We awoke Saturday morning, only 1.5 hours after we had arrived home from the field trip, to catch our train to Paris. I was so excited to spend a few hours there partially because I've now lived in France for a month without seeing their biggest most touristy city but mainly because that's where the only Chipotle in France lives :) We didn't have much time in Paris because we had to catch our flight to Croatia that night so we decided to grab Chipotle (10€=$12!!!!!!!) and walk towards the area surrounding the Louvre. We walked along the Seine river for a while, saw the lock bridge (just before it broke only 2 days later) and enjoyed the great weather. Of course our journey in Paris would not have been complete without grabbing some gelato before we headed to catch our flight.
When we arrived to the Paris Beauvais airport we were very nervous and quite skeptical. We got an extremely cheap flight to Croatia through Ryanair but have heard many bad stories about the airline. Apparently they are able to get away with such cheap flights because they find a way to screw over a ton of their customers. There are very strict guidelines to follow (that they don't tell you about until you're paying a fee for it). For example: boarding passes must be printed from home. Printing at airport costs 15€. Carry on bag cannot weigh more than 20lbs. Mis-dimensions or overweight equals a fine of 60€. Passport must be validated by a Ryainair agent before entering security. Failure to do so could result in losing your seat on the plane. If you miss your flight, theres a fine AND you must pay for a new flight. A tear in your passport could result in losing your seat on the plane AND if a pregnant woman does not have a doctors note (in English) verifying that she can fly, then she could be denied the right to board the plane. CRAZY! Luckily we had no problems, despite my small anxiety attack when I thought our boarding pass would not be valid since I accidentally printed it landscape rather than portrait.
Of course earlier that morning I decided to come down with a cold so throughout the entire ride my ears were popping beyond belief. Thank god my amazing boyfriend was there to comfort me... and finally after 1.5 hours, many tears, and two aching feet we had officially arrived in Zadar, Croatia!
Croatia was the trip that I hadn't done much planning for so I had no clue what to expect. When we arrived at the airport, the owner of the apartment we were renting came to pick us up with bad news that the apartment next to the one we were renting had a pipe burst so our apartment for 9 people wasn't able to be used. (Sketchy sign #1). She said she worked for a travel agency in Croatia and had two other apartments that she could split us up to fit into (sketchy sign #2). 5 of us went in one car with her and the other 4 went in a second car with her boyfriend where we were taken to the new apartments. (Sketchy sign #3). By the time we arrived to our apartment we were confused and slightly scared. The apartment was nice (farther out from the city then we hoped) but we locked the doors, placed chairs against them for extra security, and scoped out any other entry points. Scared but almost too exhausted to care, we all went to bed in hopes that we were safe!!
When we woke up the following morning, we headed to meet up with the rest of our group to catch the bus to the Plitvice National Park. The bus ride was a long 2 hours but when we finally made it we realized how worth the trek it was. The scenery was uncapturable with a camera and indescribable. The water was so blue you could see to the bottom of the lakes and the area was filled with beautiful vegetation and wildlife. There were even a few caves to explore, which I quickly left after the sight of many black widows crawling around. By the time 4pm came we were exhausted and ready to get back. We hopped on the shuttle and arrived in Zadar just in time to see the beautiful sunset along the water and to hear the sea organ (organ powered by the water current) play us a beautiful melody. We walked around the old square for a while, visited the shops, and ate gelato until dinner time. Dinner in Zadar that night, at Pet Bunara, was by far one of my favorites. Sitting in the old square, surrounded by friends, no technology and good food was amazing.
The following morning we woke up extra early hoping to spend a few hours at the beach but quickly realized that access to the good beaches required taking a ferry to a nearby island, which we didn't have time for. So, we spent the morning walking along the rocky beach near our apartment searching for sea glass and cool shells. We ended our trip in Zadar as it should be: shopping and eating gelato :)
The story doesn't end there THOUGH. Our flight from Zadar to Brussels ended up being delayed 1 hour, which wasn't a big deal but meant we had to take a later train back to Metz. Again, the trip was going well until we got to Jemelle, Belgium where a tree decided to fall on the tracks during the huge storm that had just hit the area. This delayed our train by 2 hours getting into Luxembourg and the train company wasn't updating us with the status or when we'd be arriving. When we finally arrived in Luxembourg, too late to make our train back to Metz, we were sure we'd have to sleep in the train station once again. Luckily, we met a French guy who studies at one of the colleges on our campus and about 20 other GTL students who had gotten held up due to the storms. Power is in numbers (and knowing the language) so we were able to get the train station to shuttle us the remaining hour back to Metz, allowing us to arrive home around 2:30am rather than 7am :)
We hit many bumps in the road along the way but each one taught us a different lesson and brought us all closer together. I am so grateful for all the amazing people I've gotten to travel with so far and look forward to the remaining 7 weeks that we have left!
