Enjoy Every Sunset

One of the smallest lessons I’ve learned this semester is to enjoy every sunset.

The lesson started the first day I arrived in Dubrovnik. I was completely mesmerized by the sunset, so I made it my goal to watch as many as possible during my time in Dubrovnik. We had about 5 different spots around Dubrovnik and we would decide each night where we should go to watch sunset. Most of these spots included sitting on different rocks along the Adriatic.

Everything starts with a sunrise, but it is what you do before it sets that matters. As the days passed by the sun starting setting earlier and earlier. By the end of the semester the sun was setting at 4:15 PM. We tried to enjoy our time in Dubrovnik as much as possible each day before the sun set. Granted we still greatly enjoyed ourselves after sunset.

I found that it is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not appreciate life.

I came to a point where I would anticipate what the sunset would look like every night.

It made me realize that sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it’s a memory. Each sunset sticks in my memory as a reminder that we must appreciate the small things in life.

Sunset is my new favorite color.

                            

Istanbul

“To Travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries”

We all know that the media puts images in our heads of what different cities are supposed to be like. When I told my mom I was going to Istanbul her first reaction was “it’s not safe”. It’s funny how the world imagines every city to be dangerous. I have heard from fellow travelers that Istanbul is one of their favorite cities, and despite the popular opinion of Turkey I decided to experience the city myself. I booked a ticket from Zagreb to Istanbul and flew out the next day.

I arrived in Istanbul at midnight and I was nervous because I thought the city would be very quiet and dark. I was wrong. The airport was like Disney World. You could barley move from the gate to passport control. In order for Americans to enter Turkey we must purchase a visa for $20 or 15€. Luckily someone told me that I could purchase my visa online and pay by credit card. That was one of the best decisions I made. It allowed me to skip lines and walk right up to passport control, get my stamp, and find my shuttle. The hostel sent someone who was holding a sign with my name on it and he drive me straight to the World House Hostel.

The streets were filled with people and lights. It reminded me of NYC. My hostel was located near Taksim Square which is the new part of Istanbul with hundreds of restaurnats and bars. As I was checking into my hostel all of the other guests were just getting ready to go out so the hostel was pretty much empty. I walked into my 10 person dorm room and found 1 other girl laying in bed. She told me I was staying in the “fun” room in the hostel, which is exactly what I wanted.

We started chatting and of course the normal questions were asked, “Where are you from?” “Where are you going?”, “How long are you here?” Her name was Rozeeta and she was teaching English in Israel. Immediately I asked her where in Israel she was living and she said Ashdod. It was time to play Jewish geography. I asked her if she knew one of my sorority sisters, Sara Merson, and she just smiled and said she is my friends roommate. What a small world! Rozeeta invited me to join her and her friend Emily on a cruise down the Bosphorus in the morning. Slowly throughout the night the rest of our roommates stumbled back to the room.

We woke up bright and early, enjoyed the complimentary breakfast, and crossed the bridge to the Old Town to make the ferry. There were many people trying to sell us their tours and when we told them no they were still so friendly. One man even walked us to the ferry we wanted to take after we told him we didn’t want to go on his tour. We walked onto the ferry and went to the top deck where we sat next to an American couple from Chicago. They had children our age and we had a wonderful time talking to them. The total ferry ride took 6 hours. We went up the Bosphorus (which is the physical divider between Europe and Asia) and stopped at a town that is just before the Black Sea called Anadolu Kavağı. It is on the Asian side of Istanbul so technically we spent a couple hours in Asia! It was very cute and quaint. There were fish venders up and down all of the streets selling calamari, mussels, and other sea food. We decided to be brave and try the fried mussels. That was a very bad idea. We ended up getting food poisoning in Asia. The ride back to the Old Town consisted of us sleeping and enjoying the views. We looked over the ledge and saw hundreds of jellyfish riding along the ferry. It was pretty awesome.

 That night I was able to meet everyone else in the hostel and while they were getting ready to go out Rozeeta, Emily, and I stayed in an enjoyed our food poisoning.

