Week 6-

The view after we crossed the rope bridge

Road trip to every coastline in Ireland!

Spring break was a week full of travel and adventure. We stayed in Dublin, on the eastern coastline, and took three road trips to the north, west, and southern coastlines! But let’s start from the beginning!

Our first night there we went to the oldest pub in Ireland for a folklore show and dinner. It was a great way to start the trip and get a feel of their culture.

Carrick Rope Bridge

Giant's Causeway

The next morning we took our first road trip and headed for Northern Ireland. One of the stops we made along the way was to cross the Carrick Rope Bridge. The day was absolutely beautiful, not a cloud in the sky, and as I crossed the bridge I could see Scotland! After grabbing some lunch not far away we made our way to Giant’s Causeway. It was a little bit of a walk down, but there was so much to look at we didn’t care. Being there was kind of surreal because it’s always been on my bucket list and it was truly captivating as I walked from stone to stone. 

Little Windy
Courtesy of Kassidy McConville

I thought that I had a great time on our first road trip, but when we left for the eastern coastline I didn’t know that it could get even better. We were headed for the Cliffs of Moher, but made a few minor stops to stretch our legs. The best stop we made was at the “baby” cliffs. It was so beautiful and seemed to go on forever. After we finished our lunch we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher. I’m still not sure how we lucked out with the weather, but I am definitely not complaining! Because the weather was so inviting we got to go on an hour boat ride to see the cliffs from the ocean's point of view. This was honestly my favorite part of the day because it put in perspective how big there are!

The next day we took a day off from traveling and explored Dublin itself. After breakfast we walked around and had a great time as we followed the same path of the Liffey River through Dublin. Spontaneously, we decided that we would get our hair done! Two hours later our hair was cut and colored and we were out the door with high spirits ready to find our next adventure! We went to the Guinness factory and got to sample the Irish dry stout, also known as “The Black Stuff”. The tour was so neat in that after the tour was done you ended up in the Gravity Bar. This was the highest point of the building and it was circular in shape with all glass windows looking out to the city.

Giant's Causeway
Courtesy of Kassidy McConville

Made it to the Gravity Bar

Saturday we took our last road trip of spring break and headed to the southern coastline to see the Blarney Castle. The ride was long, but once we got there it was worth it. The grounds were beautiful with flowers and everything was as green as could be. Once we had reached the castle we explored little caves and holes in the walls that were so tiny you almost had to crawl through some pathways. I’m so thankful that I am exploring while I am young because when we were making our way up to the kissing stone, at the very top of the castle, you had to climb very small and steep stairs. It was not very safe and they even had a rope to help guide yourself up. We did make it up with no incidents and got to the kissing stone. I had no idea what to expect, but it was so amusing that I had to laugh at myself! I am fairly short so when I laid down on my back and grabbed the bars I had to bend back pretty far to kiss the stone! I wish that I had bought the picture, but the memory will definitely do!

Exploring caves at Blarney castle

            Our last day there was bittersweet because we were excited to see everyone again, but we did not want to leave. From the good food to friendly people this has been my favorite place so far. 

Ireland taught me that traveling makes you feel tiny, humble and yet inspired all at once! 

Spring break with these two couldn't have been better!

Week #5

Enjoying the sun in Vienna

            This week life has been full of magic and pasta! We left Olomouc with our bags packed for two weeks last Saturday morning and started our journey.

When I was lost..

By the sea

            First stop, Vienna Austria! After getting our rooms we meet the group outside and Jan showed us around the city. It was beautiful, clean, and nothing like what I had expected. The afternoon was still cold and it seemed as though the clouds had just followed us from Olomouc, it even rained a little during the evening. After our short tour led by Jan we were off to explore! It was very easy to get around Vienna and we had no problem getting to where we wanted to go without a map. During the afternoon we shopped, tried new foods, and then headed back to the hostel to get ready for dinner. That evening we set off to take in the night life that Vienna had to offer, but were disappointed and ended up going home fairly soon after.

