Interlaken

Hi!

So Interlaken, Switzerland was the best weekend I’ve had since I’ve been in Europe! We left Thursday night and arrived to chilly weather, which was fantastic. 10 of us went and we all stayed at a hotel called Balmer’s. Mostly young people stay there so they have tons of things to do. They have a dance club in the basement and a room full of hammocks to sleep in.

On Friday 8 of us went on our first extreme sports adventure. We did something called canyoning, which is essentially hiking through a canyon. We had to repel down a 150 ft wall, which was the scariest thing I’ve ever done. Being the clumsy person that I am, I fell about halfway down and was upside down for a little while. I was screaming and shaking, but somehow made it down to the bottom where my friends were hysterically laughing at me.

After that, we just hiked through the rocks and water. The water temperature was freezing so we had on a ton of wet suit gear on. We got to jump off some cliffs and slide down the rocks, which was really fun. At the end we got to go on a zip line and fall into the water. I was freezing cold, but it was an amazing experience!

On Saturday I explored the town of Interlaken. It’s tiny so it only takes about 15 minutes to walk from one end to the other. The town is surrounded by snow-covered mountains and there’s a river in the middle that’s filled with freezing water from the glaciers. There is also a park in the center that hang gliders land in, so that was cool to see.

That night, we did our second extreme sport which was canyon jumping. You jump off a 280 ft cliff and swing between canyons. It was my favorite part of the summer! I wasn’t nervous at all and actually went first in my group. At both places I purchased photos so I’ll show y’all when I get home.

On Sunday we hiked to Trummelback Falls. We had to take a short train ride to a neighboring town and then we hiked to the falls. We found a restaurant there called Airtime that had the most amazing zucchini & cheese soup. I’m not a fan of soup, but it was delicious and I’m going to try and make it when I get home.

That night we went to a chocolate show where we learned about the history of chocolate. They had bowls full of chocolate to eat and we get to make our own truffles. The picture below is of a pirate ship made completely out of chocolate. For dinner we went to a fondue place. It definitely wasn’t as good as the Melting Pot, but it was still good.

We came back Monday night and unfortunately had to study for finals. I only had 2 finals and then had papers due for Journalism. But everything is turned in so I’m happy the classes are over! I haven’t had a break from school in so long so it’s nice to have a week off to just relax.

So this will be my last blog post from Italy! I can’t believe how fast this summer has gone. I feel like I just got here yesterday, but I’m ready to come home. If all goes to plan, I’ll be in Nashville around 6 on Sunday. I’ll be in Nashville for a few days trying to catch up on sleep and do laundry. Then I’m going up to Oxford on Thursday to start my senior year!

See you all this week!

MH

Croatia

Hi!

So I think I’ve finally recovered from Croatia and can update y’all on my trip! I have never traveled to so many places in such a short amount of time but it was an amazing experience!

We left Florence around 5 Thursday night on a train. We had a layover in Venice so we were able to have dinner. The first time we went to Venice it was over 100 degrees. This time it was cold and rainy. We definitely have bad luck with the city. Our next train arrived in Zagreb, Croatia at 4:30 a.m. Because everything was closed, we decided to take a tour around the city in the freezing rain. I only brought shorts and dresses so after breakfast we had to buy sweatpants.

That afternoon we took a bus ride to the town of Marija Bistrica. I’m not sure if I told you this, but one of the guys in charge of this trip is a grad of Miami. He has lived in Croatia in the past and has traveled all over Europe. He planned the Munich and Croatia trips, but also has helped us figure out our weekend plans. Since he’s lived in Croatia, his friends had a huge feast for us that night in Marija Bistrica.
We were at a winery house called a klet. It’s essentially a small house overlooking the hills of Croatia. They went all out and I’ve never eaten so much food in my life! We had a porkchop and potato stew (below), sausage, chicken, beef kabobs, bread, tomatoes and a ton of other stuff. They also had these carrot patties, which were made out of carrots, goat’s milk and flour. I’m determined to figure out how to make them when I get back home!

They kept bringing out food and we sat at the table eating for hours. My favorite part was the dessert. It was called Little Hungarian Girls (the picture is below). It’s made out of dough and chocolate and the locals have contests to see how many layers of dough they can add to the dessert. They also had a local band come and serenade us and we stayed there all night mingling with our new Croatian friends.

