tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53255095533519329512024-03-05T12:43:15.365-08:00La Bella VitaOriginally I used this blog to document my travels during my study abroad in Florence, Italy. Soon after I returned to Florida I realized my journey is not over just because I took one flight back to America. My blog is an attempt to put all of my experiences into words and hopefully inspire readers along the way.Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-68317377638632060522014-10-14T13:26:00.001-07:002016-07-23T06:20:42.119-07:00101 Things I learned While Living in Europe for a Year1. Don't worry if you miss your bus, train, or plane. There will always be another one...even if it costs you $400.<br />
2. Learn to go with the flow.<br />
3. Keep your travel plans flexible. If someone tells you to visit a city, it is usually for a good reason.<br />
4. Try CouchSurfing, even if it's just one time, you will always meet interesting people.<br />
5. It is possible to fall in love with a city, or multiple.<br />
6. You will also meet many "loves of your life".<br />
7.
Keep in touch with the friends you make along the way, you never know
if you’ll be in their hometown in the future or vice versa.<br />
8. Pictures are nice, but remember to put the camera down see the world throw your own eyes.<br />
9. Sometimes it is nice to not be connected to WIFI.<br />
10. It's okay if you don't visit the essential sites in a city; it is an excuse to go back.<br />
11. Eastern European is very underrated.<br />
12. Eat Cevapi in Bosnia.<br />
13. Stay in a 14 person dorm in a hostel....you will always meet cool people.<br />
14. Traveling with friends is awesome, but nothing beats traveling solo.<br />
15. Instead of visiting 7 cities in 10 days, visit 3 and truly experience them rather than checking them off your list.<br />
16. We are very fortunate to have English as our first language.<br />
17. Pay a little extra for a train reservation to get a bed on an overnight train.<br />
18. If you have a funny feeling about a place or situation you are usually right and it is time to leave.<br />
19. Listen to your peers when they tell you not to visit a city, especially if it’s Podgorica.<br />
20. Wait to go to Paris with your lover.<br />
21. Cinque Terre is incredible.<br />
22. If there is a beach nearby, go to it.<br />
23. The media always over-exaggerates things.<br />
24. You might think you’re invincible, but try to remember you're not.<br />
25. There is so much more to Amsterdam than sex, drugs, and alcohol.<br />
26. Sometimes it's okay to be a tourist, but it's usually better to be a traveler.<br />
27. Allow yourself to be uncomfortable; it usually ends up being an interesting experience.<br />
28. Live for the stories.<br />
29. Neck pillows are lifesavers.<br />
30. Watch as many sunsets as possible.<br />
31. It is always helpful to learn military time.<br />
32. Drink with the locals.<br />
33. Go to a city none of your friends have heard about.<br />
34.
DO NOT FILL OUT ANY PAPERS FROM THE GYPSIES IN PARIS BY THE EIFFEL
TOWER, also do not allow them to put a bracelet on your wrist.<br />
35. If your friend is snoring in the hostel or on the train, wake them up or plug their nose. Everyone will thank you.<br />
36. Cliff jumping is always fun, just remember to point your toes.<br />
37. Go for a bike ride, even if it ends up being 30 miles long to an abandon rice field.<br />
38. The most fun I've had has been with a group of people who do not speak English.<br />
39. If you go to Istanbul, buy your visa online before you arrive. You will thank me.<br />
40. Live your life and don't worry about what you are missing at home. Life at home continues whether you're there or not.<br />
41. Always smile at people walking by you, even if they think it is weird.<br />
42. Invite a stranger to eat lunch with you, even if they have a bunch of tattoos, colorful hair, and face piercings.<br />
43. Europe is full of beautiful churches; spend your time seeing other things.<br />
44. Croatia is truly amazing.<br />
45.
When traveling alone, do not be afraid to invite yourself places. If
someone doesn't want you coming they will tell you, but chances are your
presence is always welcome.<br />
46. Sometimes it’s okay to spend a day being lazy with your new friends.<br />
47. It's never too early to start drinking, especially in Munich.<br />
48. Hike up a mountain, even if it means you have to create your own path. Just watch out for falling rocks.<br />
49. Asian tourists are everywhere. They are also some of the friendliest tourists you'll meet.<br />
50. If you want to feel at home, visit London.<br />
51. Ham and Sangria are the perfect hangover cure, so are churros.<br />
52.
Forget everything you thought you knew about a country. Chances are
after you visit you will have a completely new perception.<br />
53. Get used to having to pay for the bathroom, if you don't like it then go to Eastern Europe.<br />
54.
RyanAir isn't that bad, just buy the 5 euro pre-boarding pass and maybe
you'll even get the cute flight attendants phone number.<br />
55. Sometimes it is nice not being able to understand the people's conversation sitting next to you.<br />
56. Allow yourself to get lost in a city.<br />
57. 3<b>€</b> wine isn't that bad, neither is a 2L bottle of $4 beer.<br />
58. A tight budget isn't a good excuse to not travel. You can live off cheese and bread and find cheap hostels.<br />
59. The more places the visit; the more you realize there is so much more to see.<br />
60. A travel journal is always a good investment.<br />
61. You will never be as young as you are today.<br />
62. Scandinavia is completely worth a visit!<br />
63. Always adapt to the current situation, even if it means you have to check into a 4-star hotel at 3AM.<br />
64. The more you travel the longer you can hold a conversation.<br />
65.
Send postcards to your friends and family back home. Everyone loves
receiving mail and it is one of the cheapest and most cherished gifts
you can send.<br />
66. You should always carry a deck of cards.<br />
67. You will meet Australians everywhere you go and yes they do live up to their reputation.<br />
68. You should try to become comfortable being alone. There is a difference from loneliness and being alone.<br />
69. Just because you are best friends, does not mean you are best travel companions.<br />
70. Always say thank you. Most people will truly appreciate it.<br />
71. You don't usually need to tip, but if you decide to you might make someone's day.<br />
72. It's not the end of the world if you have to resort to Mac Donald’s.<br />
73. Never eat fried mussels off the street. It will not end well for you or anyone around you.<br />
74. Don’t worry if you get chased down the street in Florence…at least it made for a good story.<br />
75. YOLO has become a universal phrase.<br />
76. Don’t worry if you gain some weight; at least you are eating delicious food.<br />
77.
Always exchange books with fellow followers, except if you’re reading
50 Shades of Grey, then be careful who you exchange that with.<br />
78. Sometimes you need a rainy day.<br />
79. Get used to not having dishwasher disposals and dryers.<br />
80. Open-minded, optimistic people are some of the best travelers.<br />
81. You can make a drinking game out of just about anything.<br />
82. People watching is one of the most entertaining ways to spend your day.<br />
83.
Google maps works without WIFI (well you have to open it in WIFI, but
you can still use it when you leave). So does Trip Advisor Cities.<br />
84. Travel light. It is okay to re-wear clothes, no one will even notice.<br />
85. Traveling will change you like little else can.<br />
86. When walking through a new city remember to look up once in a while. You never know what you're going to see.<br />
87. Skinny dipping is always a great idea….if it is cold make sure you have a couple drinks before hand.<br />
88. Do not wear heels if the roads are made of cobblestone.<br />
89. Always carry Chap Stick.<br />
90. Becoming a good storyteller is essential to sharing your experience.<br />
91. People will respect you more if you attempt to speak their language, even if it is just “hello” or “thank you.”<br />
92. Foreign accents will always be sexy.<br />
93. The Greeks are the friendliest and have the best food.<br />
94. The world is a small, yet very large place.<br />
95.
Even though you ask everyone the same questions when traveling, each
person has their own interesting story to share, so listen to them.<br />
96. Volunteering in a hostel is a great way stay abroad, save money, and meet awesome people.<br />
97. No matter what city you’re in, you will most likely always find an Irish pub.<br />
98. It is important to try new things, meet new people, and look beyond what's right in front of you.<br />
99. The friends you make abroad will inspire you in a way no one else will.<br />
100. It's much better to get bit by the travel bug, rather than a bed bug.<br />
101. The world is a beautiful place and we should explore as much of it as we can!Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-77952783924838914692014-06-30T06:42:00.005-07:002014-06-30T06:43:24.920-07:00Life at Casa d'Alagoa<span style="font-family: inherit;">A couple months ago I committed to working for one month in a city I've never heard of at a hostel I've never been to and it was one of the best decisions I've made! I knew I wanted to spend part of my summer in a sunny city near the beach, so Faro, Portugal was the obvious choice (after researching where Faro was located). I exchanged a couple e-mails with one of my bosses before arriving, but I had no idea what to expect. On May 28th I walked into Casa d'Alagoa and immediately I felt at home.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Faro is a pretty small town in the Algarve, which is Portugal premier summer destination. It is located along the Ria Formosa Lagoon and has many awesome islands to visit. Another staffer, Brent, and I went with two guests to check out Ilha Deserta (a deserted island). It was about a 40 minute ferry ride and was a beautiful day! We walked along the beach for hours collecting seashells and enjoying the sunshine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQMY6CHVj13DFJyu-35WOP9OoOWMG8olfD8NRuEeOvjqpU2X10dCPrqMYmjPPbm2vUk5lH-nGT5ggNvM3fHgcWfELx0V_twz-HIfsy0JdXG2necyfDqOI4hlXtNGT8X3rNi_UuINrtyxmk/s1600/10406666_10152597851794750_6009400199204642679_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQMY6CHVj13DFJyu-35WOP9OoOWMG8olfD8NRuEeOvjqpU2X10dCPrqMYmjPPbm2vUk5lH-nGT5ggNvM3fHgcWfELx0V_twz-HIfsy0JdXG2necyfDqOI4hlXtNGT8X3rNi_UuINrtyxmk/s1600/10406666_10152597851794750_6009400199204642679_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The hostel is in a great location in town and has the perfect homey feel! It has a very chill vibe that makes it easy to meet everyone and the owners, Nuno and Diogo, are awesome! Every Saturday we have a piri-piri chicken BBQ with all you can drink sangria. We cook dinner every night and on Sundays the staff creates the menu. It is actually one of the best hostels I've been to and I'm not just saying that because I work here. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">When I first
arrived there were nine other helpers and slowly but surely they all left while
new helpers arrived. Throughout the month I worked with Germans,
Canadians, Scottish, American, Australian, Irish, Spanish, Russian, and
Portuguese people (and that is just the nationality of all the different staff,
I can’t even begin to describe all of our guests). By the end of the month we
were all family. I’ve been to camp before so I know how close people can get in
a short period of time, but this is the first time I experienced that in a work
environment. It allowed me to appreciate positive group dynamics and effective
teamwork. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The work
wasn’t too hard. The first two weeks I was on cleaning and while I don’t
particularly enjoy scrubbing toilets it was fairly easy and the hours were not
bad. Lets just say I am going to make a great wife now. After cleaning I moved
to reception, which I enjoyed much more. It was a bit challenging because you
have a lot of responsibility dealing with all of the money, but you get the
hang of it after a couple days. It was nice because I knew almost all of the
guests names from checking them in and when I didn’t have any reservations or
money to invoice I was able to socialize with the guests. I worked a lot of
night shifts from 1:00AM-9:00AM, but they were not too bad. It was always funny
to watch the guests come home at 5:00AM after being at the bar all night. They
definitely kept me entertained during those early hours. Working at the hostel
made me appreciate all the hard work that goes into keeping a successful hostel
running. It made me realize that the people cleaning need to be thanked more
often and the people at reception are actually doing more work than just
sitting behind a desk. It allowed me to interact with over 500 guests from all
over the world! Now how many people can say they had that experience? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">I was
definitely not ready to leave, but that is what happens when you make prior
commitments. Thank you Nuno, Diogo, Matyna, Claudia, Alexandra, and the helper
team for making this amazing experience unforgettable! I hope to see you all
somewhere else around the world. You are all invited to come to Florida, but
until then cheers and thank you again! </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">"Casa d'Alagoa- where you treat your
friends like family and your family like friends"</span></i></span></div>
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<br />Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-88975587913961880372014-06-27T09:19:00.000-07:002014-06-27T09:19:29.272-07:00New Beginnings<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">"Every end is a new beginning."</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It was crazy to think that after nine months it was time to leave Dubrovnik. Fortunately for me that did not mean leaving Europe. During the next two months I will be volunteering at a hostel in Faro, Portugal and staffing a BBYO Teen Tour around Belgium, Holland, England, France, Slovenia, and Italy.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Some people think I'm crazy and maybe I am, but I figured when will I every get these opportunities again. </div>
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Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-73247661829630788202014-06-20T08:10:00.000-07:002014-06-20T08:10:15.949-07:00Thank You, Dubrovnik!Ten months ago I was sitting in my study abroad adviser’s office
crying. It was a mixture of happy tears and nervous tears, mostly
nervous tears. I was leaving for Dubrovnik in one week and I still
didn’t know where I was going to live. Along with thinking that I was
going be homeless in a foreign city, I was also nervous about going to
this new university where I directly enrolled by myself.<br />
<br />
It’s safe
to say that I worried for no reason. I did find a place to live (after
moving apartments 5 times) and I even extended my study abroad to an
entire year. I fell in love with a city that most people have never
heard about and I made the best of friends. I was able to experience a
small private university and learn build relationships with my
professors and faculty members. I learned more in one year of study
abroad than I have the past two years in university. I experienced the
city when it was crowded with tourists and when I was the only person
walking down the street. I became friends with the locals and can’t wait
to reunite with them somewhere else around the world. I watched
countless sunsets. The beach became my second home. Everyday was a new
adventure and I lived for the stories. The only way to describe my
experience is ironically as indescribable.<br />
<br />
Thank you, Dubrovnik
for surrounding me with amazing people, for teaching me how to eat an
oyster, for allowing me to live in Paradise, for teaching me to
appreciate the little things, and for giving me an experience of a
lifetime.<br />
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Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-73168212429024139152014-06-20T08:05:00.001-07:002014-06-20T09:14:17.545-07:00Discovering My Inner Greek GoddessWhen I decided to study in Croatia my mom made it clear that she was more excited for me to visit Greece than anywhere else. Finally, after nine months of searching for flights to Greece I came across a deal that I couldn't pass up. I was able to get a round-trip flight from Dubrovnik to Athens for 115<span class="st">€! I booked the flight thinking I was going by myself, but my friend Julia ended up coming with me because I went to Scandinavia with her, which I am so thankful for! Usually I enjoy traveling by myself, but I quickly realized Greece is not the place for solo travelers. </span><br />
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<span class="st">With only one week in Greece we had to decide which islands we wanted to spend our time. After much thought we came to the conclusion that Mykonos and Santorini were the winners. We flew into Athens and had to spend the night there in order to catch our ferry the next morning to Mykonos. The first thing we noticed in Athens was the police on every street. We weren't sure if this should've made us feel safe with them around or nervous with the fact that hey needed to be everywhere. After walking for about 30 minutes to find our hostel we realized we were lost. A nice police man helped us find our way and we finally made it to the hostel. We only stayed at the hostel for a couple hours before heading to the ferry and we met Myriam, the nicest person in Athens!She arranged for out 5:15 AM taxi and then we were on our way!</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st"><b>Mykonos</b></span><br />
<span class="st">Our adventure began with a four-hour ferry from Athens to Mykonos. The ferry felt more like a mini cruise ship. It had a lounge area, a deck to walk outside, a mini restaurant, and a store. We didn't realize that the ferry stopped at a couple ports before arriving in Mykonos. We arrived at a port and almost everyone on the ferry lined up to get off, so naturally we lined up with everyone, got off the ferry, and looked for our transfer to our hotel. After a couple minutes of looking around we asked a taxi driver where the transfer to Paradise Beach would be. He then started talking in Greek to us and we couldn't understand anything he was saying. Finally I understood "Not Mykonos." We ran back to the ferry as they were about to leave the port and re-boarded just in time before we were stranded on an unknown island. </span><br />
<span class="st"><b> </b></span><br />