Monday morning

            Day two in Vienna we each got to pick one out of three museums that we wanted to visit. The museum that I visited brought out the “little kid” side of me. It was a nature museum full of bones, plants, dinosaurs, rocks, animals and things I never knew existed! Each room was very unique in not only what they were displaying but how they displayed everything. In each room they had things you could not only look at but were interactive. We had spent a total of two hours inside and enjoyed every minute of our light-hearted pleasure going from room to room.

Because it's Spring Break!

            The next morning we packed up our things and got into a bus for a seven hour drive to Venice. It definitely was not as bad as it seems and I actually enjoyed it! I slept, listened to new music, started another book, played games and watched the clouds hanging low in the mountains as we drove past. Once again we got our rooms and settled in quickly before meeting the rest of the group outside. Jan showed us around Venice and then we were on our own again!

The freedom that they give us is something that I truly do appreciate on this trip. They do not “baby” you and it honestly makes me happy when we have to venture out to find our way back home. I’ve discovered that getting lost is never a waste of time and has made some of the best stories that I have from this trip. I’ve meet some amazing people, eaten some strange foods, and tried new things. And my advice: even though you know the way back to your hotel or hostel, take a different way home! See what else there is to see!

So bring out the bucket list and check this one off, Venice has been one grand adventure. From the daily gelato by the sea to getting lost aimlessly with friends I’m so grateful to have, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience here. I’m sad to leave, but it’s Spring break and that means tomorrow is Ireland!

Goodbye for now Venice!

Week #4

Last weekend we ventured out of Olomouc and made our way to Budapest, Hungary. Most of our class took this weekend trip and checked it off our bucket lists!

Peace out Olomouc

After six hours of travel we arrived at our hostel called Grandio Party Hostel. We walked in the front door (not knowing what to expect) into a big courtyard and you could definitely tell that they were "party people" by the way the place looked. There was a bar in the courtyard we walked up to and the bartender asked if we were checking in. He yelled twice for someone and after asking if we wanted a drink he redirected us upstairs. We walked into the “office” were the employees were around our age, barefoot, pajamas on, and alcohol everywhere. Everything was very informal, but the people were extremely nice to us. We got our room and meet up with the other seven girls who were staying there and the seven of them decided to get a different hostel. Kassidy, Molly, and me stuck it out in the scary party hostel and tried to make the most of the weekend!

Jimmy & Chris

That same night our hostel invited us on a pub-crawl where I meet some really sweet guys from Sweden (Chris & Jimmy). Kass and me got separated from the rest of the group, but we hung out with the guys for the rest of the night talking and laughing about our cultural differences. They walked us home and we said our goodbyes.

Wine tasting cruise
Courtesy of Kassidy McConville

Saturday morning I went shopping all over Budapest and found so many cute boutiques. Probably did not need to buy anything, but I got some summery clothes for my three weeks in Greece! After meeting up with some of the girls, four of us got ready and left to go see a Folklore show. It was very intriguing from the dances to how fast the musicians played. After the show we took a five-minute walk to our wine tasting cruise. Somehow we sat at the same table with other girls who came to Budapest with us! They gave each of us seven different glasses of wine every ten minutes from all the different regions in Budapest. They had live music playing in the background as we cruised down the Danube. We made our way to the upper deck and took some stunning pictures of Budapest as we watched the lights dance across the water. We also ran into another group of UNK students who were on the upper deck enjoying the evening as well.

Sunday we woke up early to enjoy the entire day at the thermal baths. I had expected it to be more like the Hot Springs in Colorado, but it was still a great day to unwind. The buildings were stunning and there were pools everywhere. The thermal baths were all different in size and temperature. Again, we ended up seeing everyone else in our group at some point throughout the day! Kass and me both got an hour massage that was definitely needed. That night I went out to dinner with some of the girls and then got ice cream in a cute park with lights hanging all over. The Sweden boys I meet the first night in Budapest happened to walk by us as we were eating ice cream and greeted me with hugs and smiles. We couldn’t believe that we had run into each other again in all of Budapest! We hung out for a little bit and explored more of the city together. They helped us find our way back to our hostel safely and said our farewells as we knew we all would be traveling to different places the next morning.

