SPRINGFEST.

I have sat here for an inappropriate amount of time trying to think of a title for this post that would be clever yet sum up my weekend.....and so on that note, "spring fest" it is because I got nothing. If we tried to think of another way to leave abroad with a bang, I don't think any other trip could have topped Munich, Germany...by far one of the best weekends.

We embarked on yet another 7 hour bus ride to get to Munich on Thursday....why not, right? We got dropped off around 2:30 am and the pressure was on to find our destination for the weekend; because in true fashion, we decided to CAMP for the weekend instead of staying at the hostel with the rest of the group. Not knowing one lick of the elegant German language, 6 of us scrambled for cabs and gave the most vague directions possible to this poor cab driver. He responded with "hmm I've never heard of these campgrounds." So needless to say, I was feeling more secure than ever....Eventually, we solidified our destination and arrived to the Stoke Travel camp site. I don't think I could give the moment we walked up to the site justice but lets just say we were greeted by the Pearl River crew still drinking from the day and an Australian throwing beers in our face before we even could put our bag down. We quickly came to the realization of what we were in for.

The next morning we wasted no time and decided to tackle Munich at 8:30 am (after we had our kegs and eggs of course). We headed into the city and went right to the festival to see these infamous tents. It was basically set up like a huge carnival; there was rides and food and then the big beer halls. We all ordered our first steins (the huge beer cups that hold about 3 beers and cost 9 euro) and some pretzels. The atmosphere was really cool and we luckily went at a down time so we got to sit at the tables and actually get served. After spending the day, we headed back to our lovely camp site for some more beer...

The Saturday morning wake up call was pleasant as I came to the conclusion I had no choice to do the bike tour around Munich with the rest of the crew. I was more than concerned that I did not know how to ride a bike and was about to be mortified in this huge city on a tour with a million other people. After about an hour of whining, I sucked it up and did surprisingly well at managing my bike. Although I didn't want to admit it (especially to Danny) it was probably the best way to see Munich. We had a guide to fill us in on what we were riding past and we stopped about every 10 minutes at different beer gardens, monuments, etc. At the end of the tour, we decided to head to another huge beer hall. But me and Tori took a slight detour as we proceeded to loose our entire group. Thank god she had a picture of the beer hall we were trying to get to on her camera...this resulted in us asked multiple Germans for directions....how we found our friends? I don't know, but we did it!  On the bright side, we got to explore a little bit more of the city? Which is absolutely beautiful by the way. Our Saturday night once again consisted of some more partying at the campsite...This blog post is really doing no justice to the camp staff, camp site or camp activities, but I just don't think I know how to appropriately word where we were staying this weekend.

Sunday was one of the most eye opening days of my entire abroad trip. We headed to Dachau concentration camp. We had these controllers that told us about each part of the campsite. Walking around was absolutely unreal; to think that we were standing on the grounds where something so tragic and historic took place was mind blowing. It really hit me when we watched the videos at some of the stations. They would show piles of dead bodies in the middle of the camp, torture methods and the amount of people that were crowded onto these grounds. We saw the ovens and the gas chambers right in front of us. It was amazing to see a place that each of us had learned so much about in school. Not everyone gets the opportunity to visit somewhere like this so I was grateful to be able to see such a crucial part of history.

I think it is unfair to say that this was my favorite trip, and I know my family makes fun of me because I come back from every place and say "it was the most amazing weekend." But I've concluded its impossible to choose so I just wont. I will say that I don't think we could have ended abroad in a better way, and it made it that much harder for me to come to terms with the fact that this is over. I will be back home in THREE days. I feel like I just left yesterday, yet feel like I haven't seen my family in years. So, keep an eye out for my last blog post and maybe I can show everyone a fraction of how I am feeling (highly doubtful)!


xo Bria

"Guys, where are we?"

Maybe I'm wrong but I feel like most students coming abroad expect to travel to Paris, Amsterdam, Germany, etc but I wanted to do one trip that was out of the ordinary so to speak. So, on a whim, me and 3 other girls decided to head to Croatia. And as I write this post, after the weekend is said and done, I still could not tell you where on earth we were this weekend.