<span class="st">After an eventful ferry ride, we finally got to Mykonos where we found our shuttle to Paradise Beach Resort! A place where you can combine relaxing on the beach and partying at a beach club at the same time. We stayed in a cute little bungalow located 2 minutes walking from the beach. We had three full days to spend in Mykonos which would be split between hanging out on the beach and exploring the main town in Mykonos. </span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">Our days at the beach were spent relaxing in lounge chairs, eating gyros, enjoying the all-day happy hour at Guapaloca, swimming in the Mediterranean, having breakfast in bed, dancing, taking GoPro selfies, and just enjoying life! </span><br />
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The only way to describe Mykonos Town is as out of a story tale. It is so cute that it almost looks fake. We explored all of the little side streets, ate two delicious meals, made new friends, met our future husband-Valentino, and watched a beautiful sunset. While we were watching the sunset, two American girls asked us to take their picture and naturally we started having a conversation with them. Taking a picture turned into a new friendship. After watching the sunset we all explored town together and enjoyed a fantastic dinner together. It turns out that Taylor and Kemi were also both Pi Phis! What a small world! <br />
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<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st"><b>Santorini</b></span><br />
<span class="st">Leaving Mykonos wasn't that horrible considering that we were making our way to another beautiful island. The ferry from Mykonos to Santorini was much different than our first ferry from Athens. It was set up like an airplane with crammed seats and it had very unorganized luggage system. Fortunately the ferry wasn't too long and before we knew it we were arriving at the port. We met two girls who stayed at Paradise Beach and were also staying at the same hostel in Santorini so we all split a cab and ventured on together. The weather on the first day was a bit on the rainy side, but we didn't let that affect us. We explored Perissa Beach and decided to head into Fira, which is one of the main towns. We turned a rainy day into a happy day by enjoying a fish spa therapy at the Kissing Fish. We put our feet into a tub of fish that would eat the dead skin and bacteria off our toes and legs. It was ticklish for the first 30 seconds, but then you got used to it. We left with very soft feet!</span><br />
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<span class="st">Our second day consisted of exploring Santorini via ATVs! We rented one ATV for the day and literally explored the entire Island from bottom to top! We found a starfish, a sunflower field, and Red Beach. We also went to the famous town of Oia to watch the sunset! Oia is the town where Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was filmed and is what everyone thinks about when they think of Greece. </span><br />
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<span class="st">Our last day in Santorini was spent on Perissa Beach, which is an awesome black sand beach! There are restaurants and bars located all along it so again we were served breakfast in bed on the beach. Life doesn't get better than that! While we were walking to the beach we also ran into Taylor and Kemi sitting at the same restaurant as us! We spent the last couple hours with our new friends enjoying the sunshine in Paradise!</span><br />
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<span class="st">After spending five days in Paradise it was time to start our journey back to Dubrovnik, but before hopping on the plane home we were able to spend a full day exploring Athens. After an eight hour ferry from Santorini to Athens we arrived at our hostel late at night. The next day we were able to visit the Parthenon and just be tourists for the day. While we were walking around town we met a local business owner. He started talking to us while we were walking past his store and naturally we ignored him. He then said something that caught our attention. He asked where we were from and then told us he used to live in South Carolina. He then brought us into his store and showed us a collection of business cards he has from Local Greek people who moved to America and opened businesses there. He even had one from Boca Raton! He was the nicest person and he even told us we could marry his very attractive son. He gave us Athens magnets and pinched our cheeks goodbye. </span><br />
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<span class="st"><span class="st"> In the short time we spent in our hostel we made a new Aussie friend, his name is Angus and he was our roommate for the night. Angus's brother, Lachlan, happened to be in Dubrovnik so he put us in touch. A couple days later we were hanging out with Lachlan in Dubrovnik. Now fast forward one month...I ran into both Angus and Lachlan in Lagos, Portugal! Europe is actually a really small place!</span></span><br />
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<span class="st"><b> </b>Greece is a lot different than how the movies depict it to be. There is much more to offer to the islands than just white buildings with blue roofs. Greece was everything I hoped it would be and much more. The people are wonderful, the food is delicious, and the towns are beautiful. Greece is being added to my list of favorite countries and I can't wait to go back!</span>Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-61717216147605929602014-06-11T05:19:00.001-07:002014-06-11T05:19:37.978-07:00The Tourists are BackDubrovnik is a city that completely runs on tourism. When I first
arrived in September I could barely walk through the Stradun (main
street). I would have to leave my apartment 10 minutes early just to
walk to class that is usually 3-5 minutes away. Dubrovnik has 2 main
ports that together can hold at least 5 cruise ships at once. Imagine
yourself walking through Old town with the small streets filled with
passengers from 5 different cruise ships- it is chaos! <br />
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From November to March there was not a single cruise ship. The town was
empty and it was oddly peaceful. Many of the cafes, bars, restaurants,
and stores closed down for off season. Most importantly ALL of the
gelato shops closed! The cafes and bars that are still open usually
lower their prices during these months. There is a bakery we regularly
visit and the women working did not realize Monika (my roommate) speaks
Croatian. She overheard them talking to each other asking “why are there
still Americans here?” It is very strange for locals to see a group of
foreigners during these months. While it was quiet during this time, it
was nice. There were still plenty of cafes and bars to keep us busy. We
felt like locals who owned the city. Also, our Croatian friends were not
working, because they only work during tourist season, which meant we
were able to hangout all the time!<br />
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It is the middle of May and the tourists are back in action. The first
of hundreds of cruise ships arrived on April 1st. It is nice because
everything is open again. There is a restaurant that opened right next
to our apartment and they always let us borrow a cork screw. We have
become best friends with the owner of a gelato store and he gives us
half priced gelato. We still know of the cafes that keep their prices
the same as they were during off-season. All of the beach bars are open
again and all of the kayaking companies are running again. The city is
full of new and interesting people, which we are always able to meet on a
night out.<br />
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The two seasons are like black and white. They make Dubrovnik feel like
two completely different cities and I am fortunate enough to have been
able to experience both! They allowed me to have different experiences
during different times of the year, which is something very new to me.
It was quite exciting and interesting to witness the transformation of
the city, especially because when I lived in Florence two summers ago I
only experienced tourist season which I feel inhibited me from a truly
getting to enjoy the city. Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-43459275150547860402014-05-13T10:49:00.001-07:002014-05-13T12:48:15.516-07:00Spring Break in Scandinavia<style>
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This trip was planned very last minute. I never thought I
would make it to Scandinavia during this trip to Europe. A couple months ago I
booked a flight to Greece by myself, and my mom wasn’t very pleased that I was
going by myself. My friend Julia jokingly said “If you come to Scandinavia with
me then I’ll come to Greece with you.” And just like that I was booking my
flights to Scandinavia for spring break. </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Copenhagen, Denmark</b></div>
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Our time spent in Copenhagen was perfect! Every decision we
made worked out for the best! It was truly a happy city and now one of my
favorite cities in Europe!
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day 1:</b> We began
our trip with a free walking tour around Copenhagen. Normally free walking
tours get a little boring after a while, but our guide, PJ, made the three
hours worth wild. He gave us a brief history lesson about the Vikings and about
Denmark and he also showed us basically the entire city. After the tour it was
time for lunch. We were relying on the Trip Advisor City Guides app (if you
haven’t downloaded yet, I highly suggest it) for restaurant suggestions. After
an hour of looking at different menus and prices we found the winner, Paludan’s
Book Café. It was set up like an antique library and had delicious food at a
reasonable price. Oh I forgot to mention that Scandinavia is the most expensive
region in Europe, with a normal meal costing about $20. Later that night we
went to Tivoli Gardens. It is Europe’s third largest amusement park and it is
also the amusement park that Disney World is modeled after. We were even able
to swing over the city at sunset! It was an awesome ending to a perfect day!<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day 2</b>: Again,
another perfect day (you’ll hear that about everyday of the trip). The morning
started out with a hunt for bagels. We stumbled upon a little restaurant, which
deserves the award for best customer service in Europe. Not only was our
breakfast amazing, Deborah, the woman working behind the counter, became our
best friend. She was so kind and helpful and even gave us the local
discounts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We took our bagels to the
harbor and enjoyed a beautiful view. Along with a beautiful view, we also got
to listen to an awesome street band called Pavement Orchestra. Not only did
they play well, they were also very cute. We decided to leave them a tip on two
American dollars. We write them a little note telling them to come to America
and said our goodbyes.</div>
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The day continues with a one-hour harbor tour. Not only was
it the perfect amount of time, but we also saw the famous Little Mermaid statue
and found our future glass apartments. The next help of our day was probably
the most interesting experience in Copenhagen. We went to visit the infamous
Christiania. Christiania is known as a “free town” in Denmark. They have their
own flag, which you can see below. They claimed to have left the European Union
and are regulated under a special law. It is unique hippie town with just over
800 residents. There is awesome graffiti everywhere and they even have a “green
light” district where Denmark tolerates the selling and buying of marijuana. It
was very interesting to see the different lifestyle and we also enjoyed some
awesome falafel!</div>
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Overall, Copenhagen was the perfect start of our adventure.
It was a beautiful city made up of beautiful locals!
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Oslo, Norway</b></div>
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After an overnight bus from Copenhagen, we arrived in Oslo
at 6:00AM on Sunday morning. We didn’t have high expectations for Oslo. I’m not
exactly sure why, maybe it’s because I’ve never really heard about it. We also
were there for Easter weekend, so we decided to go in with the attitude that
this would be our relaxing city. </div>
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The hostels in Oslo were over $50 and none of them had good
ratings, so we decided to try something new- Couch Surfing. Couch Surfing is a
website that brings together travelers and allows locals to host travelers
coming through their city. It is also a way to meet awesome people and
experience a city through a local’s point-of-view, which is obviously the best
way to see a city. Each host and traveler has a profile where they have to
answer a bunch of questions about themselves and they also have references from
other people they have hosted or have met traveling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After sending about 30 requests to hosts we
got accepted by a girl named Maria. She had a lot positive references and from
reading her profile she seemed like someone Julia and I would get along with. We
accepted the invitation and the journey began. </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day 1: </b></div>
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When we arrived at the bus station we decided to wait a
couple hours before heading to Maria’s apartment because it was so early. There
were some interesting characters waiting with us. The man sitting next to Julia
spit on the floor inside the building right next to Julia’s foot. Maria’s place
was only a 15 min walk from the bus station, but we got lost and ended up
walking in a huge circle. After 45 mins of wandering around Oslo we finally
found her apartment. She greeted us, let us shower, and introduced us to her
Italian friend who moved to Oslo to juggle. From the start we knew this would
be a good experience. Maria spoke perfect English because her mom is from
America, but the people in Scandinavia in general all speak perfect English. </div>
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After refreshing up a bit Maria had to go to work, so she
gave us some tips about the city and we began our adventure for the day. After
eating at a cute café we made out way to the famous sculpture park. The walk
was so nice…and so long. On our way we stumbled upon the Royal Palace and the
Embassy section. It was interesting how you could walk 20 mins and be in a
completely different part of the city. We walked through a gorgeous
neighborhood and picked our future houses. After walking for about an hour we
finally arrived at the park. Since it was Easter the park was filled with
families, cute babies, and playful dogs. We wandered around the park and
enjoyed looking at the 200+ funny sculptures of people. We then plopped down on
a grassy hill and took a nice nap. The sun was shining, people were laughing,
dogs were barking, and it was clear blue skies. It was perfect!</div>
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Delicious food can always make you love a city a little bit
more. Thanks to our handy Trip Advisor app we were able to find an awesome
tapas restaurant full of locals. Our waiter was beautiful and the entire menu
was in Norwegian so he just decided out entire meal for us, included cava
sangrias. Definitely one of the best meals I’ve eaten in Europe! </div>
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It didn’t get dark until 9:30PM! It would be really cool to
live here in the summer, but we were told that during the winter it gets light
at 10:00AM and dark at 3:00PM, so if you have a regular job you never see
sunlight…I don’t think I could handle that. Later that night we took Maria and
her roommate out for a drink to thank them for having us. Some of their other
friends joined us out who were also really fun people. There were some places
we couldn’t even get into because the age to enter was 23 year old! Crazy
stuff! We went to an outdoor bar/club, where it was the first time I’ve
experienced the guys leaving the girls at the table to go dance. It was so fun
and so different than America. It was definitely another happy day!
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day 2:</b>
</div>
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Our first night Couch Surfing meant legitimately sleeping on
a couch and on a cot, but it also meant being able to sleep until noon. We
decided today was going to be a very relaxing day, because it was technically
still a holiday so everything was closed. Maria made us a yummy little
breakfast and after chilling and talking with Maria and her roommate it was
time to say our goodbyes. She let us keep our backpacks at her house until we
needed to go to the airport later and gave us a key to leave in her mailbox
when we left. Having our own key made us feel like locals. </div>
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On this sunny, warm day we thought it would be a good idea
to relax on top of the famous opera house. The opera house is situated right
along the harbor and has a slanted roof so hundreds of people just hangout
there all the time. We lied on the roof for a couple hours listening to music
and tanning. It officially felt like spring break! After relaxing on the opera
house we made our way to the fortress also situated along the harbor, which
again was beautiful and sunny. Dinnertime rolled around and we knew exactly
what we wanted- juicy cheeseburgers! We walked to the restaurant that we knew
had good cheeseburgers only to find the server telling us he ran out of food
for Easter. We ended up eating at McDonalds, but that is okay because it was
much cheaper.</div>
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After picking up our bags from Maria’s we went back to the
opera house, sat on our backpacks, and enjoyed sunset. Since our flight was at
6:00AM and we would’ve had to arrive to the airport around 4:00AM we decided it
was best to just sleep at the airport. We went to the bus station to catch our
airport shuttle and somehow we missed the first one, but that was okay since we
had many hours until our flight. If the worst thing to happen to us so far was
missing a shuttle and having to wait another 30 mins for the next one, then I’d
say our trip was going pretty well! We arrived at the airport, situated
ourselves on the couches at the closed Starbucks, and entertained ourselves
until our early flight.</div>
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In the end we had a fantastic, happy, and relaxing time there.
It might not be my favorite city, but it is still a beautiful, diverse, and sunny
city. Oslo surprised me in a good way. We met people we never would have met
otherwise and had a fabulous time Couch Surfing with Maria. I don’t think I
will ever come back, but I am very pleased with my time spent there.
