Na viděnou, Olomouci!

See you soon, Olomouc!

Saying goodbye to Olomouc today and all of the wonderful people I've had the opportunity to get to know here is the definition of bittersweet. Not only has Olomouc become a place I consider to be my home away from home, but my classmates have become a second family. Some of my hardest goodbyes are being said to Olomouc today, but, in my opinion, it is only a 'see you later' because I know I won't be able to stay away from Europe for too long <3

On a happier note...

This past week, our adventures led us to one of the two regions in the Czech Republic, Bohemia. Our home for the past 3 months, Olomouc, is in the Moravian region, while the famous city of Prague is in the Bohemian. After our week exploring Bohemia, however, I discovered there is so much more to this region than just the Czech Republic's beautiful capital city of Prague. In our time in Bohemia, we visited the towns of Litomysl, Kutna Hora, and, my favorite, Cesky Krumlov. We had the chance to see brand new cultures and experience a whole different "small town" feel.

The first stop of our excursion, Litomysl, is a very small town with little to do, few things to see, and hardly any English. That didn't stop the Nebraskans from finding a good time, though! It was our last  class trip and our last week all together so we were determined to make our own fun. Our time in Litomysl did end up being quite fun; we found some surprisingly good local Czech food for dinner, toured a beautiful church with our group, and celebrated one of our own's birthday in a cute little underground bar. This is one of the many reasons I love the group I've had the chance to travel with so much: no matter where we are or what were doing, they always manage to make it a good time!

Our next stop: Kutna Hora, home of one of the famous bone churches, a silver mine, and yet another jaw-dropping castle. My favorite part of this town was the silver mines by far! We had our own private tour of the medieval mine, complete with our own white coat and hard hat. The tour was meant to give us a feel of how work and life in general were for these miners so we were taken through some of the largest portions of the mine and wedged our way through some of the smallest. I am not a claustrophobic person, but in some of these spaces I could definitely feel the claustrophobia creeping in!

The final town we visited as part of our Bohemian tour was Cesky Krumluv, known as the pocket-sized Prague. This town, in my opinion, is the place our group had the most fun. Our first adventure here was a tour of the Budweiser Budvar Factory just outside of Cesky Krumluv. We were introduced to the process of producing the beer and given free samples at the end of our tour where I learned very quickly I am not a Budweiser fan! After this tour we did our own little tour to get a bit more acquainted with the town.

The next morning we all met to tour Cesky Krumluv's castle, the castle's theatre, and the beautiful gardens surrounding it all. Little did we know this tour also meant stumbling upon one of the best views of Cesky Krumluv! Shortly after the tour we were scheduled to meet again as a group in order to head to our next adventure: rafting. Though the day had started off fairly cold and rainy, we were eventually blessed with the perfect weather for a day on the river! After a possibly torn ACL, a sprained ankle, more than a few of us falling into the river, our raft getting stuck in a rapid, and a little bit of getting lost, Bohemia gave us the best experience of our entire week.

That's a wrap, folks

Throughout all of the fun, however, there was the disbelief in the back of my mind that this truly was our last hoorah! Not only the last class trip, but also our last week together and the last time some of us will be seeing each other for a while. It is a very bittersweet feeling though because for every goodbye we say here, we are one step closer to being back in the arms of our loved ones and saying 'hello' to those friends and family we've missed so dearly.

On to the next one!

Our study abroad adventure isn't over quite yet, though. We are finally on to warmer weather! Next on our list of travel plans is the Grecian Islands. Brianna and I will be visiting the beautiful islands of Santorini and Crete. Though this entire trip has been nothing short of a fairytale, I am especially excited to cuddle up with a good book under the Grecian sun with my best friend by my side. With that being said, I am so looking forward to being in the same country as all of you in just 10 very short days!