Late that night we took a bus back to Zagreb to catch a night train to Split. It was a karaoke train so we didn’t actually have beds, but had seats instead. I didn’t get a lot of sleep, but it was a lot of fun! We arrived in Split around 7 a.m. the next morning. We couldn’t get into our hostel until the afternoon so my friend Kelly and I took a nap in a café we found. After this trip, I can literally fall asleep anywhere, anytime. After checking in, we hung out at the Dalmatian Coast all day.On Sunday, we took a bus back to Zagreb, but stopped at the Plitvice Lake National Park. The waterfalls were absolutely gorgeous! That night we took an overnight train back to Florence and I’ve been catching up on sleep ever since.

This was our last real week of class and we all went out for sushi last night to celebrate. I’m leaving in a few hours for Interlaken, Switzerland for our last weekend of travel. It’s an area that has a lot of extreme sports, so I’ll let you guys know what I do when I come back!

Hope everyone’s doing well and I’ll see you in a little over a week!

MH

Traveling Note: Just Keep Laughing

Like most vacations, the last day rolled around sooner than expected as we headed to the Barcelona airport to catch a flight to Florence. We were booked on an evening Alitalia flight that had a short layover in Rome.

The usual mile-long line greeted us at the door. Watching the people in front of us, I could sense something was wrong as each one left the counter with hunched shoulders and a scowl on their face. When it was our turn, we received news that Italy was on a strike and our connecting flight might not be taking off. Stuck in an uncontrollable and frustrating situation, we proceeded to the gate.

In true European fashion, our first plane took its time and left 50 minutes late. When our plane finally halted at the gate, chaos ensued. Children were lifted off the ground and bags were flying through the air as everyone scrambled to make their connecting flights. It was a real life version of the movie, Home Alone. I knew our plane had left without us, but got caught up in the excitement and joined the airport version of Running of the Bulls.

Starving and disappointed, I thought the night was ruined, but I found that traveling with confrontational friends came in handy. They managed to get a free night at a 4-star hotel for the whole group, complete with two free meals and air conditioning. Our complaining immediately ceased as Alitalia treated us to a free night in Rome.

Cinque Terre

Hi!

So everything has been crazy as usual and I'm behind, but here is the update on the week after Barcelona. I think I told y'all that I'm in 3 classes. The first is Art History. We have one 2 hour lecture and 2 tours every week. We've been all over Florence and have seen practically everything. My favorite so far is Santa Maria Novella. We walk past it every week because the train station is behind it, but we finally got to go inside last week. It's really pretty. I didn't have my camera that day, but you can google the pictures!

Our film class meets twice a week. We watch a film and have a discussion on both days. We've seen some really weird movies. Last week we watched a western featuring Clint Eastwood when he was really young. It's been interesting because I would never see these movies on my own. However, we have class right after lunch and there's no a/c so it's really difficult to stay awake...

My journalism class is really fun and is the reason why I'm doing this blog. We have a lot of class discussions on our readings, but we also have had some guest speakers come in. During the first week we had a writer from People magazine. He has written all kinds of stories, but he has most recently worked on the Natalee Holloway case, so that was interesting to hear an insider's view on the whole situation. We also had some Italians come and speak on the Italian mafia which was really interesting.

Last week we had a fashion day for journalism class where we got to take a field trip to the Polimoda Fashion Institute. It was a long day of presentations, but I learned a lot. We were able to tour the school and hear about their different programs. Lizzie definitely would have liked it!

Afterward, we had two Project Runway contestants speak to us. I know we watch the show in our house, but in case you aren't familiar with it, it's a reality TV show on Bravo. The contestants are given different assignments and then they have to come up with an outfit to show on the runway. They've had to make everything from an outfit for Barbie to an outfit made out of plants. Althea Harper was on the most recent season and is from Dayton. She went to UC and talked about the internships she's had over the years and just how she came into the world of fashion. Nick Verreos was the other speaker and I had actually watched the season that he was on a few years ago. He went to school to become a Diplomat like his father because he was too scared to tell him he wanted to be a designer. After he graduated, he secretly applied to fashion schools just to see what would happen and was accepted to all of them. So he decided to go to one and when he called his dad to tell him, his father obviously already knew that art was his passion and was just waiting for Nick to figure it out. So it was a good message about following your dreams and he's absolutely hilarious.