</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stockholm, Sweden</b></div>
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The moment we arrived in our hostel in Stockholm, City
Backpackers Hostel, we knew it was going to be a great experience. They let us
check-in early, our roommates were Israelis, and they gave check-out chocolate
to everyone who was leaving as we arrived. We spent 4 nights in Stockholm, so
instead of going day-by-day, I’m going to highlight the best parts of our time
there. </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">City Backpackers: </b>Definitely
the best hostel I’ve ever stayed at! Not only was it in the perfect location,
it also had awesome staff, comfy beds, free pasta for anyone to cook, and a very
social environment! Our experience would not have been the same if we stayed
anywhere else. It felt like home and we were sad to leave. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One night we came home from the bar with some
other people in the hostel and we walked into the kitchen where a guy from
Slovakia was playing the cello, a guy from Argentina was playing the saxophone,
and a girl from Israel was doing contemporary dance to go along with their
music. It was incredible and only in a hostel will you experience such
creativity and unity. </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Getting cultured: </b>After
a couple days of relaxing in Oslo it was time to have some fun being active in
Stockholm. Our hostel had a “Swedish meatball experience night” where we
learned how to make Swedish meatballs and had a fabulous dinner! We also went
on a 3-hour bike tour with our hostel around the city. During the tour we biked
up to an overlook to stop for some coffee, which was the highlight of the tour.
While Julia was having a Skype interview I went on a free walking tour of the
Old Town with some people from the hostel. The Old Town was so cute and quaint
and our guide had a really funny accent because he was from Arkansas. One night
we participated in the hostel’s pub-crawl and went to different bars around the
city…that was an interesting night. Since we had 4 full days in the city we
also walked to a lot of parks around the city and sat by the water. Stockholm
was filled with interesting and beautiful people, so people watching was also
an experience in itself.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Proud to be an
American: </b>the game started in Copenhagen, but continued throughout our
trip. Everyday we would count how many people were wearing New York Yankee hats
or things with American flags on them. In 2 hours we counted over 45 people. We
went to a voodoo shop and while we were talking with a woman she explained to
us how there used to be a bit of an anti-American feeling in Scandinavia, but
recently it has shifted to a more positive view.
</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">New Friends: </b>A
Scottish guy called Julia and I the friendly Americans because we talked to
everyone in the hostel. We met so many interesting and fun people that I even
have a page in my journal with all of their names and a description about each
other them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The list is made up of 30
different people and the countries consist of Israel, Australia, Argentina,
Spain, Switzerland, England, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, and America. The
Australian guys actually came to Dubrovnik after and I was able to show them
all around the city! I love hostels for this exact reason; you never know whom
you’ll meet and you never know when you’ll run into someone somewhere else
around the world. </div>
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Stockholm treated us so well! I can’t decide if I like
Stockholm or Copenhagen better, so I’m just not going to choose. Scandinavia is
officially my favorite part of Europe! It is definitely very expensive and if
someone were traveling on a tight budget I would recommend Eastern Europe, but
I think everyone should visit Scandinavia at some point in his or her life. It
is a beautiful region, with friendly locals who all speak English, and offers
much to see! </div>
Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-67719210847190963382014-05-13T08:24:00.001-07:002014-05-13T08:24:33.236-07:00Exploring Eastern Europe<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve wanted to do a trip around Eastern Europe since I
arrived in Croatia in September. When I came back to school I found out again
that I had three magical weeks of no class. I decided to stay in Dubrovnik for
a little while to just hang out and relax, but the consisted of sitting inside
watching movies because it was raining all day. I had enough of the rain, so I
packed my backpack and began my journey with a bus ride from Dubrovnik to
Sarajevo.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">My main reasoning for this journey was to visit two of my
friends Puki and Rebekah and to meet the Jewish communities in Sofia, Bulgaria
and Skopje, Macedonia. In order to get to these cities I was able to experience
a couple other places along the way.</span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">When I told my mom my travel plans of course her first
reaction was “please do not go by yourself” and “please be safe.” I had to
remind her that I have been in Europe for five months and nothing bad has
happened to me, but after being in America for two days during my winter break
my mom’s car was broken into and my wallet was stolen. Many people have a
dangerous view of Eastern Europe. Yes, I agree that we must always be aware of
our surroundings and be safe and smart when we travel, but I think many people
forget that big western European cities like Paris and Madrid are dangerous
too.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina</b></span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">
</span></strong>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">I failed to mention this part to my parents, but at the time
of this trip there were many protests and riots going on in Sarajevo because
the citizens were tired of their corrupt government and low unemployment rate.
I even got a message from my study abroad advisor about a travel alert in
Sarajevo....oops. It’s okay; I am home safe and alive. I only went to Sarajevo
for one night because it was my connection to Belgrade. The owner of the hostel
was nice enough to pick me up from the bus station because the main roads were
closed during protesting times. During my one day there I ate delicious cevapi
and bought homemade slippers. It was the first time I was the only person in
the hostel, but that was okay because I stole all the pillows off the empty
beds. The next day is when the trip really started.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGD9FaxNkrYWMAXDU-BZ9qWcxR2eNPiq4nb_5va6A4i1tzEtU7jWnp5GZ203lr2XTGveDBSzdPFZhv94jTUHNlCBzR7V9O2Jv0TqPjMi3dwLSB8CDshuxCdeV3CBm4VltDdBUMTxJcHS1G/s1600/IMG_6360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGD9FaxNkrYWMAXDU-BZ9qWcxR2eNPiq4nb_5va6A4i1tzEtU7jWnp5GZ203lr2XTGveDBSzdPFZhv94jTUHNlCBzR7V9O2Jv0TqPjMi3dwLSB8CDshuxCdeV3CBm4VltDdBUMTxJcHS1G/s1600/IMG_6360.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Belgrade, Serbia</b></span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">For those who don’t know, Serbia and Croatia were at war
with each other twenty years ago. There are two sides to every story, but I
have been taught that Serbia started the war, but if you ask a Serb they will
justify their actions for trying to keep Yugoslavia together, either way they
both strongly dislike each other. When I told people in Croatia I was going to
Belgrade (the capital of Serbia) I got mixed reactions. The younger generations
would tell me that Belgrade was an awesome place to party, while the older
generations told me not to go there.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMhNqnfPZ-RYAy-ZJGb2Gb6YscXIUEtXmna6BIzKw-vQLjwlEVa1RsIzDqiATf5qbgg2qKiKtoxmtKjwdHt6cevTRQvosfKlQwfcfdUyOp1t6zFPADZIEEe1_FApqa04uUW9V_FapUJxq/s1600/IMG_6374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMhNqnfPZ-RYAy-ZJGb2Gb6YscXIUEtXmna6BIzKw-vQLjwlEVa1RsIzDqiATf5qbgg2qKiKtoxmtKjwdHt6cevTRQvosfKlQwfcfdUyOp1t6zFPADZIEEe1_FApqa04uUW9V_FapUJxq/s1600/IMG_6374.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span id="goog_2084755911"></span> </span>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">When I first arrived in Belgrade it was a grey, cloudy day
and there were only 4 other people in the hostel. I was beginning to
regret my decision of doing this trip during off-season by myself. I also
arrived on Valentines Day, which is not the best day for solo travelers to
experience a city. My crazy Friday night consisted of trying a local food,
pljeskavica, which is basically a big hamburger on a plate), and watching a
couple episodes of Girls and the Wolf of Wall Street at the hostel with some
other travelers.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Saturday was a beautiful day with blue skies, sunshine, and
warm weather! I decided to give Belgrade another chance. I started my day
walking down the main pedestrian street. It is a huge street full of happy
people, many stores and cafes, and no cars. I’m not sure if it was the nice
weather, but everyone was outside. It was really hard to not smile while
walking down the street and observing my surroundings. You would see cute
little children running around, people playing with their dogs everywhere, and
many freelance musicians playing wonderful music. My breakfast even consisted
of chocolate and fruit fondue at a chocolate café. After that I knew it was
going to be a good day.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFMBiqyQsjhgwsoqM4KbfCwr9nK6JBFgcezBXdowOZrqlFWnAd99PpoahnyV06VRu4Gz1xfMWxdDZb21s1Mdk7x5cx7fbAv8Nwfu0lZ1PPOpl-5_lVh5jEadGD8VwcslmQ3GHKAOR88yQY/s1600/IMG_7652.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFMBiqyQsjhgwsoqM4KbfCwr9nK6JBFgcezBXdowOZrqlFWnAd99PpoahnyV06VRu4Gz1xfMWxdDZb21s1Mdk7x5cx7fbAv8Nwfu0lZ1PPOpl-5_lVh5jEadGD8VwcslmQ3GHKAOR88yQY/s1600/IMG_7652.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9GiKr6_6T6PvbtZgBYWVQiMOcCFdA1jswRbI1UonGlh8Gf9IbuzHptaBuPYgHhiL9EyNdUyRQRnL79tha5LyuBoHwRnCWUUfMSIji7AZ0WMXc1nDPiiT2GYOuUomVUgnTNZxC9OskvfZk/s1600/IMG_7645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9GiKr6_6T6PvbtZgBYWVQiMOcCFdA1jswRbI1UonGlh8Gf9IbuzHptaBuPYgHhiL9EyNdUyRQRnL79tha5LyuBoHwRnCWUUfMSIji7AZ0WMXc1nDPiiT2GYOuUomVUgnTNZxC9OskvfZk/s1600/IMG_7645.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">I met a guy named Oliver while I was wandering around. He
was born in Dubrovnik, raised in Holland because his family was placed as
refugees there during the war, and is now working with the EU in Serbia. The
pedestrian street leads all the way down to the fortress, which also serves as
a big park that overlooks the river. We sat for coffee at the fortress and he
tried explaining to me the history and politics of Belgrade and how it has
served at the capital for seven different empires. After a while it all became
so confusing that I was totally lost. We spent the day chatting over coffee and
walking around the fortress. We even got to watch the sunset in Belgrade and it
was beautiful of course! We went to “the best” sausage restaurant in Belgrade.
For just $2 it was definitely one of the best meals I’ve had in Eastern Europe.
I said goodbye to my new friend and headed back to the hostel. Some people from
the hostel and myself decided to experience Belgrade’s nightlife, which we realized
was hard to do if you didn’t know the right place to go. Every bar we walked
into was completely full. We met a local named Danko and he came with us to one
of his favorite bars. We sat for hours chatting and tasting their home brewed
beers. At one point I went to the bathroom and one of the girls standing in
line noticed that I didn’t speak Serbian. She was really nice and in her broken
English she asked me what brought me to Belgrade. I tried to explain that I
study in Croatia and wanted to travel Eastern Europe. After our short
conversation she was returning to her table and she said to me “Bye, you are so
nice and have a good time in Belgrade because it is way better than Croatia and
I don’t like Croatia.” I had very mixed feelings after that interaction. She
was so nice and didn’t say anything wrong, but it was very interesting, as an
outsider, to experience the smallest aspect of hate within this ongoing
internal conflict between Serbia and Croatia.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXdcxn2U5ks9q-79bcXR0jfawGT4fThCk-Q0I9-kXyFPJ6OFXn2OLxiKvP-YNNtRANAzkRChZxDt8rmmTXq2ORIjjdKkFq2AcR1I0NKByRcfllTB9L4jN_dJKrJkvAVytI1BvYkrJKC-Q/s1600/IMG_6391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXdcxn2U5ks9q-79bcXR0jfawGT4fThCk-Q0I9-kXyFPJ6OFXn2OLxiKvP-YNNtRANAzkRChZxDt8rmmTXq2ORIjjdKkFq2AcR1I0NKByRcfllTB9L4jN_dJKrJkvAVytI1BvYkrJKC-Q/s1600/IMG_6391.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">The next day a Swedish girl named Marie and I were invited
to hangout with one of the Catalonian guys in our hostel named Jon and his
Serbian girlfriend and her friends. It was a very interesting group dynamic.
Jon and his girlfriend communicated in Spanish, Marie, Jon, and I communicated
in English, and Jon’s girlfriend and her friends communicated in in Serbian
with very little English. It ended up being really fun to hangout with a group
of locals. We walked along to river for a couple hours and ate the biggest
pancakes ever. We would all laugh at each other when we couldn’t understand
what the other was trying to say. Everything would take much longer to
communicate because the friends would first decide where we were going in
Serbian, then Jon’s girlfriend would say it in Spanish, and then Jon would tell
us in English. Overall the day was filled with laughs, broken English,
delicious pancakes, and new friends.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64TlvciOoP-XNuhoAlwW8E1kSE1TU4hnwMc4bOPEHpIINhzLMOwmLPN9gl2WMX48amSgxMucFwQanwNmWHea32ZgB4hhY41I7t_cCkxU6NbLC3_ny56a5KvvhCLEp-yS0tCbZiQganJXl/s1600/IMG_6394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64TlvciOoP-XNuhoAlwW8E1kSE1TU4hnwMc4bOPEHpIINhzLMOwmLPN9gl2WMX48amSgxMucFwQanwNmWHea32ZgB4hhY41I7t_cCkxU6NbLC3_ny56a5KvvhCLEp-yS0tCbZiQganJXl/s1600/IMG_6394.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">I was supposed to stay in Belgrade for only three nights,
but I was enjoying it too much to leave so I extended 1 more night. My last
full day in Belgrade consisted of hanging out with an American named Sam from
our hostel who was studying in Germany. We took a bus to a popular lake and
just walked around and relaxed on the rock beaches for a couple hours. We had
some time before it got dark so we decided to walk back to the hostel. The walk
took an hour and a half, but it was worth it. Sam and I were both heading to
Sofia as our next destination and we were deciding if it was better to take the
bus or train. While we were walking along the river we came across a half
sunken boat with some graffiti on it that was a fish saying, “take the bus.”
