grown in, different types of olive oil from various regions, and ways to use it in Mediterranean cooking. The Turri family has been in the Olive Oil industry since the 1950's and have grown an extremely successful family business. They were so welcoming and showed us around the plant, showed us the proper way to taste olive oil, and the qualities you look for in good olive oil. We also ate lunch at the Turri plant, which included Pesto Pasta(my favorite), Crude Vegetables with Citronette, and lemon cake baked with olive oil. The food was incredible, and it was even more exciting learning how to make all the components that went into making it from our instructor Antonia Polese, who is a local chef. The Mediterranean diet places a lot of emphasis on Olive Oil as it contains polyphenols that act as antioxidants, as well as Omega 3's. After our Turri excursion we made a quick trip to Lake Garda, which was only a couple miles down the road. We decided to rent a peddle boat and journey out into the middle of the lake which was so fun, even though we almost got knocked upside down by the wake of a large yacht that drove by! After our peddle boat excursion we sat down for a quick Mimosa by the water and sat next to a man wearing only a tight, bright, red speed(welcome to Europe!)
     Even though it's only the second day, I can't wait to see where this big adventure takes me! Carly, Caitlin and I have been three peas in a pod since this whole adventure started, and I honestly think I'd be lost on a train somewhere if it wasn't for them. It's amazing how close you get with people when you're lost in a foreign country together! I'm having a blast getting lost and finding my way in the most beautiful city. Cheers, my friends!

  "La memoria e' come una goccia d'olio buttata nell'acqua. Puo scomparire per un instante ma poi se ne torna su, sta il galleggia come uno sguardo su cio che e' stato'"

 "Memory is like a drop of oil falling into water. It may sink for a moment, but only to resurface and floating its gaze embraces all that has passed"

-Nico Orengo

Putting some serious miles on my running shoes with these beautiful views! 

Selfie at the Italian Villa at Orientation 

Castelvecchio 

Turri Olive Oil

Made with olives specific to the Lake Garda Region