Just guys…

Just guys in Plitvice Lakes (Dakota, Connor, Matt, myself and Serge)

Where to begin.. Easily the best spring break I’ve ever been lucky to be a part of.  Even though the break began with a visit to Krakow, Poland and a sad trip to Auschwitz, the next week and a half was full of life, friends and beautiful countries.  The group consisted of Dakota Scozzari, Connor Dugan, Matt Heckman, Serge Virvo and myself.  Over the course of 12 days we visited 5 countries, 8 cities and spent over 40 hours on different trains and buses.  This is our Spring Break story..

Arriving in Ljubljana, Slovenia

First up on our tour of eastern Europe was the country of love, sLOVEnia.  At least that’s what they advertised around the city.  We arrived at our hostel around lunchtime starving and craving some great Slovenian food.  The hostel receptionist recommended the best burger joint in town though.  He said it was “the best burger in Slovenia, because they use different ingredients”… We were a little curious about how you could use different ingredients for a simple cheeseburger so we asked what he meant and he casually said “oh, because instead of beef they use horse.” Wait, what?? HORSE???  This guy must be joking..  He was not.

Best burger in Slovenia??

Our rumbling stomaches decided for us and for some reason we trusted him and headed to the restaurant fittingly named “Hot Horse.”  The menu contained a wide selection of horse and nothing else.  The burgers were massive and about the size of a dinner plate.  The taste wasn’t terrible but the feeling of guilt for eating Seabiscuit was more than most of us could handle.  On a side note, they did have some incredible fries.  But was it the best burger in Slovenia?  Neigh.

That feeling after eating horse…

Feeling guilty about what we just did we decided to go for a long walk and head into the city and hike up to the castle.

Ljubljana Grad

Ljubljanica River

That night our hostel receptionist booked a local attraction for us called an “escape room.”  “Escape rooms” were a tourist attraction that was an interactive puzzle meant for a group. You and a small group are locked in a room for an hour and the idea is for you to work as a team and uncover the clues to escape from the room before the time runs out.  None of the clues involve brut strength but we were allowed to move anything in the room that wasn’t nailed down.  So naturally as soon as we were locked in, we absolutely tore the room apart. The clues were anything from hidden keys, hidden codes, weights of objects, and buttons pushed in a certain order (it was actually extremely complicated).  We found numerous keys that led to more keys until we finally found a key that unlocked a big wardrobe and all that revealed was another room behind it with more clues.  After working our way through the clues in the second room we found the key to get out of the “escape room”.  The problem was, was that it was protected by a 3-digit combination lock and we had no clue what the code was.  We knew we were running out of time and we figured we had about 15 minutes left to figure out our final clue but the code was very tricky.  So while the guys were working hard to do the math to figure out the surprisingly difficult combination properly, I just started flipping through the dials..  There can only be 1000 combinations anyway right??  Luckily when I got about 130 combinations in the boys figured out that the first number was a 6!  That definitely narrowed it down for me so with only about 10 minutes left I started at 600, 601, 602… Finally at 642 the lock popped open and we were able to escape!

Only took us 54 minutes and 17 seconds to escape (cutting it close)

The following morning we caught a bus to Lake Bled.  The weather was perfect and we couldn’t wait to see it after some of our classmates who had already been couldn’t stop talking about it.  Lake Bled did not disappoint, it was absolutely beautiful.  We began the day with a hike all the way up to Blejski Grad way up on a cliff overlooking the mountains and lake.  We were still carrying our bags and not in great hiking shape so the climb almost knocked us out.  We finally made it only to realize that there was a gondola that could take you up on the opposite side… Oh well, exercise is good.

Hiked straight up to Blejski Grad.

The few from the top was amazing and totally worth the climb as soon as we got to look out.

Lake Bled from Blejski Grad

We stayed up on the castle walls and had lunch as we were too tired to even think of hiking back down already.  We had some warm soup, a beer and just soaked in the sunshine and the view.  Our trip was off to an incredible start.  After lunch and our hike back down we had a few hours to kill so we walked around the lake and took in the larger than life scenery and great views.

Didn’t dare get any closer to this swan..

