Croatia: Europe's Best Kept Secret

This weekend I fell in love. Some people want to marry the Eiffel tower, I want to marry the entire country. Split, Croatia is comparable to Miami beach. Our hostel was located right on the port, overlooking the coast. Restaurants, bars, & live music lined the streets.

I decided to take my second trip with Bus2alps, but this time I went not knowing anyone and it was the best decision I could have made! 

Day 1: A 12 hour bus ride later and we finally arrived in Croatia at 9am. We checked into our hostel and 2 hours later I was on a bus headed towards the Cetina River for white water rafting. It was 75 degrees out and we had to wear wet suites and water booties. At first we were a little confused, then we felt the water and understood why we had to wear this. Our rafting "skipper's" name was Marco, he is a semi-pro soccer player and a white water rafting guide, hard life? I think not. He was explaining to us that Americans are his favorite people to work with and Italians are his least favorite (this is the first time I've heard good things about Americans in Europe). Half way through our adventure we reached a cliff that had fresh spring water flowing off of it. Marco taught us to all put on hand in a fist and hold it against the rock and it served as a water fountain. Croatian water is the official water of Madison Square Garden, how cool is that and we got to drink it fresh from the mountain! At the end of the river Marco surprised us with a cliff jumping experience. As we approached the cliff it didn't look very high, but once we were on top of it we all wanted to turn back. Marco did not let us, and I'm very happy he didn't because it was so much fun. The river wasn't as intense as I expected, but the scenery blew my mind. At one point marco had us stop paddling and just sit and take in the nature around us for. The rippling of the water, chirping of the birds, and rays from the sun  were so relaxing. Our adventure ended at a delicious restaurant right on the river. When we got home we had to get ready for the pub crawl that was organized for our bus2alps trip. I had never been on a pub crawl before, but this one definitely set the bar. The crawl began with 2 hours of unlimited drinks on a boat that was docked on the port, it then went to three different bars that lined the coast. 

 

Day 2: After a bright and early wake up call we were on the boat about to begin our day of island hopping. We thought it would be a good idea to sit at the front of the boat.  We were wrong. 5 minutes into the boat ride we were soaking wet from the waves hitting against the boat. The boat crew came around with shots and donuts for everyone. What a wonderful start to our day. The first island was little and cute, while the second island was big and beachy. When we got home from island hopping we went to a city nearby named Trogir, It was a beautiful city on the coast and has wonderful calamari. 

 

Day 3: We packed up our bags and left our hostel. We headed to Krka National Park, otherwise known as the land of the waterfalls. We headed 2 hours north and reached the anticipated destination. We has 3 hours to explore the parks natural beauty. We took a scenic trail that led us to the parks renown waterfall into the Visovac Lake. After a couple minutes of taking pictures of the falls we decided to take a dip. The water was freezing, but there was no way I was leaving this beautiful place without swimming under the waterfall. After 30 minutes of attempting to walk on the rocks on the water we decided to jump in and swim. There was a rope in front of the waterfall that was clearly there so no one would cross it, but the daredevils that we are we all crossed the rope. After 15 minutes of climbing rocks and swimming under the falls one of the park rangers came and told us to go back to the swimming side. The waterfalls were the highlight of my trip. 

 

Overall, Croatia is one of my favorite places I've ever been to and I will definitely be back!

Venice

My favorite place in Italy so far! It was beautiful! The buildings, the water, the gondolas, the gondola drivers, everything was just beautiful.

Day 1: Our day began with a tour around the city. After staring at the same building for 45 minutes we decided we were going to leave the tour and go explore the city ourselves. After walking into many pretty stores, which we could not afford, we crossed the bridge and stumbled upon an outdoor festival. Immediately our eyes landed on a cart that was filled with fresh fruit. We each got a cup of cherries and a slice of coconut. We walked down a little road and found the Grand Canal. We literally sat on the edge of the canal, put our feet in the water, and ate delicious fruit for 2 hours. We had a photo shoot, made friends with gondola drivers, and enjoyed the wonderful weather.

Day 2: Went to breakfast in our hotel and had the best hot chocolate! It was called "cioccolato con cioccolato strong" enough said.  We began our day with a ferry ride to an Island of Murano.

My day started off a little rough. The first couple minutes of walking onto the ferry I broke one of my shoes. It was a little annoying walking around with a broken sandal, but at least it was an excuse to buy a new pair of shoes.

 Murano is a Venetian Island famous for the art of glassblowing. We watched a demonstration on glassblowing. We were first introduced to "The Master". He is the main creator of the glass products in the factory. In order to become a master you have to learn and work under an older master for at least 20 years. How cool would that be to have your job title on your resume be "The Master"? Within 10 minutes we watched the master make a vase and a horse. It was actually very intriguing. Both pieces were made so fast, with such detail. I wish I could make something like that.

