That time I went to Bosnia...

I don't exactly know what I was expecting from Croatia and Bosnia, but it wasn't the scenic feast my eyes enjoyed the past few days. We left the views of Dubrovnik pretty early on Thursday and drove several hours on a big bus to reach Mostar, Bosnia. The roads were very winding and slightly uneven, especially on the Bosnian side (apparently Serbia had to redo their roads after the war in the 90s but they didn't do a very good job), so we had great adventures traveling up and around and through the rocky, hilly, and somehow still green landscape. We got stuck at the border for a while going into Bosnia because a million other Asian tourists wanted to go to Bosnia at the same time and it took an hour to check everyone's passports. 

We spent the afternoon in Mostar, which has the famous bridge you may or may not have seen before--the only one that went over the river in Mostar that was destroyed during the Bosnian war but rebuilt since then. It was super beautiful (naturally) but the city also felt slightly Middle Eastern. The town is about half Christian and half Muslim and all of the shops reminded me of movies I've seen from Turkey. There were also more children on the street begging than I was used to seeing in Western Europe and the buildings looked slightly worse for wear. 

One of the guys on our program served his mission in Croatia and he has been oozing with giddiness the whole time we've been here, speaking Croatian to every breathing soul, sassing back to the children poking fun at us, asking shopkeepers about the current political situation, and buying a dozen books in Croatian to take some of the this land back to America with him. It's been refreshing and endearing to me to see someone who fell in love with the people and land of his mission so much :)

We spent the night back in Croatia last night--Split to be exact. Another beautiful coastal city. We had a super fancy hotel with heated floors in the bathroom which just beat all. Okay, just kidding, there were fancier things than warm floors (but just barely). There was a rock concert going on outside the main city center which a few of us went to and it was great. I didn't think the band was too bad until they switched from their Croatian tunes to bad English covers of 90s rock songs. But it was definitely worth the experience :)

I have loved so many things about Croatia and am once again sad to be leaving a country, but grateful for the enlightening experiences here. My slight obsession with lettuce was also discovered here--I've bought three bags of lettuce in the last week, carrying each one around and hoping I'll find a meal that I can compliment with an extra crunch. Which apparently is slightly abnormal. But I just want to get my greens in. #girlwiththelettuce #greengoeswitheverything

 Yes, that's me and my lettuce.

Rome around and Do the Brovnik.

I definitely will need to make a new bucket list after this trip is over because I'm checking things off left and right while frantically trying to preserve the precious, perfect moments that keep flying by me.

Rome was the pinnacle to our Italian trips and it was a perfect finish--we went to sacrament meeting there and there were about 50 members of the congregation that kindly made room for us in their little building. There were eight missionaries in the ward and three of them spoke, which sent me into a sentimental frenzy of nostalgia for my mission and missing being part of that force, however awful and great it was in reality. I had to restrain myself from throwing myself at the missionaries after the meeting and saying, "I WAS JUST YOU AND NOW I AM A NORMAL PEON!" Because I am a normal person and no longer belong to the guild of European missionaries. It'll have to suffice to belong to the cult of European travelers (#professionaltourists)

We listened to the pope speak after our LDS church meeting and it was lovely, though I didn't actually understand what he was saying. We visited St. Peter's basilica afterwards and it was incredible. I felt so so small. Which is kind of the point. And maybe this is weird, but that's one of the reasons I love visiting grandiose churches. They remind me of how small I am and how big God is and they remind me to look up.

The road adventures continued on Monday with visits to the colosseum, the forum, and the gelato shop. We spent a lot of time at each thing and it was so cool to be surrounded by things that were so so old. Ancient, some might say (except for the gelato, of course). Tuesday morning we visited the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican museum and again I took a trip down memory lane to 9th grade when I first remember seeing pictures of this chapel and Mr. Ecks explaining pictures couldn't do the chapel justice because it was much more than individual images--it was the whole that filled your soul with awe. And so it was.

We stopped roaming around Rome after that and took a flight to Dubrovnik in Croatia. Most people were ready to leave Italy behind, but I was a little sad. Since I get nostalgic about pretty everything and all that. But Croatia has given us an extremely friendly welcome and any regrets I had about leaving Italy were swallowed up in the seemingly infinite blue Adriatic Sea.