When we arrived to the Paris Beauvais airport we were very nervous and quite skeptical. We got an extremely cheap flight to Croatia through Ryanair but have heard many bad stories about the airline. Apparently they are able to get away with such cheap flights because they find a way to screw over a ton of their customers. There are very strict guidelines to follow (that they don't tell you about until you're paying a fee for it). For example: boarding passes must be printed from home. Printing at airport costs 15€. Carry on bag cannot weigh more than 20lbs. Mis-dimensions or overweight equals a fine of 60€. Passport must be validated by a Ryainair agent before entering security. Failure to do so could result in losing your seat on the plane. If you miss your flight, theres a fine AND you must pay for a new flight. A tear in your passport could result in losing your seat on the plane AND if a pregnant woman does not have a doctors note (in English) verifying that she can fly, then she could be denied the right to board the plane. CRAZY! Luckily we had no problems, despite my small anxiety attack when I thought our boarding pass would not be valid since I accidentally printed it landscape rather than portrait.
Of course earlier that morning I decided to come down with a cold so throughout the entire ride my ears were popping beyond belief. Thank god my amazing boyfriend was there to comfort me... and finally after 1.5 hours, many tears, and two aching feet we had officially arrived in Zadar, Croatia!
Croatia was the trip that I hadn't done much planning for so I had no clue what to expect. When we arrived at the airport, the owner of the apartment we were renting came to pick us up with bad news that the apartment next to the one we were renting had a pipe burst so our apartment for 9 people wasn't able to be used. (Sketchy sign #1). She said she worked for a travel agency in Croatia and had two other apartments that she could split us up to fit into (sketchy sign #2). 5 of us went in one car with her and the other 4 went in a second car with her boyfriend where we were taken to the new apartments. (Sketchy sign #3). By the time we arrived to our apartment we were confused and slightly scared. The apartment was nice (farther out from the city then we hoped) but we locked the doors, placed chairs against them for extra security, and scoped out any other entry points. Scared but almost too exhausted to care, we all went to bed in hopes that we were safe!!
When we woke up the following morning, we headed to meet up with the rest of our group to catch the bus to the Plitvice National Park. The bus ride was a long 2 hours but when we finally made it we realized how worth the trek it was. The scenery was uncapturable with a camera and indescribable. The water was so blue you could see to the bottom of the lakes and the area was filled with beautiful vegetation and wildlife. There were even a few caves to explore, which I quickly left after the sight of many black widows crawling around. By the time 4pm came we were exhausted and ready to get back. We hopped on the shuttle and arrived in Zadar just in time to see the beautiful sunset along the water and to hear the sea organ (organ powered by the water current) play us a beautiful melody. We walked around the old square for a while, visited the shops, and ate gelato until dinner time. Dinner in Zadar that night, at Pet Bunara, was by far one of my favorites. Sitting in the old square, surrounded by friends, no technology and good food was amazing.
The following morning we woke up extra early hoping to spend a few hours at the beach but quickly realized that access to the good beaches required taking a ferry to a nearby island, which we didn't have time for. So, we spent the morning walking along the rocky beach near our apartment searching for sea glass and cool shells. We ended our trip in Zadar as it should be: shopping and eating gelato :)
The story doesn't end there THOUGH. Our flight from Zadar to Brussels ended up being delayed 1 hour, which wasn't a big deal but meant we had to take a later train back to Metz. Again, the trip was going well until we got to Jemelle, Belgium where a tree decided to fall on the tracks during the huge storm that had just hit the area. This delayed our train by 2 hours getting into Luxembourg and the train company wasn't updating us with the status or when we'd be arriving. When we finally arrived in Luxembourg, too late to make our train back to Metz, we were sure we'd have to sleep in the train station once again. Luckily, we met a French guy who studies at one of the colleges on our campus and about 20 other GTL students who had gotten held up due to the storms. Power is in numbers (and knowing the language) so we were able to get the train station to shuttle us the remaining hour back to Metz, allowing us to arrive home around 2:30am rather than 7am :)
We hit many bumps in the road along the way but each one taught us a different lesson and brought us all closer together. I am so grateful for all the amazing people I've gotten to travel with so far and look forward to the remaining 7 weeks that we have left!