Trip to Croatia/Solvinia

First Day

Four other international students and I spontaneously booked a trip to Croatia for the second week of being abroad. Frida (CU Boulder), Alex (UNC), Morgan (UofSouthCarolina), Devon (Halifax, Canada…sorry I don’t remember which school she goes to) and I left on Thursday night from Gothenburg and flew to Zagreb, Croatia. We woke up early the next morning to take a bus to Rijeka, a city along the coast. We walked around and checked into the apartment we rented for the night. We had lunch at a restaurant that we passed by earlier, and I got a margarita pizza that was pretty good… very cheesy. We then walked some more to the nearest beach we could get to and had gorgeous views of the mountainy coast. We found a good spot to hangout for a while and took turns taking a dip in the water. It was very cold, which makes sense since it was January, but to us coming from Sweden the water felt nice and the weather was perfect. We thought it was funny that the people in Rejika were dressed like people are dressed in Sweden but it was at least 20 degrees warmer. There were a couple of other groups at the beach with us that looked at us like we were crazy and even tested the water to make sure it was indeed freezing. After a while, we headed back to our apartment and stopped at Konzum, a Croatian supermarket chain. For dinner, we wanted to try some Croatian so we went to a restaurant that seemed to serve that. A few of us got what seemed like a classic dish which was basically sausages, onions, and fries.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Saturday

The next day we went to a cafe and then a bakery and walked around the city some more. There happened to be a carnival happening the week we were there so the city was very busy, streets were shut down, and it was decorated with balloons and streamers. There were so many groups of kids dressed up in costumes. We stood for a while and watched some groups of girls dance which was pretty cute. I decided to break from the group because I didn’t want to watch the parade anymore. I went for a walk and happened to walk to a castle at the top of the hill. I got a great view of the city and coast. I joined back with the group at a pier they had walked to. At this point, Frida left the trip early, and the four of us took a bus to Ljubljana, Solvina. We checked into our hostel which used to be an old prison. It was a very cool looking place that they had updated and kept very clean. Before calling it a night, we had dinner and went to a bar which was recommended to me by a girl from Ljubljana that I had met a week prior. There was a beautiful Siberian cat who was sitting in the corner the whole time we were there. Devon and Alex taught us how to play cribbage which I really enjoyed.

• 

• 

• 

Sunday

The next day we took a bus to Lake Bled which took about an hour. It was the first time we saw Slovenia during the day, and I didn’t realize how the mountains surround Ljubljana. The bus ride was breathtaking, and I later learned the mountains I was looking at is the start of the Alps from the east. We got to Lake Bled pretty early in the day so it was nice that we had it pretty much to ourselves for a while. We walked the loop surrounding the lake. I definitely wish I had brought more layers because of all the snow. We got back to Ljubljana, and Devon and I ventured to the castle that overlooked the city. It was a great view, and we stayed and watched the sunset. We got to talk to some locals for a little bit who explained the mountains. The castle itself was a little confusing. The ruins of the castle hid all the updates they had made inside. It was half historically preserved with things to read like a museum with half of it being updated with an installed gallery and shops. We all met back up and got dinner and went back to our rooms early. Alex and I watched Mamma Mia.

• 

• 

• 

Last Day

The next day we took a bus back to Zagreb and flew back to Gothenburg. It felt strange to me to have basically been on vacation and then to go back to Sweden rather than North Carolina. I really liked the places we saw and thought it was a great trip. I would love to see the countries in the spring/summer when there is more foliage, but I am glad we went. I was conflicted at first about doing this trip during this season since it was colder, but it was so nice to have all these areas which I am sure are swarmed during the summer to ourselves. I especially loved Rijeka because of how clean and nice it was, and the prices were very affordable. I think this area of Europe is very underrated, and I would love to come back again and explore more in the future.