University of New Hampshire Athletics
Wildcat Summer - Sabrina Grovom
7/26/2019 9:24:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse, Academics
Hey Wildcats! My name is Sabrina Grovom and I study Nutrition, Dietetics. I am a junior on the women's lacrosse team and I'm from San Diego, Calif. This summer I was a part of the UNH in Italy study abroad program and earned eight credits toward my major! I had an absolute blast meeting a lot of new people, seeing some beautiful historic sights and of course eating some of the best food there is! Here are some of my most memorable moments from my Wildcat Summer.
MY ITALIAN HOME
My group and I stayed in the small town of Ascoli Piceno for the majority of the summer. This place is very quaint and community oriented. Many nights there were events such as boxing and fashion shows going on in the main piazza, Piazza del Popolo.
I was lucky enough to have a terrace with my apartment that looked out over the town with the mountains in the distance. This is where I would spend most mornings and evenings, soaking it all in! Every Wednesday and Sunday there were open markets. This ranged from produce, to clothes and even furniture. My friends and I always went after class and looked around!
THE FOOD
Being a Nutrition; Dietetics major, I am very passionate about all things food. I have definitely experienced some tasty and flavorful dishes on my trip! Yes, the homemade pasta in Italy is so much better, as well as their abundance of fresh produce, gelato and meats. Ascoli Piceno is famous for their olive ascolane, which is a green olive, stuffed with cured meats, breaded and fried in olive oil. Sounds interesting, but they are irresistible!
My favorite meal in Italy was my steak dinner in Florence, it was maybe one of the best meals I've ever had. In Barcelona we went to this incredible eatery called Brunch & Cake that had the best flavor and food presentation I have ever experienced. While in Barcelona we also went to two different tapas restaurants, which is where you pick multiple appetizers for dinner and share it with a group. I love trying a little bit of everything so it was awesome.
MY WORKOUTS
Being a student-athlete, I wanted to stay on top of my workouts while being away. My friends Lexi, Maura and I would go for morning runs and we would also do stair and hill workouts. We would mix in some arm strength by doing push-ups and also do some ab workouts throughout the day. Not to mention all the miles of walking we did every day throughout town and on weekends exploring new cities!
WEEKEND TRIPS
My group and I had some weekends off to do whatever we wanted, so a couple of my friends and I planned some awesome trips! My favorite ones were when we went to Florence and when we went to Barcelona for our vacation. Florence was incredible. All the buildings in Europe are so beautifully built and have the most intricate detail. We got to see the Cathedral, stroll around the streets, shop, go to a viewpoint of the whole city and eat their famous steak dinner.
For vacation, five of my friends and I flew off to Spain and were able to experience some of the best this country has to offer. All of us on this trip were nutrition majors, so we went to all the famous food restaurants and enjoyed some tasty, authentic Spanish meals! We also walked all over the city, saw an incredible viewpoint of the city, had a beach day, went shopping and saw the Arc de Triumph.
MY GROUP
I have met some of the coolest people on this trip. Being in a big group you are almost destined to get along, but I can truly say that I have made some lifelong friends! Most of them are nutrition majors like me, so they appreciate food and its flavor just as much as I do. Aside from Ascoli Piceno, we all got to experience Venice and Bologna as a big group. It was been so fun exploring all over Italy with them and seeing what this beautiful country is all about.
I'm looking forward to returning back home. It has been a great experience but I can't wait to be back in Durham this fall!
Previous "Wildcat Summer" Series Stories:
Elizabeth Martin, Skiing
Paige Hillis, Swimming and Diving
MY ITALIAN HOME
My group and I stayed in the small town of Ascoli Piceno for the majority of the summer. This place is very quaint and community oriented. Many nights there were events such as boxing and fashion shows going on in the main piazza, Piazza del Popolo.
I was lucky enough to have a terrace with my apartment that looked out over the town with the mountains in the distance. This is where I would spend most mornings and evenings, soaking it all in! Every Wednesday and Sunday there were open markets. This ranged from produce, to clothes and even furniture. My friends and I always went after class and looked around!
THE FOOD
Being a Nutrition; Dietetics major, I am very passionate about all things food. I have definitely experienced some tasty and flavorful dishes on my trip! Yes, the homemade pasta in Italy is so much better, as well as their abundance of fresh produce, gelato and meats. Ascoli Piceno is famous for their olive ascolane, which is a green olive, stuffed with cured meats, breaded and fried in olive oil. Sounds interesting, but they are irresistible!
My favorite meal in Italy was my steak dinner in Florence, it was maybe one of the best meals I've ever had. In Barcelona we went to this incredible eatery called Brunch & Cake that had the best flavor and food presentation I have ever experienced. While in Barcelona we also went to two different tapas restaurants, which is where you pick multiple appetizers for dinner and share it with a group. I love trying a little bit of everything so it was awesome.
MY WORKOUTS
Being a student-athlete, I wanted to stay on top of my workouts while being away. My friends Lexi, Maura and I would go for morning runs and we would also do stair and hill workouts. We would mix in some arm strength by doing push-ups and also do some ab workouts throughout the day. Not to mention all the miles of walking we did every day throughout town and on weekends exploring new cities!
WEEKEND TRIPS
My group and I had some weekends off to do whatever we wanted, so a couple of my friends and I planned some awesome trips! My favorite ones were when we went to Florence and when we went to Barcelona for our vacation. Florence was incredible. All the buildings in Europe are so beautifully built and have the most intricate detail. We got to see the Cathedral, stroll around the streets, shop, go to a viewpoint of the whole city and eat their famous steak dinner.
For vacation, five of my friends and I flew off to Spain and were able to experience some of the best this country has to offer. All of us on this trip were nutrition majors, so we went to all the famous food restaurants and enjoyed some tasty, authentic Spanish meals! We also walked all over the city, saw an incredible viewpoint of the city, had a beach day, went shopping and saw the Arc de Triumph.
MY GROUP
I have met some of the coolest people on this trip. Being in a big group you are almost destined to get along, but I can truly say that I have made some lifelong friends! Most of them are nutrition majors like me, so they appreciate food and its flavor just as much as I do. Aside from Ascoli Piceno, we all got to experience Venice and Bologna as a big group. It was been so fun exploring all over Italy with them and seeing what this beautiful country is all about.
I'm looking forward to returning back home. It has been a great experience but I can't wait to be back in Durham this fall!
Previous "Wildcat Summer" Series Stories:
Elizabeth Martin, Skiing
Paige Hillis, Swimming and Diving
Players Mentioned
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