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).  

la diii da

Short week in Florence! There were no classes on Wednesday for some Italian holiday but I stayed for the day and met with a group for a project. We went to this really cool place called Volume which is in the Piazza Santo Spirito. It was very relaxing and had great music and delicious crepes. After we finished I spent the day running errands.  I feel like I have so many things to catch up on and do these last 2 weeks in Florence and there just doesn’t seem to be enough time!

Wednesday night a bunch of people from Muhlenberg got together and went out to dinner.  I’m not great friends with a lot of the people so it was fun to just chat with a different group that I don’t normally hang out with.  After we headed to TwentyOne to celebrate Brandi and Becca’s birthday.  They do this thing where if it’s your birthday they give you a free table and bottle of champagne. And since it was both of theirs we got 2! We ended up at a table next to these super tacky Italians but they were loving us and kept ordering bottles that they then use to make us drinks. Needless to say it ended up being a crazy night, especially since the club was packed. 

I’m off to Munich for Springfest tonight! I’m super excited and have been waiting all semester for this weekend.  Some claim it’s the Disney World for adults! I’ll just have to see for myself...

Coast to Coast

Thursday night Jaclyn and I set off on our adventure to the Amalfi Coast. We were very nervous about the weather because it was supposed to rain so on our way there we pretty much prayed that mother nature would be on our side this weekend. 

We woke up Friday morning and got read to go to Capri for the day. We took a very rocky ferry from Sorrento to Capri early in the morning giving us plenty of time to explore the city.  The first thing we did was a boat ride around the island where we were able to see the gorgeous blue water but unfortunately, the blue grotto was closed due to the high waves, which we were all very upset about. After the tour, we had free time to explore Capri. I never would have thought that Capri would have such amazing shopping! It was more like window shopping for us though because every store was designer or just super expensive.  A girl can dream though, can’t she?  We also had the opportunity to do a limoncello tasting, which allowed me to realize that I, in fact, do not like limoncello. At all. But it was still cool.  After walking around some more we headed back to Sorrento.  Capri was such a gorgeous island and I would love to take my family back there... and then have a summer house high in the mountains with a spectacular view. If it’s good enough for Armani, it’s good enough for me.  

We were planning on going our Friday night and meeting up with some of our other friends who were also staying in Sorrento but we decided that we were in desperate need of naps.  Jaclyn set the alarm for 10:15 but when it went off I told her I was too tired so she snoozed for another 5 minutes in which I grunted and turned over, clearly not wanting to budge.  She then snoozed again for another 5 minutes but this time I didn’t budge.  I woke up at about 11:30 asking Jaclyn if she was getting ready to go out and she looked at me with a very confused look. I had no recollection of what had happened! She had to explain to me what I said and did because I was clueless but she thought I was really talking to her when in fact I was sleep talking (something I NEVER do which is why it was so weird). So needless to say we didn’t make it out and ended up just going back to sleep so we could be on our game on Saturday. 

Saturday was a day of relaxation at the beach in Positano. We had time to lay on the beach, have lunch, shop, do whatever we wanted. Jaclyn and I chose to sit and have a few drinks while we tanned, chatted, and enjoyed the gorgeous view, while making friends with our waiter in the process.  We had lunch at a place called Vini Panini that made these huge cold cut sandwiches which reminded me of home.

That night, we went to a bar called the English Inn in Sorrento (where all the tourists go) and met up with our other friends studying in Florence and had a great time.

Sunday we went to Pompeii for the day. There was a tour provided for us to see all of the ruins that make up the city.  It was so fascinating and crazy too think that a city existed and then was just completely wiped out. After, we went to grab lunch and were off to climb Mount Vesuvius. Unfortunately, the weather was super foggy and we could barely see 20 feet in front of us so we weren’t able to catch that many snapshots but I managed to snag a few on our way back down.  Although to be honest, climbing the volcano was an amazing experience in itself.  We were literally in the middle of the clouds.  It also happened to be quite the workout. I was out of breath by the time I got to the top, and could already tell I would be sore this week. 

And that concluded our trip to the Amalfi Coast! It was soo beautiful and I can’t wait to come back with my family one day because it’s one of the most relaxing places I’ve been to. 

Do as the Romans do

Raining in Rome is an understatement in terms of what would describe the weekend.  We got to our hotel, the Hotel Panda, which was in an awesome location about a block from the Spanish Steps and headed out in the rain to see Rome.  Had the weather been nice I would have loved to walk, but as Fainerz and I made our way to the Borghese museum, we were drenched and opted for a taxi– story of our weekend. Our taxi drive Paolo was super nice and dropped us off quickly although as soon as we walked in the ticket man told us we needed a reservation and that there were none left for that day.  We were a bit annoyed but didn’t want it to ruin our day so we headed to some sights that didn’t require waiting outside in the rain which included the Santa Maria Church and the Pantheon.  Both were super cool but very quick although by the time we were done, we were soaked so we went back to our hotel to dry off and lay down. 

