Easter in Croatia

Getting ready to board the boat with Nissa!

Took a cruise from the port of Ancona, Italy to Split, Croatia this past weekend for Easter Break. The cruise boat was a lot bigger than I had expected. It was 8 floors tall. EuroAdventures had a couple of airplane style seating rooms reserved for us on the boat. There was a restaurant that I had dinner at on the boat which was actually pretty good.  Arrived to Split in the morning. Checked into our sketchy hotel. Had to cross two sets of train tracks & hop a fence to get to our hotel! Then my roomies (Kelsey & Nissa) and I headed to Bacvice Beach.  It was about a 10 min walk from our hotel.

Split, Croatia

Spent all day on the beach which was so relaxing! The next day we took a boat cruise to the islands of Brac and Solta.  It was about a 3 hr cruise to Brac then an hour or two over to Solta then about 3 hrs back to Split. It was a long trip! But so much fun. Went to the Golden Triangle Beach on Brac.  Visited the town of Bol on Brac Island. Stopped at Solta but there wasn't much to see in the tiny town. 

On Easter I went white water rafting in Omis which is about an hour drive from Split.  There were 8 people in each raft with a guide. The water was teal! It was so pretty. It looked like a fairy tale. There were beautiful waterfalls and greenery surrounding.  Whenever the river narrowed and there wasn't enough space to use the paddles, our guide would yell BOMBA! Which meant get in the middle of the boat and duck down! We had a couple of "bomba" moments on the trip which was a lot of fun.  I also got the chance to cliff jump off a 20 ft cliff which was a blast! Overall a great experience!! Took the cruise boat back to Italy overnight.  Had a great time in Split and would love to go back someday to Brac Island and spend more time in Bol. 

Study Abroad Travel Agencies

I am lucky that I have places like Florence for Fun and EuroAdventures that plan trips around Europe specifically for study abroad students. I have gone on several trips with Florence for Fun and just one with EuroAdventures. I hope to take 2 more trips with EuroAdventures later this month and next.

Florence for Fun trips:

• Interlaken, Switzerland: Skiing in the Swiss Alps was probably one of the coolest/scariest things I have done in my life. I was so glad I went and it was probably one of the best things I did on my time in Europe. Highly recommend going even if you have never skiied. They offer other activities such as sledding, hang-gliding, ice skating & sky-diving. 
• Milan, Italy: Fashion week in Milan was very neat. I got to see a fashion show and got to see models walking around the city. The duomo there is very beautiful and I would love to go back someday! 
• Venice, Italy: I had been to Venice once before with my family but not for Carnevale. Carnevale is a huge festival thrown the week before Fat Tuesday. It was so much fun to see all the costumes and masks. A great experience!
• Florence Soccer Game: Went to the Firenze vs Milano soccer or "futball" game. Had great seats and it was a neat experience. They know how to get into a game! 

EuroAdventures trips:

• Prague, Czech Republic: You would never think of going to Prague but it is actually a really neat city. It was hardly crowded when we were there and everything is dirt cheap with the exchange rate. Loved the John Lennon Wall and the Dancing House.
• Split, Croatia: Heading here this weekend for Easter break! I am taking a cruise boat from Italy to Croatia overnight. We are staying on the coastal town of Split. Hope to work on my tan and possibly go white water rafting!
• Amalfi Coast, Italy: This will be my last trip! :( This trip is going to Capri, Sorrento, Positano, and Pompei. I am looking forward to going to the Blue Grotto and cliff jumping! 

Marvelous Monday

Usually I dred Mondays because they are my longest. I have class from 9:15am to 7pm with only a 15 min & 30 min break in between the three classes. Well today started off great. My first class which is photography, took a class trip to Rignano Sull'Arno, which is about a 30 min train ride from Florence. We left at 9am and were there til 12pm. Rignano is a very small town. You can walk the entire town in about 30 min.


We spent about 2 hours walking around by ourselves taking pictures. It was so peaceful out. The Arno River runs right through the middle of the town. I loved just going around taking pictures in such nice weather in the middle of Tuscany! Taking pictures is one of my favorite things to do and it was just so beautiful out! I stopped at a little bakery in Rignano and bought a chocolate brownie. I asked the store clerk if I could take her picture because we have to have 10 portraits of Italians for an assignment. She was more than happy to have her picture taken. I loved Rignano because it was so quiet and a pretty Tuscan town!

