Vienna and Salzburg

Phew! Finally caught up with my blogging as I sit on the train leaving Austria, sadly. After watching the sound of music at least 200 times throughout my lifetime, I somehow knew I would fall in love with Austria! It is absolutely beautiful. So green, clean, and fresh! Although both Vienna and Salzburg are cities, they felt much more like home to me than many of the other huge cities we've been in! Probably because the ambiance was much more relaxed and in tune with the outdoors! In both places Monica and I rented bikes to make getting around from our hostels and the city, easier! I can say confidently that this is one of the smartest things we've done because biking versus walking saved us a lot of time and allowed us to see much more in both places! The only downfall is perhaps my very sore butt! Haha. Anyway, both places we really enjoyed, but I absolutely loved Salzburg! However when we were in Vienna we did lots of sight seeing and even went to an opera! The opera was one that I had sang pieces of when I was still studying opera so it was kind of fun to see it performed in such a world renowned place of music! 

Oh! I alsmot forgot one of the best parts of Vienna- the worlds most famous chocolate cake we are! I know, I know, cake is gluten. But how was I supposed to resist the most famous cake in the entire world? I couldn't! And I'm surely glad I didn't even try, because it was delicious! 

Besides, cake for lunch was probably our cheapest lunch meal thus far! 

A few of the places we saw included palaces and gardens and we even bikes to a carnival! 

As much as I loved Vienna, I was secretly quite excited to get o Salzburg so we could finally pretend like we were in the sound of music! In fact, our hostel in Salzburg actually played the movie every single night! Last night is the first time I've watched a movie in over 3 weeks! Crazy. Anyway, all day we rode our bikes to a from places we'd seen in the movie as part of a self guided tour we found online and it was so fun! Salzburg is beautiful and the weather was perfect and nowhere we went was ever too crowded! 

We even went to a traditionally beer garden where Monica enjoyed a nice mug and I enjoyed people watching! 

I even found a stand that served grilled fish on a stick- and yes, it was actually the entire fish! 

 Freaky! From there we went to a restaurant a man at the reception of our hostel suggested to us and it was delicious!

I went to bed happy and excited to get to Germany! 

Ciao Italia

Our last stop in Italy was Venice, and as adorable as it is, I think I was ready to move on. Italy is amazing. I really loved every part of being there, however we were ready to move up into the smaller towns and cities in our trip! But, Venice was definitely a great way to wrap up Italy! We met some really nice fellow backpackers from Boston and to offset the pricey cost of a gondola ride through the grand canal we decided to all 4 go together! It worked out perfectly, and we've come to realize that almost everywhere we go we will meet some pretty cool fellow backpackers! 

 Monica and I are also experts at getting lost, however, somehow she managed to direct us all over Venice and over thousands of little canals so we got to see all the best sights! 

 After exploring all day we had a night train to catch that was going to take us to Austria! We weren't super excited because we were unable to get beds for the trip because they were supposedly sold out. However, come to find out, there weren't even any beds on our train! You know it's funny how life works out sometimes, like the fact that our six person reserved cabin ended up being all young girls backpacking through Europe! Monica and I, two young girls from Colombia and one girl from Germany! We had so much fun all together and ended up making all our seats into one big giant bed and practically slept like sardines with our limbs flailing all over one another all night! I couldn't stop laughing for much of the night because we were all having such a great time. Those are the little things you'll always remember because sometimes the things you think are really going to suck, end up being some of the funnier, sometimes dysfunctional but always memorable experiences! 

 

 

Impromptu Visit: Slovenia

Of course the one place we don't even plan to spend a day in ended up being the place I may have liked most. As soon as we walked out of the train station in Slovenia, in a city called Ljubljana, we instantly fell in love. It was probably the first city we've been in that was actually really clean! And on top of that it just had a really great vibe to it! It felt sort of like a mix between boulder and Fort Collins we decided, and if I were to ever move abroad, I would highly consider moving there. Not to mention it was my favorite meal we've had thus far at this adorable, quaint, yet hip tapas bar! 

The Most Beautiful Place on Earth: Plitvice Lakes National Park

There are no words to describe the beauty that is Plitvice Lakes. While I can say I was a bit annoyed with the almost 7 hour bus ride, I have never seen anything as beautiful as Plitvice, in my entire life. The night before when we first arrived in the "town" more like 3 farms, that sits near the National Park, we had so much fun at our hostel! Apparently not many people realize that there is a hostel right out near the lakes and we'd not been anywhere quite like it. It kind of instantly felt like home, it was a pretty good sized cabin and everyone there was so friendly, by the end of the night it felt like we were one big happy family!

 People from Canada, Germany, Asia and the U.S. sat around the table and we laughed and laughed for hours. It was a little chilly out but I didn't mind being wrapped in a big blanket and being able to look up at the bright stars. See, being out in the middle of nowhere, there wasn't anywhere to go out to eat! So a nice man we met took our host up on an offer to run to the market and came back with what he was told was chicken- but was actually two giant turkey legs! We cooked them on a big outdoor brick oven while everyone else at the hostel busily prepared their meals too! The next morning our host took rounds driving us all to the national parks where our stop in Plitvice got even better! 

Words cannot do this beautiful place justice. Hell, pictures can't even do it justice! I have never in my life seen more crystal clear water. I swear out in the middle of these lakes you could still see the bottom it is so pristine! Honestly, I can't even put the right words together to describe its beauty so I'll just attach the thousands of photos I obsessively took. 

