This past weekend was jam-packed with trips headed out to Venice, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Students wore masks and celebrated Carnivale in Venice, hit the slopes and Metro Bar in Interlaken, and partied at a 80s/90s club in Prague. An amazing time all around.
This past Thursday Bus2alps headed to Interlaken, Switzerland with 50 students from Florence, Rome, Barcelona and Prague. With the mountains dumping snow all week we arrived at Balmers hostel with students eager to rent their snowboarding and ski gear. Just in time for the weekend the clouds cleared and the sun was shining all day. For those students who did not hit the slopes, many headed up by plane to sky dive and see the Alps from above! The rest of the weekend more adventure was to come; with night sledding, paragliding, canyon jumping and hiking! The night’s festivities started and ended at Metro bar, which is located in the basement of Balmers. A convenient walk back up to your room after dancing the night away.
This weekend over 70 students joined Bus2alps in the fairy-tale city of Prague. After filling up on the hearty breakfast at the Czech Inn, we went on the always entertaining and educational New Europe walking tour which familiarized us with this beautiful city. After the tour, we enjoyed some free time to explore before dinner and meeting back up for the world famous Clock Tower Pub Crawl. On Saturday, the weather gods were once again nice to us in Prague when we awoke to an unseasonable warm and sunny day. With the sun shining we headed out on the Bus2alps walking tour to hit up a few of the cool sites not visited
on the New Europe tour such as the John Lennon Wall and the Charles Bridge, where most continued on afterward to the famous beer hall/restaurant U Fleku. Brewing a custom double dark lager there since 1499, U Fleku also boasts a warm and comfortable atmosphere. Everyone got their dancing shoes on later that night for the 80’s 90’s pop music video party at club Lucerna. It’s hard not to dance after having such a great weekend.
Last but not least, this past Saturday Bus2alps took over 200 students for a day trip to Venice for one of the biggest festivals in Italy known as “Carnivale.” It is a tradition that dates back to the 14th century. Carnivale is like Halloween to the Italians so the masks and costumes can get quite elaborate and young children can be dressed as anything from Superman and Snow White to a Pirate or gorilla. Many students in the group participated in this tradition by buying masks of their own to parade around the streets. A common act during the festival is to throw confetti and spray your peers or anyone passing by with silly string. The Italian youngsters were pros at spraying complete strangers with silly string and the only way to combat their actions is to retaliate, regardless of the age. Students had a fun time purchasing bags of confetti and enjoyed throwing it around. All of this activity took place in and out of the hundreds of beautiful canals that make up the city of Venice. Another popular activity was taking the scenic waterbus (vaporetti) to the island of Burano. This island known for it’s lace is filled with colorful houses and made for some amazing pictures. Overall, the students had a great day partying in the canals/streets of Venice. We can’t wait to go again next weekend.