After Murano we went back to Venice for a couple of hours. I thought I would immediately find a new pair of shoes, but instead the first hour in Venice was spent looking for the Jewish Ghetto. The word Ghetto originated in Venice and after 1390 it became used for all Jewish communities in Italy. We got a little lost while looking for the ghetto and we were a little nervous to ask people on the street where it was.  We finally came across a sign in Hebrew pointing to where the synagogue was, we then knew we were heading in the right direction. It was very quiet and free of tourists, which was nice. There are only about 500 Jewish people in Venice, and about 30 of the actually live in the ex ghetto.

After leaving the ex ghetto we had about an hour left in Venice which consisted of finding a pair of shoes, getting lunch, and finding a restroom. Oh I think I forgot to add this earlier…most public restrooms in Italy charge an entrance fee, so every time we use the bathroom outside of school, our apartment, or a restaurant costs 1.5 euros (that is the equivalent of a small gelato).

Unfortunately, the only thing I was not able to do in Venice was go on a gondola ride…oh well that just means i'll have to come back.

Food, Food, & More Food

Yes, this post is only dedicated to food.

The Secret Bakery:
One night on our way home we noticed a smell that could not be ignored. It actually smelt like heaven. We followed the smell down a random, sketchy road and saw a group of people lined up outside of what looked like an apartment building. We watched a guy knock on the door and a woman opened it. She whispered that he wanted a nutella croissant, handed the woman a euro, and the door shut. A couple minutes later the woman came back out and handed the guy a freshly baked croissant.  Of course we hopped in line and got a delicious baked good. This "secret bakery" opens at 2 am every morning and sells the fresh baked goods that they are preparing for the day. There is a sign that says "be quiet" and we were told that if you are too loud the people living in the apartment across the street open the window and pour water on the people talking.

The Diner:
We were exploring the city when we came across a little restaurant that said "American coffee served here" this caught our attention very fast. Don't get me wrong I've yet to have a bad Italian meal, but sometimes we are just in the mood for some regular American food. 

The Gelato Festival: 
Here in Italy they take gelato very seriously. On Wednesday we did not have class due to the gelato festival that was coming to town. There were tents of different gelato vendors in a couple of the main plazas there were even gelato cocktails. One of my roommates had to go to the festival to taste different gelato flavors in order to write her paper for class. We finally found a little gelateria that serves the best homemade gelato in Florence. A gelato a day keeps the doctor away?

Piazzale Michelangelo

Across the river is Piazzale Michelangelo. which is a famous square with a magnificent panoramic view of Florence. On our hike up to the piazza we grabbed 2 bottles of wine and 2 pizza pies. I'm pretty sure we burned enough calories on the walk up to piazza to make up for the extra calories. After about 20 minutes of walking up the very steep hill we arrived to the most beautiful view of Florence I could ever imagine. We sat on the steps and got there right in time for the sunset. I could honestly sit there for hours every night and not get tired of the view.

While sitting on the steps we started talking to the girls next to us and soon found out that they were Pi Phis from CU Boulder. Obviously we all got very excited and had to take a picture.

Cinque Terre

I have been waiting to visit Cinque Terre since I found out I was going to Italy. I really just wanted to visit so I can take pictures like the ones I've seen online. Luckily, I discovered a company called Bus2alps that allows study abroad students to come together and travel throughout Europe, one of their destinations being Cinque Terre!

Cinque Terre is region of 5 really cute, colorful villages on the coast;  Riomaggiore, Manarola,  Corniglia, Vernazza, & Monterosso al Mare. There is a train that you can take between each village or you can hike to get to each village. The total hiking time to get from the first village to the fifth village is 9 hours.

Again, it was a cold, rainy day, but at least this time we were with 30 other college students. We had to wake up at 5:30 am, but we were able to sleep on the 2 hour bus ride. When we arrived we split up into a couple of groups, the group who wanted to explore town and go shopping & the group who wanted to hike a muddy trail (obviously we went into town).

The trail between the first village (Riomaggiore) & the second village (Manarola) is called the Via Dell'Amore, which means the way of love. The trail is covered with locks; couple bring them as a sign that their love is locked forever (too bad my roommates and I forgot our locks, maybe next time). The wall along the Via Dell'Amore is covered in graffiti, drawings, and people's signatures. Good thing I brought a pen so we were able to leave our mark.

