Staying Healthy in the Land of Pasta

Dancing up the stairs

Happiness is key factor in staying healthy. Being abroad means being happy almost every day if you enjoy experiencing new things like me- every corner has a new cafe, every street leads to a new park even more gorgeous than the last. But one thing I’m noticing about Italy is that there are a shortage of gyms and an abundance of pasta. As a fitness instructor back home, I’m used to daily visits to the gym. In Italy I’m used to daily visits to gelato, pastry, and pizza shops. So how do I find a balance between eating like a tourist and staying in shape for my job? There was a post on yahoo that gave me an idea.



The post on yahoo said, “How other cultures stay slim. Living like an Italian doesn’t mean stuffing your face with pasta.” I saw something like this and it immediately caught my attention. Since we’ve been here my roommates and I have joked about eating everything. When we question whether we should try something we justify it with “When in Italy!” or “When will you ever be in Italy again to try this!?” My personal favorite- the quote from Eat.Pray.Love,- it went something like this… Julia Roberts says, “When have you ever been naked with a man and he asked you to leave? He’s so happy to be with a naked woman he doesn’t even care what you look like.” Her friend who was previously too nervous to eat shoves the pizza in her mouth. So true! But eating all you can eat mayyyyyy not have been what Julia meant. The yahoo article said that Italian women can afford to eat pasta, pizza, and paninis because of one key technique- portion control.



Portion control can go a long way. Other cultures have seemed to master it and even WeightWatchers in America seems to swear by it. Diets fail because you restrict yourself. Don’t tell yourself you’re not allowed to eat the pizza, just tell yourself you’re not allowed to eat so much. I’ve definitely done more eating here in Italy but I’ve also done more walking. Instead of the gym I’ve traded in my fitness equipment for Mother Nature. Stair-climber? The quarter mile stairs leading up to the Michelangelo look up point. Treadmill? The never-ending side walk by the famous Arno River. People were athletic long before the development of the modern gym. Mixing up your workouts is a great way to improve your fitness so my challenge to you is put down your gym card and find a way to get active outside of a fitness facility. You’ll try something new in a new place and most likely have a great time.

View from the top - very worth it

Got a craving?

Restaurants:
Dante's - free unlimitied wine for students, check!

Caffe's:
Cafe Deluxe- eggs, burgers on bagels, ICED caramel macchiato? It's the best place if your missing american food, not to mention the owner is so friendly you'll feel right at home

Drinks:
Tijuana- MUST GET THE BANANA DAIQUIRI, no really.. they give you huge drinks with fresh fruit and have a half off happy hour 7-8 pm

Travel Bug

It's been a while since I last posted and I apologize. In all reality, it's probably a good thing I haven't posted in a while because it means I've been out experiencing Italy. I believe I left off telling you that I was headed to Switzerland for the weekend, well that trip was just the first of many! So far I’ve been to Switzerland (which was amazing! And that means a lot coming from a girl who hates the cold), Verona, Rome, and Venice. I love to be in Florence during the week but my favorite thing is travelling on the weekend- my mom told me I should write a blog titled “Where in the world is Nicole Webb?”



Verona, Verona, Verona, I’m in love with Verona! On our Friday off my friends Cassie and Meg joined me on a day trip to Verona. We had seen the movie ‘Letters to Juliet’ so we were pretty excited. Let me tell you- it was nothing like the movie, it was better! We met a Turkish woman on the train who described the city as “beautiful”. She said, “There is essence of love all over the city, it is consuming”. She was right. Walking through Verona is like walking through the set of the Romeo and Juliet play. There are statues everywhere, the streets are white and pink marble, even the buildings and restaurants have a romantic flare. I felt like everyone there was in love- no hostility or crime, just happy people who truly appreciate the importance of love. I bought a heart charm from the famous house of Juliet- I hope it brings me good luck.



You can see me holding this heart necklace of mine as a made a wish in the world famous Trevi Fountain in Rome. Rome was pretty but it was just sooo big- made me happy I chose to live in Florence and visit Rome instead of the other way around. I went to Rome with my API group so we had full days of travel tours to the Vatican, Castle’s, Capital House, you name it. And who could forget the Colosseum? Everything was breadth-taking.



And last weekend was our trip to Venice. Our API group brought us there too so once again we were treated to five star treatment- I can’t tell you how many times I count my blessings for my parents allowing me to come here. Sometimes you have these moments of reality when it hits you, you could be looking at a beautiful view or just sitting by yourself, but I always have these moments where I think, “Look where you are right now… You’re living in Italy”. I think I understand why students are depressed when they go home, life abroad is too amazing to grasp. But back to Venice- Venice can be described as gondolas, gondolas, and more gondolas. Oh ya, and many, many canals. Every building is brightly colored, the water is light blue, and the food is top-notch sea food. If you’re the kind of person who loves the sea like I do, I highly recommend a trip to Venice- it’s a very unique experience.



