Croatia

Hey everyone!
So this weekend was spent in the beautiful country of Croatia! It was the best weekend I have had abroad yet, but definitely exhausting. So my roommate Marissa and I caught the 6 am train from Trastevere, Rome which is our neighborhood to the Fiumicino Airport. The flight only lasted about an hour and we made it to Croatia by 10 am. I will never forget the first time we walked through the palace walls- I thought it was an actual dream! We spent most of our weekend in Split, but had two excursions that brought us to different islands and parts of Croatia. One of the most confusing parts was their money system- the Kuna. It made it seem like everything was extremely expensive when in reality it was normal or cheaper than the prices we were used to. Most mornings I headed over to Bobi's for an authentic donut (I forgot what it was called) or a chicken wrap because apparently chicken is breakfast food. The first day we did the Mediterranean fish spa where you stick your feet into two huge tanks with fish that eat the dead skin off your feet (ew!). It felt like a million tiny phones vibrating on your feet but was one of the coolest things I have gotten to do in Europe. Next we had a nice dinner on the water and just explored life inside and outside of the palace walls. The second day we did a boat excursion that took us to the Blue Cave and 5 different islands. It was one of my favorite days abroad (next to the Krka waterfalls that comes later in this post). The boat was small and only held 8 people, Marissa and I sat in the front. It was the bumpiest and scariest ride Ive ever experienced. It was so rough that the next morning I woke up with a stiff back and couldnt do much all day! However, the excursion itself was breathtaking. We got to go on little boats into the blue cave, swim in two other caves, visit Hvar and hike to the top of the island, have lunch and swim in Palmizana, and snorkel in a little clear section of the ocean. It was an 11 hour excursion that felt like 15 minutes because I was having so much fun. The next day we went to the Krka Waterfalls. It is by far the most beautiful place I have ever been to in my life. It looked like something straight out of Jurassic Park or just a made up place in general. We swam and sat on rocks and just watched the water flow for hours. When we got back to Split, we had our last dinner on the water and headed to a local bar. At the bar we watched locals in their dancing shoes show off their moves- I hope one day I can dance half as well as these couples did! It looked like they had been rehearsing for years. This morning we woke up and did a little bit of shopping before heading back to the airport. It was an exhausting but the best weekend I have had abroad. I hope one day to be able to go back to Croatia for an even longer period of time- and I hope many more people get to experience this beautiful country. I am attaching some pictures from the trip but its time to start my homework- I keep forgetting that I am here for school too! Its an even more challenging balancing act then back at home.
Ciao!
Christina