By Sarah Edwards
This weekend I spent my time in Croatia. It is honestly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. It’s like a tropical paradise! The island hopping tour on Saturday was the highlight of the trip by far. We took a boat to an island with no docks so everyone had to jump off the boat and swim to shore. The coolest part was that the ocean was literally crystal clear, in 30 feet of water you could see the bottom perfectly. On Sunday we went to Krka National Park. Winding mountain roads, tons of greenery, and crystal clear water made up the landscape. Pandora from Avatar? It exists. It’s in Croatia. I swam in the absolutely FREEZING clear water up to the waterfall. It was an amazing experience, I can’t even put it into words. I am so glad I went to Croatia, it definitely is a hidden gem that I never would have considered going to before. If you go to Europe, you have to go.
Our trip leader, Dean, was this awesome British guy who deserves an award for putting up with our horrible bus drivers who HIT ANOTHER BUS and took 5 hours to get from Florence to Rome. Dean, if you’re reading this – you’re the man and are the best Bus2Alps leader I’ve had yet.
On a side note, to conclude this, anybody who is questioning whether or not they should study abroad – I promise you will NOT regret it. If I didn’t have plans during the spring semester I would seriously just stay. I am partial to Italy, despite the crazy gypsies and the yelling and everyone being late for EVERYTHING. I feel like a totally different person, for the better, and I can’t wait to talk to my friends who are going abroad next semester and tell them all the ins and outs of the experience. There are a lot of things I wish I knew beforehand, especially about Rome, because a lot of the things people told me were wrong, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything! It’s been a month already and I can’t believe it! In 4 days my group is off to Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri, which is definitely one of the excursions I have been looking forward to most!
Have I mentioned I’m considering interning for Bus2Alps the summer after college? It’s a marketing position and you get paid to travel around Europe and lead trips. I will elaborate more on this in another post.
Well everyone, I have to be studying. Buona giornata 
For the full post by Sarah, please click here. Sarah is a former study abroad student that spent her Fall 2012 semester with John Cabot University in Rome. She is currently a Junior at Stonehill College in Easton, MA. She was able to do a lot of traveling through the program, on her own, and through trips organized by Bus2Alps. Seven countries and 2,000 photographs later, she is back in the States feeling incredibly envious of those that are just starting this experience. For more posts by Sarah, follow her blog here.
