Best decision I've ever made passed 1:00 am.

Lake Bled, Slovenia

Thursday, February 21st, I decided to hang low and just met one of my friends who works for Euroadventures at a pub near our apartments. Earlier in the day she had text me asking if me or any of my friends wanted to join their trip to Lake Bled, Slovenia for the weekend at a much cheaper price than it is offered. I mentioned it to the girls, and no one was really interested. In the back of my mind I kept saying, why wouldn't we go? It's cheaper, almost the same as Interlaken (which we loved), and we will probably never visit this place again. None of us even knew what Slovenia was let alone where it's located...

Anyway, no one wanted to go so I regretfully declined the offer. At home that night around 1:30 am, I was still thinking about this weekend trip and how I actually wanted to go on it. All the girls were out, I knew none of them wanted to go, so I sent Cathy a text saying I wanted to come.

Her response; "OMG, awesome! I'll meet you on Via De Pepi at 6:20am!" And that was the beginning of possibly one of the top best weekends of my life.

Departing around 7:30, due to some girls running late, 21 of us on our 40 passenger bus took off for Lake Bled, Slovenia.

Located at the borders of Italia and Austria, we arrived to Slovenia around 2:30-3pm. Checking in at Hotel Krim, we all got situated and took a walk around Lake Bled.

Restaurant we found

About a 4 mile walk around the lake, there is a church located on a little island right in the middle. It's beautiful. Every where we walked, there were giant swans walking around or swimming in the lake. 

On the far end of the lake, up in the mountain, is an old, historic castle. The whole scene just seemed surreal. So much snow everywhere and this huge lake with a church and castle. It was awesome. I've never seen anything like it.

After our lake walk, we got back to the hotel and warmed up. A group of kids went night sledding. Apparently there was a giant igloo they hung out. I hate the cold so there was no way I wanted to sled. I also didn't pack proper clothing for sledding, but I was jealous they got to hang out in an igloo. The pictures were so cool.

Me and two girls I met, walked around a bit and found a pizzeria right on the lake. We ate there, got a glass of wine, and just talked for a few hours. We were the only people in this restaurant on a Friday night. I know that Slovenia is really small, especially the town we were in, but it felt like a ghost town.

When every one met back up at the hotel, we changed and decided to go to one of the local bars down the street. Klub Bled is where we hung out for the night. Our group got to know the bartenders and owner and we were given all free drinks just within 15 minutes of being there. They said how much they loved when foreigners come to visit their town, and the owner, who was probably a 67 year old woman, was giving all the guys back massages. It was so funny watching the reactions of all of us and the Slovenians were loving having us there.

Making it an early night, we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep before hitting the slopes to ski and snowboard the following day.

Compared to other hostels I've stayed at, for being a 3-star hotel, this breakfast was sooo good.

Hard boiled and scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, toast, fruit, lunchmeats, cereal... a coffee machine... it was great.

We stocked up Saturday morning and got on a bus to Kransjska Gora, Slovenia to go skiing and snowboarding!

I rented pants, boots, gloves a snowboard along got a day pass for so cheap. We spent the entire day in the snow and hanging out at the pubs in the mountains. It was so nice out, we weren't even wearing our jackets at some points. I finally got the hang of snowboarding and am so anxious to go again. I can't believe this was my first time going, it was so much fun!

We were on the mountain from around 10am-5:30pm once we headed back on the bus to the hotel. Getting back, we changed and groups of us went out to dinner. We hung at the hotel for a while after, then hit up Pub Bled for a night out. It was fun, since all 21 of us were out. The pub we were at seemed to be catered to a very young crowd. I think one of the guys on our trip asked a group of girls how old they were and they responded with, "17." So, to say the least, it was very entertaining.

We got home later and Cathy and I sat on our balcony of the room and talked for an hour or so. It was snowing out, we were overlooking Lake Bled, and just talking like we've known each other for years.

It's situations like this makes me realize how lucky I am. I know I am probably being so repetitive in these blog posts, but literally every single experience I have, is a constant reminder of what kind of life I am living. The kind of life people would die for. I'm casually traveling to different countries each weekend like it's normal. Could not be happier.

Waking up for the free breakfast the next morning, we pulled a few tables together and talked about how great of a weekend we had. We laughed about stuff that happened, and took full advantage of the meal.

We were planning on leaving around 4pm, so a group took a walk up to the castle, and some of us just walked around town and hung out. I kind of regret not seeing the castle, but I was burnt out from the day before, sore, and cold, so I decided to hang out and go to some of the local shops.

When Cathy got back to the hotel, we walked to the Wellness Spa Center, and bought a pass into to swimming pool/jacuzzi area. Best decision we made all weekend. We sat in the hot tub for over an hour. The best was the hot tub connecting to an outdoor jacuzzi... It was snowing and we were over looking the lake and the castle, in the hot tub. Unreal. Some kid gets out of the hot tub, runs into the snow, and jumps back in. Me and Cathy look at each other, and immediately do the same thing.

