Across the first 5 weekends alone, I have been to 5 countries in addition to Italy and 8 different cities. Here is a recap of all the places I have gone so far:
Weekend 1: Lake Garda, Italy
For the first weekend of the program, we didn’t want to go anywhere too crazy, and we really wanted to swim while it was still warm, so we decided Lake Garda was the perfect destination. Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy, so there were many different options for places to stay, but we ultimately decided to stay in the southern end in Sirmione. We scheduled a driver to drive the large group of us (over 20 students) on Saturday morning and left Sunday night to get back before dinner. I got to explore the town we were staying in on Saturday and go to the beach as well, which was very nice. Then on Sunday, I walked to the town over and explored there, did some shopping, and went to another beach before having to head back. We had some of the best gelato and were stunned by the views of the lake. It made for a perfect, low-stress trip for the first weekend.
Weekend 2: Ljubljana and Bled, Slovenia
The second weekend of the program, I traveled with another student to Slovenia. We found a shuttle service that could take us from Treviso to Ljubljana round trip for a good price, so we took a train to Treviso and then got on the shuttle. We got to Ljubljana pretty late Friday night, but it was nice to wake up Saturday in Ljubljana and have a full day to explore Slovenia. We started our day by going on a walking tour of Ljubljana, which was really interesting to see the architecture and learn more about the city. We then explored a little bit more on our own before heading to the bus station to catch a bus to Bled. We were surprised when we saw how long the lines were for the buses and didn't end up on the earlier ones like we were hoping; luckily, we were still able to make it to Bled and to our first activity on time, but barely. Once we got to Bled, we went to a 1.6-kilometer-long glacial canyon called Vintgar Gorge. We had to pay 15 euros to go in, but the views were absolutely incredible and definitely worth it. After that, we tried a Slovenian cream cake, walked around the lake, saw the beach, got some groceries for dinner, and headed back to our hostel for the night. The next day we woke up early to do a hike with some of the most incredible views and then headed back to Ljubljana for some more exploring before we had to head back to campus. Slovenia is somewhere I didn’t know much about going into this trip, but I am so glad I got to see it and would absolutely recommend checking it out, especially with its proximity to Northern Italy.
Weekend 3: Bratislava, Slovakia and Budapest, Hungary
For the third weekend, we got a little more ambitious and decided to tackle two countries in one weekend. On Friday night we took a train to Venice after class and then took an overnight Flixbus to Bratislava, Slovakia. We then spent the morning there and later took a bus to Budapest. That night we went on a river cruise in Budapest and got to see the city all lit up which was super cool. The next day we had the whole day to explore Budapest which was such a cool city with so much to do. We got to see some amazing panoramic views of the city and see some of the iconic buildings such as the parliament building. We then left around 7 pm to take our overnight Flixbus back to Venice, getting there at 5 am in the morning, which gave us enough time to catch a train back to Bassano del Grappa and then the bus to campus before classes. We were definitely tired from sleeping on a bus all night, but the buses weren’t as bad as I was expecting and it allowed us to save money on hostels while also maximizing our time traveling for the weekend. Budapest was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. I thought it was such a cool and interesting city.
Weekend 4 (Extended Weekend): Athens, Greece
The fourth weekend was our first extended weekend so we got Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off to explore. This was my first weekend taking a flight, and although the way there went smoothly, the way back was not as smooth. We flew Ryanair which is a budget airline on the way there and our plane left at 6 am in the morning Saturday so we decided just to stay the night in the airport. After waiting in the airport for what felt like forever we were eventually able to go through security and board our plane. By the time we got to Athens it was around noon and we still had to take a bus to get from the airport to the city center. We got to our hostel, got greek food for lunch, and later went to see the Acropolis and Parthenon before dinner. The next day we did lots of shopping and exploring the city as well as trying lots of food. I loved the Greek food and frozen yogurt especially which was definitely a highlight of my trip. On Sunday we did a little shopping but had to get to the airport pretty early because we had been told to arrive at least 3 hours early. We got there early and there weren't even any lines through security so it turns out we could’ve stayed a little longer. Our flight ended up getting delayed almost 2 hours which ended up causing a lot of trouble with us catching our bus on the way back so we had to take a taxi. Overall, between spending almost the whole day in the airport, flights getting delayed, and staying at the airport overnight on Friday I came to the conclusion that I want to avoid planes as much as possible going forward. Overall it was a good trip though and I am glad we had the extra time with Friday off to see Athens.
Weekend 5: Trento, Italy and Innsbruck, Austria
This past weekend, our 5th weekend, I spent traveling to Trento and Innsbruck. Being the weekend before midterms, I wanted to do something a little more chill, so this was the perfect pick. We trained at Trento Friday night and stayed in an Airbnb for 3 nights. Saturday we explored Trento and Sunday we took a day trip from there to Innsbruck. Both places were absolutely stunning with the mountains. We got to do some hiking, exploring the city centers, and shopping so it was a perfect weekend for right before midterms. We got back to campus early morning Monday.
With midterms this week and the long travel break coming up next week, it's crazy to think we are already at the halfway point, but I have already been able to go so many places and am super excited to see what's to come for this second half of the semester.