Clearly it was a sign. When we arrived back to the hostel we decided to spend
our last night relaxing so we went with Marie and our other American friend
named Eric to the roof bar next to our hostel.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">The next morning I went to buy my bus ticket and realized
that we got the bus schedule wrong, so we had three hours to either sit at the
bus station and wait or go to a café to find WIFI. Clearly we chose the latter
option. Instead of finding a cute Eastern European café we shamefully went to
McDonald’s. I usually do not eat McDonald’s back in America, but there is just
something about the McDonald’s in Europe that appeal to everyone and we do not
have any fast food restaurants in Dubrovnik so it was a must. Maybe they are
just a slight reminder of home or maybe it is fun to see how each country
offers something different. Either way we spent the remainder of our time in
Belgrade feasting on breakfast hash browns and WIFI.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Belgrade might not be the prettiest city in Europe (at least
it had cool art on the doors), but it is one of the liveliest cities I have
experienced (that says a lot considering I’ve visited 35 European cities).</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Noi8NS3NLxrk2BWMBlOykcaM111gFb1zpF8SFu3wbXGp7McwmBox8b8UFT0T8T4OJxYddpX_ndydW0PgWniDBLxfH4uJKFiqOOigCpywYnjnNY62_dzxqW8ppY8fhDbySTy5xX1uCVLT/s1600/IMG_7641.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Noi8NS3NLxrk2BWMBlOykcaM111gFb1zpF8SFu3wbXGp7McwmBox8b8UFT0T8T4OJxYddpX_ndydW0PgWniDBLxfH4uJKFiqOOigCpywYnjnNY62_dzxqW8ppY8fhDbySTy5xX1uCVLT/s1600/IMG_7641.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Sofia, Bulgaria</b></span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong></strong></div>
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<strong></strong></div>
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<strong></strong></div>
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<strong></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">My hostel in Sofia (Hostel Mostel) was only 8€ a night and
it was one of the best hostels I’ve stayed at. It is very rare to find a full
hostel in the middle of February, but Hostel Mostel was just that. I arrived in
the evening and went out with some people from the hostel. We mostly wandered
around not knowing where to go on a Tuesday night and we ended up in an Italian
wine bar… after a glass of wine we all agreed that we should experience
somewhere a little more local. That is when we discovered Art Hostel. I’m not
really used to partying at different hostels other than the one I am staying
at, but Art Hostel was different. It had an underground bar that served as a
hot spot for locals. I wish I took pictures of this place; the walls were
covered in awesome designs, paintings, and doodles!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">The next morning my friend Puki picked me up from the hostel
and gave me a fabulous tour of his city. Puki and I worked together last summer
in Israel, so I was really excited to be able to visit him and meet the BBYO
Bulgarian teens. BBYO is an international Jewish youth group that I was a part
of in high school, so I was really excited to meet the members of the Bulgarian
Jewish community. Bulgaria has a pretty amazing story when it comes to its
Jewish community. Bulgaria is one of two countries (the other being Denmark)
that were allied with the Nazis during WWII that saved its own Jews.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNiqrA1Bf2W_PuyB9uh96SlFZDKMowjHGQd3HgD3PzzsvkHoMo-50Kpe1jlVAlS3VmLx7fIjFBN78hBM-oAzW0aKfb3HdcQYts7Dr_CZawWSUXL9acv68sFHxxHZXn4j3wmLUDus8RkuLA/s1600/IMG_6427.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNiqrA1Bf2W_PuyB9uh96SlFZDKMowjHGQd3HgD3PzzsvkHoMo-50Kpe1jlVAlS3VmLx7fIjFBN78hBM-oAzW0aKfb3HdcQYts7Dr_CZawWSUXL9acv68sFHxxHZXn4j3wmLUDus8RkuLA/s1600/IMG_6427.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span> </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">It is really amazing how much knowledge Europeans have about
their own cities. Puki gave me an in depth tour around his city, including a
detailed history lesson. I always wondered why I never appreciated history and
I think I finally understand why. Being from a young country, though we do have
an interesting history, we cannot just walk around and see Roman ruins or
buildings from the Ottomans. During the tour we came across a huge painted egg
which is called the "Egg of Happiness" and every time you pass by it
you are supposed to touch it and make a wish.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYOu9MPNTHDDm3QRHwvmOz5wiySM0FoWBYlsflhhjzLRv2WcNOEPQldtag1L64x5o29sheV3ac5lZKwTAXnU2bvOhicIiu1L9JXgDcJ-HFP78MX0QOgivO-PMVcPr7-GcGVeeplGV1pnZh/s1600/IMG_6401.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYOu9MPNTHDDm3QRHwvmOz5wiySM0FoWBYlsflhhjzLRv2WcNOEPQldtag1L64x5o29sheV3ac5lZKwTAXnU2bvOhicIiu1L9JXgDcJ-HFP78MX0QOgivO-PMVcPr7-GcGVeeplGV1pnZh/s1600/IMG_6401.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyGEnq3nJd25H6QlvFhBBg6RSpxZ2xtk8q4iMjNTiaZgB5NhC91u0bbdpTVQP1_wuN102ylKvrJszZm2NhyUYOAqMH9IrUd11aPABCjeJ7YzlS4wef_I72ELHd0-308HEJDHM5EPpVmSH/s1600/IMG_6408.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyGEnq3nJd25H6QlvFhBBg6RSpxZ2xtk8q4iMjNTiaZgB5NhC91u0bbdpTVQP1_wuN102ylKvrJszZm2NhyUYOAqMH9IrUd11aPABCjeJ7YzlS4wef_I72ELHd0-308HEJDHM5EPpVmSH/s1600/IMG_6408.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9t75dCn5CvrRx3bakr3zXGlE_xgjx_MDfWWiRLApsqcMNaQA12KlO352EvLyCF8IF4Idu9QkKfT_7whJSY8IYPm919BB2TegOZAyhZbr4aXL2Whv_3rUoREqqlDIsxf-wEuscKhMyQfRE/s1600/IMG_6410.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9t75dCn5CvrRx3bakr3zXGlE_xgjx_MDfWWiRLApsqcMNaQA12KlO352EvLyCF8IF4Idu9QkKfT_7whJSY8IYPm919BB2TegOZAyhZbr4aXL2Whv_3rUoREqqlDIsxf-wEuscKhMyQfRE/s1600/IMG_6410.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> After touring the city we went for a traditional Bulgarian
lunch. Puki was adamant about me trying tripe soup orШкембе чорба in Bulgarian,
which he described as a milky soup with cow stomach. Although the description
did not sound appealing, it was actually very good. The meat was too chewy for
me, but the broth was delicious! Bulgarians also love their cheese fried, so
that was a must try. I think we ordered half of the items on the menu and
everything was so good! After lunch we wandered the city some more and found
ourselves walking towards the Starbucks. Again, another American company that
is not in Dubrovnik. Puki tried telling me how inexpensive Starbucks is in
Sofia, but I refused to believe him…until I actually saw the prices on the
board. Picture the prices at your local Starbucks, now imagine the same numbers
but instead of in dollars the numbers are in Bulgarian Lev-which is basically
half the price.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38DcZ1lJuD76Gwe9CinMMTu6aMMmmR3oSOCOQZ83B2TSpsxRCW2OnujGAUj17Rl5AyNUejyVrUXG16xic0e_eMJivVhd-6H2S36ow3fPamo6296tAVir9EwQDKsTvHP9W71p-XCp37Ik-/s1600/picstitch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38DcZ1lJuD76Gwe9CinMMTu6aMMmmR3oSOCOQZ83B2TSpsxRCW2OnujGAUj17Rl5AyNUejyVrUXG16xic0e_eMJivVhd-6H2S36ow3fPamo6296tAVir9EwQDKsTvHP9W71p-XCp37Ik-/s1600/picstitch.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">After a full day of exploring we went to the Jewish
community center to meet up with the BBYO teens. Puki is a program director so
he was there to oversee the meeting. After meeting all of the teens it was time
for the meeting to begin. One of the teens planned a program about living a
healthy lifestyle. Puki translated the entire time for me, so I was able to
understand everything going on. In high school we always had fun at BBYO
meetings, but I am pretty sure the Bulgarians have way more fun. After BBYO,
Puki invited me to hangout with his friends for a night of watching football
(soccer). Puki lives in a Moishe House, which serves as a place that holds
events for young Jewish adults to gather together.When we went to his home he
introduced me to his friends and roommate. Now this is just another testament
that the world is a small place. Puki’s roommate Martin and I met four years
ago in Dallas, Texas at BBYO’s International Convention. Martin and I became
Facebook friends, talked maybe a couple times after meeting in Dallas, and now
(unexpectedly) here I am four years later hanging out with him in his own city
and own home.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiMotTYM0dX7_rf_LLNQUxl9agMkK_abYR-U_vN5gDrsmd8vt5380eJ3GcE8fHOD_ALnUvXd2VZ9h371SLz2YjJrwVwrBZDW3nk7VXZpf6UPC3qLcXqi8v3T_V-g4d4H0MooUhFyS2HfC/s1600/IMG_7680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiMotTYM0dX7_rf_LLNQUxl9agMkK_abYR-U_vN5gDrsmd8vt5380eJ3GcE8fHOD_ALnUvXd2VZ9h371SLz2YjJrwVwrBZDW3nk7VXZpf6UPC3qLcXqi8v3T_V-g4d4H0MooUhFyS2HfC/s1600/IMG_7680.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> It was so nice being able to catch up with two friends and meet
the wonderful Jewish teens from Sofia. Not many people from I know can say that
they visited friends in Bulgaria and for that I am fortunate to have these
incredible opportunities. If I had more time I would have loved to stay and
explore the city more, but because I spent an extra day in Belgrade I had to
continue on with my trip if I wanted to make it back in time for class in a few
days.</span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Skopje,
Macedonia </span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Macedonia is another Balkan country that, embarrassingly, I
had never heard of before. The only reason I made my way to Skopje (the
capital) was to meet Rebekah, another friend from BBYO. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">On the bus ride from Sofia to Skopje I met Travis, a fellow
American who has been traveling for one year. We chatted during the bus ride
and said our goodbyes once the bus arrived to Skopje. Now fast-forward about 3
weeks later. I am sitting on some rocks in Dubrovnik overlooking the sea and
guess who walks in…Travis! It just proves that we do live in a small world.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmdNDBEAcEoaGcJvAs-80ciWYnTNRzcXfxZeerXgkUvFDAxopO2QWDWbFJCtDidYdHPLg8JO-rDKjmfS2nb-AkEFygpr73Bxir0xRsp_OkFw3g51YzLDykWaJs-JRHwhUPxje7G3AlQXRd/s1600/IMG_6432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmdNDBEAcEoaGcJvAs-80ciWYnTNRzcXfxZeerXgkUvFDAxopO2QWDWbFJCtDidYdHPLg8JO-rDKjmfS2nb-AkEFygpr73Bxir0xRsp_OkFw3g51YzLDykWaJs-JRHwhUPxje7G3AlQXRd/s1600/IMG_6432.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Rebekah and I actually never met before this trip. We worked
together in BBYO on different projects and talked through Facebook and e-mail.
We have many mutual friends that put us in contact with each other when I
arrived in Croatia because Rebekah helps with the Jewish community in the
Balkans. She greeted me at the bus station and immediately it felt like we had
been friends forever.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">The day began with dropping my bags off at the hostel (which
of course I was the only person at again) and then heading out to grab some
food. Later that night Rebekah invited me to the Jewish community center to
meet the BBYO teens and some other members of the Jewish community. Two of the
teens that were there had just returned from BBYO’s International Convention in
Dallas, Texas and it was so interesting and exciting to hear about their
experiences. Never in a million years did I think I would get to hangout with a
Jewish community in Skopje, Macedonia.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UB8MFIlkMXifUj71sUY056Eez0X37G8ZmwyjJ6HNtUY7C7PVKIFuVd7MlPJUU39uiYGUO2W0oJPpz038-DWT-xF0iXyYh31taPj0YwnUmKc0Esicb9Ig7XbRYWjNyF0rVgt3X9tSOyJT/s1600/IMG_7683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UB8MFIlkMXifUj71sUY056Eez0X37G8ZmwyjJ6HNtUY7C7PVKIFuVd7MlPJUU39uiYGUO2W0oJPpz038-DWT-xF0iXyYh31taPj0YwnUmKc0Esicb9Ig7XbRYWjNyF0rVgt3X9tSOyJT/s1600/IMG_7683.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">The next morning Rebekah gave me a tour around the city. It
is funny because Skopje recently decided to become a city full of statues. I’m
not kidding. There are statues everywhere. During the tour we went to the
Holocaust museum, which again I hate to admit this but I did not know there was
a Holocaust museum in Skopje. After the Holocaust museum we continued on and
visited the Albanian side, which was organized more like an outdoor market
place. It is a pretty small city so it only took about an hour or so to walk
around.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRmfTdKeozZWS8YtZqra_M52_qRNH88kQMZR4SX8UEeH9PpXSWCvzvgFdQJ5K6TgOW-zLHeW5WSfy6AM1mUoSBznUFRcXAs-9C68d_5S5IzP1yeUXSvRkIlFJist4jq6Li9vgzhpjHFXJ/s1600/IMG_6430.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRmfTdKeozZWS8YtZqra_M52_qRNH88kQMZR4SX8UEeH9PpXSWCvzvgFdQJ5K6TgOW-zLHeW5WSfy6AM1mUoSBznUFRcXAs-9C68d_5S5IzP1yeUXSvRkIlFJist4jq6Li9vgzhpjHFXJ/s1600/IMG_6430.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Later that night Rebekah invited me out with all of her
friends. Everyone always says it is best to party with locals and everyone is
right! One of her friends’ bands was playing at a local café so the night began
by meeting some friends and heading to watch her friend sing. His band was
awesome and it was so funny because they were singing a bunch of older American
songs like “Hit the Road Jack” and “Sweet Home Alabama.” After his band
finished we headed to a nearby park to celebrate her other friends’ birthday.
Yes, they have birthday parties in parks at night and they are so fun! All of
her friends were super nice and they all had amazing English. I didn’t expect
the people from Macedonia to have the best English, but it goes to show how
surprising Eastern Europe can be. The night ended at Club Marakana where we
danced to a mixture of Macedonian and American music all night. It definitely
was one of my favorite nights out in Europe so far!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhYEa33KvBZWckhpBvE7BsN7SN9LrwzUSXHMF6Wzla1iuLH_m_IrLHkk5RsSUAcDc73Sl5x8WZRjK930aN5aDm8062j_iVPDfNYMdCTJEAk6amrimgu5wmcdqk8ePwrB0jBWmP8N1dkzb/s1600/IMG_7696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhYEa33KvBZWckhpBvE7BsN7SN9LrwzUSXHMF6Wzla1iuLH_m_IrLHkk5RsSUAcDc73Sl5x8WZRjK930aN5aDm8062j_iVPDfNYMdCTJEAk6amrimgu5wmcdqk8ePwrB0jBWmP8N1dkzb/s1600/IMG_7696.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> The next morning was kept short because I had to catch a bus
to Kosovo, but Rebekah was nice enough to invite me over to her house for tea
and walk me to the bus station. Like I said before I never would have thought
that Macedonia would be on my travel list, but I am so happy it made it on
there. Skopje is an interesting city, full of wonderful people. I definitely
would not have enjoyed my time in Skopje if it were not for Rebekah and warm
her hospitality.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Pristina,
Kosovo </span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Kosovo has a very interesting story behind it and I’m going
to try and explain it as simply as possibly. Again, I never heard of this
country before taking my European Union class last semester. Kosovo is a very
disputed territory and has still not been formally recognized by a
large number of states, including neighbor Serbia. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Kosovo used to be a part of Serbia, but its Albanian
population declared independence in February 2008. The two countries were at
war with each other in 2004 killings thousands of civilians. The fact that
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as a country becomes problematic when
traveling around the Balkans. The rule is that if you start in Serbia then you
may enter Kosovo and return back to Serbia, but you cannot do the opposite. You
cannot enter Serbia from Kosovo if you did not begin your journey in Serbia
because Serbia will look at your passport and pretend like the Kosovo stamp
does not exist.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Along with being a fairly new and controversial country, it
is also one country that is loves Americans. Pristina, Kosovo’s capital, is
probably the only city in the world with both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton
boulevards. This love came from Bush’s influence and support for NATO's bombing
of Serbia, which led Serbian military to withdraw from and Clinton’s support
for Kosovo’s independence. You can walk through Pristina, buy an American flag
on the street, and see a 10-foot tall, golden statue of the Bill Clinton. They
say that Kosovo is one of the most pro-American places in the world.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Kosovo was on my way back to Dubrovnik, which allowed me to
spend one night before making it back in time for class. I was excited because
I got to stay with my friend Theresa who I met at my hostel in Montenegro. She
is one of those friends that even though we only spent a couple hours together
we bonded right away and have kept in touch since. <em><span style="font-family: Arial;">A couple weeks after this trip Theresa and her friend came to stay with
me in Dubrovnik!</span></em></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">My first day in Pristina started with a quick tour around
the city. Theresa has many visitors so she is basically an expert tour guide.