After an hour or two we ran out of things to do so naturally we went to the “world famous” Lake Bled Casino.  There was a sign out front that said 10 euros = 15 euros so we went in with 10 euros and decided to see how lucky we could get before catching our bus.  We traded our 10’s in for 15’s and we were given scratch off tickets and immediately mine revealed another 10 euros.  Off to a great start!  We wanted to play the table games but they didn’t open til 8 that night so we had to settle for slots.  There were a lot of machines to choose from because nobody was there, go figure.  As I had 25 euros already from my original 10 I decided to just bet as big as I could on the machines. I found one called “lion safari” and within 10 minutes I was up about 40 euros.  I couldn’t believe my luck as about 30 minutes after entering the casino with 10 euros I left with 50.  The other guys weren’t as lucky as I was unfortunately.  But luckily it was only a loss of 10 euros.

Beautiful Slovenia

That night we headed out and caught a train to Zagreb where we would be staying the night before catching a bus to Korenica the next morning.  We didn’t get much time in our hostel, Wallaby House Hostel, but the owner, who was an Aussie named “Cracker” immediately offered us shots of some Croatian liquor and insisted we go out and have fun.  We didn’t plan on having a big night but he convinced us to go check out a local club that always had live music.  Quite frankly the music was pretty awful but in the back of the club they had an Italian restaurant with some delicious looking pizza.  So instead of dancing with the locals we grabbed a table and pigged out on Croatian-Italian pizza.  No regrets.  We didn’t stay long after that, knowing we had to catch a bus the next morning taking us down to Korenica.

All of Korenica, Croatia

We arrived in Korenica around noon and checked into the only hostel in town and got settled.  It was a great hostel and ended up being one of our favorites.  We quickly made friends with the people running it and a few of the other visitors.  We were invited on a hike up the surrounding hills to look out over the town.  After our hike the previous day where we had to carry our heavy bags all the way up to the castle we figured we would have no problem hiking the little hill.  We couldn’t have been more wrong.  We barely made it and when we got to the top the view wasn’t even as nice as the one at Bled.  But it was still a great place to catch our breathe and relax as the sun gradually slid down behind the mountains.

halfway up

We returned back to the hostel, made some dinner and picked up some 2 liter bottles of beer.  Yes, 2 liter bottles of beer.  Instead of 2 liter bottles of coke or sprite like normal countries they had 2 liter bottles of beer.  We met some more people that worked at the hostel and one girl who was Australian got us and another group to play some great drinking games.  We are about 3 days into our trip and the biggest thing I’ve discovered so far is that the Aussie’s don’t mess around when it comes to alcohol.  But we had a great night playing card games, making the best out of what the tiny town had to offer and laughing our butts off until we all passed out in our bunk beds.

Plitvice Lakes National Park

The next morning we were dropped off at Plitvice Lakes ready for yet another big hike.  We were blown away by how incredible this place was.  We were warned that parts of the Park might be closed because snow melt and a little rain might cause flooding and some trails might be under water or unsafe to walk on, but we were lucky that the entire park was completely open to us.  Right off the bat we discovered that the Croatian word for “waterfall” was “slap” so we found the biggest slap and made too many obvious slap puns before moving on.

Serge, Connor and I at the biggest slap

On a rock by the big slap

On a ledge looking at the big slap

Don’t look down man

Prom picture

Under a smaller slap

Our very own Serge “slav squatting”

The park was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life.  The entire time we were blown away by the waterfalls that seemed to just weave their way through the forest.  Not to mention how crystal clear and blue the water was.  We could see right into the deep pools to see the fish and trees under the water.  I could have taken thousands of pictures but luckily I only took about 150…  It’s so hard to describe how breathtaking it was so here are some of those photos.