The next day was spent exploring in the Old Town, Grand Bazaar, and Egyptian Spice Market. I literally spent hours getting lost, tasting teas, eating Turkish delight, making friends with people in the markets, and hiding from the rain.

With the food poisoning finally gone it was time to experience Istanbul’s nightlife. It was some people’s last night so everyone in the hostel went out together as a final “farewell party.”

For my last full day in Istanbul I wanted to explore the newer side of Istanbul so Rozeeta, Emily, and 2 new friends, Laurie and Katie decided to do just that. We walked around the city and then walked along the Bosphorus and made it to the Dolmabahce Palace. As travelers on a budget we decided not to go inside, but we appreciated the beauty from the outside.

The next morning is where the story gets interesting. Did you think you would get through a blog post without something adventurous happening?

Well I ended up missing my flight back to Croatia the next morning. Apparently traffic in Istanbul is constantly bumper-to-bumper. After buying a new ticket for the next day my friends decided they were going to make my extra day worth the $388 I spent on the new ticket.

What is the difference between a traveler and a tourist?

That was the question posed at the beginning of the week. We came up with many answers, but my favorite was “One of them doesn’t shower at least every other day.”

I went to Istanbul expecting to take a Turkish bath and visit the Blue Mosque. While I didn’t do anything that I “was supposed to do” in Istanbul, I gained much of an appreciation for the locals, the land, and the culture. I stayed in a fantastic hostel and met amazing people.

A fellow traveler, Stylianos from Greece, could not have explained my experience in Istanbul any better than he did with his Facebook status: “So it happens once in a while that a new place can win you. It might be the landscape, the weather, the sound or just the time of the year you arbitrarily chose to land there. But then comes another arbitrary choice of a hostel, a floor, a room and after one week you start missing the smell, the snores, the laughs, the messy clothes, and the occasional night spooning of some unknowns that have become your family for a while. that’s my answer to our question “what’s the difference between a tourist and a traveler”. As a tourist I might have left satisfied, but as a traveler I left richer. Cheers to you all. Loved you.”

It's Official! An Entire Year Abroad!

It is funny how things work out. When I arrived on September 15th I posted a picture on Instagram and the caption was "My back porch leads directly to the ocean...this might turn into a full year abroad."

About 2 months ago I sent my parents and e-mail with the subject "Hypothetically..." At first their reaction wasn't very positive, but after some convincing I started working with Dena, my study abroad advisor, and before I knew it I was applying for my extended student Visa!

Out of the 15 American's studying at DIU, I am the only one staying for the year. It will be very weird to have these Americans (who I have become such great friends with) leave and have a whole new group arrive in February. However, I will still have all my Croatian and foreign friends still in Dubrovnik with me.

I am going home to Florida for winter break to see my family and friends. I am also celebrating my 21st birthday in America which I am really excited about. I will be home for about a month and then I will come back to Dubrovnik in the beginning of February.

It will be very interesting to experience Dubrovnik year-round. When I arrived in September you could not walk down the streets because of all the tourists, whereas now there aren't any people besides locals and students. I'm excited to see Dubrovnik transition into spring and summer.

It took me most of my life to realize that if you want something badly enough, you can make it happen, regardless or money and outside forces.

Gaame of Thrones

This post is dedicated to all of the Game of Thrones fans out there.
Dubrovnik is home to many scenes in the upcoming season 4 of Game of Thrones and my adventurous friends and I went to explore one of the sets, Hotel Belvedere.

During the Croatian War of Independence in 1991, there was the Siege of Dubrovnik. The Siege was a military engagement fought between the Yogoslav People’s Army (JNA) and Croatian forces defending the city of Dubrovnik and its surroundings.

The five-star resort was located on the rocks overlooking Dubrovnik, and began receiving guests in 1986. It was forced to close just six years later, after becoming a JNA target. During the first few months of the war, the hotel had served as a refugee shelter. Former guests and employees remember it as a modern, luxury hotel with 18 levels, its own boat launch, and wide balconies with gorgeous views. Current travelers who stumble upon this abandoned hotel see it very differently.