We stumbled upon an abandoned church and then the National Library, which was
voted as one of the ugliest buildings in the world (second picture below).
After our tour we went to Theresa’s favorite local café. We ended our night by
eating a delicious meal at a Thai restaurant, which I really enjoyed because we
do not have any restaurants like that in Dubrovnik.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">After a relaxing day in Pristina with Theresa I began my
long adventure back to Dubrovnik, which consisted of two bus rides, sleeping in
a bus station from 2:00-6:00AM and making it to my 12:00 class!</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> Have you ever had someone approach you on the street and
just shake your hand just because of for your nationality and demand to take
you for a coffee? If not then you should visit Kosovo, where you will feel
appreciated as an American.</span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">My adventure around Eastern Europe was everything I hoped it
would be and more! I saw cities I never thought I would ever visit, I met
people from all different cultures and backgrounds, I ate delicious food, and I
learned so much about each city. Eastern Europe is definitely an underrated
region and if you ever have the opportunity to explore it I highly recommend
going!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">I have mentioned a couple times how I believe traveling
alone is the most rewarding and exciting experience. After I returned home from
this trip I wrote an article for The Abroad Guide on why people should travel
alone. Check it out: <span style="mso-field-code: " HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/theabroadguide\.com\/travel-alone-study-abroad\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022 ";"><span class="MsoHyperlink">http://theabroadguide.com/travel-alone-study-abroad/</span></span></span></em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></div>
<br />
Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-13887915410727424382014-03-14T03:30:00.000-07:002014-03-14T03:30:25.432-07:00Happy St. Blaise Day!<em>*This post is a couple weeks late*</em><br />
<br />
After being home in America for a month, it was time to head back to
Dubrovnik. It was so nice to see my friends and family and I even got to
celebrate my 21<sup>st</sup> birthday the traditional American way, but I was ready to return!<br />
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I picked the right time to return because the next day was a huge
celebration in the city. It was a wonderful way to be greeted by the
locals! Just kidding. They were celebrating St. Blaise Day or in
Croatian Sv. Vlaho. It is a yearly celebration that commemorates their
city Saint, which is St. Blaise. He is the saint that supposedly
protects the throat so whenever someone would get sick or has a big
singing concert they would go to the church to get blessed. In Croatia
each city has its own Saint, but Dubrovnik’s celebration is special.
Communities around Croatia come to Dubrovnik for the weekend and
participate in all the events.<br />
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My roommate and I woke up at 7:00AM from the tambourines banging outside
our window. When we looked out we saw a long line of people down the
street waiting for their turn in the parade. The city was jam-packed and
it was hard to get a good spot for the parade, but we managed. We
watched as the little kids walked down the street with the nuns and as
the Cardinals of Croatia were blessing everyone in the city. We even got
to see the President of Croatia! He would often stop so the children
could run up and hug him. It was adorable.<br />
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Sometimes I would see pictures of traditional costumes around Dubrovnik,
but today I got to see them all worn around the city! Each community
had different styles and colors. Monika was able to point out which
communities were from the north and which communities came from Bosnia.
The little kids dressed up were the cutest!<br />
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Throughout the day many Church services were help and many cannons were
released. The city was crowded the entire day with families remembering
their Saint. It was a wonderful time to return to the city I missed so
much. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6QahJumVqABsyJNntO-sjd_lybD5T_p3yosVBIe3U5m9n2fg7i9M6zVhHNdhanTrdXCQHFdmpcbp2Kyt3evI6u-xcVCbue3izcD4I4Olom-XXgrXuHB8IZh2q-IElZ24cq3s3jmII0-zX/s1600/12879003055_428b683e27_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6QahJumVqABsyJNntO-sjd_lybD5T_p3yosVBIe3U5m9n2fg7i9M6zVhHNdhanTrdXCQHFdmpcbp2Kyt3evI6u-xcVCbue3izcD4I4Olom-XXgrXuHB8IZh2q-IElZ24cq3s3jmII0-zX/s1600/12879003055_428b683e27_z.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-4587798796006014442014-03-02T06:29:00.000-08:002014-03-02T06:29:35.905-08:00Seize the Day: Fall 2013 in Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyiHzR_IS7jgHspdiYcoZ6z6jczLvxdo72Q0b9HCbHqKCctLEdBSEC1cWivNqKdiJXBcFEdnw5kOZyEGBDp9Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
12 countries, 23 cities, 6 currencies, many new friends, and hundreds of
places I still want to visit! </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
https://vimeo.com/82999289 </div>
Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-51935491911133251302014-02-01T08:16:00.000-08:002014-02-04T01:52:20.592-08:00Christmas in Bosnia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">As a Jewish, American these were definitely the 4 most
interesting days of my semester.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">Lets start from the beginning. My flight out of Dubrovnik
was scheduled for December 26<sup>th</sup>. About 2 months ago I was having coffee
with a fellow classmate and now my current roommate, Monika. This was the first
time Monika and I really had the chance to hangout and get to know each other.
We were chatting and I mentioned when I was leaving Dubrovnik and she asked me
what I was doing for the holidays. I never really thought about it. Monika
immediately asked me if I would be interested in joining her family in Bosnia
for Christmas. Of course I said yes, but I wasn’t sure if she was asking just
to be nice or if she was serious. The next day Monika told me she talked to her
mom and they are so excited for me to come to their house and that her mom
already told her entire family. I was very surprised, but also very excited and
a little nervous. Don’t get me wrong, I am very good at meeting parents, but
most of her extended family does not speak English and Novi Travnik (the city
she lives in) does not have many American visitors. <b>I knew this was going to
be a very different experience.</b> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqG65algAX5_TF2KqjNfaAQpyTmcdtSjt4_dXa5NnyB23PGuU0yf4KgVOC2psHxvhZz1sWYj1NPTbMtnRCQ2-vF93mkhth5nzx9PW2aH7KENgeCyWth_bEzNfRsJdZ7ewEJWUozc5M29eF/s1600/IMG_5961.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqG65algAX5_TF2KqjNfaAQpyTmcdtSjt4_dXa5NnyB23PGuU0yf4KgVOC2psHxvhZz1sWYj1NPTbMtnRCQ2-vF93mkhth5nzx9PW2aH7KENgeCyWth_bEzNfRsJdZ7ewEJWUozc5M29eF/s1600/IMG_5961.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">Do not feel bad if you have never
heard of Bosnia & Herzegovina, I hadn’t either until I came to Croatia. It
is a country that lies directly east of Croatia. It has a very interesting and
complicated history. It is made up of Serbs (Protestants), Croatians
(Catholics), and Bosnians (Muslims). They each have separate communities and
schools. While they each technically have their own language, it was explained
to me that it is comparison to American English, British English, and
Australian. Even though they are all Bosnian citizens, the Croatians fly
Croatian flags and the Serbs fly Serbian flags. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m sure Monika and her sisters were tired of all my questions,
but it was hard for me to understand dynamics between the different groups and
the separation between them. Monika’s family lived in America for 5 years and
they recently moved back to Bosnia this year, so they’ve experienced both
worlds. I kept reminding myself that Bosnia was in the midst of war 20 years
ago and there is no way I would be able to relate to their mindset no matter
how much I tried to understand the current situation. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">My 4 days in Bosnia can be described mostly by eating. I
already told my mom that I thought I lost weight in Dubrovnik, but after
leaving Bosnia that is not the case anymore. Our bus from Dubrovnik arrived in
Travnik at 2:00 AM andwe arrived home to warm soup, fresh bread, and delicious
chicken in white sauce on the table. Keep in mind this is the first home-cooked
meal I’ve eaten in 4 months. We woke up to a huge stack of pancakes and 3 hours
later we were eating homemade chicken-meatballs and mashed potatoes. Even
though we were constantly full we just kept eating.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsEYq26hvuy_lYLeUHkC98PS69ff6I4ZGiMnSAhxVRvPh3tAvKqDl5E4L1yvmxgn4lFZgjYNjjCPIYmjiT2CZ6OUe92Z0N3nM2wiWB9PWoe-vooKqXD29IpztstI6R5BYQp2ncBlDEo2l/s1600/IMG_5895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsEYq26hvuy_lYLeUHkC98PS69ff6I4ZGiMnSAhxVRvPh3tAvKqDl5E4L1yvmxgn4lFZgjYNjjCPIYmjiT2CZ6OUe92Z0N3nM2wiWB9PWoe-vooKqXD29IpztstI6R5BYQp2ncBlDEo2l/s1600/IMG_5895.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNeMDWDY2ZTovP_fId_BIs2yI6TK_fASGKw7mwQL27O6nlG3_F4tJX_V63eigrzZs6I9bB4o_Olr9ShUk6jPKFTf_tXKHv37TTV3nVnqE4GrnITVorQ6uyGsKBulRh2BlYcFNns0w-HzFh/s1600/IMG_5935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNeMDWDY2ZTovP_fId_BIs2yI6TK_fASGKw7mwQL27O6nlG3_F4tJX_V63eigrzZs6I9bB4o_Olr9ShUk6jPKFTf_tXKHv37TTV3nVnqE4GrnITVorQ6uyGsKBulRh2BlYcFNns0w-HzFh/s1600/IMG_5935.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<div align="center" class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFoPNjGiL-L3LptFsC4kAv-OtqTwbvurLUVXrgiHjUHW-xWpmrQNiyexn5r8N0LkeBuFr0rY7b4684oZ7j4d-onRXpt1UQBYtthKouHD5gjIuBkmmDWvsUUOnN9zEpokYbQNSIpVP7jSjr/s1600/IMG_5895.JPG"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div align="center" class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqW3_p_SM94gHw1iLa6oYDdfiVF1DgdeAbyIBNYVEk50HSNfEeTsWiT1ewQxlA8GIUdq77N_Piq8ohKjzS7jDIDhj_F2ISJatxvsTkmxwVcoKFDG_vdAMaELrbce3bx6Kn64B-JGcwuK5N/s1600/IMG_5935.JPG"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5325509553351932951" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5325509553351932951" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">Our first day was spent exploring the city in the freezing
cold. Monika and her sister Iva showed me their high school and again answered
all my questions about the different schools in Bosnia. Monika was the photographer
for the day mostly because everyone stared at us walking through the streets.
Since they are not used to tourists they are also not used to people walking
down the streets taking pictures and speaking English. We must have looked very
funny. We stumbled upon the house that the only Bosnian Nobel Peace Prize
winner used to live in. We ended our tour around the city at Hari, “the best
Ćevapi restaurant in town.” Not only was it warm, it was delicious! Ćevapi is a
grilled dish of minced meat that is traditionally found in southeastern Europe.
It is considered the national dish in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">Later that night I went to church with Monika, her mom,
and her 2 younger sisters. I have been to church a couple times before, but this
experience was much different. Since the entire mass in Croatian and I couldn’t
understand anything, it gave me time to sit and think about everything around
me. The major difference I noticed about the church in Bosnia compared to
churches I have been to in America was the people who attended it. In America
we always talk about the loss of religious beliefs amongst the younger
generations and how nowadays when we think of churchgoers we tend to think of
elderly people. It seemed to be the complete opposite in Bosnia. The church was
filled with young adults and children. I also noticed that religious beliefs
are an important aspect in their families. After church we went to a local pub
and sipped on kuhano vino, which is delicious cooked wine. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">The next day was Christmas Eve, which meant a day without
eating meat. In Bosnia, and many other countries, it is a tradition to roast
pigs to eat on Christmas. Literally everywhere we drove we saw families outside
roasting their pigs; some roasted 1 some roasted 5. It kind of reminded me of
the pig I once saw at a luau in Hawaii. We spent the day trying to explore but
it was too cloudy to really see anything, we could barley see 10 feet in front
of us. Today was Monika’s Grandma’s birthday so we all took a trip to Grandma’s
house to wish her a happy birthday. She didn’t speak English, but words were
not necessary. We smiled at each other and hugged. She was the most curious out
of Monika’s family members as to why an American has come to Bosnia. After
visiting Grandma, the girls all went to midnight mass. We went to a different
church that was much warmer, but also much longer and way more crowded. We
stood in the back along with about 150 other people. Monika’s mom explained to
me that typically if people have to stand then the women stand on the right and
the men stand on the left. We happened to be standing on the left with all of
the men, because that’s where there was room. No one even noticed us. After
church we arrived home around 1:30 AM to a feast of roasted pig and fresh bread
on the table. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuFd7o23fPI_bh8UMdRFVoIeXkCshTzDlx1iR32yUDDLK7IyDLGQ_opVbgRqofKkER9_avqO07hnFoMI3euPMVlN9AeuUhiyvSXTLiYjJ2FGQCyXSaNFTVkm_BDlipawOyU5lsQqov_Mu3/s1600/IMG_5951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuFd7o23fPI_bh8UMdRFVoIeXkCshTzDlx1iR32yUDDLK7IyDLGQ_opVbgRqofKkER9_avqO07hnFoMI3euPMVlN9AeuUhiyvSXTLiYjJ2FGQCyXSaNFTVkm_BDlipawOyU5lsQqov_Mu3/s1600/IMG_5951.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4rygqAoyQCzkLrIBeXczhSSSXU9Ac-Xkw0KNR8AFDqFyy3iZIleHEUdECNZLvYIx7xv-rqM39qgt-G17WNqhgKbHhRtpaJH5X6gr2Ze-fT_Ar6gRWCQ1uIkBye8n_yh6pFlPOqolyKZeC/s1600/IMG_5991.JPG"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">Christmas day was the day I was anticipating. It was the
day I got to meet the ENTIRE family. I’m not going to lie…I was a little
nervous. When we arrived the table was filled with food and we started eating
immediately. We all share the common bond of enjoying delicious food; so I
think eating is always a good way to start off when meeting new people. A
couple of Monika’s younger cousins were there whom I met a couple days previous
so that was nice already knowing them. 2 of her cousins spoke English but still
let Monika and her sisters translate for them. We taught them what an “awkward
situation” is so that was funny because basically our entire interaction was
awkward. Monika’s little cousin, who is 7 years old, just started learning
English so his parents tried to get him to talk to me but he was too nervous.