After one of the best days of our break we headed back to our hostel to wait until we caught our night bus to Split.  We didn’t have much of a choice when it came to busses in Croatia.  In fact there were only 2 bus companies that would be able to take us to Split.  They were called Bus Croatia Bus and Croatia Bus Bus.  No joke.  After a lengthy debate amongst ourselves we decided that Bus Croatia Bus was the Bus bus company for us.  The bus would arrive in Korenica at 11:30pm and it actually only stopped to pick you up if you flagged it down like a taxi.  If the driver didn’t see you it would just go right by you we were told.  And being so late we were told just to go out to the street and flag down every bus we saw until we found the one going to Split.  Also we were told the bus could be either 30 minutes early or 30 minutes late so we had to just go stand on the side of the street in the dark like idiots hoping that our bus would come sooner or later.  A foolproof plan if I’ve ever heard one.

But for the time being, we had 4 hours to waste at our hostel until our departure.  We made dinner with our leftover spaghetti from the night before and decided to play RISK.  We laid out the board in the middle of the hostel and for the next 2 hours our militaries battled it out for world domination.  Alliances were made, betrayed, made again and betrayed again.  At long last, the dust settled revealing 2 supreme military commanders in control of 3 continents each and not wanting anymore bloodshed a final Peace Treaty was signed and the terrible war came to an end.

Gen. Rogers and Gen. Scozzari

Around 11 we headed out to attempt to catch our bus but made sure that our hostel kept our 5 beds open just in case we weren’t successful and needed a place to sleep that night.  After waving to 4-5 busses, none of which were going to Split we were beinginng to think our bus wasn’t going to show up. But finally around midnight, we saw headlights and the destination SPLIT lit up above the windshield and we knew we found our bus.

Roman ruins in Split

We arrived exhausted in Split around 5:30 in the morning but we had to wait until 7 to meet our landlord to let us into his Airbnb.  We walked around the promenade and couldn’t believe the size of the old Roman ruins that the city has been build in and around.  Finally our landlord showed up just as the sun was rising and as soon as he opened the door we climbed in our beds and fell asleep.  When we finally woke up around noon, the weather was amazing and we put on shorts for the first time all spring and headed out to have lunch looking out over the Adriatic Sea.

Promenade in Split built into Diocletian’s Palace

Seeing Split with the sun shining on it was a completely different city than the one we saw at 5:30 in the morning.  It was incredible.  We had planned on only staying 24 hours and leaving early the next morning but at lunch we moved some things around on our schedule and decided to take another night bus out of Split so we could get 2 full days in the sunshine.  After lunch we got some of the best gelato outside of Italy and walked along the water taking in the first day in what felt like years were we didn’t have to wear winter coats.

Croatian gelato (no banana Splits in Split though)

Diocletian’s Palace from across the bay

Beautiful Croatian coastline

After walking along the coast we decided to take a hike up to the hills overlooking the city. It was an easy hike relative to what we’ve been doing since our break started so we really enjoyed it.  Along the way we passed a park full of families, kids playing soccer, and dogs running around.  Also, we ran into a group with about 20 old men playing bocce and sat down and watched.  They were really into it and pretty feisty so it was some top notch entertainment.  After about 15 minutes of this we continued on our hike.

Some soccer in Split

When we reached the top we didn’t want to leave, we could have stayed up there for hours.  Again, we couldn’t believe how blue the water was.  We weren’t sure what to expect coming to Split, thinking it’d be nice to go somewhere warm at least once on our spring break but we were now so happy we decided to come.  It quickly became one of our favorite destinations.  For me it was my favorite stop on our break.  From the mountains, rocky Adriatic coastline, Diocletian’s Palace and great food I wished I could have stayed for the rest of the trip but I knew we had some great adventures ahead of us still.

More great views in Split

The next day we checked out of our airbnb and put our bags in storage at the bus station.  We didn’t have a plan for the day so we decided to walk out to the ocean and relax some more before taking the night bus to Budapest.  We grabbed some lunch at a small Croatian restaurant on our way to the beach.  I had a Croatian dish I couldn’t pronounce but it was spicy chicken with charred vegetables that left me stuffed.  There is nothing better than a meal cooked with fresh ingredients and we all left completely satisfied with our find.

Fresh prosciutto

Again, the coastline didn’t disappoint and we could have stayed out there until our bus left but we were all pretty drowsy after such a great lunch.  We walked around the bays of Split enjoying the views, skipping rocks and making the most of our last day here.  With the sun slowly setting across the water we made our way back to a coffee house on the promenade to get dinner and wait for our bus out.