Just when we thought we could not out-do our crazy travel plans, why not take a quick 12 hour bus to get to Split, Croatia. It actually wasn't as bad as you're thinking, but then again, this is coming from the girl who has slept through multiple fire alarms...So as I was on my 100th dream, we drove through the night and arrived in Croatia at about 9 am. Delirious, we hopped off the bus and were greeted by palm trees and this harbor filled with boats on the most beautiful blue water. We decided to spend the day at the beach when our post travel exhaustion hit us head on.  We passed out for 2 hours and woke up to some alarming sun burns, but it was worth it. Known for its sea food, we went to a local place for lunch and got some amazing fish. Oh, need I mention it was the most inexpensive weekend abroad BY FAR. So note to future abroad students, go here! The kuyna (the croatian money) is a nice change from the euro; it's about 8 euros for every one kuyna. Needless to say, we wined and dined! andddd to top our day off, we did a pub crawl at night which was surprisingly so much fun.

The next day the girls and I paid for an island hopping tour for the day. It was one of our better decisions because I'm not really sure how we would've explored this beautiful place which we knew nothing about, couldn't communicate with one single person and STILL could not figure out where the hell we were. The boat took us to 3 different places, and we got off the boat at each stop for about an hour. It was very relaxing and simply stunning. It was a nice change of pace; there was nothing really going on, it was mostly just the beach, the water and the views.....enough to keep us happy!

On our 12 hour adventure home, we stopped at Krka National Park. Where we got dropped off, there was a trail to walk down and it felt as if you were walking in a rain forest. For about 20 minutes, you were surrounded by little water falls. But when you got to the end, the "rain forest" opened up and the prettiest waterfall I've ever seen was in front of us. It really looked like it was out of a magazine. Once again, we all looked at each other and said "where the hell are we." That was the quote of the weekend.

So after 24 hours on a bus, this weekend was amazing. Like I said, it was the one trip I definitely did not expect to do, and it really didn't even cross my mind until we booked it. But, I realize how lucky I am to be able to see a place like this. I would say it's one of earth's so called "hidden treasures", as cheesy as that may sound. Now, its time to commence my 21st birthday celebrations and end this abroad experience with a weekend in Munich, Germany for spring fest! Words cannot express my excitement. To think I will be home in 11 days, though? Absolutely insane and the biggest mix of emotions I've ever felt!

xo Bria

In Awe of Amalfi

Note to future husband: I would not mind a ring from the Ponte Vecchio and if you just so happen to plan our wedding/honey moon in the Amalfi Coast, I promise I won't complain.....simple requests?

So if you couldn't tell by the above statement, the Amalfi Coast went above and beyond my expectations. I admittedly went into this weekend knowing that this would probably be my favorite trip, but I didn't think it would be my favorite place I've ever been to. If you're ever in Italy, YOU NEED TO VISIT HERE, it will disappoint. We started off the weekend on a ferry to Capri after a quick 3 hour nights sleep. We took a boat tour and got to see some really cool historical things besides from the breath taking views. The water is almost fake looking with how blue it is; it didn't feel like Italy at all. We ended the boat tour with the blue grotto. There is a bunch of grottos all around, but blue grotto is the most well-known. Its this cave and upon going inside, the water is the clearest, most pure color of blue when the light hits it. Luckily, it was open (if the tide is too rough, they will close it) and we got to go inside. 5 of us piled onto a small row boat and were forced to lay flat to enter the cave.....it was bizarre. The inside was unreal but it was impossible to get a good picture and capture how pretty the inside was. It looked like a place The Bachelor/Bachlorette would be taped because it was that amazing....(my reality TV obsession coming out.) After this, we made our way to Anacapri, which was all the way at the top of Capri. It was this adorable little town with restaurants, shops and lots of homemade sandals. Our exhaustion was slowly creeping up on us so we spent the rest of the day taking in the sun that we hadn't seen in forever thanks to all the rain in Florence.

