Vacation in Spectacular Split, Croatia

Happy Easter everyone! Things are pretty quiet in Olomouc today – at least in the dorms. A lot of students went home for Easter, or are still on trips from the reading week. The town is pretty quiet too, but someone pointed out to me that the Czech Republic is quite an atheist country. So, that might be why there isn’t much going on for the holiday. Vienna was really gearing up for it though… and there were so many tourists there! It’s quite nice to be in low-key Olomouc again.

And I guess that’s where I need to tell about my vacation to Croatia! We had a fantastic time and everything went so smoothly. Flying was a fantastic choice – I have never been so relaxed while traveling. The places we stayed were fantastic and every person we dealt with was very friendly. I would recommend that everyone travel to Croatia!

Marliz (my friend from MSU), two of her roommates Matt and Kitsa, and I left on Saturday evening from Vienna, but I had been there the night before with an American friend from Olomouc and was able to see Bernardo for a bit. The flights were really short and we just had a layover in Zagreb, and we were in Split at 10 pm. We got really lucky and had a great taxi driver to our hotel for the first night and he gave us some tips for what to do during the week. Our hotel was very nice and I slept so well… And the weather was warm and flowers were in bloom! Sunday morning we called our taxi driver again to take us to the campsite we were staying in outside of Split in a town called Stobreč. And wow were we surprised when we saw our mobile home… right next to the beach! It was incredible to see the Adriatic Sea from every window and while sitting on our deck. It was the perfect way to spend a vacation.

Stobreč is a nice little town with just enough to keep us occupied at the campsite. There weren’t many people there because it is the low season, so we were happy to basically have the place to ourselves. It was very nice and quiet. The beach was beautiful – the coast of Croatia is really long and the water is incredibly blue and clear! There are also rocks on most of the beaches instead of sand, and that had its pluses and minuses. Stobreč is about a 20-minute bus ride from Split, which we went to 3 days in a row.

The first day we went into Split was so we could take a bus toward Dubrovnik… but I promised our cab driver Tony that I wouldn’t disclose the city we went to because it’s his family’s secret! But it was about an hour’s bus ride along the coast in the mountains, which was absolutely breathtaking. The city and beach we went to were perfect – surrounded by the ocean, quiet, clean, and the water was even bluer than in Split. We had a great day on the beach and had fantastic fish for dinner when we got back to Split. We turned in pretty early because we planned to take the ferry to the island of Brač the next day!

We spent the day in Supetar, Brač and had a wonderful relaxing day on the beaches – and the water was even bluer and clearer! I didn’t think it was possible, but Croatia proved me wrong. The ferry ride was about an hour long, but it was very comfortable sitting in the sun. The beaches were beautiful with great rocks in the water to climb around on.

There were quite a bit of young people on the island that day because of their Easter holiday, so that was interesting to see. We even had a nice chat with a violinist from Geneva! It’s great talking with people while traveling – so many interesting people to meet. We wanted to see the rock that was used to build part of the White House, but it was in a place on the island that required a bus ride. Our day was well spent on the beach though, and we headed back to Split
around six and explored the city of Split for a while before heading back to the camp.

Kitsa left us the next day to see her family in Greece, but we had a nice day walking around Split during the day.

We found a great place to see the whole city and took lots of pictures. Split is a really old city, and the core of it is actually built into the ruins of Diocletian’s Palace. A lot of it reminded me of Venice with the white marble and old archways. It was absolutely beautiful with something interesting to see around every corner. There were lots of shops and cafes – both inside the city and in the harbor. Split combines two of my favorite things – being on the coast and an old city! Naturally I fell in love with it.

We spent our last day in Stobreč on the beach relaxing and enjoying the sun. My skin of course was not happy with all the sun, but I managed to get a little color and still enjoyed being outside in the shade. We had to be at the airport Friday morning at 5, so we went to be early again on Thursday night. It was worth it to leave that early though, because we landed in Vienna at 9:00! Again, the most relaxed traveling of my life! The whole trip was really fantastic and I’m so glad I got to share it with a good friend from home. I was really happy to go on a vacation to some place warm – although, it wasn’t perfect beach weather yet. It was around 70 degrees all week, but the sun was so nice! I’m happy I got to see another ocean and to be in the Balkans again. I feel really unique in that I was able to take a vacation in Croatia… and like I said – I really recommend going! It is easy to get around and the prices are very reasonable. Even in the low season it is beautiful. I’ll remember this vacation forever.