Does it get any better??

“we travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”

Our bus/train ride to Budapest was one of the worst segments of our trip.  We hopped on the bus for 6 hours and rode from Split to Zagreb where we had a 5 hour layover before being able to get on a train that would take us to Budapest.  Out of the 5 of us, all but Dakota had already been to Budapest but we still wanted to show him how neat the city was.  We had originally planned to stay there for 2 full days but by staying gin split an extra day we only had about 1 fun day.  For the full day we wanted to make sure we hit the Szchenyi baths again, the castle district, Parliament and the ruin bars.  But for the time being we just wanted to get some sleep after the bus/train ride from hell.  Our airbnb was great, we all finally had a real bed and not some thin hostel bunk bed and a washer/dryer!  Having clean clothes again was amazing and rejuvenating.  With our new found energy we signed up for another escape room.  Apparently they were first invented in Budapest and we looked at reviews and found one near us that had an investigation theme to it.  We were supposed to solve a murder case before the killer got to his next victim by the end of the time.  This room was a lot harder than the one in Ljubljana and included a metal detector to locate a key under a gravel floor, a keyboard missing certain keys, and a few key fobs that when all placed on their correct spots opened a safe with the murder weapon in it.  Unfortunately we finished 3 minutes over the hour and were not able to stop the killer… Oh well…

Golden Eagle in the Castle District

The next day we woke up early and headed across the mighty Danube to the castle district. We hiked up to the Royal Palace and walked up to the castle district to enjoy the view of Parliament across the river.  This is where I saw this massive bird, I had to get my picture with it.  It was cool for about 5 seconds before I laughed and the birds head turn around so fast to stare at me right in the face.  It had a hood over it’s eyes but it definitely could still hear me perfectly.  From there we headed to a small cafe we had seen the last time we were in Budapest called Delirium Cafe.  It was a craft beer cafe that served mostly Belgian beer.  The guys were raving on about a beer called Delirium Tremens that is supposed to be one of, if not the best beer in the world at the moment.  Apparently, in Salzburg were is only 1 place that sells it and it costs 18 euros for a .33 liter bottle.  But in Budapest it only cost 900 forints or, less than 3 euros.  We got lunch there as well and had some traditional Hungarian goulash soup before heading to the baths.

Beer, goulash, and warm blankets.

From Budapest we travelled to Krakow, Poland for the final 2 legs of our trip.  I love Krakow but the city wasn’t in full Easter festivities as it was 2 weeks ago so most of the holiday excitement was gone from the main square.  We still enjoyed the city to it’s fullest though and we were lucky that the weather was so nice to enjoy meals outside.  I unfortunately didn’t take any photos in Krakow this time as I had already seen most of the city so I just put my phone away and enjoyed the sites.  From Krakow we hoped on a train that took us straight to Bratislava, Slovakia.  We arrived around noon and walked straight to our hostel.  We were in a great spot and met some really neat people in our hostel.  They told us of some places to get great Slovakian food and some cool eastern european bars and sites.

View just around the corner of our hostel, and Serge

We walked around the city taking in the city as much as possible before night fell.  We had plans to get dinner at a restaurant called only, Slovak Pub.  And then get a few drinks at a bar called, KGB Pub before going to watch the Real Madrid vs Barcelona game at Loch Ness Pub (not the most Slovakian pub.. obviously.)  The Slovak pub food was incredible, it seemed to be a mix of Austrian, German and Hungarian food.  Which is totally alright by me.  We enjoyed it thoroughly.

Bratislava, Slovakia

Slovak Pub for dinner

With the comrades at KGB Pub

hijinks at Loch Ness Pub

We had a great night to end our spring break adventure.  We couldn’t have had anymore fun and we all were in great spirits, yet ready to go home when the sun came up the next morning.  I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to travel with and I hope we can find another weekend to go on some more adventures before the end of the semester.  But this is where I leave you guys for now!  Sorry it took so long to post this!!  This weekend I haven’t done much other than school work so I won’t be posting until the next Tuesday after our adventures next weekend.  Until next time, Auf Wiedersehen!!