After walking along the Adriatic for about 2 miles we finally found the hotel or at least what was left of it. Picture massive pools, now empty and full of debris, once beautiful fountains and walls spray-painted, with make shift skate ramps tucked into the lips of pools, alongside the beautiful Adriatic.

Our main goal of exploring the hotel was to find exactly where Game of Thrones was filming in the hotel. After walking down about 150 stairs we stumbled upon where the main scenes were filmed.

While GOT was filming season 4 they posted many sneak peak pictures from the set.

GOT fans should get excited for season 4, especially the scenes shot in Dubrovnik.

7 cities, 10 Days, & 1 Backpack

**It has taken me so long to write this post because I was trying to figure out the best way to write it without boring my readers. I am trying really hard not to ramble on, while also writing about my entire experience.**

Oh the things you can see with a Eurail Pass & a backpack.

I randomly had 10 days within my semester with no classes so 2 friends and I decided it was time to explore more of Europe. We decided we wanted to see as many cities as possible within our 10 days. There are pros and cons to this travel mentality.We understood that we would be moving fast and that we would not get to fully experience each place, but we also knew we had a very flexible schedule. We knew we had to leave for Zagreb, Croatia on October 30th and return to Zagreb by November 9th. The time in between was very questionable. After much consideration we came up with the following itinerary:

Vienna, Austria                                                                                                          
Prague, Czech Republic
Berlin, Germany                                                                                              
Amsterdam, Holland                                                                                               
Bruges, Belgium                                                                                                       
Paris, France                                                                                                           
Munich, Germany

After repacking about 5 times I finally fit everything into 1 backpack…after 10 days that 1 backpack turned into a backpack, a purse, and 3 shopping bags. My one argument for the extra shopping bags is that we bought winter clothes which are very bulky…

Vienna, Austria                                                                                                         
Vienna is a city full of history, but it wasn’t a city that appealed to me very much. In our short time there we visited the Museum Quarter and Schönbrunn Palace. We also found H&M and Forever 21 (keep in mind we do not have any retail stores in Dubrovnik, so we were in heaven). The highlight of my time in Vienna was walking through trails of colorful leaves and actually being able to play in them.

Prague, Czech Republic                                                                                                 
I never thought I could fall in love with a city on a rainy day, but Prague proved me wrong. The Gothic architecture, the St. Charles bridge, the Prague Castle, the John Lennon Wall and the sunset over the Vltava River were all fabulous! We ate the most delicious lunch in the oldest medieval tavern in Prague. Just imagine the taste of grilled bacon wrapped plums and rotisserie chicken. We also tried local goulash, which was just alright. Our train to Berlin was at 4:00 AM and the hostel was nice enough to let us hangout in the lounge until we had to leave for the train station. When we got to the train station around 3:00 AM we were informed that our train was delayed until 6:00 AM. Our only option was the sleep in the train station for 3 hours until it was time to leave. Well my friend Tom got very comfortable sleeping on the ground so he pulled out his eye mask and fell asleep right away. My friend Makenzie and I on the other hand were a little ashamed to be sleeping in the train station so instead we stayed awake and counted how many people stopped and stared at sleeping Tom. Eventually we all fell asleep and woke up to police men shaking us asking if we were homeless. It was a very interesting experience and definitely one for the books.

Berlin, Germany                                                                                                         
I was told that in order to experience Berlin correctly, you must experience nightlife, which we did not. We wanted to split the long train ride between Prague and Amsterdam so we figured why not spend the day in Berlin. It was really cold and rainy. We went to a local festival and tried mulled wine, which is a warm red wine mixed with spices. At the festival there was a big snow mound so Makenzie and I decided it would be fun to go tubing down it and we were right! Later that day I met up with my friend/mentor Jess who was in Berlin for a conference. She introduced me to her friends and we ate at the most delicious Indian restaurant where we all ordered way too much food. I’ll have to go to Berlin another time and spend a couple days exploring what the city truly offers.

