13 Bucket List Items Completed in 2013

One of my Christmas break goals was to make a Bucket List. After a full day of blog reading and wanderlusting, I finally finished. Since I have an obsession of making lists, a Bucket List is kind of like the ultimate list project. It also was partly a way for me to deal with fact that this is the year that I graduate and remind myself that there are fun things to do in the real world too. But being myself, I didn't feel completely satisfied that I couldn't include (and more importantly cross off) some bucket list items I already completed so far. Since this whole blog is essentially a self indulgent journal (and proud of it), I figured I would include the bucket list items that would have been completed if I had made the list one year ago:

13 Bucket List Items completed in 2013:

- Paris with my amazing boyfriend. It's the city of love and staying in an apartment, eating snails, going to the top of the effiel tower, frolicking at Versailles was all made even better by having Scott there.

- Go to Aushwitz in Poland. I never wrote about it on the blog because it felt a little disrespectful, but it was an incredible and depressing experience. It really changes the way you view history and humanity and made for an extremely reflective morning.

- Eat a belgium waffle in Brussels. This was pure deliciousness. Somehow, Scott and I only ended up having one Belgium waffle (and one mini one) during our weekend in Brussels, but the taste did not disappoint.

- Studied abroad in Europe. I don't even know where to start on this one, but Prague is one of the best cities in the world, and it was the best experience of my life.

- Learn some of a new language. I may not be great, but I was pleasantly surprised by how far my Czech came along at the end of the semester. A highlight for me was having a little conversation the young Czech girl at the Prague Zoo. I have never felt so accomplished after exchanging names with an 8 year old.

- Eat pasta in Italy. I love food and I love carbs even more. I think this is a pretty common bucket list item and something that I was looking forward to ever since deciding to go abroad. From pasta carbonara, gnocchi in white sauce, linguini and mussels, to ravioli with truffle sauce, I ate so much that I had to lay down at one point. That is a sign of success if I've ever heard of one.

- Grand Canyon. My Grand Canyon bucket list was made possible by Scott. I always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, but I had this idea that I would see it on a spontaneous trip. Seeing and walking around the Grand Canyon as a surprise road trip was perfect.

- Swim off the Amalfi Coast. You know those experiences that you can't believe are happening even while they are happening? Boating around Capri and jumping into the water felt like a movie (besides the very cold water) and was one of my favorite memories from abroad.

- Swim in the Adriatic Sea. Also cold, but the water was so beautiful. The seafood was amazing, the place was amazing, and the pebble beach was amazing. Also included in this section is river rafting in Croatia and all the adventures there.

- Go clubbing in Berlin. I had heard about Berlin's crazy nightlife, and I feel like our successful Saturday night met my expectations--a club called Matrix under a subway station complete with gogo dancers playing electric violins and dancing in cages.

- Storm a football field. Also known as the time my life felt like a football movie and the time that I did not get trampled. The whole experience ended with purchasing and passing around a bottle of Fireball whiskey.

- Girls trip to Vegas. Oh Vegas, the best place to be dressed up and 21. Bonding moments with the crew and ego boosts all around. A girls trip was definitely the way to take on Vegas because 1) getting ready became half of the party and 2) we only spent money on our dinner together.

- Have a crazy 21st birthday (and hangover) With my 21st birthday on a Tuesday and work the next day, I wasn't sure how my crazy birthday dreams would work out. Luckily I have amazing friends who took me out for a fancy drink at Terranea and then for a crazy night in Hermosa. It was fun that on a less crazy night I was the only birthday in the bar, and had a ridiculous number of drinks bought for me as a result. I wouldn't have changed any part of the night even though it brought the birthday appropriate hangover from hell.

Last Day in Prague

My last day in Prague was a little surreal. Although I left on Friday, the morning before my flight was spent cleaning my apartment before turning in my keys. So, Thursday was my last full day in Prague, and I planned to spend the last few hours saying goodbye to my new home.

After volunteering at the kindergarten for the last time (and being given two bottles of becherovka as a thank you), I met up with my friend Diana to hang out for the day. Her apartment was having a goodbye lunch at Radost--the vegetarian restaurant-by-day and club-by-night spot we had spent many Thursday nights. I had a half of two different types of veggie burgers that were delicious and ordered my last Czech beer. Although not traditional Czech food, I had enjoyed pork knee with dumplings the night before at one of my favorite restaurants U Kroku with my friend Lauren and her family. Some of the best restaurants in Prague aren't traditional Czech food, so I felt like I was covering my bases before leaving.

After lunch, Diana and I headed to the nearest potraviny to pick up some souveniers and Czech goodies to take home. I bought four 50 ml bottles of beer (you're welcome dad), carmel wafers, and bagel chips to share back at home. After we sufficiently stocked up our suitcases, Diana and I headed from our apartments back downtown to do some last Prague adventures. Our first stop was the Waldenstien Gardens by Prague Castle. While we went to Prague Castle again a week ago, we had missed these gardens on our visit. The area was beautiful, but what we really came for was to find the albino peacock. After searching through the gardens, we got extremely lucky. Not only did we find him, but also managed to catch him with his feathers up long enough for us each to get the picture.