On Friday I took a train to Cinque Terre. It is an area comprised of 5 small towns that are connected by trails. My friend Tiffany and I had some issues with the train situation and ended up missing our first one. When we finally arrived in the first town called Riomaggiore, our hotel reservation never came through so we were homeless for awhile. However, the owner was nice enough to call another hotel in the town so we had a room. Of course Cinque Terre is full of hills and our new hotel was at the very tip-top of the mountain. We literally had to claw our way up the hill with our backpacks and had to use the rest of the day to recover from our ordeal.

On Saturday we decided to hike all 5 trails. You're supposed to start in Monterosso al Mare b/c it's the hardest and then work your way towards Riomaggiore. We didn't want to figure out the train system to get us to the beginning so we decided to work our way backwards. It was definitely a mistake. We made it to the 4th town, but couldn't make it to the 5th. It was ok because we saw some amazing views, but when we're in Italy next year, the 4 of us will be doing all 5!

We came back Saturday night so that we would have Sunday and Monday to do homework/sleep. Of course I got sick so I stayed in bed the whole time and got even more behind. I went to the doctor Tuesday and found out I have a sinus infection, but they gave me drugs so I'm fine. This past week we had a film exam which I thought went well and a bunch of papers due. I'm definitely glad everything is out of the way, but it's all starting back up again this week since we only have 2 left.

I'll try to write about my weekend trip to Croatia sometime this week. Hope everyone's doing well! Miss you all!

MH

Photo Blog: Getting Around Europe in One Piece

Upon arrival in Florence, we quickly noticed the speeding vespas zipping around the city.

By having no cars in Venice, the locals use the canals as their main form of transportation.

"Cancellato" is a word you become accustomed to when traveling through Europe.

Overnight trains: a tiny mode of transportation.

Bikes are an easy way to catch a close-up of some amazing structures.

Horses are a common sight in Europe, but leave an inconvenient mess behind for those on foot.

The easiest form of transportation!

When the trains keep you waiting, the views around the station are almost always worth it!

Trains can quickly help you reach your destination and offer some once in a lifetime views.

Hiking affords you the convenience of choosing your own path and speed.

Unless you're stuck on the bottom, boats get you where you're going and the breeze helps cool you off.

La Via dell'Amore, also known as the Walk of Love, is a path full of love and magic.

Although the bus system can be confusing at times, it's an easy way to travel and affords you the luxury of relaxing if you are lucky enough to find a seat.

Barcelona

Hi!

So as usual I’m behind on everything, including updating this blog. I’m either traveling or in class so I don’t have a lot of free time! However, I took a shorter trip this weekend so that I could catch up on everything.

Last time I blogged, I was about to go to Barcelona, Spain. 13 of us took an early morning flight there and arrived around 8:30 in the morning. 6 of us were staying at a hostel- 4 girls and 2 boys. The girls and I had an apartment that had 6 double rooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and sitting area. It was in an old town home that had been converted into a hostel. All of the hostels we have stayed at have been really different, but this was definitely one of the nicest so far.

All we did on Friday was lie out at the Barceloneta beach. There was a restaurant on the beach that had great food so we split our time between that and the sand. The beach was kind of gross and the water was really dirty, but the water was cool and seeing as I haven’t been cool since I left the US, it was fine by me.

Friday night we all went out to a seafood restaurant on Las Ramblas. My friend ordered paella, which is a dish Spain is known for. It is mainly rice and seafood cooked in a skillet. I’m not big on seafood, but I really enjoyed everything I had. I tried mussels, clams and prawns that night. I’m not a huge fan of prawns because I don’t particularly like shrimp eyes staring at me, but all in all everything was good.The next day we decided to devote to sight seeing since we were all sun burnt from the day before. We started at the Park Guell, which is a park full of architectural pieces by Antonia Gaudi. It is up on a hill and the views of Barcelona were amazing.

