Day 100: Live for 32

Today we got up and had our group project meeting in the morning and then Amanda and I prepared for our oral presentation for Italian. We had to create a conversation for five minutes as part of our final that included the different verbs, phrases, and vocabulary we have learned throughout the semester. We then headed to Franklin to present; we ended up getting stuck at the end of the line of groups to go, so we had to listen to everyone's reactions when they came out. Most people felt confident, but some came out saying she asked them extra questions to supplement their conversations which was a little nerve-racking, but once we finished ours she said we sounded like we were very prepared and told us she'd see us on Monday so that was a huge relief. After Italian, we came back and met with our group again and then hung out before heading to dinner. Dinner tonight was a spatzle with beef/veggies/red sauce dish we'd never had before, but it was very good and actually filled me up for once! And then for desert... tiramisu! After dinner, we all gathered out around in front of the Montarina to have a memorial and remembrance for the April 16th tragedy. It was really an awesome feeling for us to not only come together as a group, but also to feel we could be there in spirit for our hokie family back in Blacksburg. Later that evening, I facetimed mom and then headed to bed.

Days 97, 98, 99: Last full week...?!

These three days of our last full week of this trip (hard to believe!) were full of working on our field practicum project. On Monday we met in our normal classroom and Franklin so Brinberg could explain the projects to us and divide the groups up. My group for this one was Loren, Amanda, Amy, Jess, Leighton, and Kellsie. Because he had so much frustration trying to split up all the groups from the beginning, he decided to put us with the people we hang out with and travel with the most, which I was completely fine with.After class Monday, I went to the gym with Amanda and then went back for Italian. We had a normal class of just going over old quizzes and the midterm to prepare for our final. After class, we met with our group again for the field practicum and then I went to the grocery store. We then went to dinner, which was bowtie pasta with red sauce with the ice cream block, but this time it was a pineapple flavor, which was much better than the normal strawberry one. After dinner, I worked on some Italian stuff with Amanda and then went to bed.Tuesday I woke up, did a little yoga because I was pretty sore from the gym Monday and then my group met in my room to work on our project. After we met, Amanda and I went to the gym and then when we got back, I grabbed some lunch, worked on some things and then we met with our group again. After our second meeting, we went to dinner which was the chicken on a bone with sauteed veggies and the apple pie for desert, so I was pretty happy. After dinner I had plans to facetime Mom, but I fell asleep with all my lights on so we had to postpone.Wednesday I got up and did the same thing as Tuesday. After meeting with my group, though, Amanda, Loren, and I went to the pool and laid out for a while with some of the other girls. Once we came back in, I ate lunch and did a little exercise in my room before meeting with my group again. Just as the other two nights, after we met, we went to dinner which was mystery meet with potatoes and carrots and strawberry sorbet for desert. While the mystery meat isn't my favorite, a lot of other girls like it even less so there's always extra which is always a plus since these dinners never seem to fill me up. After dinner, we met with my group again and then I facetimed Mom before heading to bed.

Day 96: So. Much. Transportation.

This morning we got up and checked out of the apartment and then walked to the train station to catch the shuttle that would take us to the airport. If you're already confused by the amount of transportation, just wait... it gets better. Today we take this shuttle to the airport. Fly from Split to Rome. Take another shuttle from the Rome airport to the Rome train station. Train from Rome to Milan Centrale. Then we have to taxi to a different train station in Milan because the trains from Centrale stop too early for us to get one home. So we taxi from Centrale to Garabaldi, and then train from there to Chiasso, and then switch to catch a train to Lugano. Luckily enough, all those things went as planned. We were with the other set of girls in Croatia, but they caught a different train home from Rome than us so we separated after getting off the plane. Before flying out of Split, we all spent time trying to figure out what to buy from the duty free store to spend the extra Croatian money we had left over. The plane ride went smoothly, and I had a window seat which is always a plus. Then my travel group plus Jackie grabbed a shuttle to the train station. We had a little time before our train so we grabbed dinner at the doner place across the street we had eaten at when we went to Rome two weeks ago. We then caught the train, stood in line for a taxi and managed to get a big van so we could all ride together and split the cost a lot easier. From then on, it was a smooth ride as our last train back to Lugano. Very bittersweet feeling, but I was overjoyed to be done with traveling for that day to say the least once we finally got in just before midnight.