We had also hunted down some acrylic paint and paintbrushes, and set out to do one of the last things on our Prague To Do List's: painting the John Lennon Wall. Although I don't think either of us are the most artistic people, painting on the wall was really cathartic. It was fun and relaxing, and not to mention funny when a huge group of tourists spent about 15 minutes taking pictures of us. We took our time, and were both proud of our end products. I couldn't think of any better way of spending our last day in Prague. It was the perfect last "interaction" with the city that I've fallen in love with, and leaving my mark on the wall gave some closure to the end of my time living in Europe.


We stopped by Kampa park to take a photo with the Chrny babies by a man who recognized us as the painting girls before some of our last souvenir shopping. I grabbed some last gifts for my family, and picked up a key chain that has not left my car keys since I've been home. One last kolbasa for dinner in Old Town, and it was time to say goodbye.

After a whirlwind of packing, cleaning, and scrubbing that stupid spot on the floor in our bedroom, I suddenly found myself on the taxi to the airport. Even though I was really excited to see everyone at home, I found myself tearing up in the ride over. There's very few places in the world where you can drive by architecture ranging from Romanesque to Gothic to Rococo with a cab driver who has lived most of his life under communism, and I was going to miss it. Moving into my first apartment in a foreign country was hectic, but I wasn't sure I was ready to leave my cute little apartment with wood floors and big windows despite the loud family of pigeons living outside my room or the impossibly small and lacking kitchen. As I said one last dekuji to my driver, I was sad that it would be my last time practicing a foreign language in an immersive environment for a long time. Leaving felt surreal and I definitely felt like I wasn't done with Prague quite yet.

Although I inevitably have a few regrets--mainly not traveling around more in the Czech Republic--but I know that it is impossible to do everything. I met some great new friends that made the experience so much fun and having Scott in Europe made Prague feel like home since day one (seriously, a life saver--it was like having your best friend going through the exact same thing you were and an instant travel buddy). Studying abroad has been one of the best experiences of my life and has definitely awakened a need to travel more.

So I'll save myself from more corniness (embarrassing post but necessary in a "journal" aspect), and just say that Prague was the best place for me to be this past semester and I can not wait to make it back to the Czech Republic.

Split, Croatia

Our trip to Croatia began with a 6 am flight and 4:30 alarm clock. It was the weekend after 4 finals, 4 papers, and an oral Czech test. The night before we had stayed up past midnight saying good bye to roommates and friends knowing at the very least it would be a long time until we saw them again. After a 5 hour flight (connection in Dusseldorf, Germany), my two friends Diana and Katie and I were all ready to relax and not do too much of anything else.

We checked into our Airbnb apartment which had an excellent location but was mediocre in all other regards. We spent the day leisurely grocery shopping, looking at the open market, exploring Split, and deciding where to eat for dinner.

Tripadvisor lead us to Konoba Marjan.

Our only requirement for our dinner was that it had to be seafood since it's famous in Croatia, and this meal went above and beyond. The three of us shared the seafood platter and an order of mussels with garlic and wine sauce. We were the only people eating in the restaurant (it was only 5:00, but we had been up for a very long time), so the waiter explained that Croatian food is prepared very simply. All the fish is just rubbed with olive oil and salt and cooked fresh. The fish platter included a tuna steak, shrimp, mussels, and two types of fish. This meal alone was one of the highlights of our trip, and since seafood is my absolute favorite, I was in heaven.

 

Our apartment was directly next to Diocletian's Palace--a UNESCO world heritage site and ancient palace that a Roman emperor intended to retire in. It is filled with little shops so we spent some time walking around it and grabbing gelato when it was hot out.

To be honest, most of these first two days are a little bit of a blur. We took the relaxing and reflecting that study abroad was ending to heart, and besides exploring Split we just hung out. There also happened to be small tourism fair where we ended up getting free and delicious wine from a friendly Slovenian women. With the help of delicious Sommersby apple and pear ciders we drank whenever we got the chance, we walked around the island and indulged in our favorite souvenir shopping. We also made a little hike up to a look out point on Sunday, and later Diana and I went on a short run along the coast which felt pretty unreal. Staying in an apartment also made making a few homemade meals possible to try to save the last of our money (it was all of our last trip) and made tortellini, scrambled eggs, and other snacks through the four days.

On Monday, we planned to go to one of the islands off of Split. We headed down in the morning to get on a ferry to Hvar, but realized we had missed the only ride. We quickly decided to buy a ticket to Brac, and got a seat in the sun for the hour ride over. The first thing we did when we got off was walk straight to the beach area. On the way, we decided we wanted a quick lunch and grabbed some fast food along the path. One of my favorite things about Croatia was that "fast food" in this case meant a huge box full of fresh fried calamari and French fries. It was delicious and paired with two Somersby ciders and beach chairs from the beach, it was a very relaxing time.