And now I am back in Olomouc with Bernardo! I’m really excited that I get to show someone around my home for the semester, and to see him! It’s a really fantastic thing that we can see each other again after all these years. He’s really liking the life in the dorms with the other exchange students, and I am definitely happy to be back with them after being gone for a week. For the next couple of days I will try to relax and spend time with Bernardo, but after he leaves I really have to hit the books! There are only about 3 weeks left in the semester and I have multiple papers to write and tests to study for. I think it will all turn out ok, but just like every spring semester it is hard to concentrate with such beautiful weather! So, I don’t think I will be traveling much in the next couple of weeks... but I will be planning my summer travels! I’m definitely getting excited for that ☺.

Our Own Pilgrimage to Holy Hill

Spring has arrived! And boy am I happy ☺. However, it is now even harder to focus on school when all I want to do is walk around outside! I am trying my hardest to be very productive this week because I will be away from Olomouc for 8 days… I’m off to Vienna and then Croatia this weekend! I can’t believe it’s already time for our trip. I am so excited to go on a vacation and be away from school and work for a whole week. It has been since high school since I’ve been able to do that!

This past weekend, however, was well spent in Olomouc. I did quite a bit of schoolwork – mostly researching and settling on topics for a few of my papers. Friday night a few of my girlfriends and I had a “pajamas” party! We made a lot of crepes, ate too many sweets, and watched “Love Actually”. It was a great night in with my best friends here! We also planned our walk to the Basilica Svatý Kopeček that turned out to be one of my favorite places I’ve been to in the Czech Republic.

Svatý Kopeček, also known at Holy Hill, is a famous landmark in Olomouc because it was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1995 and has been a destination for pilgrimages. The Olomouc zoo is also really near the Basilica, and there is a fantastic view of the city from the top. It is a beautiful site to see from far away and up close. We decided to walk to it because the weather was really quite nice, except for the wind! But we were strong and just focused on how great the sunshine was. The Basilica is about 8 kilometers from the main train station in Olomouc, so we decided to take the bus to the next little city and then walk the rest of the way, which ended up being around 4 kilometers.

That walk took us about an hour, and seeing the Basilica up close was a great reward after the steep hill we climbed! When we got to the top, we took a group picture – I should have mentioned! My roommate, two friends of ours, and I organized the group and we had 22 people come all together! We were a bit nervous about having to be “in charge” of that many people, but we got there just fine!

We all brought something to eat for a picnic, so we sat and ate and talked for around an hour. Again, it was so nice to be out in the sun! The wind made it quite chilly though, so I was pretty cold while we were there. After eating we walked into the Basilica… and it was absolutely breathtaking. The inside of the church is so detailed it was incredible.

I could have stood look up to the ceiling for an hour and still missed some things. The colors were so wonderful for me – light blues and purples. And the thought of how important this building has been since the 1600s added to the feeling of being in an amazing place. I really think it is my favorite place I’ve been in the Czech Republic so far, and I am so happy I was able to see it was good friends.

Like I said, I’ve been trying to be productive this week since I will be away for all of next week. Most of my classes have what they call a “reading week” without any classes so students can study for exams. It is also the week before Easter, so it seems like a natural time to have a break from school. Even though it is for studying, I think most students treat the reading week as a vacation – and all of my professors recommended that we travel! I am also really looking forward to this next week because I will see my friend Bernardo! He is from Brazil, and we were exchange students together in Finland four years ago. I saw him when my high school choir traveled to Brazil three years ago, but we didn’t have the chance to spend much time together, so I am very excited to see him here. He will be at an international law simulation in Vienna… it is kind of like Model UN but for international law I think. We always thought it was more likely that we would see each other in Europe than any other place, and it actually happened!

I guess I am signing off now until I return from Croatia Easter weekend… I can’t wait to tell you all about my vacation!
ALSO! I was just notified that I was accepted to be a Peer Assistant for the Office of Study Abroad! I GOT THE JOB! I'm so excited to work for them :-D

I found paradise - in Slovenia!

I decided to go to Slovenia this weekend basically on a whim… but I am so thankful I did. We found a paradise in Maribor, Slovenia! The Balkans is definitely a wonderful place to visit, and I am so excited to see Croatia in a few weeks. But until then, I will tell you about my journey to paradise and back!

