I have been
keeping up with running while abroad, I mean I do eat enough pasta and
delicious food so running is essential.
I have gone on some very unique runs while abroad. I really love sharing going on runs with my
friends. I have new running buddies!
Here are some of
my favorite runs…
1. Cascine Park in Florence
I have been here
many times after I discovered it with Michele one evening. We went for a nice long run and made it back
to Cordova in time for dinner at 7.
Whenever I run with Michele we always have the best conversations. The park has real runners who are running
quite fast and there are bikers and walkers and people exercising which is
exciting!!
One afternoon I
decided to go for a run and then Michele, Emily, Dan and Brian all decided to
come too!! It was so fun! We were all
together for about a 1.5miles and then Dan and I kept on running and made it to
Cascine Park. Then we hurried back to
Cordova in time to shower and go out to “family” dinner at Yellow Bar. I ate pasta with pomodora sauce that night
and some good red wine! And we finished
the night with gelato!
The weekend
before midterms I had just got my computer back from the computer store and was
so excited and it was a sunny day so I went for a run with no real plan in
mind. Well 7.5 miles later and dark
clouds getting closer I decided I should maybe turn around. I ran all the way through Cascine Park and
out the other side to a bike path that must go on forever. I decided I should probably turn around at
one point. I was near somewhere called
San Donino. I wore my Garmin GPS watch
so I was able to see where I ran when I uploaded it to my computer. This run was very nice and refreshing, I was
out for almost two hours running. On the
way back to Cordova I ran into the Greek place and got a chicken pita for lunch
right as it was about to start raining.
2. Piazzle Michaelangelo – Florence
This one is a
toughie, but the views are worth it.
Always pretty and the Duomo looks huge amongst the other buildings in
Florence. The loop ends up being around
5 miles.
3. Firenze Urban Trail 13k race
Coolest race
ever? Yes. The race started
at Santa Croce, went over the Ponte Vecchio, through Boboli Gardens, up nod
down the hills of Florence through cute streets and up and down more hills and
then past San Miniato del Monte (a church) and then to Piazzale Michaelangelo
and then back down and up some more and crossed back over the Ponte Vecchio and
past my favorite gelato place (Gelateria de Neri) where I started my kick and
then back to Santa Croce. It was the best running experience ever and everyone
came up to me to congratulate me coming in fifth place. It was a unique experience because I couldn’t
speak to anyone but the euphoria that comes with doing well after a race was
present and everyone was having the same experience. Everyone was so nice to me and kept
congratulating me. Everyone runs and
smiles in the same language. I ran it in
1:07. It was so very hilly!!! Oh!! And afterwards for refueling there were
pastries and cookies and water, beer or tea!
Haha oh so different than the States!
4. Downtown Dublin
Michele, Dan and
I ran by the river in Dublin. Dan and I
kept going further and found a stadium and an Episcopal church. We thought that was interesting because of
all the Catholicism that is present in Ireland.
The stadium was huge!!! We think that it is for Rugby.
5. Phoenix Park 10k, Dublin
I ran a 10k in
Phoenix Park. The previous night I think
I was up until one. We had gone to a bar
and I had a cider beer which was good.
Then we tried finding another bar to go to, but it was so crazy and
packed because of a rugby game that we just went back to the hostel. I woke up at 7:15 so I could make it to
Phoenix Park and find the race. I took
the tram to the park. I wasn’t quite
sure how to buy a ticket so I asked a nice man what ticket to buy. He helped me and then when we got on the tram
we continued to talk and I was telling him about my experiences studying
abroad. The funny thing was that when I
was waiting for the tram and I said I am from Seattle, someone else who was
waiting asked if I listened to KEXP. What
a random thing to ask! I finally got to
the park, turns out the park is huge and the race started at least 1.5 miles
into the park… so I walked and then
started running since walking was too slow.
I finally found the start of the race and checked in and then found
Lauren and her parents!! It was so nice to see them! I was waiting for my race to start and then
started talking to the guy next to me.
He asked what my goal was, I truly had no idea what I wanted to run it
in and especially since I had very little sleep. I said 45 mins and he was very
impressed. He was trying to beat
40:20. We got to talking about how I was
from Seattle, studying in Florence and on spring break in Dublin and why on
earth did I sign up for 10k run.
Obviously, I run cross country which means I am crazy. That is why I was running the 10k J But actually, it is
a neat way to experience difference cultures.
The race went alright, I ran it in 44 mins which was fine with me for
just going out and jumping into a 10k! I
ran the last little bit with a lady and we were encouraging each other.
6. Vienna, Austria
I don’t really
know where I was but this run might have been the best yet. Dan and I went for a run around 6 and came
back two hours later. We started off at
the hostel and ran to a park, which had structures that were left from WWII. There was also a dog park within the park,
Vienna has a lot of dog parks. From here
we ran to what we thought was just a Ferris Wheel, which turned out to be a
decently sized amusement park type thing.
We dubbed this area Disneyland.
After running through Disneyland we were on a path and off to the left
was a playground. Naturally we explored
the playground and found out that it was a great place!! The swings were really
long and you could swing super high and the slide was long and there was a zip
line you could sit on and a circle tire thingy that you could hold onto and
then be spun around in circles. We took
a pit-stop and played here for awhile.
Once the running part resumed we ended up on a road that went on forever
and was just for runners, walkers, bikers and people being active. It was lit up and there were probably
hundreds of runners out and about at 7pm.
We were keeping up a good pace as well.
We guessed we ran nearly 12 miles that day. On the way back to the hostel we got a little
confused where we were supposed to go and then an Austrian man asked if we were
lost and we told him our address and he gave us directions. He told me I was very pretty. Then he asked if Dan and I were dating. We said no, just friends. Then he asked if we were brother and sister
because we were both so nice and smiling.
Again, we told him we are friends.
After giving us directions to the hostel he asked us where we were from
and what we were doing in Austria. Then
he gave us a mini history lesson and started talking about oil. Dan and I kept smiling and nodding our
heads. The old man was nice and kept
going off on tangents. Finally we told
him we had to head back and he said bye to us by kissing his fingers and waving
at us. This experience was very unique
and the run might be my favorite so far.
Running is a
great way of exploring new places and races are so fun to meet new people and experience
running culture worldwide. Everyone runs
with a smile!