I could not believe it. I got out of the hot tub, ran and dove into the snow. Cathy got some hysterical pictures of me... I look naked, but I'm not. Just in my bathing suit, in a pile of snow. Felt so great jumping back into that hot tub.

Can't believe how adventurous I'm getting... I would never canyon jump or dive into the snow in -20 degrees with a bathing suit on back home. I don't know what's getting into me...

After spending a couple hours there, we got dressed back at the hotel and all got lunch before heading out.

The 6 hour ride back actually didn't sound that bad. We all fell asleep for the first 3 hours, watched a few movies, made a pit stop, and were back in Florence around 11pm.

I decided to go on this trip within 5 hours of it's departure. Slovenia... Who would have even thought this was such an amazing place? The whole time I was there, I kept saying to myself, "I can't wait to come back here..." or "Omg, they (talking about friends) would love this spa, we gotta come back!" As if I would actually come back here some day. This place is so underestimated, I am so so so happy I chose to take a weekend there. I cannot speak more highly of it.

For only having 21 people traveling on the trip, we lucked out. I went on knowing only Cathy (since I intern with Euroadventures, and she was the guide), and came back loving every one who was with me this weekend. We all got along, half of the kids on the trip were from Illinois State which was pretty cool, and every one was so laid back and outgoing it was great.

I've never had a problem doing things on my own, but being abroad I definitely thought that I'd need to have a good friend with me while traveling. This weekend showed me that when you have the chance to do something, don't let anything hold you back. When was I ever going to get the chance to do what I did this past weekend? Probably never again. So that's why I jumped at the opportunity. I came home on Sunday night with multiple new friends, a new country and activities to check off my list, and memories that I will never forget.

Andiamo a Madrid!

February 15-17th.

After booking my flight to visit one of my best friends, Claire before I even got to Florence, the weekend had finally arrived!
I was excited to go to Spain for the first time and especially to be there with her since we hadn't been together in a long time.

Friday morning, I got myself to the Santa Maria Novella train station at 7am and hopped on a train to the Pisa Airport. Preparing myself to go through long lines of security and baggage check, I walked off the train into a one terminal airport. With one line of security that took less than 10 minutes to go through, I was sitting at the gate with 2 1/2 hours to spare.
I introduced myself to another American girl who was sitting by me on the train, so we were waiting at the gate together, got some cappuccini and talked a little.

The gate was somewhat crowded, full of Italians young and old.
I popped my headphones in and turned a not-so-popular song by this cover band I really like. An Italian girl around my age sits down next to me and I happen to hear the music coming out of her iPod. It's the same song I was listening to. In English and everything. I tapped her on the shoulder, showed her my iPod screen, and we both laughed and said how crazy that was. I thought that was kind of a cool/bizarre moment.

Flying through RyanAir airlines was new to me. You are only allowed one check bag. Seats are first come first serve. And the passengers start lining up with over an hour left to board to the plane. I guess this is what I get for paying 60-something euro round trip...
We boarded the plane, and I sat next to the girl I met and then another American girl, who is actually from Iowa. We all fall asleep and before we know it, we have arrived in Madrid!


Claire finds me at the airport and she is still the same spaz as always! It was so good to see her, she even had a sandwich waiting for me :).
We got onto the Metro (the railway system to get around town) and are on our way to her last class of the day.
So tired from traveling, we get to her school and I realize all her classes are in Spanish so I take a seat in the back row, and fall asleep through almost the whole period. We leave after class, and start walking back to her home-stay where her 'house mom' is waiting for us.

Arriving to Claire's house, her housemom, Clara, is an old Spanish woman in her 70s. So cute. We have a little snack, relax for a while and then go back out walking. Claire took me to Museo del Prado where there was the famous work of Diego Velasquez, 'Las Meninas.' It was free that Friday night, so we spent a little time in there, met up with her friends, and made it home for dinner her 'mom' prepared for us around 8.


After such a good meal of veggies, tortilla and beans, we both showered and packed our stuff to go to the Hostel Claire and her friends booked for the weekend.
Because Claire is in a home-stay, she is not allowed to have visitors, so some other girl's friend was visiting making it easy for us to get a Hostel room.

Cat's Hostel, located in the center of Madrid was where we stayed. The place was pretty cool. We get to the front desk, give the reservation name, and the man proceeds to tell us we will be in a room with 12 other people. WHAT? Claire is about to start having a panic attack and her friend does not even know what to say. I step up and begin drilling him with questions, seeing if we can get a smaller room. Or even a 4 bedroom so it's only us.

center of Spain

Eventually, he says there's a room open for 8 people, but if we pay extra, we can have it to ourselves. 10 euros extra a person, or witnessing God knows what happen and having all our stuff stolen in a 14 person room? 10 euro extra won.

