HANNAH SHARES

We officially completed our 14-day quarantine on Saturday and moved over to the on-post hotel! It is nice to have a change of scenery and more freedom to do things outside now. At our quarantine house we were literally only allowed to step outside our house into the grass. We couldn’t go on walks or even take out our own trash. It felt good to move our bodies and get some fresh air this weekend for sure!

Once we moved our things over to the hotel and checked in, our sponsor gave us a tour around the base (which is very small) and took us around the nearby area in Vicenza. He took us to a couple of grocery stores to help us understand the differences in the shopping experience here which was very helpful. The local grocery stores are much cheeper than what we are used to in the US, but they also cater a lot more to locally-sourced foods, which we like! You won’t find many spicy foods, out-of-season produce, or a wide variety of brands and specialty products. It will take a little getting used to, but we were very impressed with the stores we went to and are looking forward to shopping on the economy here.

We drove up to Monte Berico, the site of a Catholic basilica and Marian shrine that overlooks the city of Vicenza. The Church was actually built in the 1400s after Mary appeared to a woman twice promising to save the city from the plague if the Church was built at the top of the hill. Behind the Church there is a beautiful lookout area where you can see the entire city and the mountains. I didn’t get a photo, but we will definitely be back there often and will share another time.

Today was a beautiful, sunny day! We walked around post and to the Italian grocery store, and made a stop to get our first gelato on the way back. We are enjoying the hotel so far, it is much cozier than our quarantine house and will be a good “home base” for us for the next several weeks, especially since gelato is only a ten minute walk away. 😊

xx Hannah