Weekend trips and embracing all the food

February 18, 2014

Weekend trips and embracing all the food

Part of the Osculati Crew

One of the many perks of living in Milano is the ease of travel. I’ve never had to rely on public transportation as heavily as I have here, which has turned out to be much easier than I originally anticipated. Travel in general is much easier (and much cheaper) in Europe than many other places around the world, and this past weekend we decided to test out the rail system in Italy.

On Friday and Saturday, a group of us decided to spend a day in Torino and a day in Verona. Both cities are equally adorable but in their own very different ways. The ride to Torino just seemed to get us closer and closer to the Alps, and as time passed the view just kept getting more beautiful. One of my favorite views in Tornio can be seen from almost every street corner: If you look down the street you can see the Alps in the distance. The city itself is much calmer and toned down than Milano is (which I very much needed), but just as historically rich.

We spent the day wandering around Torino, ending the evening with one of the best meals we’ve ever had in Italy at some hole in the wall cafe and touring the Museo Egizio which showcases one of the largest collections of Egyptian artifacts outside of Egypt.

ON TO VERONA!

Bright and early the next morning we boarded another train- this one headed to Verona. As it was the day after Valentines Day, I’m sure you can imagine how decked out in hearts Verona was. The entire day the only thing I spent money on was food. I’ve never not regretted anything so much in my entire life because the food in Verona was spectacular and there was so much to try! People at home think I’m kidding when I say I am going to gain a ton of weight here, but I am not. I AM EATING MY WAY THROUGH ITALY AND LOVING EVERY MOMENT OF IT. Life is far too short so eat a damn cannoli and smile.

One of the most striking things I’ve learned about living here in such a short amount of time is that unlike people in the States, Italians dress for their body type and rock what they’ve got. Oddly enough, in the fashion capital of the world there seems to be less pressure to fit in a certain mold or size of “beauty.” You’d think that every other person on the street would be a model (and yeah sometimes they are) but from what I’ve seen in the past 3 weeks, the people on the street are of all body types, they dress for themselves and are much happier/more comfortable with themselves. I’m all for positive body image, so snaps to you Italy for showing me some of the most confident people in the world that range in all shapes and sizes, and enabling me to be much more comfortable with myself. *America, you could take a lesson from this place*

But back to Verona:

After eating everything in sight, we wandered over to Juliettes balcony and of course I took like a million pictures and did the whole touristy “touch Juliettes right boob for good luck” -or something of that nature. We then enjoyed the many vendors and market places of Verona (and yes I did get more food!) and around sunset a group of us decided to climb to the top of an old arena in the center of Verona and enjoy a nice bottle of local wine.