Seriously I could spend years at this beautiful place, but unfortunately we only had a day, and it was so depressing when we had to say goodbye! 

The Treasure of Our Trip

I AM OBSESSED WITH CROATIA! Everything about it is absolutely stunning; the beaches are beautiful, it's inexpensive and best of all, the water is not only crystal clear, but super warm! We started our Croatian journey off in Split, and I have to say it and Positano (on the Almalfi coast in Italy) are definitely a close tie for my favorite beachy destinations. On our first day in Split we decided to go on a 3 hour long sea-kayak excursion, and it was incredible! Our guide was the sweetest and most fit little lady and made us feel like we were right at home! We traveled up a fresh water river that leads from the mountains into the ocean and it was stunning. I could see every little pebble and fish that went by. Then once we'd kayaked in the river for about an hour, we went and kayaked through the ocean to get to some rocks where little local boys encouraged us to jump off with them- they were adorable! Not only was our guide great at her job but she even left us with a piece of wisdom when she applauded our travel efforts; she explained that she admired those who spent the money they had, especially when it was less than that of luxury, on traveling because it's truly the experiences and memories we make that are important and hold truth worth, not simply collecting things. One thing my travels have really taught me is that I don't need "stuff" to make me happy; happiness is about learning through doing and making memories! I'd much rather spend my money on a train pass than on a new cell phone for example! Material items provide you with fleeting satisfaction, but the memories we've made in this journey provide you with much more. 

The next day in Split we spent time simply wandering around the town and lounging at the beach! It was nice to have a day to relax. That night Monica and I and two other girls we met in our hostel decided to take on the local "pub crawl". Perhaps not our greatest idea since it started to monsoon about half way through the crawl and we ultimately ended up running home (about 20+ minutes) to get to our hostel. Luckily we'd gotten free shirts so we layered up, thinking naively that perhaps we would stay a bit more dry... Wrong. I have never been more drenched; at least I didn't have to shower that night! 

 We went from dry smiles in a matter of minutes, to this! 

The next morning we were set to travel to the national parks which we thought were fairly close, however after a 6.5 hour long bus ride, we were more than ready to start exploring again! 

Tuscany Region

Everyone always talks about how wonderful the wine is that comes out of the Tuscany region, which is exactly what Monica and I intended to discover upon our arrival in Siena. When we first got in, the city was so quiet and our host informed us that this was because everyone in Siena takes little naps in the afternoon- much like what the Spanish and many South American cultures call "siesta"! Fortunately though, we found a nice man willing to serve us some tasty appetizers where we had the most delicious dish- a warm pear that was stuffed with hot cheese. At first when Monica wanted to order it I was hesitant, but oh it was so yummy! We only had one afternoon and night in Siena but that was the perfect amount of time to wander around the little town and get a delicious meal! 

We also learned that the longer we wander around aimlessly, the more probable it is that we stumble upon something stunning; just like this church! 

 After a quick night in Siena we made our way to Florence, which again was beautiful and consisted of a long day of sightseeing, but one thing to note was the spectacular sunset we watched from Michelangiolo's plaza! 

Roma Has My Heart

Monica calls our adventure from Positano to Rome "half a day in heaven, half a day in hell" simply because, to be completely honest, we seem to struggle with the actual traveling part of traveling around. Not only did we almost miss the first bus we needed to take to get to a bigger city, Sorrento, where we could catch a train to Naples and then onto Rome, but we had booked tickets for the completely wrong day and didn't even have tickets for the bus. As soon as people see how much of a mess we are, and how terribly we struggle, despite our best attempts, I think they feel a bit bad for us. The bus driver just ushered us on knowing we didn't have tickets and then run to catch our next train, where we were again starving, with the only food we could find being Pringles, was close, but when we arrived to Naples is where he true struggles began. Thank goodness we had an hour before we were to depart, or else we definitely would not have made it; I'm crossing my fingers we eventually get better at moving around. After going to 3 different help desks at separate locations, although we were unable to get our preferred train, the high speed one that went directly into Roma's city center, we did manage to get an intercity train. Unfortunately however we didn't have real tickets or reservations so Monica and I got to sit in the corridor. Yes, in the hall, but not quite as terrible as you would imagine us cross legged on the floor, but rather in pull down seats from the wall. We were quite a sight so see, especially when the train attendant started screaming at us when we questioned the price because we already have global train tickets. Slowly one by one each passenger peeked their head around their seats to see who was causing such a ruckus, oh you know, the typical two blonde Americans who have no idea what's even being shouted at them. Oh well! We made it, and that's all that really mattered! 

My grandparents, Chris and Jo, if you're reading this, hi Pop and Nana!) had some friends in Rome whom they'd put me in touch with, who so graciously picked us up from the train station, and proceeded to make our experience in Rome the most memorable and amazing part of our trip this far. They have two kids our age, a son and a daughter who were also amazing and welcomed us with instant friendship! They introduced us to three of their amazing friends and we ended up spending the next two nights chatting, laughing and goofing around with them all. We had so much fun and I can't possibly imagine what Rome would've been like without them! I'm sure our families will meet again, for I'll always calm them my little Roma family :) 

During the one day we had in Rome we saw so incredibly much, and it was sall stunning. I truly wish we'd had much he, much more time, for you simply cannot see everything in just one day. Here are just a few gorgeous photos from the Vatican City and the colosseum! 

Sadly we didn't have enough time and our hearts were heavy when saying bye bye to Roma, but thanks for all the memories! 

 And cheers to the incredible new friends we made! 

Off to Siena we go!