These last few trips have been all about Italy. It’s a gorgeous country so I’m glad I’m getting to explore where I’m living but spring break is coming up and soon I’ll be all over the world. My friends and I are travelling on our own and we’re ready to explore. All we’ll have is one backpack and 10 days but it’s going to be amazing. We’re starting in Nice, France, taking a train to Barcelona, Spain, flying to London, England for two days, and ending the week in Dublin, Ireland. If you thought I was all over the place think again. Travelling really is my favorite thing to do, whether it’s to a new country or a day at the beach, seeing the beauty of new places and culture is something I can never take for granted.

Working out the kinks

We've officially been in Florence for one full week now. The first few days in the hotel were luxurious, the next few days were exciting as we explored the city, but the last few days in our apartment have mainly been about adjusting and working out the kinks. Now that's not to say these last few days haven't been fun in their own way; there's simple gratification in overcoming everyday obstacles. Sometimes stumbling is half the fun.

One of the first things the staff warned us about was, “be careful drinking the water!” The water in Italy is safe, don’t be alarmed if you want to visit, it’s just that our bodies may not be accustomed to it. Well, let me tell you mine surely was NOT! I tried incorporating the tap water into my diet slowly with tap water ice cubes in bottled water, but nonetheless the water won. I had a rough day but thanks to my amazingly supportive roommates letting me rest and buying me juice I was well and able to go out dancing that night! Our time here is just too precious to waste being sick, so I figured if I get sick while out it would make for a really funny story-hopefully (sorry mom). Being sick abroad is scary, but certainly doable. 

The staff’s advice for going out dancing?…“watch out for those Italian boys!” This would be helpful if I could actually tell which boys are Italian. I literary heard two boys at a club whisper to each other, “Just say ‘ mi scusi’ and they’ll think you’re Italian!” I call the boys at the clubs here ‘piranhas’ because they love to sneak a pinch whenever they walk by. Luckily the universal sign for NO (the hand wave under the chin and a shake of the head) seems to do the trick. The nightlife in Italia is really fun, lots of dancing just as I like it. And thankfully most of the music is from America so we can sing along. Our apartment motto- when in doubt, go to higher ground. A.k.a- dance on a balcony, table, or even in the DJ booth just to get where those grabby boys can’t reach you! We had a blast the first weekend; I’m excited to see what the rest will bring. (Switzerland is coming up!)

Other than that, we figured out how to do our laundry, attended our first classes, and shopped at the local fresh market. Sunday we cooked our first family dinner! We made pasta-no surprise- with diced sausage, sautéed mushrooms, onions, zucchini, and olive oil. Two of my roommates have mastered stuffed peppers, and two of my other roommates have creatively made the most delicious croutons from fresh focaccia bread and spices! Mm! Our bags are mostly unpacked and everything is almost in its place. The whole thing still feels like a vacation it will be funny to see if this place ever feels like home! Either way, I’m enjoying it. Cherish each day<3

Benvenuti, Welcome to Italy!

Cooking class, gorgeous apartment, beautiful sculpture, and surprisingly awesome roommates. My experience abroad in Italy is surpassing all of my expectations. I've spent a few nights in a fancy hotel and was spoiled with elegant three hour five course meals. I moved into my apartment expecting narrow, winding stairs, small living space, and maybe a childs bed, excuse me cot, from ikea? I was pleasantly, no overwhleming impressed at how absolutely drop dead gorgeous our apartment is. We have overly large rooms and high cielings but my favorite characteristic of our apartment is the classic italian touches - tile floors, murals on the cielings, elegant molding- I'm still in disbelief that I'm this blessed to live in a place like this. Not to mention I couldn't have been paired to live with a better bunch! Two girls are from Massachusetts, which means we can continue our friendship at home, and two girls are from Washington but couldn't be more similar to us. We've bonded over our love of country music, wine, our favorite TV shows are all the same, and most importantly we all have the same sense of humor- silly with a touch of immaturity.

I've had a great time taking in all the scenary as we've been on many informational tours as well as getting lost and exploring on our own. It's been blue skies and sunny everyday and the food is so, so good. Our program we travelled with set us up with a professional cooking class and I think I may have found a new hobby in cooking! We made eggplant caprese (grilled eggplant, topped tomatoe slices, mozzarella, and spices), gnocchi (tiny potatoe dumplings in a meat and vegetable sautee), and tiramisu for desert. I don't like tiramisu at all, but lets just say I ate two. So yummy!

The next four months should be nothing short of amazing. My roommates make me laugh everyday, the city's beauty continually takes my breathe away, and I've already booked a trip to the Swiss Alps for next weekend and another for the Amalfi Coast for the Easter long weekend. The program I am travelling with, API, has made me feel really safe with self defense classes, multiple guided tours, personable landlords in good neighborhoods, and really helpful staff.  They're taking us to the ballet in a few weeks! I look forward to keeping you updated on all my adventures to come, count your blessings and be thankful for everyday, take a risk!

Caio!