Sorry this was so late, I could not find the time to write any posts, but I have been taking plenty of pictures! Also since I'm a couple of weeks behind, my next post will be a combination of the recent weeks where I've either been sick or doing homework. Think of it as a little highlights reel.
This will be for the week of October 17th-23rd and I'm going to write as if I'm not a bit behind.
So this week was incredibly eventful! During my trip to Hallstatt, while I was climbing, I was wondering why I was getting really tired really easily and I had no idea. It hit me the next day when I woke up with an incredibly sore throat...I was sick.
But a little congestion never got me down! Until I started getting congested in my ears and pretty much couldn't breathe that well and was incredibly tired. I didn't start feeling better a few days ago!
But I had to push through that because I had signed up for a trip to go to Ljubljana and Trieste! And I was not about to lose my money on that.
The night before, I also had a bad fever. But again, I am too stubborn to lose that money. The good thing also was that I got to sleep on the bus. I am REALLY good at sleeping on buses now.
The basic point of the trip was that those who need a Visa to stay in Graz could get it at the Austrian embassy in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia because it gets processed overnight. So we first went to the embassy, then went to Trieste, Italy for the night, and picked up the Visas in the morning. I did not need the Visa, I just wanted to travel and a lot of others did that too! So while the other picked up their Visas, the rest of us explored.
Day 1 part 1: Ljubljana, real quick.
So we were there for around two hours. It was raining really really hard and was freezing! But we went to a cafe and I got a hot chocolate that was kind of...thick. Which was a bit weird but it was incredibly chocolatey so you know I didn't mind.
I managed to get some pictures from walking around!
Day 1 part 2: Trieste!
This honestly felt more like day 2 because I fell asleep the whole bus ride there and was really disoriented when I woke up. BUT Trieste. This was the view from outside of my hostel.
Wish there was better weather but I didn't even care because....
It's my very first rock beach!! Every beach I've ever went to has sand and not rocks. This was very exciting for me. Or maybe I was fever loopy? Either way, you can't argue that it's beautiful.
After we got settled into the hostel (my first hostel experience, by the way!), we met up outside and walked to a nearby castle, which is called Castello di Miramare. This is an incredibly European thing to me. Just castles everywhere. Like, "hey let's go to that castle right over there." I've almost gotten accustomed to castles being in the area.
Here it is up close, not even that cool...
Totally not even that interesting.
YAWN.
It's so hard to keep up the sarcasm because this was one of the most beautiful castles I've seen so far! Which is hard to even judge because castles are amazing. but this one was on the water!!!!!
In the second picture towards the right, you might be able to see a stair case. I walked down it because...well you'll see
And in the second picture here, you see that little wall in the ocean? Had to walk on it. I mean. I had to. I was also told by the tour guide that there was a sphinx at the end of the walk way and if you look into its eyes, it's really bad luck. I think she said 7 years. I can't afford that! I'm not even superstitious but I'm not testing that theory.
The sphinx is at the end there. I went up to it by just from the side. especially walking on this thin wall in the ocean....not taking my chances.
Also it helped me get better angles of the castle.
Does that castle look menacing to you? Or is it just me? Probably because I know a little scary story about it.
"Castello di Miramare was built by Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Hapsburg for his beautiful wife, Charlotte of Belgium in 1860. The Mexican monarchists had been after Maximilian to take the Mexican throne since 1859 and it was only after the French intervention in Mexico and under pressure from Napoleon III, that he finally consented. He and Charlotte became Emperor Maximilian I and Empress Carlota of Mexico in April of 1864 and took up residence in Mexico City. Napoleon III ended French support of Maximilian and withdrew French troops from Mexico just three years after Maximilian took the throne. Refusing to abdicate the throne and leave Mexico, even at Napoleon III’s urging, Maximilian was taken prisoner at Querétaro in May of 1867 by Juarez’s Republican troops. Little more than a month later, at the young age of 34, he was shot by order of Juàrez.. Charlotte went insane after Maximilian’s death and spent the rest of her days in seclusion, deeply in love with her husband and hanging on to the possessions they shared.
From this tragic story, the legend was born that Castello di Miramare is cursed and anyone who sleeps there is fated to die a violent death at a young age and in a foreign land." (source)
One example of a person who slept overnight in this castle is Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Sound familiar? Because his death was young, violent, and in a foreign land.
That is the last thing I need. I am young and in a foreign land and absolutely not in the mood to die a violent death.
So instead of staying overnight, I just explored the inside. I learned a fun fact from my friend that joined me on the castle exploration. He told me that pineapples used to be a sign of wealth because they were incredibly expensive, since they're only grown in tropical places. They used to be a huge part of art and architecture for rich people to show off how rich they were. And there were so many pineapples here!!
All of the lamps were pineapple shaped.
Here are some pics of my castle journey! Also, note that I don't really have an explanation for things here because there weren't many signs and there also wasn't a tour guide.
Also, what I like to call "my future bed"
I don't need the baby portrait above it though. I'll pass.
and last but not least, because it's my favorite picture:
That picture has a very weird calming affect.
But that's it for my castle adventure. We went into the city after that!
We took a bus. Like, all 40 of us. The Italians who got on the bus were not happy.
But I was happy because I was told we would be getting pizza after the city tour. Which on most occasions might get a sort of excited "yay!" from me but this time got me really excited because it's Italian pizza and I hadn't eaten since I had a few pieces of bread around noon. and it was about 4 at this point. Dinner was at 6:30. I remember it clearly.