When I thought this place couldn't get any more beautiful, Saturday was a beach day in Positano. The black sand beaches are so exclusive that if you were to take a cab there, it would cost you 100 euro. So we took a 20 minute bus ride around the extremely windy cliffs and then walked down to the beach for about another 20 minutes. The views while we drove/walked were so picturesque. The beach was beautiful of course, surrounded by all these tiny shops, cafes and restaurants. Needless to say, it was the most perfect, relaxing day. Just what we needed after spring break.

On our way home, we stopped in Pompeii to end the trip. It was cute and kind of just what I pictured it to be. Besides the obvious ruins that are Pompeii's main focus, there were little markets set up so we got to fit in some shopping before heading home. And I obviously was not leaving Pompeii without trying the pizza since it is right by Naples and is infamous for its pizza. Delish! Overall, the weekend could not get anymore perfect. Other than that, let the panic set in that there is less than 20 days left. Next up: Croatia for the first of my 21st birthday celebrations!

xo Bria

Barcelona, we meet again.

I really hope you all didn't forget about me! I'm finally back to traveling and back to blogging. The month of March was filled with so many visitors and lots of weekends in Florence. But obviously it flew by and now were already into April, I cant believe it. So, to start April off, we took our week long spring break vacation in Barcelona....and I fell in love all over again. I went to Barcelona when I was a junior in high school with about 7 of my best friends. I remember loving it so much and calling my mom at the end of the trip not wanting to come home. Needless to say, not much had changed this time around.

We left Easter Sunday and little did we know we were about to get ourselves into a 7 day "bender." Coming from the Florence weather, we acted like the Barcelona sun was as if we were in Puerto Rico (the 65 degree weather was so nice, but the 8 bathing suits we each packed was a little aggressive). Luckily, we had my best friend Danny, who studies there, to show us around everyday. The city was almost like a taste of home because it reminded me of New York a little bit; I guess coming from Florence any city reminds me of home because Tuscany doesn't exactly scream "the big apple". Our hostel was in the most perfect location, which we quickly learned was ideal when in Barcelona. Danny and his 10 lady friends ventured down Las Ramblas, which was just like I remembered....such a cool street. We visited Parc Guell in the most perfect weather; the walk up there is 100% worth it, I promise. We fit in a FC Barcelona game which was even cooler than the first time I went, and after about 86 attempts, on our last day we took a cable car across the city and walked up to the Olympic Stadium (where the olympics were in 1992...fun fact...). Oh and of course, almost everyday included a visit to the beach....I'm not mad about it, and still jealous that all the people studying abroad there have a beach at their fingertips. #bitter.

The week absolutely flew. Maybe it was because we started everyday at 2pm. Why? Because Barcelona night life was literally crazy. When we weren't pouring our own drinks at the bar, a concept that Barca thinks is appropriate but is so very dangerous, we were casually prancing around the 26th floor of the W hotel with models and the richest humans I've ever seen.....I guess my H&M dress and shoes from Target were just short of embarrassing; It was hands down the nicest bar/club/place I've ever stepped foot into.....when in Barca I guess?

Other than that, we kept it classy at all the other clubs Barca had to offer and usually pranced home around 5 or 6 am. Now that we're back in Florence, our bodies hate us and all I want to do it sleep, but I would do it all over again in a heart beat. I know for a fact I'll be back in Barcelona some day; maybe to visit Danny or Steph who claim there moving there.....(I just don't know if I'm willing to let that happen). But, it was by far one of my favorite weeks abroad and I can't believe it is over....all good things must come to an end I suppose. Now, we have about 48 hours to unpack, unwind and prepare for our trip to Amalfi coast. I remember booking this in Siena and remembering my grandma saying "If you go to Italy and don't go to the Amalfi coast, don't come home!" So, I have a feeling I am going to be in awe and I can't wait. Time is going by way too quickly here and I am not really ready to come to terms with it. But enough of that, time to enjoy everything that these last 3 weeks have to offer!

Xo Bria