That’s okay because we were still friends whether we spoke each other’s
language or not.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5B34Uya-X9fg63PxnObMAWDjP04wyRETQztrpV92tMLP900kvKyhNSYuL1c9N5wgBMA46seGeSRvKMBpD07bw-sEoCrgiOzDO2vA-PtJkgSE-9Ry3vrbvlKu89Ts92VMqtTbu8OjTBPcn/s1600/IMG_6027.JPG"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8R9KEpbo13B2a5mJWzwYPzoaqAazHI7h3HZYGLJp_9ry_SVIOSu3UcqlrtSLC_Y-KmkZr2-rV-ast4B01OGiQwVBNXZ23ysi8Wmba5IG0PJtB4e4QkGOKipazfD6dCizFyLU_uoJYeilF/s1600/IMG_6055.JPG"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQpeZZjICxBd8RiUD1RWJkPac1TniS9-5DDwwInEw67tetIPYqUOAT0zfGtnOwZFi3EDTCbDQg1uIc4_LFQ1_ukOAZtCi0k0xEnjgm5EY9S36OygTwBeClPPSsf2edzMq1CbD1eOI8bmB-/s1600/IMG_6024.JPG"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">In Bosnia it is a tradition that all the “young adults” go
out on Christmas Eve and Christmas night. I say “young adults” because they can
go out when they are 16 and not have to worry about having an ID. As I
mentioned in the beginning, all the Croatians go to Croatian bars, so once
again I was the only American in the bar and we were the only group of people
speaking English. We were sitting at a table speaking English and Monika’s sister
could hear the guys next to us speaking in Croatian about how there was an
American there and that they should all practice their English. It was kind of
like I was a celebrity. We had a lot of fun and we met Monika’s cousins out, so
at least I knew about 5 people. Oh, I forgot to mention Croatians are tall and
Monika and her 2 sisters are very tall, so picture a short American walking
into a bar and people trying to talk to her and she just shakes her head and
dances away. Yeah, that is exactly how I looked. We made it home in time for me
to go to the bus station at 2:00 AM to head back to Dubrovnik to catch my
flight to London.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">Mom, if you are reading this, I am sorry I didn’t tell you
about this part of the adventure. You would have been mad at me for not
listening to you about going back to Dubrovnik earlier. Love you!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">As you should know by now there is usually some adventure
that goes on, and while Bosnia was an adventure itself, so was my journey back
to Dubrovnik. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">I bought a bus ticket back to Dubrovnik and it was
scheduled to leave Travnik at 2:00AM. We called the bus station to confirm the
bus was running on Christmas night, we checked online, and we even asked the
bus driver on our way to Bosnia. Everyone told us the bus would definitely be
running on December 26, 2013 at 2:00AM. Well guess what…they were all wrong.
Now I would have stayed in Bosnia a little longer, but I had to catch my flight
to London and it was not an option to miss another flight. Monika and her
father ended up driving me 3 hours to Mostar to catch the 7:00AM bus to
Dubrovnik. Luckily I made that bus and was able to catch my flight. Yes, mom I
should have listened to you and I learned that procrastination isn’t always
key. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">From now on whenever someone asks me what my favorite/most
interesting part of my semester was my answer will always be spending Christmas
in Bosnia with one of my new best friends and her lovely family. Yes, at times
it was difficult to understand the current situation and it was difficult to
adjust to the language barrier, but it was a learning experience. The people
are so hospitable. I mean really there was never a time I felt uncomfortable.
They eat a lot of meat, so we definitely get along. They also, embraced me as
if I was their own family, which I couldn’t be more grateful for. I am so
excited to return this summer! </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5325509553351932951" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5325509553351932951" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5325509553351932951" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5325509553351932951" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5325509553351932951" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5325509553351932951" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5325509553351932951" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5325509553351932951" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">For all the Gator fans reading this post, you will
appreciate the fact that Monika’s dog in Bosnia is named Tebow! Yes he is
actually named after Tim Tebow.</span></i><br />
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Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-59784038144276707772013-12-22T07:17:00.001-08:002013-12-22T07:17:19.909-08:00Enjoy Every SunsetOne of the smallest lessons I’ve learned this semester is to enjoy every sunset.<br />
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496612684/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496612684/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="IMG_5854" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3810/11496612684_957eed79f2_n.jpg" height="213" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3810/11496612684_957eed79f2_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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.<br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="text-align: center;">
<a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496714753/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496714753/"><img alt="IMG_5726" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3783/11496714753_66612d23b4_n.jpg" height="212" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3783/11496714753_66612d23b4_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496809724/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496809724/"><img alt="IMG_2916" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3827/11496809724_037d90dfdd_n.jpg" height="213" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3827/11496809724_037d90dfdd_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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.<br />
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496705534/in/photostream/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496705534/in/photostream/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="IMG_5383" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5522/11496705534_3a1d663b93_n.jpg" height="213" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5522/11496705534_3a1d663b93_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I found that it is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not appreciate life.<br />
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496798126/in/photostream/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496798126/in/photostream/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="IMG_5062" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7437/11496798126_cecf6268f2_n.jpg" height="213" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7437/11496798126_cecf6268f2_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I came to a point where I would anticipate what the sunset would look like every night.<br />
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496669835/in/photostream/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496669835/in/photostream/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="IMG_5587" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2846/11496669835_7c0640ab8a_n.jpg" height="213" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2846/11496669835_7c0640ab8a_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496843433/in/photostream/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496843433/in/photostream/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="IMG_5060" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7412/11496843433_bed8127aa4_n.jpg" height="213" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7412/11496843433_bed8127aa4_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Sunset is my new favorite color.<br />
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496640716/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496640716/"><img alt="1456090_10152142486959750_1926124940_n" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3715/11496640716_558932fa3d_n.jpg" height="320" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3715/11496640716_558932fa3d_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496786134/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/103201864@N02/11496786134/"> <img alt="IMG_3052" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2880/11496786134_1c3c2e299b_n.jpg" height="212" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2880/11496786134_1c3c2e299b_n.jpg" width="320" /></a>Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-76613917960651193512013-12-16T08:00:00.003-08:002013-12-18T13:51:16.356-08:00Istanbul<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="entry-content">
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<b>“To Travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries”</b></div>
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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.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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 <i>Anadolu Kavağı</i>. 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.<br />
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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.</div>
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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.<br />
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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.”<br />
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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.<br />
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The next morning is where the story gets interesting. Did you think
you would get through a blog post without something adventurous
happening?<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<b>What is the difference between a traveler and a tourist?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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.”<br />
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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.<br />
<br />
</div>
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.”</div>
Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-78942286368820293112013-12-15T14:47:00.000-08:002013-12-15T14:47:03.861-08:00It'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."<br />
<br />
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!<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<b>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.</b><br />
<br />
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<b> </b>Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-13708870898540029562013-12-14T03:02:00.000-08:002013-12-14T03:02:07.098-08:00Gaame of ThronesThis post is dedicated to all of the Game of Thrones fans out there.<br />
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.<br />
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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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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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.<br />
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While GOT was filming season 4 they posted many sneak peak pictures from the set.<br />
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GOT fans should get excited for season 4, especially the scenes shot in Dubrovnik.Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-76980753279502649842013-12-14T03:01:00.000-08:002013-12-14T03:01:20.811-08:007 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.**<br />
<br />
<b>Oh the things you can see with a Eurail Pass & a backpack.</b><br />
<br />
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:<br />
<br />
Vienna,
Austria <br />
Prague, Czech
Republic<br />
Berlin,
Germany <br />
Amsterdam, Holland
<br />
Bruges, Belgium
<br />
Paris, France
<br />
Munich, Germany<br />
<br />
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…<br />
<br />
<b>Vienna, Austria</b> <b> </b><br />
<b></b>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.<br />
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<b><b>Prague, Czech Republic </b> </b><br />
<b><b></b></b>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.<br />
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<b>Berlin, Germany </b>
<br />
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.<br />
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<b>Amsterdam, Holland </b><br />
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.<br />
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<b>Bruges, Belgium </b><br />
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. <br />
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<b>Paris, France
</b><br />
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.<br />
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<b>Munich Germany </b> <br />
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.<br />
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<b>Prettiest cities:</b> Amsterdam, Prague, Bruges <b> </b><br />
<b>Best food:</b> French onion soup (Paris), local sausage in Vienna <b> </b><br />
<b>Best drink: </b>Zwettler (Vienna) <b> </b><br />
<b>Coolest Cafe:</b> Cafe in Montmartre, Paris <b> </b><br />
<b>Best train ride:</b> Zagreb> Vienna and Munich>Zagreb both had beautiful views <b> </b><br />
<b>Worst train station experience:</b> Sleeping on the floor of the Prague train station <b> </b><br />
<b>Best hostel: </b> Regent Hostel (Paris) <b> </b><br />
<b>Favorite item purchased:</b> Scarf from Amsterdam <b> </b><br />
<b>Where I want to go back to:</b> Amsterdam, Prague, Munich <b> </b><br />
<b>Where I will least likely will go back to:</b> Vienna<br />
<br />
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.Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-20138999227535053892013-10-29T16:47:00.001-07:002013-10-29T17:12:53.620-07:00A Spontaneous Trip to Montenegro <blockquote>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="text-align: center;">
<i>The most memorable moments in life are the moments unplanned</i></div>
</blockquote>
Originally
I was supposed to be going to Skopje, Macedonia and Sofia, Bulgaria
this weekend, but when I went to the bus station Thursday night to get
the bus to Skopje I was told no such bus exists. Most of my friends were
going to Rome this weekend and I had a 4 day weekend so I figured I'd
travel to some cool places alone. So on Friday morning I went to the bus
station to find a bus that was leaving and I hopped on a bus to
Podgorica, Montenegro. I was told Podgorica wasn't the nicest of cities,
but I figured I'd go somewhere inland to experience something a little
different and different is exactly what I got.<br />
<br />
The bus ride to
Podgorica was beautiful. We rode along the coast and through the
mountains and saw the sunset. But once the sun was down the sky was
pitch black. The bus arrived in Podgorica around 7:30PM and of course I
got lost walking to the hostel. I love staying in hostels because it
gives you the chance to meet he most interesting people and boy did I
meet some interesting people in Hostel Podgorica.<br />
<br />
The typical
first conversation between fellow travelers is "Where are you from?"
"What city did you come before here?" "Why are you in (Insert current
city)?" "Where are you going next?"<br />
<br />
I was staying in a 5 bed mixed
room and there were only 2 other beds occupied. They were 2 guys from
Moscow named Nikita and Elias. They explained to me that they are from
Moscow, but their families are part of a very small community that has
their own language and own culture. They then explained that they are
came to Montenegro because it is a better place than Moscow and they
hope to stay there forever. They said they want to start some kind of
"society"...I didn't ask for details because I didn't think it was in my
best interest to know. They then pointed to some animal bones that were
lying next to the bed. Originally I thought they were just some
decoration from the hostel, but turns out they found the bones at the
Albanian border (yes, I took a selfie with the bones when they left the
room). While they seemed to be hiding some details of their journey and
their background they were super nice and very engaging. They asked me
questions about the United States and they even asked me my opinion of
the NSA. I tried to keep all my answers as neutral as possible. Before
we went to sleep Elias reached in his pocket, pulled out a Russian
Ruble, and tossed it to me telling me to remember my new friends. In
return I gave him a Croatian Kuna. While my new "friends" were
definitely hiding something, they made my visit to Podgorica worth it.
It was a very quite and boring city so in the morning a caught the first
bus to Kotor.<br />
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It's funny how a simple question to a couple strangers can turn into a
friendship. There were 2 girls sitting in front of my on the bus to
Kotor and I asked them where they were coming from. That question led to
a conversation that was held for the entire bus ride. Lily and Stella
are both studying abroad in Paris and were headed to Kotor then
Dubrovnik.<br />
<br />
Once I arrived to Old Town Hostel Kotor the guy at reception asked me if
I was only staying for 1 night and when I confirmed that statement he
laughed and said "you know you're going to stay for more than 1 night,
right?" I laughed, grabbed my keys, and dropped my bags off in my room.
Kotor is almost like a smaller version of Dubrovnik. It has a small Old
Town and is on the sea. I explored the city for a while and then decided
to climb to the fortress at the top of the mountain before sunset. The
fortress is 1350 steps up to Castle of San Giovanni (St John) that offers a fabulous birds-eye-view of the Old Town.<br />
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The next morning I packed my bags, returned my keys, and before my bus
took off I went with Lily and Stella to try out a highly recommended
local lunch joint. What we thought was going to be a restaurant turned
out to be a butcher shop with a grill inside of it. The owner asked us
if we were hungry and if we ate meat. Both answers of course were YES!
Within minutes the man brought us 3 plates of deliciousness. The flavors
were like nothing I have ever tasted before.<br />
<br />
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During our wonderful meal Stella and Lily were discussing visiting Budva
for the day. Budva is another coastal town not too far from Kotor. I
decided to miss my bus and explore Budva with them. I went back to the
hostel, asked for my keys back, and dropped my bags off again. Nikola
was right and I ended up staying a total of 3 nights. He even tried to
convince me to stay a 4th night because the hostel has a deal when you
book 3 nights you get your 4th night free, but I had to leave the 4th
day to make it to class. Budva was was a nice town, but it was very
small. We spent most of our time sitting on the beach listening to
Russian tourists sing songs and play guitar.<br />
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That night the hostel cooked dinner for all the guests and it was a very
tasty free meal. During dinner I met Alan Isaacs. I know I have said
that I already met the most interesting people, but everyone I meet is
worth describing as the most interesting. Picture a bigger version of
Bob Marley, with mannerisms that remind you of friendly people from he
Caribbean. Alan was actually born and raised in India and currently
lives in Thailand. He is one of the best story tellers and most
insightful people I've met. One thing that mostly stuck out to me was
his passion. Over dinner we asked him what he does back in Thailand and
he put his fork down, looked up at the table with a huge smile on his
face, and said "I am a writer." His face lit up with excitement like
I've never seen before. Most people I've met while traveling either hate
their job or just quit and are traveling on their time off. His emotion
was contagious and you could see the entire table had a smile on their
face. When I commented on how nice it was to see the joy in his face he
told us "Happiness is not doing what you like, but it's liking what you
do." When I left the hostel I gave Alan my smiley bean, which is a bean
that is supposed to remind us to not forget to smile in our everyday
life. Alan is someone who spreads happiness wherever he goes and even
though I love my smiley bean I knew I could get another one.<br />
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My last day in Kotor was spent on a north tour operated by the hostel.
It was 8 of us from the hostel with a tour guide in a little van driving
up north to the Durmitor National Park. On the drive through the
mountains one of the main roads was closed so we had to take a detour.
This detour consisted of us driving over small cliffs and driving past
cars coming the opposite direction of us. Keep in mind the roads are
very narrow so when we had to pass other cars we were centimeters apart.
Living in Florida we don't get to experience the excitement of seasons
and leaves changing color, so I was loving every second of the beautiful
colorful trees along the way. After about 3 hours we started arriving
at different points throughout the tour. My favorite stop was at Devil's
Lake where the shore of the lake was a light green color and towards
the center got dark blue.<br />
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While we were driving we noticed an interesting house that our guide
said he never noticed before. It was built with rocks and tree trunks.