Relieved, we get settled in and figure out our plans for the night. We met a group of American guys visiting from Barcalona next door to us, and hung out in there for a while, then went into the city center area and stopped at a few of the bars.

The next day, we got our free breakfast including cereal, coffee and toast, and headed out for the day.

What we did;
-Shopped in Il Sol (the center)

Debod

-Stepped on the very, very center part of Spain
-Got my nose pierced
-Walked through the central market
-Finally found a Starbucks!
-Saw Temple de Debod
-Saw the Royal Family's castle
-Ate paella
-Went on a Teleferico ride, miles out of Madrid

We walked back to the hostel, relaxed a bit, and decided to go out and get Tapas for the night. Tapas, so delicious, are when you go to a restaurant, purchase a drink and it comes with plates of food. Kind of like our aperitivo in Florence. SO good. We hung out at Il Tigre for the night.

Dead tired, we went to the Hostel and fell right asleep. I was leaving Sunday for the airport at 11 and Claire still wanted to show me their flee market area, so we wanted to get up early.
To our surprise, we were woken up by the obnoxious entrance our new friends from Barcalona made at 7:30am, on their arrival back to the Hostel from being out that night. So now that we were all awake, we went down to get breakfast and checked out as soon as we were ready.
They showed me the market area, did some shopping, and then brought me to the airport.

I really, really enjoyed the weekend. Madrid was awesome. I love that not a lot of people spoke English, forcing Claire and her friends to speak Spanish.
What was weird, was that I was somewhat 'homesick' for Florence. I missed the comfort of hearing people speaking Italian, and also the smallness of the city. I wasn't used to taking public transportation everywhere. Traveling to all these new places has given me so many perspectives on life that I never knew existed. The feeling of experiencing new cultures, especially this weekend, having Claire's Spanish 'house-mom' cook and try and communicate with me.. is amazing. The world is such an interesting place, filled with so many different types of people, that I truly never realized... And I probably would not have if it weren't for studying abroad. Once again, I am the luckiest girl in the world.

Taking a step back.

I'd like to say that being in Italy for the last month has been the greatest time of my life. The smallest things from getting lost every time I stepped out of my apartment the first week here, hearing people converse in Italian right outside my window, meeting locals and other American's, to going to church on Sunday's at the Duomo. The amount of time I spend during the day to step back and think about what I am doing here, will never be enough.

I woke up early today, did some stuff at home and decided to walk to mercato di San Lorenzo. On my way, I ran into a girl in one of my classes. We walked a little of the ways together, talking about our time here and where we have been traveling. Splitting up, she went to her apartment and I continued towards the market.
I stopped for a few seconds after that and just looked around. I am familiar with the area, so I wasn't lost. 'I am living in Florence, Italy,' I thought to myself. I never thought I was actually going to follow through with studying abroad... After being in Italy for 2 weeks in high school, I wanted nothing more than to go back, and it actually happened. I just had a conversation with my friend about how she is going to Interlaken this weekend, how I was just in Madrid, and how we cannot believe we just casually walk passed the Duomo every day on the way to classes. I am living the life.

I continued to the market, bought a few apples and red peppers, and left to walk home. Alone, carrying my bag of fruit and veggies, once I got to Piazza del Duomo, I decided to stop inside the Duomo. I remember it from 4 years ago, but every time you walk in it's breath taking. There was a lot of tour groups inside, and I just walked around the main floor by myself. I decided I was going to do something like this at least twice a week; stop inside one of the hundreds of churches, buildings, museums, view points, etc., in Florence. I need to take advantage of every thing here that's at the palm of my hands.

I don't think I fully recognize how fortunate I am. Waking up in my bed in the center of Florence, Italy. Going to class with the view of the Duomo outside the window. Having all of Europe at my fingertips with a click of a button, purchasing a cheap train/plane ticket. Nope. I don't think it's ever going to hit me.

I came across a blog today, called Milk the Pigeon. I highly, highly suggest you take the time to read his blog. Excuse the slang and swear words he uses, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the posts. He talks about living the life you love and makes you think about a lot of stuff. It's great, check it out.


Long story short, I had an eye-opening episode today.
I'm dropping the habit I have of complaining about the smallest stuff. I can't let life pass me by without me realizing it. I'm done focusing on my social media, and I'm going to continue doing stuff I love, while still working hard at school and my priorities.
I want to see the world, be familiar with multiple cultures and traditions, and gain so much more knowledge than I ever would in all my years of school. And of course when the time comes, I will come home for love. But for right now, less thinking and more doing is what makes someone happy. So I'm gonna make myself happy.

