Europe's hidden gem

As crazy as it is for me to write this, this past weekend was my last trip of abroad... And Croatia could not have been a more perfect place.

We arrived in Croatia after a very long 12 hour bus ride around 9AM.   By the time we were settled, the sun was shining and we knew exactly where we wanted to be.  So we ate a quick breakfast, put our bathing suits on, and headed straight for the beach! We all got lounge chairs and relaxed by the beach for practically the entire day; and burning to a crisp without fail...sorry ima. Lunch was at a local place on the beach where the food and drinks were delicious! That night we went to a pub crawl around 8:00 and embarrassingly enough we were back in our rooms at 10:30, not that I minded because I wasn’t feeling too hot. We all felt pretty lame, but it was a tiring day and we had lots planned for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday morning we signed up for an island hopping tour. We got on the boat around 11:00AM and spent the day cruising along the gorgeous blue water to two different islands, Brac and Solta. We got a few hours at each of the islands to lay out, relax, and enjoy the beauty of Croatia and the 80 degree weather. In between the Islands we hung out on the boat, drinking wine (boxed, of course– as classy as it gets) listening to music, and eating lunch. Saturday night we were all exhausted so we all went for a quick dinner but came back to the rooms early. The sun completely wore us out and we knew that our 6AM alarm would be going off before we knew it!

We had to leave Split at 6:45AM on Sunday and waking up was definitely not enjoyable.  However little did we know, it would be SO worth it. We were headed to the beautiful waterfalls in Krka, Croatia. We got to the national park around 8:30 and had until 11:30 to explore the gorgeous park. I had been dying to swim in the waterfall but given the overcast skies, many of my friends decided to take their bathing suits off and not go in.  When has the ever stopped me? I went skydiving alone so this was nothing.  Once my friend Julie saw I wasn’t messing around, she quickly joined me and we ventured into the freezing water but loved every minute of it.  Next thing I knew everyone was in the water with us! I may be crazy, but at least I’m fun (props to my AXO fam for that one :D).  After spending lots of time at the waterfall it was time to head back to Florence.  

This was one of my favorite weekends, and as I said before, the perfect way to end my time abroad. The sights and views I saw were breathtaking and I now know why it’s considered Europe’s hidden jem; great vacation spot and suuuper cheap! 

I still have a ton of things to update you all on but I think they’re gonna have to wait until after finals! Time is just flying by!

Sleep all day, Party all night

Last night was a special night... Notte Bianca. The translation, white night, is a term used in Italy for an all nighter. What happens is that the city sets us stages and performers in all the Piazzas and they perform all night.  Stores, restaurants, and museums all stay open until about 6am and then rest the following day which is the Italian version of Labor Day.  

My friend Steph is studying in Salamanca, Spain and was in Florence that night so a bunch of us went to Zaza’s and then headed out for the night.  We went from Piazza to Piazza seeing the performers and trying to meander through the crowds.  You would have thought it was New Year’s Eve or something, the streets were PACKED!  At midnight we headed to one of the many bridges to watch lanterns be lifted into the air which created a beautiful view.  

After some more walking around I headed home, too tired to stay up all night.  It was a great experience and awesome way to see Florence!

DisneyWorld aint got nothing on Springfest

Since before I studied abroad, I had always wanted to go to Munich and experience the events of either Oktoberfest or Springfest.  So when I got to Florence, Springfest was one of the first trips I booked, and boy am I glad about that!  

We hopped on the bus Thursday night and were off.  Unfortunately our tour guides from Bus2alps didn’t inform us that we would only be making one stop, and it would be at a convenience store, so none of us brought food and were starving by the time we woke up Friday morning. 

Bright and early on Friday we woke up for our 4 hour bike tour around Munich.  Mike’s bike tour is the #1 rated tour in Munich and they were great! Being that there is never a dull moment in my life, I ended up riding right into a sign.  Mallory, bikes, and stationary objects don’t get along to well. Since the weather was so great we stopped for lunch at a beer garden where we drank beer and ate sausages, not exactly my preferred meal but I had to try it being that they’re both traditionally German.  Much to my surprise, the beer was very drinkable (I HATE beer) and the sausage was pretty good, too.  After the bike tour we headed to Springfest, which is a mini version of Oktoberfest.  It’s pretty much a huge carnival in Germany that they have for 3 weeks in April. It’s filled with carnival rides, food, and beer’s the size of my face! Not to mention LOTS of drunk people. We spent the day in tents drinking, dancing, going on and off rides, and experiencing the magical world of Springfest. 

We walked around for a bit Saturday morning stopping at Starbucks (grab it while you can) and wandering around the beautiful city of Munich. It was already about 75 degrees when we left the hostel at 10AM so we knew it was going to be an extremely hot day. After wandering aimlessly, sweating lots, and picking up some souvenirs, we were all starving but couldn’t stomach any traditional German food so we opted for the Hard Rock Cafe. We sat and enjoyed our traditional American food, everyone craves it at some point. Around 3 we decided to head over to Springfest yet again because we felt the need to frivolously spend all of our money going on rides. We spent about 2 hours and a lot of money having the time of our lives on all the rides. We were all smiling the whole time and completely loving life and the fact that we didn’t need to have a care in the world. At this point we were running out of steam and decided some good ole German beer would give us the energy boost we needed.  We initially sat outside and a had a few beers but somehow ended up in the tents, dancing on tables, singing, and just being absolutely absurd! After what felt like an eternity we decided to go home but that idea was quickly thrown in the trash when we saw all the rides lit up in the night sky.  I swear you would’ve though we were 5 year olds with severe ADD. We spent an hour going from ride to ride and spending every last penny we had. Not too responsible but there was a bank near the hostel. 

Sunday morning we woke up early to take the train to Dachau, the concentration camp in Munich. It was an overcast, gray day unlike the other two days that were 80 degrees and sunny which was a bit ironic since we were walking around a concentration camp. When we arrived we found out that it was the 67th anniversary of the Liberation at Dachau. There were families and survivors present as well as a memorial taking place. We walked around the camp and went into a sample barrack which had the beds that they had to sleep in, the small rooms, the toilets, and pictures of the victims being tortured.  When we walked further we were able to stand in the actual gas chambers where they were murdered. As a descendent of a Holocaust survivor (my grandpa survived, while his parents were killed) it was a very emotional day and made me nauseous to even think about the fact that he had spent a portion of his life living in very similar situations, and that my great grandparents had been killed in a similar version of the room I was then standing in. It was an amazing experience seeing the camp but it was definitely a very solemn day and I was glad we were going to be heading home afterward. 

While Munich was not my favorite city that I have been to, this weekend was absolutely my favorite thus far (and with only 1 more trip left I’m not so sure anything will surpass it).