Another thing I remember clearly is freezing! The wind there is absolutely intense and so cold. You can see by the look of my sad fellow tour mates but also this awesome building
There was also a little legend that went along with the myth. Our tour guide said her dad used to tell her this story when she was younger... I think you'll understand why.
The legend starts with a father whose favorite daughter was named Bora. One day, Bora went off to explore and discovered a cavern. Inside, she found Tergesteo, an Argonaut who just returned from the "Golden Fleece" Odyssey. They immediately fell in love and spent seven days doing what you can imagine her father would not be happy about.
He eventually came looking for her, and found her in his arms and proceeded to kill Tergesteo. She was so devastated by his death that the gods decided to let her see him every so often. When she seems him, they call it Bora bright when she is in the arms of her lover, and the weather is sunny (but windy), or Bora dark when she is waiting to visit again and is crying (rain). They use the word bora for wind!
Bora was not particularly happy that day. But I still loved exploring Trieste.
We also went into this church!
Can you tell I love ceiling details???
We also saw ruins that had previously been buried underwater!
And more Trieste!
Another interesting fact I learned about Trieste is that they want to be their own territory and separate from Italy. Not all of them, but there is a big movement there. I saw this in the stock exchange building.
Because apparently they had to be freed before and the US and UK helped them out.
But when I saw that, I turned to an English girl on the tour and said "well...we're here so now what I don't know how to help"
Another interesting Trieste fact is that they have the largest main square that is facing a body of water. Which is a bit specific to count in my opinion but I'll let them have it.
I should have taken more pictures but every time I took my hand out of my pocket, it felt like it was gonna freeze and fall off. All thanks to Bora.
While I was waiting for dinner we went to a cafe! I got coffee because I panicked and picked the first thing on the menu. I hate coffee. BUT.
I drank this coffee black (well with a little bit of sugar) and it wasn't bitter at all. Like no hint of bitter. This was SO weird for me. How did that happen. It was me. Enjoying coffee. I still don't believe it.
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. (Or maybe it was just me because I was getting so hungry I was getting mad too)
My pizza.
I got two toppings on it: bacon and mushrooms. Because I had to get two toppings. I wasn't complaining. It was delicious.
After that, we went with a big group of ESN Trieste to a karaoke bar. I have a very embarrassing video of me, some Americans and a lot of excited Italians singing Wannabe by the Spice Girls. I am leaving it out. But it was tons of fun.
I got back to my hostel and probably never slept better in my life. Because I had a long day and still had a fever.
Day 2: Ljubljana, for real this time
We woke up the next day and had to leave Trieste. I didn't want to! It was so fun and beautiful but we had to go back to Ljubljana.
I took this video and it's also quite calming.
Obviously, fell asleep real hard on the bus ride. But! I woke up and it was Ljubljana time! and lunch time. One person suggested we get meat pies. I am always down for food and adventure. And they were so good! Unfortunately I was too hungry to take a picture but we found birds that would eat out of your hand if you offered it in a certain way! I sort of got a video of it but unfortunately missed it getting it out of my hand. But you mostly see it.
and now to just show you all of my pictures!
and a little farmer's market we stumbled upon
Also the city is famous for its dragon emblem, especially Dragon Bridge
Just as cool as it sounds, right?
After that, we went up to the castle. Similar to the one I went to in Salzburg because it was on a mountain!
We took a little train car up!
Here's my picture-filled castle journey.
and here's the view from that tower in that last picture
and then down through the tower
And now: for probably one of the most cool and then most sad things of my entire life.
Here's a chapel
So there's a man that works in there that does Calligraphy. Which is awesome. He gave us bookmarks with our names on it and a phrase he believed, upon reflecting, that we should keep in mind.
Mine was "sweet and useful" but I believe it was in either Latin or Italian. I am not sure.
But he said "make sure your actions are always not only sweet but also something that will be useful for yourself and others. and I LOVE IT. But here's the thing...I lost mine. I left it in a restaurant I ate in later that night. I am actually sad about it. Tried contacting the restaurant and they completely ignored all contact attempts.
But let's talk about the rest of the castle and forget how permanently upset I am.
We saw a video about the history of the castle and then went to a modern art gallery inside.
The exhibits were beautiful.
This one was made with sugar!!
The last one we talked about for around 20 minutes because there's so much going on in it. Maybe you had to be there?
But then we went back down to get food and meet back at the bus but I snapped some pictures on the way, of course. Also met some pretty great dogs.
Here's a picture of my salad from the restaurant where I lost...nevermind I'm just gonna pretend it didn't happen
what bookmarks I'm not crying
On the way back to Graz, we got these donuts that I honestly forget the name of but OH MAN. They were amazing. It's like a giant donut filled with chocolate and topped with coconut shavings. I died a little.
The lighting on the bus was blue. I was not in a club.
And when I got home after this trip, I collapsed onto my bed and thought to myself, "well I definitely wanna watch a little Netflix before I sleep." So I put on an episode of How I Met Your Mother. But halfway through my episode, my internet went out. Which it does sometimes. But it wasn't even working on my phone.
It turned out that I hit a wifi limit that I did not know even existed... It was a rough week and a half but I managed (especially because after a few days one of my lovely, generous roommates let me use her wifi.)
I don't even know how I used that much. My guess is Netflix!
That's all for this week, see you soon with my highlights from recently!
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