In Italian class today we learned new prepositions. Our Italian teacher then asked us if we had made any Italian friends. We went around the room and spoke in Italian about our new friends. I talked about the friends I have made while studying abroad. It was fun just going around the room and talking. Our class got out a few minutes early which was nice.

After Italian was painting. Our class went up to Michelangelo's platform and went back into the woods behind the platform and the church. It was so nice out. The woods opens up to the Tuscan hillside. We brought our canvases, paint, stools & easels with us. We set up our easels around the woods and began to paint. I set up my easel with a perfect view of the hillside in front of me. I painted the hillside in shades of green and blue. It was so fun to just sit in the middle of the hillside painting and hearing the birds sing. After painting class my friend and I stopped to get some gelato :) I got fruti di basco and stratecella gelato. It was molto bene! Came home to the apartment and my roomies and I made calzones for dinner. They were very good! We had some tiramisu for dessert! Never underestimate your Mondays!

Top 10 Night Spots

Florence has some of the best night life in Italy! Every night of the week there are bars/clubs full of study abroad students and locals. The best nights to go out are Thurs/Fri/Sat. I have compiled a list of my favorite bars/clubs and I hope you enjoy! Maybe if you come to Florence someday you can try one of them out ;)

Enjoying some live music at Rocks Off!

1. Rocks Off - Great live music pub down the steps in a cozy little basement, the employees are so nice & go out of their way to help you find a seat! They gave us a round of free shots the first time we were there.

2. Red Garter - Always packed! They have really good cider. The dancing is fun and so is the music. This is one of my fave places!

3. Moyo - Great mixed drinks. You can get a table and hang out. The music is pretty good. Easy to meet people and they don't creep on you.

Out at Moyo with my roomies & Nichi

4. Twice - CRAZY! There are creepy Italian men everywhere! There is no cover but that means that the place can get packed. Sometimes it is hard to move. If you start dancing, Italian men will come up to you and start dancing with you. Such a crazy experience! Try to get V.I.P. if possible, then you can have some protection from the creeps.

5. Naima - Great little bar down the street. There is a pirate bartender. It gets pretty crowded so it's hard to get a table. If you go from 9-11pm you can get 3 euro drinks.

6. Lion's Fountain - Such a cozy little pub! There are t-shirts from U.S. colleges all over the ceiling and people write all over the walls which is cool. You can get a cup of beer for about 5 euros. They also have cider. Sometimes they have karaoke night.

Green Beer at Old Stove

7. Club 21 - Great dancing! No cover at this club. Great lights/music and the guys aren't too creepy. There are 2 bars in the club. Sometimes they give out free drinks/shots!

8. Bebop - Live music pub in the basement. I have only been once and it was quite an experience. I recommend going on Beatles night!

9. Astor - This bar reminds me of bdubs. There are huge TVs everywhere. The bartenders are pretty cool and the owners might give you free shots!

10. Old Stove - Cozy little Irish pub. Went here on St. Patty's day and had green beer. It was full of Italian kids and it was just a lot of fun!

Map of Clubs & Bars:

Click Here for Map Locations

Roomie Lovin

I came over to study in Florence knowing no one. I knew that I would have to make friends and I thought hopefully I would be able to bond with my roommates. I remember the first week or so when we were all getting to know eachother. It was pretty quiet and we didn't really say much. After a few more weeks we were getting to know eachother and I found out my roommates all have a great sense of humor. We love cracking jokes and just hanging out together. We usually always cook dinner together which saves on buying food! Sometimes we play cards & eat gelato after dinner. We love to go on walks together and explore Florence! I truly couldn't have asked for better roomies. We are already talking about planning reunions around the country/world!