Thursday evening my friend Michal (Poland) told me he was going to Slovenia on Friday by car, and there were two empty places if I wanted to join. It only took me five seconds to decide… yes of course I will join! I really wanted to travel last weekend, and my roommate and friends were going to Vienna, so this trip to Slovenia was perfect. And, I really never imagined going to Slovenia, so I was even more excited to go! So we came back to the dorms and he told me he would keep me updated with the details. The next morning things were very unsure… We were to carpool with a guy coming from Krakow to visit his girlfriend in Maribor and he had been quite specific about only 3 empty spaces in his car, and we were now 4 people (me, Michal, Pieter (Belgium), and Kristijan (Croatia, but lives in Maribor, Slovenia)). We also weren’t sure of a place to stay… so it was really up in the air. We ended up bribing the driver with more money to let all of us come, and Kristijan’s girlfriend made a reservation at a hostel outside of the city for us… so we were on our way!

The guy we carpooled with was really cool, but his car was a very small Fiat! I was crushed between two guys in the backseat for 5 hours… but it was actually ok! We had great conversation the whole way, and it went by really fast. We arrived in Maribor before midnight and Michal, Pieter, and I took a taxi to our hostel… which we were thrilled to find out was actually a three star hotel! It was amazing – we had our own room with three beds, a great bathroom, and a TV. It was so luxurious. We brought some food with us (bread, meat, apples), so we made a little dinner and went to bed.

Saturday we needed to find our way to Maribor, which was 10 km away from the hostel. We were told there was a bus or a train we could take, but Michal really wanted to try to hitchhike into the city. My first reaction was, “No way!” but everyone talks about hitchhiking in Europe! And, I was with two guys, so I figured I’d be safe for the short ride. Unfortunately, we did not get a ride, so my first go at hitchhiking was not very impressive. We decided to find the train station because we heard it was cheaper, but when we got there we learned no trains ran on Saturdays. So we hurried back to find the bus stop… and this is where it gets exciting! A bus came our way, but we were on the wrong side of the road. The driver saw that we wanted to get on, so he pulled over to pick us up. We tried to pay, but it was a challenge with the language, so he just waved us back and we figured we would pay when we got off. When we got off the bus we tried to pay, but he just smiled and waved us out of the bus! It was amazing. We were so thankful to save 3 Euros! That was definitely a great start to the day.

Maribor is an absolutely beautiful, clean, and calm city. It is the second biggest city in Slovenia and is very near to the Austrian border. The river Drava runs through it and the city is known for its wine. It’s kind of small, but very easy to get around. The weather was perfect and people were sitting outside at all the cafes… it was just perfect! We walked around the city a bit before meeting up with Kristijan and his girlfriend, Taja. With them we ate the typical fast food of the Balkans called “burok” (fried dough and meat… so good!) sitting on the bank of the river.

We then walked a beautiful path back to Taja’s house and proceeded to have a very relaxing afternoon. She and Kristijan cooked for us and even though we asked to help, they had us sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. I think I got a little color while we were there! We had a great dinner and went for a great walk to the top of a hill overlooking a vineyard. You can see these everywhere in Maribor, and they each have a little church on top of them. That night we hung out at the house, drank wine, and ate cake. It was perfect!

The next day we walked around the city and bought and sent some postcards. We saw a park and went to the top of the cathedral. To thank Kristijan and Taja, we treated them to some delicious ice cream before saying goodbye to them. Our last activity in Maribor was having a little picnic of wine, bread, and cheese sitting next to the river! I just kept thinking how beautiful it was there, and how relaxed and happy I was. It was so nice to be in the sun with good people. We had such great conversation the whole weekend. Coming all different countries and backgrounds made the topics of conversation really interesting, and I learned a lot from my new friends. The weekend really was perfect!

Slovenia is a really wonderful country with quite a difficult past. It was apart of the former Yugoslavia, so it endured a difficult war in the ‘90s. Today it is incredible clean and doing very well. Every person we encountered was incredibly friendly and good to us – we had free rides to the city and were fed! What more could we ask for! Seeing the vineyards everywhere was really something special. Everyone seemed to have a tree/bush that produced grapes for wine. They also have the oldest vine in the world! It’s over 400 years old and still produces grapes! I never did find out how expensive that wine is…

I really recommend that everyone visit the Balkans some day. They unfortunately have a negative stigma attached to them because of the crisis in the ‘90s, and because of the centuries old “othering” the West has done to them. By this I mean that Western countries and cultures have put Southern Europe/the Balkans in a very low category far from being like them. They are different – skin, culture, language – and so they were looked down upon. Today I think we should work to come away from this “othering” of this region of the world. Slovenia is a member of the EU and uses the Euro, and from what I saw it is a very progressive and productive country. I am definitely looking forward to being in Croatia in a week and half to see and experience another Balkan country.

Every day I am thankful to be living in the Czech Republic! I really enjoy being in this country, and having so many other places easily accessible. It has been a great semester so far – and there’s more to come!