I haven't spent a lot of time around water in my lifetime (just pools in Indiana in the summer), but I'm thinking I need to spend more time with it in the future. There is something soothing about moving waters and there are so many metaphors regarding the sea that I wish I understood because I feel like such metaphors contain life's many secrets. The red rooftops and the Aqua water compliment each other perfectly and there is so much life in the city.

We spent the morning walking on top of the old walls that surround the city, oo-ing and ah-ing every few seconds, some of us straight out swooning because we've never seen anything more lovely in our whole lives and realized maybe we hadn't even lived until then. Our love affair with Dubrovnik continued in the afternoon with time on the beach--swimming in the sea and soaking up sun on the rocky beach shore, followed by a fancy dinner of fresh bass. We hiked up lots of stairs and random streets tonight and had several more perfect moments sitting on a ledge and watching the sun set into the ocean (first we had to pass a dozen very passionate couples who wanted a similar view, but they weren't really looking anymore).

It was the perfect end to our time here. Thought we leave early in the morning, we have all vowed to return here someday.
Potentially on a honeymoon :)

When in Rome...

I woke up today in my fourth Italian city in a week, that city being Rome, still reminding myself that I'm not living a fairy tale and that I have five more weeks in magical Europe. 

Before I got here though, I spent a day on the islands of San Marino and Torcello outside of Venice, where we saw how glass is made and where an industrious city was abandoned because everyone died of malaria. Except we spent so much time standing up in rainy boat rides traveling to and fro aforementioned islands that we had little time to enjoy them before catching a train to Florence. 

When in Florence...see all the artwork you can in 40 hours. Which includes walking/running 14 miles all over the city to marvel at all of the wonderful things that stole my heart a decade ago in my high school European History class. I finally saw Michelangelo's David, which was just as incredible as my ninth grade history teacher described it--the perfect depiction of a renaissance man. Gah, I almost started weeping (while others made immature comments and giggled while taking pictures) because I was looking at one of the first pieces of art that made me want to study history (followed by the Pieta, which I saw today!). In the Uffizi Gallery that same day, I saw the rest of the Renaissance artwork that changed my life in high school, and just kept feeling overwhelmed with gratitude that I am here.

Because 14 miles of regular walking wasn't enough in Florence, we added a dozen flights of stairs and climbed to the top of the Duomo, which was so incredible. I know I keep saying I almost cried,  but pretty much everything I see just makes me want to weep because it is all so lovely and I am such a puny human and other puny humans have created such magnificent works of splendor and God just created such a perfect canvas.    

I had a lot of moments in Florence where I wanted to capture them and savor their flawlessness. Like eating strawberries and a delicious pita-bread with cheese and tomatoes on a staircase watching people walk, listening to birds chirp and occasional bells ring. 

Though I loved Florence, I was actually happy to move on after our short stay--everything was so tall and skinny and I wanted some air...and a break from walking/standing. We rented a bus and took a beautiful ride into the the Tuscan countryside, giving us time to catch up on some sleep (and giving more moments where I almost cried because everything was too beautiful).

We stopped about 70 miles outside of Rome in a tiny town and stayed the night in a pink hotel. Before stopping there though, we took a break and visited some volcanic hot springs and they were so magical (forgive me for my overuse of the words magical, beautiful, and perfect--apparently I need a thesaurus) and a relief for our aching feet. 

We had a peaceful night there, visited some cool, old gardens in the town, and then took the bus all the way to Rome, which dropped us first at some of the catacombs at St. Sebastian and then took us to our hotel, which is right outside Vatican City.

And when in Rome....
You have to cook what the Romans cook. We had a super fun cooking class our first night here with the marvelous chef Andrea. It took fours hours for us to make a five course meal, but it was fascinating and subsequently so, so delicious. We handmade noodles, created a nice pasta sauce, made brochettes, yummy chicken, potatoes wedges, and tiramisu. Again, insert the near-crying face because how the heck did I get so lucky to be a part of all this?