Chouree -
My awesome roommate! We share a room together and are always laughing and having a good time. She is a sophomore at St. Catherine University majoring in Dietetics. She is from Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is a great cook and likes to make us all food! I went to Paris & London with her and we had an absolute blast. She has been a great roommate and we love to break down and dance in our room sometimes! She studied abroad in Sicily for the fall semester and decided to come to Florence for spring semester. She loves to go shopping as well! Sometimes we call her the shopaholic. She also loves collecting scarves! She has already purchased probably 7 scarves just from Florence.



Nissa -
You can always catch Nissa singing in the shower or in the kitchen. She loves shopping for jewelry and is obsessed with squirrels. She is a junior at the University of Minnesota. She is majoring in Interior Design. She is from Collierville, Tennessee. She had her boyfriend and sister visit a few weeks ago. It was fun to hang out with them. She loves to go on hikes and is always working out in the living room while listening to Wiz Khalifa. She loves to cook as well. Her and Chouree make a great cooking team. She is also a huge astrology freak! She likes to try to figure out what signs people are. She is a cat lover and has a little kitty named Nova!

Kelsey -
Loves shopping for shoes and shopping in general. She has a great sense of humor and is always joking around. She is a super-senior at the University of Minnesota majoring in Interior Design as well. Her and Nissa know eachother from school. She lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin and yes, she is a Packers fan! She loves to go out and get her dance moves on. You can catch her taking naps throughout the day or making to-do lists. We went to Cinque Terre a couple weekends ago with my parents and had so much fun. We are going to Barcelona together next weekend! She has a blog as well that is pretty hilarious, but she would kill me if I gave out the link!

Prague ~ Czech it Out

Location of Prague, Czech Republic on the map

I was suppose to go to Austria this past weekend to go on the Sound of Muisc tour but not enough students signed up so they had to cancel the trip :( So I had the option of going to Prague, Munich or get my money back. I decided to go to Prague because I had heard so many good things about it. People said it was dirt cheap and that they had a lot of fun. 

So on Thursday I climbed onto a huge coach bus with 50 other kids. Half of the students were going to Munich the other half were going to Prague. By the way, Prague is in the Czech Republic for those that are not good with geography! We took a 12 hr bus ride from Florence to Prague with a pit stop in Munich to drop off half the kids. We drove through Italy, Austria, Germany & then got to Prague at 9AM the next day! I didn't get to see the scenery because it was dark out.

We checked into our hotel rooms (stayed at Hotel Karlin) then went off for our tour of Prague! Got to see so many of the main attractions and went to a Beer Factory that had a tap at each table so you could get your own beer! Went out to dinner at a traditional Czech restaurant next to our hotel. The next day was a free day so I did some shopping and went to find the dancing house. Prague is very cheap! One U.S. dollar equals 17 Czech Koruny. What was also nice was that the city wasn't really crowded. I'd have to say that Florence is more crowded than Prague! It was nice just being able to walk around and not worry about it being packed.

Things Conquered:

• Prague Castle (Largest castle in the world) w/ St. Vitus Cathedral
• Astronomical Clock
• Charles Bridge
• Old New Synagogue
• New Town & Wenceslas Square
• John Lennon Wall
• The Dancing House
• Powder Tower
• St. Nicholas' Church
• Old Town Hall
• Tyn Cathedral
• Mozart's House
• National Theatre
• National Museum
• Lunch at  Bohemia Bagel
• Beer Factory
• Traditional Czech dinner 
• Purchased a set of nesting dolls

Prague Castle

Charles Bridge

St. Vitus Cathedral

Infront of Old Town Hall

Dancing House

Nesting  Dolls

Architecture

John Lennon Wall 

March Highlights

1. Spring Break: London & Paris
2. Nissa's sister Nichi came to visit
3. Midterms
4. 150 yrs Unification of Florence
5. Palazzo Vecchio fireworks
6. Secret Bakery runs
7. Had my first chocolate covered waffle
8. Green beer on St. Patty's Day
9. Tijuana happy hour & dinner
10. Sorrento & Pompei
11. Chouree goes missing in France
12. Started my 3 canvas painting
13. Called cops on drunk neighbors
14. Mom & Dad came to visit
15. Cappuccinos at Cafe Mario
16. Accademia Museum to see the statue of David
17. Cinque Terre
18. Spring Hill Camps interview
19. Toured Santa Croce Church
20. Prague