Day 95: Don't make me SPLIT

This morning we got up and went to a place for breakfast Amy found as a recommendation from Rick Steve’s in her traveler’s book. It was a small restaurant attached to a hotel in the middle of square located just beside the palace. There, we essentially had unlimited varieties of homemade bread, meats and cheeses, jams and butters, fruit, yogurt, teas, coffees, juices, and eggs cooked the way we liked.
After breakfast, we headed to the harbor to and walked along the water for a while. We then stumbled upon some fried donut ball type things to have for a snack and sat by the water and enjoyed them. We then walked down along the harbor to check out the boats and restaurants down that way. I was really glad we decided to do so because the view of the water, harbor, and mountains was absolutely stunning.
We then headed back into town and grabbed some homemade ice cream from a little mom and pop shop we stumbled upon. I got the mixed berry yogurt in a cone dipped in chocolate and it was very tasty. We then headed back through the markets to see if there were any other souvenirs any of us wanted before heading towards the beach again.
Once we arrived at the beach, we headed to the opposite side of the day before where we could sit on the rocks. We were all having a great time listening to the waves crash on the rocks and soaking in the sun when suddenly we had a visitor… a man who decided to come lie down right next to us and tan… completely naked. While I luckily spared my eyes from this site because the view of him was blocked by the rocks at the angle I was at, some of my group was not quite so lucky. Thankfully he didn't stay too long and we continued to relax for a bit before heading back to the apartment.
After getting ready at the apartment, we headed to dinner at Chops Grill that we found the coupons for earlier. It was a really nice restaurant that we all could spend our leftover money on because we over-estimated how expensive Croatia was going to be. It was nice, though, because we could all relax and not worry about expenses for our last night out as a group. I ordered a caprese salad, surf and turf with baked potatoes and grilled veggies, with lemon sorbet for desert. We had a nice dinner, concluded with a free shot from our sassy (and flirty with Amanda) waiter and then headed back to the apartment to pack up to head back to Lugano for the last time :(

Day 94: Last time waking up in a new place..

Today we woke up and grabbed early brunch in the town square at a place called Bepa. There, a lot of the girls got seafood and different things, but I chose the avocado, roasted red pepper, hummus and feta cheese sandwich and fries on the side (which resembled buffalo chips from Bdubbs... miss that place so much) and it was AMAZING. I could probably eat the meal a million times and be content with life. After brunch, we headed to Diocletian's palace and went up the bell tower, in the sphinx, in the basilica and explored all around the different parts of it. After spending a couple hours there, we headed to the markets in town and then ventured to the beach. While some people were laying out and swimming in their bathing suits, we weren't feeling it was quite warm enough for that yet so we just walked in to our ankles and hung out around the water there.

We spent a good amount of time relaxing at the beach before heading back to the apartment to get ready for our evening. We first at dinner at a really good restaurant near our hostel, where I got seafood risotto that was probably some of the best I've had on this whole trip.Following dinner, we walked into town in hopes to meet with a pub craw, but unfortunately found out it wasn't running because the summer season had not quite yet begun, so we decided to just get some wine and have a girls night in instead. Amanda, Loren, Amy and I sat around in Amanda and Loren's room talking about any and everything, watching dumb movies and music videos, and had a great time before heading to bed.

Day 93: Budapest --> Croatia

Today we had to wake up extremely early and metro from our hostel to the train station to catch our train at 6 am to Croatia. Unfortunately, upon getting on the train, we were advised by one of the workers and some fellow passengers that we would have to be switching stations with some buses along the way. We trained for a while, got off and bused for a while, got back on another train, got back on another bus, then finally got on another train that took us all the way to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. When we got to Zagreb, we decided to grab food at McDonalds so we could have wifi and somewhere to hang out for our two hour layover. After looking at the menu, I decided to go with their grilled chicken wraps, which took me back to this summer when I would always grab them on my way home from working at Coopers. Once we finished and our time was up, we then had a straight shot train from Zagreb to Split. We got in around 10 p.m. where we met the lady who was renting the apartment to us. Her and her mother drove us to the apartment from the station and there Sheley and I decided to stay in the Lavender room. We got settled and then all went to bed.

Day 92: LOVE THE BATHS

This morning we slept in some and then grabbed a late breakfast/early lunch at a Wok 2 Go place just down by our hostel that we had seen the day before. Very similar concept to Wok to Walk that we've had a couple times on this trip, so I was very pleased. After finishing eating, it began to rain so we headed back to the hostel to wait it out. We waited and waited and finally decided to suck it up and go anyway. We headed to a gelato shop just beside the Basilica where I got a beautiful masterpiece of mango, raspberry and chocolate with orange flavors. As soon as we were leaving the gelato place, the sun came out and we had blue skies, which was a great surprise as we were worried the entire day was going to be yucky.
After gelato, we headed back to the hostel to get ready to go to the famous Budapest baths we have heard everyone raving about. We decided to try out the baths that our pub crawl guide had recommended for us and we all were very pleased with our decision. While the one a lot of people have told us about was out doors and much larger than the one we went to, this was very cool because it was not only the oldest baths still standing in Budapest, but it also had been recently renovated and was absolutely beautiful. We most definitely stuck out as some of the very few tourists there, so we knew we were in a good spot. We all hung out in the different baths and saunas for a while, and Amy and Amanda got massages. After spending a few hours there, we headed back to the hostel, changed, and then all just went and grabbed snacks for the train tomorrow and  quick dinners. Sheley and I went back to Wok 2 Go again because we loved it way too much, while the other girls tried a really good burger place just down the street. Once we ate, we all packed and got ready to get up very early for our train to Croatia the next morning.