#blessed #literallyblessedbythepopethismorning

Proof that I was in Venice

In Italy I discoverd I was a superior being...

Like Napoleon Bonaparte of old, "in Italy I discovered I was a superior being."
Not because of military victories, but because of the enhancing beauty all around me. And yeah, I'm actually not that arrogant as to think I'm superior by being here, but I can see where Napoleon was coming from. 

I stayed my first night in the lonely town of Hahn, Germany (population 450) before flying to Venice. On my plane ride, two kind Israeli men made friends with me and brought me back to my mission days--they gushed over my German (which is actually just decent), asked if I had a handsome boyfriend, inquired whether my beautiful eyes came from my mom or my dad. Normal questions that would happen on my mission were different this time as I was by myself. Though being kidnapped would have made this blog more interesting, we merely parted as new friends at the airport. 

I took a bus to Venice and yes, I had that stupid "I'm in Europe" grin on my face as I got off the bus in Italy and sought out my hotel. Fortunately I found some other study abroad people at the hotel and we set out exploring the city, feeling like we were thrown either back in time or into a Shakespearean fairytale. I satisfied my wander lust by walking around the city for six hours, adoring the red rooftops, the aqua canals, the gondolas, the not-parallel buildings, and the boat busses since there are no cars in Venice--you go by foot or by boat!

Venice only has about 50,000 people today, though forty years ago it had between 100,000 and 150,000. Now it's mostly just tourists, which is kind of sad, especially with the city sinking and all, but I guess I am a tourist so I shouldn't wage a war on myself.

The food has been good, but after 4 meals of pizza, I'm getting a little tired of that particular delicacy. We have had magical breakfasts at our hotel with all sorts of tasty pastries, yogurts, and cheeses and last night we had a kosher meal at a Jewish restaurant in the ghetto, where only about 450 Jews live today (at one point there were 10,000). We visited the synagogue there also and met some kind Jewish men.

We visited St. Marco's Basilica yesterday morning and were also attacked by pigeons. And by attacked, I mean we lured them to our hands with food. #aggressiveswarming

We ended our evening by taking a beautiful gondola ride with the charming Roberto, who was much less threatening than the swarming pigeons from earlier.

So in conclusion, Venice makes you a superior being, #liesnapoleontoldme #grainoftruth?

Suddenly my hair got curlier...

Inviting-looking bakeries.
Dozens of languages.
Distinct smell of cigarette smoke.
Recycle bins everywhere.

I'm back.

I realized on my flight over to Frankfurt that I've been to Germany four times in the last six years (this being my fourth time)--which is a pretty good streak if you ask me. Or maybe it's more of a sign of a growing addiction that will only get worse with age and soon I'll be pawning off my children's toys to pay for trips to Europe (in the hypothetical future of course).

I'm not to that point yet though.

I realize I looked pretty stupid wandering around the Frankfurt airport with a stupid grin on my face and I don't even want to think about what the person in the stall next to me thought when I squealed with delight to see Germany's environemntally friendly flush buttons on the toilet. Even the lack of drinking fountains seemed refreshing. Except that it wasn't actually refreshing for long because I still feel like a peon for spending 2€ on 16 ounces of water when I know I can drink water for free. I guess that shows how not-European I actually am.
So happy to be here though.

My first few more-boring American cities are behind me. I stayed in St. George and rocked it with my mom and grandma, came back to Provo to run a half marathon (why yes, running 13.1 miles on your toes ensures you will be crippled for several days after), drove to Colorado Springs to watch Netflix (because somehow I can't justify it at college), went back to Provo again for my study abroad prep class, flew to Denver and stayed at a hotel there with my parents to cut down on driving times, and now I am here! In Germany! For like 16 more hours and then it's off to Italy.

I'm trying not to my compare all my experiences with my mission, though on the plane ride over I couldn't imagine what I did during my mission plane trips when I couldn't watch movies or listen to music other normal people things. I'll probably be that obnoxious person who can't stoptalking about Germany, and yes, most of my stories will be mission stories. Whatevs.

Stayed tuned for the real adventures instead of the nostalgic mess you just read.
Expect curlir hair every time.