He said that for the past couple of years the house was covered and he
thinks its because the owner didn't want people to see it until it was
finished. We all happened to get out the van to take pictures of the
house at the same moment the owner drove into his driveway. He invited
us all in to explore his newly built home. While he didn't speak any
English our guide was able to translate for us and you could see in his
face how proud of his home he was, especially because it took him 3
years to build by himself. When we walked into the house his little
puppy ran up to us and we all fell in love. His children and wife were
very confused as to why 9 strangers were entering their home, but we all
warmed up to each other. When we left the house the family invited us
to stop by for coffee on our way home. Everyone in Montenegro were so
friendly and hospitable. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop by
the house again.<br />
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Our last stop of the tour was at the top of a mountain that overlooked
the entire area. We were able to see the Tara River Canyon, which is the
deepest river canyon in Europe. It's bright turquoise water next to the
colorful fall tree was a stunning sight. Sometimes we must do risky
things to get great pictures, even if that means standing on the edge of
a cliff and making sure we keep our body weight forward so we don't
fall.<br />
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After 4 very interesting nights in Montenegro it was time to catch an
8:30AM bus to make it back to Dubrovnik in time for my 12:30PM class.
During the ride back to Dubrovnik we drove along the coast through the
clouds. It was unreal.<br />
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It's funny how things work out. A trip to Skopje and Sofia turned into
an adventure around Montenegro. Beautiful scenery, delicious food, and
interesting people seems to be the trend around Europe. And people
wonder why I never want to come home.... Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-22214712087990995472013-10-22T15:41:00.001-07:002013-10-22T15:42:35.519-07:00Dubrovnik AdventuresOur new motto for the semester is "Do it for the stories!" When we
are questioning a decision we just remind ourselves that a good story
will come from it and we are usually right.<br />
<br />
Everyday there is a
new adventure waiting for us. Even on the dullest days we find ourselves
sitting on the steps in the Old City people watching, which is probably
the most interest activity you can do. We even made a game out of it.
We see who can spot the cutest old coupe or the funniest looking
tourist. It is quite amusing and can last for hours. Of course that's
after long days of learning and being studious...<br />
<br />
Next to
Dubrovnik there is a little island named Lokrum and my friends (who are
both swimmers) decided they wanted to swim to Lokrum, despite the
local's advice not to swim there. My friend Makenzie and I rented a
kayak that way we can make sure if boats pass they will see us and not
hit our friends who were swimming. Since Dubrovnik is a very touristy
city there are a lot of companies that do kayaking tours, but we just
wanted to rent a single kayak for a couple hours. Well in order to do
that you must have prior kayaking experience...which we told the company
that we both has experience (that might have been a white lie). Once
Makenzie and I got in the kayak they could definitely tell we did not
have much experienced. We all laughed and eventually we figured out the
correct way to paddle and we were off to meet Tiffany and Shantel who
were waiting for us at the harbor to start their swim. The second they
jumped in the water you could see in their faces how cold the water was,
but they were troopers. After only 15 minutes we made it to the Lokrum!<br />
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After a couple celebratory pictures we tried to figure out how they
would get back to Dubrovnik because the Kayak only fit 2 people. We came
to the conclusion that we would drop them off at Lokrum and they would
take the ferry back to Dubrovnik and meet us back at the Kayaking point.
One problem was they didn't have any clothes or shoes with them, so
Makenzie and I being good friends gave them our clothes and shoes that
we had in a waterproof bag on the Kayak. We parted ways and kayaked back
to shore. When we returned the kayak the man who was helping us asked
where our clothes went and we made up a story about our friends meeting
us at Lokrum because we couldn't tell him the truth that we helped them
swim to the island. We walked up the path and sat in a chair in our
cold, wet bathing suits waiting for our clothes to return. I didn't
realize how funny bathing suits were until we noticed we were providing
entertainment for many people. A couple local kids ran up to us and
asked us if we needed to borrow clothes. After convincing them that our
friends would be there soon we noticed tourists pointing at us. About 45
minutes later the little kids ran towards us screaming "Your friends
are finally here!" and everyone clapped as Tiffany and Shantel walked
down the path with our clothes. Now that I reminisce about the
experience I am laughing, but in the moment I was just cold and a little
embarrassed.<br />
<br />
The next night we were invited to a BBQ hosted by
the Croatians in our class. This is one of my favorite parts of my study
abroad program! I love that the locals and the study abroad students
get along so well. We asked them what a Croatian BBQ was they and they
told us we would have to wait and see. One of our friends named Edi
picked us up from the Old City and we went to a nearby town named
Cavtat, which is where a couple of the Croatian students live. The drive
there was beautiful and the town itself was fascinating! We didn't have
time to explore, but I'm excited to return. When we arrived to Vlaho's
house, Tamara brought the girls outside while the guys went inside and
prepared dinner. I know girls usually don't do the BBQing but I expected
us to help with something. The boys took care of everything! It was
really nice to hangout with everyone outside of a classroom setting. The
food was delicious and we had so much fun! By the end of the night we
decided that next week we are throwing an American BBQ for them, which
should be very interesting.<br />
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<br />Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-40176628872933692962013-10-09T14:28:00.003-07:002013-10-09T16:03:42.733-07:00Mostar: An Adventure in DisguiseEveryone tells me that while I am in Dubrovnik I must visit Mostar
and Montenegro. We did not have school because of Croatian Independence
Day (we were going to stay in Croatia to experience Independence Day,
but we found out it is more of a sad holiday and is not celebrated) so
we decided to take a day trip to Mostar. I thought Mostar was in Bosnia
until a classmate explained to me that Mostar is municipality in Bosnia
and Herzegovina. We mostly decided to visit Mostar because we were told
there is cheap shopping compared to Dubrovnik and we wanted to see the
pretty bridges everyone talks about.<br />
<br />
8 A.M. we board the bus to Mostar expecting to arrive back in Dubrovnik later that day....<br />
<br />
Once
we arrived in Mostar 4.5 hours later we went to the bus information to
find out what time the bus home was at. We assumed there were buses back
to Dubrovnik all day. We were wrong. The woman at the information booth
told us that the only bus back to Dubrovnik today was leaving in 5
minutes. We knew going back wasn't an option, so we walked away to
analyze the situation.<br />
<br />
Luckily a friend of mine suggested a hostel
to stay at in case we were staying the night and the hostel ended up
being only a 5 minute walk from the bus station. We turned down a street
and found a small sign with the hostel's name on it, Majdas Hostel. We
opened the door to find an empty lot. Picture 4 delirious girls walking
in what looked like an abandoned house. When we turned the corner we
found a colorful garden with a bunch of people sitting at the table. We
were so nervous that we were laughing uncontrollably. I saw a woman that
looked like the owner and I asked her if she had 4 beds for one night
to accommodate the "4 lost girls". Without hesitation she said yes and
brought us her mothers homemade iced tea. Hands down one of the best
cups of iced tea I've ever had. She brought us out 4 slips of paper and
told us to make name tags and then she asked us where our bags were. We
had to explain to her that we were not planning on staying the night so
we had no clothes or tooth brushes or anything really. She laughed and
assured us that it happened for a reason and that we were lucky to stay
the night in Mostar. Of course she was right. Her mother was speaking in
Croatian and the owner translated to us that her mother was giving us
one of the nicest compliments by telling us that we were all such pretty
girls and that she could not tell who was prettier. Normally I do not
like compliments, but this little old lady was so cute and so nice and
her iced tea was just so wonderful. She came over to all of us and gave
us kisses and pinched our cheeks. We knew everything was going to be
okay.<b> </b><br />
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There
were 2 other travelers hanging out when we arrived so the 5 of us went
and got some lunch then explored the city. We went to a local restaurant
and tried their signature Ćevapi which was delicious. I have yet to eat
a bad meal in Europe and hopefully it stays that way. After lunch we
were walking to see the Old Bridge that was built by the Ottomans in the
16th century. On our way to the bridge we passed through the old city
and had to remind ourselves that we would do our shopping after we saw
the bridge so we continued walking. We heard that people jump of the Old
Bridge but we didn't believe it...until we saw a man standing on the
top and then we saw him jump and eventually heard him smack the water.
The water in Mostar is much different than Dubrovnik. It is a much
deeper turquoise, still beautiful, just very different. Walking through
the city you can see all the bullet holes in the buildings from the war,
but it is still very beautiful. We walked down to a garden below the
bridge and while we were standing there in the serene environment we
were able to hear the Islamic call to prayer. It was a feeling of peace
that you can't really describe.<br />
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After
about an hour of taking pictures of the bridge from different angles it
was time to go shopping! In Mostar they use a different currency called
a convertible mark which made me really excited to add to my currency
collection. We walked up and down the streets of the old town for hours
and explored each little shop. It was the first time during my 3 weeks
in Europe I actually went shopping, which is very impressive. After
hours of shopping we went back to the hostel to relax. We then gathered a
group of travelers and went to dinner at Hindin Han. I'm not exactly
sure what I ate, but the plate was clear by the end. While we were
sitting and chatting a girl came up and asked if she could sit with us
because she was by herself. I've learned how amazing interactions with
strangers can be. Traveling truly opens your eyes to the world and made
me realize that most people are alike. We are just looking for an
experience and we are looking to meet inspiring people. <br />
<br />
Before
we left to make our 10 A.M. bus back home to Dubrovnik (wearing our
same clothes as the day before) the owner of the hostel called our names
and had breakfast and hot tea waiting for us. It was a perfect end to
our adventure.<br />
<br />
Everything truly happens for a reason. It was a
blessing in disguise that we were stuck in Mostar for the night. We
learned that if you keep a positive attitude the journey, no matter what
it may be, will be worth it. Mostar is a city of beauty and disaster.
It has a rich history, with an unfortunate present, and a hopeful
future.Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-82494269657829142752013-10-09T12:36:00.000-07:002013-10-09T12:40:01.805-07:00Back to Reality...After 4 flights, 2 buses, and 1 train I finally made it back to
Dubrovnik! Just in time for classes to start the next day. After having a
5 month summer it was hard to think about finally starting class
again...then I remembered I was in Dubrovnik. My entire 14 hour journey
home I kept telling myself that my vacation was over and I was going
home to reality, but the truth is Dubrovnik is not reality.<br />
<br />
Dubrovnik
International University is a small private school that flies in its
professors from all over the world to teach us students. The professors
choose when they will have class based on how long they can stay in
Dubrovnik. Before classes started I had an idea of how professional and
esteemed our professors would be from just looking at DIU's website. I
have never been more impressed by professors and their teaching styles
than I have been this past week.<br />
<br />
Once we
received the schedule for the semester I saw that I have European Union
for 5 hours Monday-Saturday. 1. I have never sat in a class for 5 hours.
2. I have never had class on a Saturday. I was definitely a little
hesitant about how this was going to play out. I am also taking
Organizational Behavior, International Business, and Peace &
Negotiations. My Peace & Negotiations class doesn't start until
November 17th and it lasts 1 week long and each class is 6 hours
long...we will see how that goes.<br />
<br />
When I
walked into my first class of the semester, European Union, I noticed a
couple things. 1. Americans are usually early or on time, while
Croatians are usually late. 2. Americans sat in the front of the class,
while all the Croatians sat in the back. Our professor began right away.