Amsterdam, Holland                                                                                           
Amsterdam was my favorite stop during the trip. No, not for the reasons most people think of when they picture Amsterdam. It is a chic and beautiful city with so much to experience. The canals, hundreds of bikes, and awesome buildings made it hard not stop and stare at the landscape every where we walked. We were thankful enough to be able to stay with a friend of a friend who had an awesome apartment walking distance from everything in the city. He cooked us a fantastic dinner and let us taste a bourbon that was as old as us. We also visited the Anne Frank House which was as moving as expected. Our friend Tom went home while, Makenzie and I continued out journey across Europe. When it was time to head to the train station we walked through the Red Light District, but it was during a football game so the windows were all empty. Upon arriving to the train station we realized the train we needed to take to Bruges required a reservation, which we did not have. Eventually we figured a way around the system by using local trains, which gave us an extra hour in Amsterdam. Within that hour we were able to have one last adventure.

Bruges, Belgium                                                                                                        
Bruges can be described as the Venice of the north. It is a very cute quaint town with a lot of personality. Since our train schedule was revised in Amsterdam we did not arrive in Bruges until 2:30 AM. It was raining and the city looked like a ghost town; we were the only 2 people walking down the streets. We arrived to our hostel only to find that the front door was locked. After about 45 minutes of knocking on the door, ringing the doorbell, and calling 3 phone numbers we finally gave up. We continued walking down the empty streets and found 1 hotel that had its lights on. Parkhotel, a 4-star hotel, ended up saving us for the night. At this point we were definitely living for the stories and not our wallets. Even though we were only there for a short time it was nice sleeping in comfortable beds and having hot showers. The next day we spent hours exploring the streets and taking pictures of all the cool houses with different color doors. The little boy below was making fun of us for one of our photo shoots so he decided to jump in and pose against the door for us. Our day in Bruges ended with a Belgium beer tasting. When we asked for the menu we were handed a thick book and hardly knew what to do with it. In the end the waitress suggested we taste the different beers on tap, which included 2 beers that were only brewed in that bar. We agreed that the coconut beer was the best.

Paris, France                                                                                                                     
Paris wasn’t originally on our itinerary, but we somehow made our way there. I did not have very high expectations for Paris, which I think was for the best. Paris kind of reminded me of Rome with all the tourists and big monuments and museums. We were planning on staying in Paris for 1 night, but because of our poor planning with train reservations we ended up spending an extra night there. Paris didn’t appeal to me for the typical tourist attractions, but instead the delicious cuisine and interesting people I met along the way made Paris one of my most memorable stops. My favorite part of Paris was definitely exploring Montmartre and all it had to offer. Also, finding Chipotle on our walk to the train station was sadly one of the happiest moments of my trip.

Munich Germany                                                                                                         
We only had a 5 hour layover in Munich, but we explored as much as we could. Since it was Sunday everything was closed except for a couple restaurants. We decided to act like the locals and enjoy some Munich beer. When we walked into the restaurant we thought everyone would judge us for wanting to try Munich beer so early in the morning, but every person in the restaurant had a stein in front of them. The bartender was from New York and helped us enjoy our short time in Munich by explaining everything Munich had to offer that we were unable to see. Although I didn't truly experience Munich, the parts that I saw were awesome and I am really excited to visit again in the future.

Prettiest cities: Amsterdam, Prague, Bruges                                                               
Best food: French onion soup (Paris), local sausage in Vienna                                      
Best drink: Zwettler (Vienna)                                                                                        
Coolest Cafe: Cafe in Montmartre, Paris                                                                            
Best train ride: Zagreb> Vienna and Munich>Zagreb both had beautiful views            
Worst train station experience: Sleeping on the floor of the Prague train station         
Best hostel: Regent Hostel (Paris)                                                                            
Favorite item purchased: Scarf from Amsterdam                                                      
Where I want to go back to: Amsterdam, Prague, Munich                                       
Where I will least likely will go back to: Vienna

Within 10 days we visited 7 cities and 6 countries. We ate as much food as possible and saw as many cities as possible. I had an amazing time, but I will probably never do a trip that fast ever again. I now know that I would rather truly experience a city than just check cities off the list.