Afterwards, we visited Sagrada Familia. It is a Catholic church that is still unfinished (they started in the late 1800’s). The line was huge so we didn’t go in, but the outside was really interesting. Every side of the building was completely different and the architecture elements were very modern-definitely not like your traditional old churches.

After that, we went to the Barcelona Aquarium. My favorite part was the jellyfish exhibit. They ranged from tiny ones that you had to use a microscope to look at to giant ones that were bigger than my hand.

Friday night we all had dinner at Restaurant Al Punt and then went out. Our first stop was at a place called Chupito’s. They are known for their creative drinks and have them all listed on a wall. My friend Mary Lindsay from Harpeth Hall was supposed to meet up with us, but we had already left before she got there. She is coming to Florence soon so hopefully we’ll get to meet up. After Chupito’s, we went to Opium. It was this really cool club down on the beach and everyone had told us to go. The place was huge and definitely like nothing we have in Oxford.

We spent all day Sunday at the FC Barcelona stadium and it was definitely the highlight of my trip! Their soccer team is one of the most expensive teams in the world, so their stadium definitely reflected that. We walked through the museum, which showcased their trophies, and then we were able to walk onto the field and into the press box. My friends and I were obsessed by the end and ready to join the team so we all bought jerseys. I have no idea when I’ll ever wear mine, but the tour got us so excited about the team that we just had to buy one.

So getting home Sunday night was a mess. We had all gone to the train station the week before to book an overnight train and were told that it had booked up months ago. Our only options were to take an 18-hour boat ride or give in and buy a plane ticket. Just the idea of having to ride on a boat made me seasick so I opted for the plane ticket. We had about an hour layover in Rome, but at the time that wasn’t an issue. With our luck, however, we should have known it would be a disaster.

When we all showed up to the airport in Barcelona, they wouldn’t give us the tickets for our second flight. Evidently there was a strike somewhere and we were told we would have to check at a desk in the Rome airport to figure everything out. Due to the strike, our plane from Barcelona to Rome left really late so we arrived in Rome at the exact time that our second flight was supposed to leave. At most airports in Europe, you have to take a bus between the plane and the actual airport and Rome was no different.

Since we were on a time crunch, I was naturally sitting in the back of the plane and was literally one of the last ones to get off. The first bus with all my friends had left and only my friend Stephanie and I were on the second bus. When the bus finally left the plane and we arrived at the airport, we started sprinting with everyone else. It seemed that almost every passenger had a connecting flight so it was utter chaos as people were literally sprinting through the airport. Of course when we arrived, we found all of our friends infuriated because our plane had waited “5 minutes” and then taken off without us. I doubt they actually waited, but we were now 13 tired, hungry and pissed off American students.

I didn’t take any part in the negotiations with the customer service people, but my friends, being the great negotiators that they are, got us a free hotel room at a 4 star hotel, free dinner, free breakfast and free shuttle service to and from the hotel for our flight the next morning. So it wasn’t all that bad. Unfortunately though, Monday was supposed to be our first day of the whole trip to sleep in, but instead we had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to the airport. All day Monday I alternated between sleeping and studying for my Tuesday exam which wasn’t fun at all, but inevitable seeing as we’re here for class, not vacation.

So that was last weekend and now I’ll try to write tonight or tomorrow about this past week/weekend!

MH

Dante's Pizzeria

Hani Sawriea knows one thing in life: how to run a business. Actually, he knows how to run five businesses simultaneously. He owns two restaurants, a café, a bar and a leather factory all in Florence.

His friends know him as Hani, but for American tourists in Florence, they know him as the owner of Dante’s Pizzeria, one of the best restaurants in Italy. It is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner and you can always find locals, as well as Americans, dining on delicious pizzas and pastas.

Dante’s Pizza has been in existence for 1,200 years and Hani has owned it for three. According to one of his employees, Hani never takes a day off. He treats his staff like his family and works just as hard, if not harder, than they do.

Born in Jordan, he and his family moved to Kuwait City when he was thirteen years old. His mother’s job included working with Americans and that is why his restaurant caters to American students. He says, “I love to work with Americans. I love the people coming here”. Americans even get free drinks and t-shirts every time they stop in.

But it’s not the free wine or clothes that keep the students coming back; it’s the quick service, the delicious food and the fun atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re part of the family.