Asolo

 On Friday afternoon my CAP group went to Asolo, a nearby town built on top of a mountain. It’s name means “into the sky” and it literally is part of the sky. The view is amazing from any spot, hence why it is also called the city of a hundred horizons. Unfortunately we didn’t arrive until 5:30 pm so I wasn’t able to get any pictures of the view. We were given a tour of the CIMBA MBA campus which is housed in a former convent. There are 20 full time students, with 12 from the United States, and 20 part time students. Since it is so small, they only have 2 classrooms and all of the full time students live in dorm rooms on the second floor. It is a really nice facility, but I don’t think I would like being in such a small program. Also, they only offer a general MBA so no specializations (like Entrepreneurship or Finance). 

After visiting the MBA campus, we went to the Caffe Centrale (pictured above) to have spritz, an Italian before dinner cocktail comprised of Prosecco, Aperol Orange Liqueur, seltzer water, and an orange slice. Megan, Kailyn, Elena, and I decided to stay and have dinner in Asolo since we didn’t have any other plans. After window shopping at some very high-end boutiques and picking up a couple postcards at a Tabacchi, we went to a Pizzeria where  they made us heart shaped pizzas. Our cameriere (waiter) absolutely loved us!

Saturday was filled up with the Da Vinci Challenge, a group activity where we scaled walls, crossed lava pits, and climbed through spider webs (all metaphorically, of course). It was all very exhausting. Saturday night I was invited to dinner with Mariano and Agnese Venzo, a couple that lives in Nove and knows my family. I brought Vanessa along with me. We went to this fabulous restaurant called Alla Torre (the wine cellar is pictured below) which is situated atop a mountain right next to a beautiful church. It had the most amazing view of the valley. Mariano said that during the summer they have seating on an outside patio that sits right on the edge of the cliff.

After dinner, I rode the CIMBA bus to Asolo. We went to the Epoca pub and the Caffe Centrale. There isn’t a huge nightlife in Asolo but with 50+ American students there, we made it fun. Here is a picture of Megan and I at Epoca. A few of our friends ordered cheese burgers there so I was finally able to have a bite of American food and it was delicious! We met a couple of Italians that were very friendly and helped us with our Italian.