There was no way we were leaving without swimming, so we braved the cold water and talked about how unbelievable it was that two weeks ago we were swimming off the Amalfi Coast and now we were swimming in the Adriatic Sea. The views were so spectacular and the water was unbelievably clear. We ended up having to grab phones and take a few pictures. Note: none of these pictures are mine--sadly my camera was out of battery this trip. While it was nice not having to worry about documenting anything, I definitely would make sure this never happened again. After achieving the beach day we all had wanted for so long, we slowly made our way back to the ferry while grabbing gelato and earrings (me) in the process. My new, pink Croatia towel quickly became one of my favorite and most useful souvenirs that day.

We kept the good day going by visiting our new favorite restaurant again that night. This time to get seafood pasta with pesto, shrimp, and mussels. We again were very satisfied and had another early night. That Monday and the next day would definitely be my favorite days of the trip.

We wanted to do something a little more adventurous on our last full day in Croatia, and a quick talk with the travel guide from a local travel agency(one of the friendliest and helpful people I met, and free!) led us to book a river rafting trip on the Cetina River the next morning. This was by far one of the best decisions we made and is one of my favorite memories abroad. At 9 am we were picked up by one of the guides and driven about an hour into the mountains and to a river bank. The drive in was absolutely beautiful--the ocean view, the trees, the mountain, the river and everything was breathtaking. It's one of the reasons why I would love to go back. Once we met our instructor we changed into spring wetsuits (we were warned that the water was really cold) and immediately got started. We were joined by two girls from Sweden, and like most big group of girls we immediately started all talking our mouths off. Meeting other people are age from different parts of the world is just one of the many reasons I'm glad that English is such a universal language. On that note, I had a really proud moment during the trip. Our guide explained that 6 months out of the year he traveled around the world and the other six months was spent guiding raft tours in Split. He talked about all the languages he knew, and asked us what languages we had studied. His face looked beyond shocked when I mentioned I had studied Spanish, Russian, and Czech. I made sure to clarify exactly how long these study periods had been and how little I could actually speak, but it was gratifying to hear him say he wouldn't have guessed that from an American. Just a little egotistical pat on the back for the blog, but, hey, it's my journal, so my stories. The rafting itself was really relaxing. Although it was supposed to be rated a 3, it was very mild, but fun.

The really exciting part came in the middle of the trip. Since it was off season (we couldn't even find a single bar), our instructor asked if we would be interested in doing something a little different than the usual routine. We all immediately said yes, and he explained that usually all passengers have to get off the boat and walk past the short but dangerous rapids in the river. He still couldn't take us through the rapids, but instead of walking around it we could swim and climb through a cave--which was behind a waterfall no less. His quick warning before he left to take the raft farther was to not fall of the mossy rock so we wouldn't get stuck in the rapids and swim towards his voice once he gives us the go-to.

I ended up being the first one to jump in and the water was freezing! I forgot what the actual temperature was, but I remember our guide kept joking that it was the perfect temperature for a pivo (beer) to be. Once out of the cave we climbed over the boulders to get back to our raft and continue down the river. That experience alone had us filled with adrenaline and loving life, but it got even better when we stopped to jump off some of the rocks and go swimming. By this time the water actually felt great, and we all had so much fun swimming around, trying to fight even this small current, and making ridiculous poses when we jumped off the rock. The guide had a camera and took a bunch of pictures throughout the 3.5 hour trip, and we had no problem splitting the cost for the CD between the two of us. Especially since there were some hilarious photos on there. Apparently, I was constantly getting caught by surprise...

After getting back to Split, the three of us kept recapping the day and did some aimless wandering around. We grabbed some more fried calamari and forced ourselves to eat the not chopped tentacles before deciding to sit out on the coastline and get a real meal. For dinner, I had a salad with tuna and we all stocked up on our last Somersby ciders of the trip (they are delicious and have the same alcohol content as beer, but are only available in select countries).

The next morning we made breakfast, I desperately drank my last cider at 9 in the morning (it would be a crime to have one go to waste), and got on the bus to the Split airport. That airport was the smallest one I've ever been in. It only had 5 gates and three airport stores, but that's all I needed to spend the last of my Croatian cash on some German chocolate. After a long layover in Vienna, we were finally back for our last days in Prague and Europe.

I absolutely loved Croatia. The first few days I was there, I was elated to be in Split, but I thought it was going to be one of those countries I just wouldn't ever end up coming back to. But exploring the Cetina River and the islands has made me wish I did more. I want to go hiking in all the national parks and see more of some of the most beautiful scenery of my life. The people were so nice (and it's a Slavic language!) and there's so much more I want to do. I would love to have another trip to Croatia and also visit neighbor countries like Montenegro and Slovenia. Although the first two days were spent sleeping off finals exhaustion and farewell emotional exhaustion, ideally Saturday and Sunday would have been more filled with activities. One thing I wish I did? Rent Vespas for the day at just 20 euros and explore! But this trip was beautiful, relaxing, and exciting all in one, and one my favorite trips. Croatia (and Slovenia), I'm coming back for you!