Cinque Terre is known for its pesto sauce and focaccia bread, so of course we had to try them both. While we were in Vernazza we went to the cutest family owned restaurant. All of us ordered the same meal, Trofie al Pesto, and of course we ate it all. We then tried the focaccia bread in the next village, Monterosso al Mare. Pomodori e formaggi (tomato & cheese) focaccia bread was sooo good! 

Even though it was raining, we made the most of it. I was able to take pretty pictures, eat yummy food, try the best hot chocolate, and meet some cool people. I even managed to find my future husband (give him about 10 years).

Siena & San Gimignano

We took our first tour outside of Florence to experience more of the Tuscany region.  When we arrived at the meeting point for the tour we soon realized that there was  a bit of an age difference between us and the rest of the tour (Picture 9 college aged boys and girls with 30 of the cutest couples over the age of 70). Despite the age difference the tour was exactly what we wanted. 

Our first stop was to Siena, a medieval city surrounded by a defensive wall. We took a tour around the city, which is divided into 17 areas. While in Siena the Mille Miglia was passing through. The Mille Miglia is a 1000 mile car race that happens once a year and travels all throughout Italy. While we were getting lunch we met a man who was taking a short break from driving in the race. He explained to us how only about 300 cars (ferraris and other italian classics) are eligible to enter the race and he had to charter a car from Milan in order to enter it. I'm not really into cars, but it was pretty cool. We ended our tour in one of the most beautiful churches I have ever been in, the Duomo di Siena. Everything was stunning; the floors, walls, ceilings. 

San Gimignano was our next stop. Unfortunately, it was very rainy so we didn't really go site seeing, BUT we did go to the Gelateria di Piazza, which was voted the world champions of gelato in 2006.  I wish it was sunny because the view from the city was a gorgeous country side.

That night was the championship "football" game, Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea. We decided to embrace the Italian culture and experience the atmosphere of a soccer championship. Not one person noticed when we walked into the bar. Everyone's face was glued to the television screen. I expected the atmosphere the be like that of a Superbowl party in America. A bunch of obnoxious fans screaming at the t.v. Nope. I guess Italians are much classier than us while watching sports. The only time anyone made a noise or moved their head was when a goal was scored. The game was intense; it went into double overtime and penalty kicks.

The highlight of my night was running into one of my friends who went to CLTC with me and haven't seen in 4 years. While him and his UGA friends gave me a hard time for being a Gator, he saved me from some creepy Italians.

I Don't Think I'm In Boca Anymore....

I survived my first week of classes; time for the weekend! I was used to a 7 day weekend at UF, and now I have classes 3 days a week that are 2.5 hours each. My Italian teacher doesn't speak English very well so the entire time the only thing she says to us is "Ba bene" and we all just shake our heads agreeing (we usually don't understand what we are agreeing to).  My business teacher is an American man who who moved to Rome 12 years ago not knowing a single word of Italian. He always goes off on a tangent, tells us stories about when he met Mike "The Situation" and usually ends class early- no complaints there. He is taking us to the Gucci museum for us to get a closer look at family businesses in Italy….maybe it's time for a new purse.

This week was full of new experiences. My roommates and I took a trip to the supermarket. We walked in and saw all of the locals walking around with a yellow basket that you pull like a wagon…of course we had no idea where to find this basket. I then proceeded to get some apples. In Italy it is frowned upon to grab the fruit with your hand so you have to use a plastic glove. I got my two apples and then saw a machine that required me to print a sticker with a bar code on it. Obviously I had no idea how to work the machine so I couldn't buy any apples. After about 45 minutes of walking around the supermarket we got to the cash register and the cashier said "borse?"and I just smiled and shook me head. When we left we realized when he said "borse?" he was asking us if we wanted a plastic bag, which we were charged for because most Italians bring their own bag to the market.  I was still able to get the necessities…shampoo, conditioner, Honey Nut Cherrios, and Nutella.

Last night was our first real night out. We walked up and down the streets asking people "Dove Club 21"and on the way we made some friends with a couple of English girls. We finally made it the club and they were playing Outcast, Usher, & Nelly. We definitely felt at home.

Tonight we went to one of the "best pizza ristoranti" in Florence, Gusta Pizza. It was packed with locals, which is always a sign of good food. A group of locals tried to take our table and the owner walked over, kicked them out, and made sure we sat down. Our food came shortly after and was DELICIOUS. When we ordered our food we felt very rushed so we all just ordered our own pizza for 5 euros each. We then realized that next time we will be each sharing a pizza. Oh….in Italy they do not believe in taking leftover food home, which made us feel like we had to eat our entire plate, and that we did.

Tomorrow will be our first day that we can sleep in, relax, and explore Florence, which we are very excited about. On Saturday we are taking a trip to Siena and San Gimignano and on Sunday we are going to Cinque Terre.