I have a tendency to always ask my professors their background that way
I know who I am learning from and to build their credibility. He
laughed a little because he felt bad for forgetting to do that in the
first place. He begins pronouncing his name which none of us could
understand so we all had to Google later. He proceeds by telling us that
he used to be a professor at Harvard and has taught all over the world,
along with having been in the Croatian Parliament and was an ambassador
for Croatia and Montenegro. He also slipped in his introduction that he
was a part of the team to help get Croatia to join the EU. No one in
the room expected that introduction and you can bet that everyone's
mouth dropped by the end. Yes, Professor Petar Turčinović definitely
established credibility with the entire class. That is just a glimpse of
one of my professors. My professor for international business, Janice
McCormic (she likes us to call her Janice), just retired from 30 years
of administrative and academic work at Harvard Business School. While
classes are long, it is the first time I have actually enjoyed learning
in a classroom setting. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>This is the view outside of my classroom.</i><br />
</div>
At
such a small university it is very easy to become friends with each
other. The main difference between my study abroad in Dubrovnik compared
to Florence is that I am actually able to interact with and get to know
locals in my classes. During our breaks and after class we all go to a
nearby cafe and hangout for hours. I have also become very close with
all of the American's at the university. All of them except for me are
on the API study abroad program so they became a tight knit community
very fast, but they were more than welcoming for me to join.<br />
<br />
Everyday
after class my friends and I find a new way to entertain ourselves and
just enjoy life. One day we went to a place called Buza, which means
hole in the wall. It is actually a hole in the old city wall that leads
to cliffs on the Adriatic Sea. Picture yourself walking along a wall and
seeing a small arch that looks like it leads to a dark room, but when
you walk through it imagine walking into another dimension. You walk
through it and it is blue skies, cliffs locals use for cliff diving, a
bar, and a lounge area all built into the rocks. After a long day of
class we went to Buza to go cliff diving and to watch the sunset. The
next day we went to a small set of cliffs that is just up the hill from
the old city and we swam to a cave. The water was bright blue and ice
cold, but when you have the opportunity to swim to a cave you take it! <br />
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The
next 3 months of amazing professors, beautiful views, and many
adventures in Dubrovnik are going to make it very difficult to return to
reality in Gainesville. <br />
<br data-mce-bogus="1" />
<br />Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-70567126810174679532013-10-07T14:09:00.001-07:002013-10-07T15:43:51.681-07:00España: Barcelona/Madrid/Valencia<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I booked a one way ticket to Barcelona by myself with no plan and no expectations. </b></div>
<br />
<b>Barcelona
</b><br />
I booked my
one-way flight to Barcelona with no plans. I figured I would find a
hostel and walk around by myself, maybe go to the beach…to my surprise I
experienced much more. Enric, a friend I met while he was studying
abroad at UF last year, invited me to stay with him. I didn’t realize
when he invited me to stay with him meant that he would be my personal
guide for the next 2 days. Enric wanted me to have the best experience
possible while in his city and he made sure I saw everything. I was able
to experience Barcelona from a local’s point-of-view and that is the
best way to do <br />
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Day 1: As soon as I arrived Enric pulled up
Google Maps and explained to me how the city is set up, we then grabbed 2
helmets and hopped on his moped. Our first stop was up a mountain at
beautiful overlook of the city. We then drove to Park Güell, which was
designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. After riding around for a
couple hours we went back to his apartment and got ready for dinner. I
didn’t realize how late everyone does things in Spain. We met up with his cousin for dinner at
9pm and ate delicious food. After dinner he invited a couple friends over to hangout. I'm used to being a foreigner and not understanding the language, but Enric made sure his friends spoke English around me and if they didn't speak English he would translate everything for me. It's funny how being friends with locals can make for such a difference and amazing experience. <br />
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Day 2: We woke up and explored the city for hours. I enjoy getting lost, mostly because I believe it's the best way to see a city. We stumbled upon many beautiful buildings and after the day of exploring I decided Barcelona is my favorite city I have visited in Europe. Don't get me wrong I love Dubrovnik, but Dubrovnik isn't real life. I could see myself raising a family and settling down in Barcelona when I'm older. Fingers crossed! While we were walking around this little man walked up to us and asked for directions. To his surprise we were very nice to him and we were actually heading in his direction so we offered for him to walk with us. He was shocked. He didn't think locals and tourists were that nice so I'm glad we were able to prove him wrong. When we asked him where he was from his respond was "South Korea like the man from Gangnam Style" and he even did a little dance move along with it. Before he left us he asked to take a picture with us because we were his first friends in Spain. You never know whose day you're going to make just by simply giving them directions. For my last night in Barcelona we went back to Enric's cousin's house. She invited a bunch of her friends over and we ordered Domino's...yes, they actually eat Domino's pizza in Barcelona.I was the only American who did not speak Spanish or Catalan and there was a guy from Portugal who spoke Spanish, Portuguese, & English, and everyone else in the room spoke Spanish, Catalan, and English. I used to laugh when foreigners would tell me that they can't hear the difference between and Australian and an America, but I don't laugh anymore because I realized I can't tell the difference between Spanish and Catalan. The entire night everyone would switch between English, Spanish, and Catalan and it was definitional as humorous as it sounds. I learned you just have to laugh at the entire situation. <br />
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<b>Madrid: </b><br />
At the end of my journey in Barcelona I planned the rest of my holiday. I was fortunate enough that I was able to visit my friend Natalia who is spending this semester in Madrid.<br />
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I didn't think I would like Madrid, mostly because I loved Barcelona so much and I really like cities by the sea. Clearly I was wrong. <br />
Day 1: As soon as I arrived Natalia had our day planned out and it mostly consisted of eating amazing food. We went to a local restaurant for the special of the day which was 2 plates of ham and a pitcher of sangria. What a wonderful way to start my adventure in Spain. After our 2 plates of delicious ham we went and got churros which are basically fried dough that you dip in melted chocolate. After all of the dough was gone we ate the chocolate as if it were soup. I was perfectly content with a day dedicated to eating and relaxing.<br />
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Day 2: My second day in Madrid consisted of exploring as usual. I've come to the conclusion that I don't like to do touristy things, especially walking tours or museums. Our first stop was to a really cool street market. After a couple hours of shopping we decided to grab burritos and bring them to a local park to eat. Once we got the burritos it took us about an hour to find the spot in the park that Natalia was dying to sit at. I was in Spain, eating Mexican food, sitting in an Egyptian temple. Yes, Spain is a very cultured country. After we finished out delicious burritos and explored the temple we went to visit the Royal Palace. I definitely wouldn't mind living there. <br />
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Madrid definitely exceeded my expectations and it was thanks to Natalia and the amazing food!<br />
<br />
<b>Valencia:<br /> </b>This
is the first city I have ever stayed in a hostel by myself. Valencia
might not have been my favorite city, but I still had an incredible
time. The first night in the hostel I met a guy named Lubo. He is
originally from Czech, but grew up in Florida and Czech. Coincidentally
he graduated from UF! He might be the most interesting and inspiring person I've ever
met.<br />
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Day 1: The first night we relied on Yelp for a good
restaurant and it was a wonderful decision. We ate the best food I think I've eaten in Spain so far (that says a lot
because I ate delicious food everywhere in Spain). Compared to Barcelona
or Madrid, Valencia is a pretty quite city. We were sitting at dinner
talking and telling stories when all of a sudden a man walks up
to us and tells us to be quite. After dinner we wondered the streets of Valencia for a while and we met up with a bunch of travelers from our hostel and just sat outside and talked until it was time to go to sleep.<br />
Day 2: Lubo is also one that doesn't like touristy attractions so we decided to rent bikes and ride to these lakes that were just outside of Valencia. On our way to the lakes we drove through a long park that led to the City of Arts and Sciences. We found a huge rope gym where we climbed to the top and hung on the ropes for a little bit until we continued our bike ride. We stopped at a store that reminded me of a Spanish version of Cosco where we picked up some food for a picnic. What we thought was going to be a13 km ride turned into 23km each way. For us American's that equals approximately 30 miles when we count the time we spent lost. When we finally arrived to what we thought would be beautiful lakes turned out to be a bunch rice fields. On our way back we topped at the
beach to relax and swim. Swimming turned into taking a siesta on the beach because there were jelly fish everywhere. When we finally got back to Valencia to return the bikes we were able to sign the wall and represent the Gator Nation. After walking around the city a little more and eating Valencia's famous Paella it was time to go to sleep. <br />
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My journey
through Spain was everything I could’ve hoped for and much more. Spain
was never a country that really appealed to me. I ended up traveling
Spain because 1. It was the cheapest flight out of Dubrovnik and 2. I
wanted to visit my friends. Growing up around Spanish people my entire
life I thought I already knew the Spanish culture, clearly I was
wrong. I know for a fact I will return! Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-10787481801161414282013-10-01T15:00:00.002-07:002013-10-01T15:03:15.894-07:00I Live in ParadiseGrowing up in south Florida I thought I knew what paradise was. I've
been on several cruises around the Caribbean and I've even been to
Hawaii, but I don't think I ever fully experienced Paradise until I
arrived in Dubrovnik.<br />
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Picture mountains to the east and the Adriatic Sea to the west, with beautiful terracotta roofs all in between.<br />
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I
am living in a 3 story flat right outside the city in a little town called Lapad. I live in the
bottom flat, the owners live in the middle, and the top flat was turned
into a hostel. The picture below is of the steps from my back porch that leads to the harbor. It is perfect, especially for right now when I don't know
anyone. I am able to go up to the hostel whenever I want and meet all
of the traveling guests. One night there was an entire turnover of the
hostel guests and it couldn't have been a more perfect group. There were
3 Canadians, 3 Germans, 2 Scots, 1 Australian, and 1 American. Everyone
was either traveling alone or with 1 friend. They proved to me that traveling alone can
be amazing.<br />
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Living on the east coast my entire life I was never able to enjoy sunsets. Now I am able to watch the sun set every night over the beautiful ocean. I am going to try to take a picture of the sunset every night and hopefully put together a collage at the end of my journey.<br />
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<br />
At orientation on September 16th they
decided to announce that classes don't
start until October 1st. I'm not going to lie, I was really excited for
classes to start and to meet everyone, but a 2 week holiday means 2
weeks of traveling!<br />
<br />
My travel plans are:Dubrovnik>Barcelona>Madrid>Valencia>MarseilleAlyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-18647239186345867022013-09-05T06:33:00.000-07:002013-09-05T06:33:00.224-07:00Pre-Departure: A Mixture of EmotionsWhen I decided to directly enroll into Dubrovnik International
University I thought I knew what I was signing up for. I was wrong. I am
leaving in one week and I have no idea what I am getting myself into.<br />
<br />
It is difficult for me to describe how I am feeling at this point.
Everyone keeps asking me if I am “SO EXCITED?!” and the truth is that I
am very nervous. I am traveling to a country without knowing a single
person. I’ve heard many times that everyone should travel alone at least
once, so here I go!<br />
<br />
What I do know is that I arrive in Dubrovnik on September 15th and my
classes start September 16th. Which classes am I taking? Good question.
The relaxed Croatians like to choose their classes the first day of
school. It will be quite a change to go from a huge public university
like UF to a small private university like DIU, which has less than 200
students.<br />
<br />
I anticipate this experience to be challenging, but that’s what makes
it exciting. In order to keep life interesting we all must take risks,
enjoy life, and go with the flow.<br />
<br />
Putting my nerves aside, I am very anxious to begin my journey. I
cannot wait to breathe the fresh ocean air as I walk along the Adriatic
Sea on my way to class every morning. I am very excited to take classes
that actually interest me and I am even more excited to take these
classes with students from all over the world. I can’t wait to get to
know a different part of the world and the magnificent people that fill
it!Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-58862266516326157882013-02-27T07:48:00.003-08:002013-02-27T07:59:48.485-08:00The Adventures Never EndI started to blog to document my study abroad experience, but I've decided to keep the blog updated with all of my adventures abroad. Italy was just the beginning...much more to come! Once you've
got <b>wanderlust</b>
in your blood, you've got it for life.<br />
<br />
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<br />Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325509553351932951.post-70535460243759730222012-06-19T10:56:00.001-07:002012-06-19T11:01:30.430-07:00Buda or Pest?Before we left for Budapest I was told that the city was split in half with Buda on one side of the River and Pest on the other side. The entire time I thought it was a joke...it wasn't.<br />
<br />
Day 1:<br />
Our flight was out of the Pisa airport so we decided to go to Pisa a couple hours early in order to see the leaning tower. When we arrived in Pisa we took a city bus to the tower. We spent about an hour trying to get a good picture, it was somewhat successful. We wanted to have a nice dinner by the tower, but we realized we spent too much time taking pictures and had to get back to the airport. I am ashamed to admit that we ate McDonald's for dinner. After our wonderful Italian dinner.... we waited at the bus stop for about 10 minutes. A bus came and we all got on it. Good thing one of my friends asked the bus driver if he was headed to the airport and he shoot his finger in front of him saying "no aeroporto". We all jumped off before we got on the wrong bus. We looked at the bus schedule and found out that the bus we needed stopped running. Picture 9 American students with huge carry on bags running through the streets of Pisa trying to catch a plane. We looked ridiculous and got plenty of funny looks. After running about 4 miles we finally made it to the airport. Of course we looked like we just ran a marathon and had sweat dripping down our faces, but that didn't stop Nicole from getting our flight attendants number.<br />
<br />
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I was told that Ryan Air was one of the worst companies in Europe, but we had a wonderful experience. We paid
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</style>5 euro we paid for priority seating (best investment I've made in Europe). They weren't very organized and basically everyone just stands in a jumbled mess fighting to board the plane. They do not have section numbers or assigned seating. They kind of just say "okay, everyone line up to board", you can imagine the mess that makes. We were able to board the plane first and pick any seat we wanted. They opened the door and I expected to walk through a tunnel to the plane...nope we literally walked on the runway right to where the plane was parked and walked up the stairs right onto the plane. Ryan Air was very entertaining... they speak in 3 different languages so everything they say they repeat 3 times, which meant they were talking for the entire flight. They also has many opportunities to shop on board. The sold smokeless cigarettes, perfume, and scratch off cards. We found it quite funny. Before we knew it we were walking off the plane and were in Hungary, a place I never pictured myself visiting on my last free weekend in Europe. <br />
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We stayed at a hostel named Tiger Tim's. On the website it mentioned that there are no signs advertising that the hostel actually exists so it has a picture of the entrance and it tells you to remember what this door looks like, because that is the only way you will know you are at the right place. It was 1:30am and the shuttle pulled up to the street, let us out, and left. The 9 of us were searching for this mysterious door. One of the boys knocks on a door that he believes is the correct place. This door was located between a kebab store and a sex shop....we were a little nervous to say the least. The door opens and we start walking up a stairs, having no idea what or who we might run into. After 4 flights of stairs a very skinny Australian man greets us in his underwear with a notebook in his hand. We weren't sure if we should be scared or entertained. He started calling out our names and led us to our rooms. The owner of the hostel, Tim a funny Irish man, introduced himself and told us to all meet in the lounge area in the morning and he would go over everything with us. </div>
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Day 2: </div>
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When we woke up we all met upstairs and Tim handed us each a map of Budapest. He told us everything we needed to know about the city from good restaurants to the famous Turkish baths. Budapest is a walking city, even if it's 30 minutes away, you walk. </div>
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We began our adventure exploring the city. We went to the 3 story central market. It had a lot of fruits, vegetables, and meats.. not the market we expected, but it was still cool to explore. We then went to the green bridge and just sat in the sun for a little bit. There wasn't a cloud in the sky! After relaxing we walked on the Pest side along the Danube River and we ran into the shoe memorial. It is 60 pairs of shoes made out of iron that give remembrance to the Jews who were shot into the Danube River by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest in World War II. </div>
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We followed one of Tim's suggestions and went on one of the free walking tours. As you've already read I do not enjoy tours very much, but this was an exception. The guides were young and energetic. The brought us to both sides of the river showing us famous places in Buda and Pest. They brought us to a statue of a fat police man and told us if you rub his belly you will eat good food while you are in Hungary. We also saw more locks on an iron gate. Our guide told us that couples who are in love come here, write their initials on the lock, lock it on the fence, and throw the keys into the river. Europe really likes this lock tradition. They have it in Florence and Cinque Terre. We ended the tour on Castle Hill on the Buda side. The view was of the entire city and was beautiful. </div>
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We finished our day of sightseeing at the popular Hummus Bar. I guess rubbing the statues tummy worked because our that was the best falafel I've ever had. The made the falafel balls fresh to order. After dinner we had to get ready for our night around Budapest. Tim has organized things each night of the week for anyone in the hostel to participate in if they wish. Saturday night was a cruise along the Danube River that ended on Dream Island, which is an Island known for night life. It was a good time and we met a lot of really cool people. The view of the river at night was awesome. </div>
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Day 3:</div>
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Our third morning was when I realized how cool staying in a hostel is. We were upstairs sitting at a table full of about 15 people and when you listened around the table you heard accents from England, Australia, Norway, and Ireland. I'm not sure the next time I will be around such a diverse group of people. </div>
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We walked to a local market one of our tour guides told us about. It had about 15 vendors and would take a regular group of people 30 minutes to go through, but it took us group of 6 girls about 2 hours. Everything was so cool and unique. </div>
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After shopping we visited a museum called the House of Terror. The museum contains exhibits related to the fascist and communist dictatorial government in 20th century Hungary. It also a memorial to the victims of the regime. The entire museum is in Hungarian so we had to read the English papers that explained every room. Tim warned us that the museum was very shocking, but we didn't get that feeling until we went to the basement. This is where the memorial is and prison cells that make you feel like you were actually there. It sent shivers down my spine. </div>
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After the House of Terror we were ready for a relaxing couple of hours at the Szechenyi Baths. This Turkish bath was the first of its kind on the Pest side and is the largest medicinal bath in Europe. It has over 15 baths ranging from ice cold to steaming hot. We laid by a pool that had a whirl pool in the middle. It turned on every 10 minutes and once you are in it, it is very hard to get out. The water pushes you in circles, bumping you into the people around you...sounds weird, but it was so much fun! </div>
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<span id="goog_1453835477"></span><span id="goog_1453835478"></span>After the baths we went with the Hostel the the World's 3rd most famous bar, Szimpla. This bar is considered a ruin bar, but it blows all other bars out of the water. You can spend hours exploring the bar. It is full of computer screens and strange junkyard artifacts. </div>
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When I booked my flight to Budapest I had no idea what to expect. I couldn't be happier with our decision to travel there. It was a place I'll probably never have the chance to go to again. It was the cleanest city I have been to and not very touristy, which was nice. We ate good food, had a fun time, saw awesome places, and met cool people. </div>Alyssa Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12302265009156215043noreply@blogger.com0