My Adventure to Europe

Well my November 4th is coming to an end. I have sent my ballot away and now I can only wait. It will be strange to not see any results until tomorrow morning because of the time difference. All of the Americans here are very anxious to see what happens over there.
It has been so interesting, being over here and see to America from a different perspective. I have learned a lot about our global perspective, other countries politics and they way they think. It has been very challenging and I have been forced to think about America in a very different light. I have also gone through many ups and downs of being so proud and being so ashamed to call the red, white and blue mine.
There are two things that learned here that I will never forget. 1) I had always know the influence that America has over the world, but i didn't really understand what that meant. EVERYTHING that we do affects EVERY other country. It is overwhelming and scary how much power we have. In response, I am learning that 2) the rest of the world watches us like a hawk. They know more then we do, they are always talking about the US and following us in the news because they know that whatever we do will affect them.
It has been so interesting to see America from this far perspective at such a pivotal time in the states' history. Being here has defiantly changed my outlook on our foreign affairs and I will defiantly follow our politics and the world news closer after this semester.

Seeing the campaign from over here has also been eye opening. Most people were shocked that as a Californian I get to vote on laws in California, until the realized how complicated most of them are and how much research is really required to make a educated decision. Like my Canadian friend Casey said, "Well that is why we elect people to do this for us, who are educated in these subjects". It is defiantly a privileged to be able to vote but with that it requires a lot of responsibility (in the form of education). And Democracy only works with education... ok now i will step off my soap box and let you enjoy your day. To say the least... I am learning a lot over here and not just about music.
GO AND VOTE!

From Split we took a long day trip down the coast to see the infamous city of Dubrovnik. It is a walled city built in the 13 century. There pharmacy was probably the first one to open to the public and is one of the oldest in the world, AND it is still open-- I walked right in and said, "Hello!". It was cool to walk in there and see the old eye droppers and medicine. This is me outside of the pharmacy:

We had to take a long bus ride to get to the city, but the scenery and views from the buss was worth the trip. When we arrived we were greeted by the sun!
We spent the day exploring the city and winding through the streets.

We finished the day walking the wall that encompasses the city. It was so beautiful and peaceful.

I really really loved this city, it was so beautiful, probably the most beautiful city I have ever seen. It had so much history too...
I also found out that Croatians invented the neck tie... so that is a cool little fact for you. I actually have forgotten to put in here some other facts about the other places I have been. Like Slovenians invented Democracy... oh shoot now I can't think of any more. haha
Well this is my last entry about my travels for fall vacation. It was great to see that part of Europe but I am enjoying being home now and getting back into music.

Welcome to Paradise!

I arrived in Croatia after a long full day of travel but I knew that I was going to love it here. Split was originally a palace and the original wall and tower are still there. It was a lovely city full of shops and cafes around every corner. The place was like a maze and it was fun to see what was around the next turn. We had some great dinners in Split (I had been craving sea food- Hungary does not have good sea food, that is for sure, so I got my fix in Split). One of the highlights was walking to the top of this great tower, there we had some great views of the city.

I enjoyed shopping and got many Christmas presents for my friends and family, almost everyone is checked off the list. It will be nice to get back and not have to worry about going to the mall Christmas Eve or anything like that. I am really looking forward to being home for Christmas, Halloween is just a few days away and I am missing all the decorations, carving pumpkins and eating lots and lots of candy.

We did a few day trips from Split, we went onto the island Brac. I really enjoyed a nice, quite, peaceful walk along the coast. It reminded me of home with the rocky shore and the pine trees along the water. This island defiantly had a Northern California feel, where as the rest of the coast looked more like Hawaii. It had great mountains that sweep down to meet the coast covered in tropical plants. It was quite amazing to have such tropical atmosphere paired with ancient and magnificent buildings.

I also did a small hike up to a hill near the city and it was nice to get some fresh air. The weather was great! We had some rain but all at night and during the day the sun came out. We could have gone swimming but it was just a little to cold and we didn't get to a sandy beach, just rocky ones.
I loved Croatia and I will defiantly go back. The people were great, they were also so happy and helpful. But what I enjoyed the most was their sense of humor. I was constantly laughing and it was a great way to escape the stresses of school.

On my last night there I watched a stunning sunset and it was a great way to end my vacation.

I <3 sLOVEnia

I arrived in Ljubljana early in the morning to a surprisingly busy city. There was a city marathon going on and the whole city was awake. It was strange because 1) most cities in Europe don't really get going until 10 or 11, 2) Eastern Europeans don't work out at all. (When I go running I am stared at- my roommate Kate was once stopped, as she was on a run, by an elderly man asking if she was ok because he thought she was running away from something) So I was very surprised to see this huge marathon going on early in the morning.
I checked into my great hostel, the best one I stayed at so far, and went to the old town.

I was lucky to catch the Sunday morning flee market and got a few Christmas presents for family. Then I finished my day in Bled. This is a small lake in the Julian Alps. It has a castle peering onto the lake from the top of a cliff which I hiked too. It had great views of the city, the lake and its small tiny island.

On the island there is a small church, I didn't get the chance to go out to the island but I really enjoyed my time in Bled. It was great to be in a small town and surrounded my nature. I really enjoyed my hike and I realized how much I miss taking walks and hiking.
I really enjoyed the city of Ljubljana as well. It was clean and smaller then most capital cities. The newer part of town was also a lot more tasteful then others. I find that in cities over here the new part of town is boring, ugly communist buildings. However, this new town looked like San Fransico so that was nice and refreshing.
I finished my time in Slovenia with a really nice dinner at a cute antique restaurant on the river. I really really enjoyed my time in Slovenia and I didn't want to leave so quickly but I was being called to the warm weather of Croatia so after a day and a half I headed to Split, Croatia.

Wow Belgrade feels like a different world. I thought that Belgrade and Sofia would be similar because of their close proximity but boy was I wrong. It feels very much older and it is very run down.The people were also very cold and not very helpful. At first I was really really turned off by how dirty it was and the people, but after learning their history I am not surprised at their negative attitude and harsh personalities. I also realized that not more then 20 years ago we had bombed this whole nation. The city was brunt down and destroyed 44 times in its history, as a result the city feels a lot like an American city, centered around shopping because the older buildings and centers have been ruined. It is one of the oldest cities in Europe and most of the buildings are from the 1800s because none of them survived all the different occupations.
I started my day off at the Castle. This castle is quite popular real estate having 100+ wars fought over it because it is where the two major rivers run together in Eastern Europe, the Danube and the Sava. It was cool to wonder around the ruins and the park.

After that I wondered down the main strip, which full of shopping, tempting but I resisted. I ending my stroll at the main Temple in Belgrade. The church, St. Sava's Temple, is the biggest orthodox church in the world. It was started in 1926 and Hitler stopped it from being completed. To this day they are still working on it, as I was wandering through the church with scaffolding and tools around a tractor came in a was going beep beep beep beep (you know when they back up) while there were people there worshiping. It was so weird, but cool to be a part of a icon in the making. It really made me appreciate the time put into these buildings I am seeing. This church has been a project for the last 50 years and it isn't even close to being done, I can't imagine how much time it took the builders of the churches that are 1000+ years old. Truly remarkable.
I finished my day with a nice traditional dinner while reading a book and then continued my trek through Eastern Europe. It was a long day and I wasn't particularly fond of the city but I am glad that I stopped by to see it.