Thermal Baths

Spa Day

Monday morning the whole group woke up early and got onto our train to head back to Olomouc at 7:25am. By 1:00pm we were back at the dorms and headed to classes shortly after.

What I learned this weekend: Life truly does begin at the end of your comfort zone.  The culture that Budapest holds is so different and our hostel really made us step outside of our comfort zone. We made the most of our weekend by saying “Yes!” to all new kinds of firsts. I want to look back on this and smile because it was life, and I decided to live it!

Making the most of Grandio Party Hostel
Courtesy of Kassidy McConville

Week #3

Street Artist in Prague had a giant bubble wand
Courtesy of Kassidy McConville

             One train and in two short hours we all arrived back in Prague Thursday afternoon for our first field trip. Checked in, settled down, and refreshed we headed out the door to start our city tours led by Jan and Martin. First, they took us to see the town squares so we got familiar with the area and what was around them. Venturing our ways through the Easter crowds they showed us the astronomical clock and talked some about the history of certain buildings.

Exploring new foods in the Easter markets of Prague
Courtesy of Kassidy McConvile

On Friday morning we woke up early to continue our site seeing of Prague. We climbed our way up many stairs and visited the Prague Castle. Standing outside we got to see the changing of the guards too! I thought that it was would simple and would not take much time, but it was a good 15 minutes with music too. On this day we also saw St. Vitus Cathedral. This was an impressive building and it is the metropolitan cathedral of saints, Vitus, Wenceslaus, and Adalbert. This cathedral is a Gothic masterpiece and it dominates the skyline of Prague. Fun fact: When the sun sets it looks as though the sun is going into the cathedral! For the rest of that day we went exploring the Easter markets and trying new foods.

Saturday, we woke up early again and hopped on a train for Dresden Germany. I was very excited to go to Germany to be in a different culture, language, and history. Dresden had been bombed heavily in the year of 1945 and a large number of people had been killed. We were told that the smoke had took a significant number of lives during this time too. Today, you can still see the devastation that had been done. Some buildings have black stones now and even when they rebuilt

Outside of St. Vitus
Courtesy of Kassidy McConville

they used some of the black stones from the bombings to create the newer buildings too . We had some delicious pasta for lunch then we got to climb our way to the top of the Luthern Cathedral, where the views were breathtaking! It was such a beautiful day that we hung out looking out over the city for most of our free time. After meeting back up with the group some of us went to a famous art museum and were able to walk around viewing the pieces from all different centuries. It was really neat to see how the styles change as you went from floor to floor. After, we had a little bit more free time and we explored the city before returning back to the train station.

Holy Hill
Courtesy of Kassidy McConville

Back in Prague, I slept in a little bit later and had breakfast with some friends right by our hostel to start off our Easter morning! We meet up with the rest of the group and got to visit the Jewish Quarters. Jan and Martin told us so many facts about each thing that we saw there. After, we went to lunch at Nagrilu and had wings! This is my favorite place to eat at in Prague and it was a little slice of home with how it was decorated and they even played country music!

What a view
Courtesy of Kassidy McConville

We always seem to be on the go, Monday morning we had to wake up to be back at the train station at 6:45am. Teresa and Ann took us on a day trip to visit Mikulov and Znojmo. They were both small and very quiet towns, but they were so beautiful. It was a good change from our usual concrete jungle scene. After getting ice cream we hiked to the top of Holy Hill and were able to see all of Mikulov. It was a wonderful day getting to relax in wine country with the group.

Field trip #1 a success. So much exploring and laughter with friends I am so thankful to have meet. 

Courtesy of Kassidy McConville