Buon San Valentino

Gusta Pizza, located across the river in Florence, is hands down the best pizza I've had yet. I've heard about it from girls back home, and we decided to walk there on Valentine's day to treat ourselves to individual pizzas.

We arrive at Gusta and it is packed. No tables are open, line out the door waiting for take out, and it's mostly groups of girls.... go figure. We get to the counter to check out the menu. I order the Calabrese; spicy salami, mozzarella, tomatoes, and arugala. The girls get Margherita and Caprese. We wait at the counter watching the cooks put in and take out pizzas from the brick pizza oven. The ingredients are so fresh, and the pizzas were done in literally less than 10 minutes. They made our pizzas into a heart-shape, boxed them up, and we took them to go.

Wanting to eat them right away, we walked back to the river and decided to sit on the Ponte all Carraia (a bridge on the Arno passed the Ponte Vecchio).

The pizza was amazing. American pizza has nothing on Italian pizza. It was great.

We sat and talked, laughed, and reminisced about our time here so far.

Three random roommates arrived in Italy at the beginning of January, immediately becoming very good friends. A month later we were sitting on the Arno River in Florence, eating our own heart-shaped pizza, acting like we've known each other for the last 15 years of our lives. If this isn't a dream come true, I am not sure what is...

Canyon Jumping, 300 feet into the Swiss Alps.

This experience undoubtedly calls for it's own post.

I was mad jealous of everyone who was skiing and snowboarding, so the other adventurous options consisted of; sky diving, paragliding, ice skating, or canyon jumping.

Saturday morning, we woke up and Tara and I decided to book our reservation for Canyon Jumping at 1pm that day.

Not even believing I actually just paid and finalized my decision, we got into a van with 10 other people, and took a 30 minute ride up into the mountains.

Arriving at a restaurant, we all got out and continued to hike about 25 more minutes higher into the Alps. Still surreal to me of what I was even about to do, Lauren and Nina walked with Pat, Tara, the rest of the group and I to watch us jump 300 feet into a canyon.

Extremely nervous but excited on our hike up the mountain, of course I had to pee. Again. For third time in the last hour. Already deep into the woods, there was no other place I'd be able to go other than behind a tree, in the 3 feet of snow. Unless I wanted to pee all over myself while diving into the canyon, it was now or never. Sorry for the details, but this was a vital aspect of the experience.

We reach the top of the canyon and see the platform we will be jumping off of. The guides dress us all in our harnesses and read us this ridiculous disclaimer that made me question what the hell I was doing...

There was a woman taking professional pictures, which is how I got so many of me jumping. She was hanging on a zipline above the platform we jumped off of, the entire time until the last person was finished. What a job....

Pat went first. Took off his jacket, stepped onto the platform, and swan dove off the canyon. In literally 20 seconds he was gone. I couldn't believe it. A couple other people went, then Tara was next in line. Freaking out for her, she looked at the camera, smiled and then jumped. SO cool, I could not wait to go...

Two people later, it was my turn. One of the girls was video-taping me so I am hoping she sends me that soon because it was an awesome video...

Neil, the man in charge standing on the platform, hooked me up to the harness and I grabbed his arm as I stepped onto the platform.

I thought I was going to throw up everywhere... I actually just got the chills thinking about the moment I looked at the canyon I was about to jump into. Incredible. Neil told me to wave to the woman taking pictures, so I did and jumped right after.

The only thing I remember right after I jumped, was the feeling of not being able to breath for a solid 5 seconds, and then thinking... 'I am attached to a rope, swinging in-between massive cliff walls, over a running river filled with rocks and a heavy tide... in the Swiss Alps.'
If that is not a dream come true then I don't know what is... Never for once in my life did I think I would canyon jump in the Swiss Alps. To be honest, I did not even know what Interlaken was.
After I stopped swinging, there was a rope I grabbed onto attached to a ladder at the bottom of the canyon, that I used to pull myself in. Another man was standing there pulling the other end of the rope and helped me take off the harness once I got onto that platform. Pulling myself in above the water and rocks was almost scarier than actually jumping into the canyon. I got onto the platform and was shaking. I don't know if it was the excitement, adrenaline, or what it was, but all I said to guy was, 'holy shit, I can't believe I just did that.' He laughed, told me to pull myself back together, then continue to walk along the side of the cliff wall, through a little cave, until I hit the back end of the restaurant.
When I got in there, Tara, Pat and everyone else who was finished were sitting drinking hot chocolate. We hung out there until everyone was done, ordered the professional pictures, then took the van back down the mountain and back to the hostel.

If it was not for Euroadventures travel company, we probably would not have gone on the trip. We would not have gotten to see this amazing part of the world that I didn't even really know about. 'I am truly blessed,' is really the only thing I can say after our weekend in Interlaken.