Hannah and Megan recommended a great restaurant for us although I do have to say, I enjoyed the pizza in Florence more.  After dinner we wandered the streets of Rome trying to find the place we had chosen to meet Megan and Hannah. After asking about 15 people how to get there we finally found them and were SO happy.  We went to a shot bar where the shots were 1e and spent a while chatting and catching up.  It was so great to be able to gossip and update each other on what had been going on.  From the bar we went to a club called Gilda which was SO MUCH FUN! We danced for hours and  the club was super cool. We ended the night taking pictures on the Spanish Steps which was awesome because no one was around so we had them all to ourselves!

Saturday I woke up suuuper early to go on my tour of Vatican City.  Fainerz had already been to Rome so she didn’t want to wake up aka I was all on my own. Lord knows how I made it back alive but it happened.  I ended up going on a tour that let me cut the ridiculous line which was great because I learned a lot and didn’t have to wait in the, once again, pouring rain.  The sistine chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica were absolutely amazing.  I couldn’t believe I was actually staring at the real thing!

When I finished my tour it was still really gross out and my feel felt like they were about to fall off so I hopped in another taxi and met Fainerz at the hotel.  Although I didn’t have much time to lay down because we were meeting Hannah for lunch at Bucca di Repetti where I had delicious and much needed pasta to help me get through the rest of the day.  I left lunch early and finally got to see the Borghese followed by a rewarding nap.  

We got a late start to dinner but went to a restaurant called Gusto that was also really good, but let’s get real, it’s pretty hard to find bad food in Italy. After Gusto we went to Babel with Hannah and her friends which was this cool club that is in an old metro station. The club was awesome and I could see it being a blast when you’re headed toward blackout city but that wasn’t happening.  

Sunday was short and consisted of the Colosseum, ruins of rome, Trevi Fountain, gelato with megan, and shopping.  There aren’t that many crazy stories to report simply because Fainerz and I didn’t get to do too much wild exploring because of the rain.  Nevertheless it was still an amazing weekend and made me realize how much I love being with the people I love.  Rome is an awesome city and I definitely took it for granted which made me enjoy it that much more! I can't wait to go back.

The ruins of Rome

from inside the Colosseum

good thing I forgot to make a wish

Trevi!

However, with little time left in Florence I returned home and spent the following week seeing and doing as much as I could...that is before Thursday when I was off to the Amalfi Coast for the weekend.

Lifestyle of the Fabulous. 

Fainerz in Florence

Monday morning I got back from Amsterdam around noon and headed back to my apartment to prep for the arrival of Fainerz! She had been on spring break and was ending her journey in Florence and then heading to Rome where we’d meet up with Hannah and Megan.

I was so excited when she got here and we spent all afternoon catching up and chatting. Time flew by and before we knew it, it was time for dinner.  We went someplace local and then headed to lion’s for a few drinks.  It was Hailey’s birthday at midnight so we met up with Hailey and her roommates and pretty much shut the place down.  

Tuesday we snoozed in a bit and then headed to the leather market for some much needed shopping.  Lunch was at Pino’s (of course) and then we headed back to my apartment to register for our classes at Muhlenberg. It’s absolutely unreal that I’m going to be a senior in the fall.

Since it was Hailey’s birthday we went to Dante’s.  Dante’s is across the river and about 2 bridges past the Ponte Vecchio and gives free wine to students. Enough said.  Dinner and a pregame in 1 was the perfect was to start off the night.  Our next stop for the big celebration was Red Garter where we ended up staying for a ridiculous amount of time.  Details about our time there cannot be disclosed here but trust me when I say it was a crazy night.

Wednesday was filled with touring for Fainerz and class for me ending with dinner at Gusta Pizza which Fainz was dyyying over. We were too tired from the previous night to go out so we stayed in and watched the Lizzie McGuire movie to get us pumped for Rome (which it did).  

Thursday was our day dedicated to shopping and eating– aka the only 2 things I know how to do.  Shopping everywhere in Florence (where we did some serious damage) and eating pizza at Vesuvius (where they worked in the Jersey Shore) and all around amazing food at Aqua al 2. We didn’t finish dinner until about 12:30 so we headed back to my apartment to pack for ROMA! 

It was an amazing week in Florence with Fainerz and I was so happy to have her here with me but we were both anxious to get to Rome where AXO was about to take over.

Scared? You should be.