Bonjourno from the Boot!

Bonjourno from the Boot!

Classes have begun and we are all adjusting to the life of travels on the weekends and class 8 AM Monday morning. It was a challenge since we did not get home till 12:30 Sunday night but Cimba has a strict attendance policy so we were all in class Monday morning. This helps them know that everyone has made it back from traveling okay. The strict attendance policy also allows for us to have a lot of traveling time since our class days are mandatory, so it is worth it to me.

Ljubljana, Slovenia
This past weekend, about 50 “Cimbas” left for Ljubljana, Slovenia Saturday morning. A bus was arranged by Alberto who works the front gate of campus. He often plans weekend trips for students and is a great resource for advice. Most of the Cimbas stayed in Hostel Celica which was pretty interesting. It use to be a prison, so some of the rooms still had prison bars on the windows. Sounds creepy, but it was a really cool atmosphere with friendly staff who helped us out a lot. It was on a list of the top ten most interesting places to stay in the world and we met some fun Australians that showed us around town. They also had kareoke on Satuday night at the hostel, and we took advantage of that.

Ljubljana is a very interesting and beautiful city. I would highly recommend going there if you are staying in Italy for awhile because it is not that far. However, do not go in February. It was still absolutely beautiful and I’ve had my experience with snow (Chicago/Iowa weather to thank for that one) but it was pretty cold. We saw a lot of beautiful architecture and did some shopping! (Hello, five story H&M!) One of my favorite parts of the trip was climbing up to the castle that overlooks the entire city. Below is a picture of me and a few friends with a view of Ljubljana in the background.

We also had the opportunity to have a really, really good meal! (really!) Slovenia is known for their meat and potato dishes so it was a must do meal for us and the Cimba boys. I had pork with mushroom sauce and the most awesome roasted potatoes ever cooked. Here is a picture of our group out to dinner.

The food was great in Slovenia, as well as the nightlife. The staff at our hostel recommended where we should go for the night, and we went to a bar that had a Skeleton theme. There were skeletons and scary decorations all over the walls and it felt like we were in a dungeon. Even the bathroom door was a book case that you had to push to get in, like in the Adam’s Family movie. I know you are probably thinking what a weird place, prison hostel/skeleton bar but they were both very interesting and cool experiences. “Discotecas” are also very popular in Europe and are open from 1AM till 5AM after the bars close. I did not think we would make it, but we danced till the discoteca closed and it was such a fun night! Here are some more pictures of Ljubljana.

Saturday, many of us are heading to Venice for Carnevale. It will be a lot of fun and I’m so excited to get some real Mardi Gras masks. I love art history and have taken classes in it the past two summers so I am excited to finally see some art I have read about. Well, as fun as all this traveling sounds, I actually have to finish writing a case study and then study some accounting. This semester will be a true test of my time management skills but I am excited for the challenge and the travels.

Goodnight blogworld.