Universita degli Studi di Verona

The housing agency that the Erasmus Student Association at Verona University had links with were unreliable and have so far failed to return any of the huge deposit we left at the start of the year. They are called "For Sale" and are best avoided! The appartment was basic in every way but we enjoyed the year due to it's location 2 minutes walk from the uni and just 5 minutes from the city centre. Also became close friends with the Italian, Spanish, Irish and other British Erasmus students living in the same block.

Camelot: English/Irish pub which definitely doesn't remind you of either of those countries! Cool music, wicked atmosphere. Nirvana: just off from Piazza Bra, left off Via Porta Nuova (down some steps). Try a "Black out" and you won't remember a thing... Highlander: rubbish pub but only place you can get anything resembling a fry-up for nursing the hangover you'll get after Camelot & Nirvana. Grace: cheeeesy nightclub. Campus: student central. Nice cheap, strong drinks. Veccia Veronetta:Just don't use the toilet there. Ever. Tropico Latino: The cocktails are amazing and lots of Erasmus people, mainly German, went there on Mondays. Bottega (Vino): Expensive restaurant with extremely posh wines and snotty waiters. Very, very nice indeed. Campodoglio: Big bar off Piazza Erbe which also has amazing cocktails. Go for a quiet drink. Pomod'oro: Pizzeria/restaurant which had a cool atmosphere and lush pizzas, good for bringing large groups.

Have the confidence to live with either Italian students or those who don't speak your native language so you have to speak Italian. Your hard work in the first few weeks/months will pay off and you will be fluent, rather than sticking with people of your own nationality which most Erasmus students inevitably end up doing.

Feel a lot more confident with grammar and composition of Italian language after year at the University of Verona. Can speak and understand better than I ever would have been able to had I not lived in the country for nine months. Would have been more beneficial if I had tried harder to find a situation in which I would be forced to speak Italian all the time. Had a job at a bar for three months and this proved a useful test for my skills.

Trains were unbelievably cheap. Big shock getting back to English prices... Accomodation wise, try to get bills included and if you don't mind pot luck with who the uni make you share a room with, go into student accomodation, you'll speak more Italian AND it's ridiculously cheap.