Tag Archives: bus2alps

Life in the French Riv

28 Mar

by: Rachel Lampke

While studying abroad in Barcelona I have been able to experience all that Spain or rather, Catalonia, has to offer. The culture, cuisine, atmosphere and lifestyle have been an amazing addition to my academic career. The opportunities that we are given while “studying” in Europe are incredible – and made much easier with programs such as Bus2Alps to see the rest of the continent!

Last month, I traveled with Bus2Alps from Barcelona to the French Riviera. It sounded as if it was going to be such an expensive weekend aimed mainly at the rich and famous people typically found vacationing there. Luckily, Bus2Alps and the guides that joined the trip gave us great suggestions on where to go for food and shopping on a budget while in the south of France, as well as a great deal for transportation and accommodations while there! I would have spent so much more on a hostel or hotel if I came without their guidance and I doubt I would have found such a great hostel in walking distance of major sites to check out in Nice. It was perfect to be able to go to Nice for the weekend and have the company organized trips through the town as well as guided tours and transportation to Monaco and Eze the rest of the weekend!

The guided tour served as our introduction to where we’d be staying for the weekend and allowed us to ask questions on things we saw and were interested in checking out later. We were fortunate to be able to experience Carnival in France as well! A total different feel than Carnival in Barcelona. Regardless of the festival, it was a relaxing weekend on a beautiful beach that I doubt I would have even thought of to visit while in Europe mainly because of the expensive connotation of the name “French Riviera”.

I would highly recommend checking out any tours Bus2Alps offers – with the experienced and friendly staff to the easy booking of hot spots all over Europe, it makes our short stay studying abroad much more memorable!

Do they have microwaves in Italy?

26 Mar

This is an entry for our Spring 2012 Why We Ride Blog Contest. Click here to read the original blog post on Katrina’s blog, “Do they have microwaves in Italy”, as well as her other adventures while studying abroad.

       

The Northern Loop! This spring break, instead of going through the aggravation of trying to plan my own trip my roommate and I decided to book a 10 day 11 night excursion through bus2alps.com. This trip included trips to Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Paris! As you may have already guessed by the name of the company (Bus2alps) we traveled to all these places by bus, and yes, it was worth it. Starting in Prague I was nervous due to the change in currency and language but it was amazing! The people, the food, and of course, the architecture, were all incredible. Bus2alps set us up with a tour of the city where I learned so much history. Following Prague was Berlin. The most ‘Americanized’ of all the places I’ve visited Berlin was intense. This place is packed with history but at the same time completely brand new (95% of the city was destroyed in WWII). After Berlin, we shipped off to Amsterdam, which, was out of this world. Seriously, Amsterdam is unlike anything I could have expected. Although it’s a beautiful city, its a bit crazy for my taste. Our last stop was Paris, and I mean, who doesn’t love Paris. Having dinner on the lawn by the Eiffel Tower and watching the sunset was probably one of the best moments of my life. Bus2alps definitely helped make my experience in each city the best it could be. Setting up tours, picking great hotels, and having a handful of guides around for advice helped me not waste any time and allowed me to visit the best parts of each city. To sum up my trip in one (long) sentence, I toured the largest castle in the world in Prague, stood in two places at once in Berlin (what used to be East and West Berlin), learned how to properly pour and drink a Heineken in Amsterdam, and watched the light show at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Although I’m sad the trip is over I know I got the most out of this experience and its all because of bus2alps. I would definitely recommend this trip (or any bus2alps trip for that matter) to all my friends.

An interview with a Bus2alps superstar

26 Mar

Kelley Robinson: We’re here with Allie Perkins, who has taken multiple trips with us. Allie is a junior Marketing major at Clemson University in South Carolina, and studying at Lorenzo de Medici

Allie Perkins (left) and friends in Greece.

here in Florence this semester. She now has a lot of insight to share with others. Allie, what Bus2alps trips have you joined us on this semester?

Allie Perkins: I did Austria and Greece spring break with Bus2alps.

KR: And what place has been your favorite?

AP: I would say that my favorite destination was Santorini in Greece.

KR: Why is that your favorite destination? Any particular memory stand out?

AP: My favorite memory was watching the sunset in Santorini with Bus2alps. They make it easy and affordable and know

Allie Perkins (in red), Kelley Robinson (in brown) and friends in Salzburg, Austria.

what sights to see and where to go.

KR: That is so great to hear. Why else do you continue to choose Bus2alps when traveling in Europe?

AP: It allowed me to meet amazing new friends and have the best times in some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It’s nice to just show up and then have someone take you to all the cool places. Bus2alps has enhanced my abroad experience because it has allowed me to see so many places that I would not have been able to on my own and has made traveling easy and fun.

KR: Thanks so much for sharing your Bus2alps experience I can’t wait to travel with you again soon!

AP: Of course! I’m a Bus2alps girl for life.

Who’s studying abroad

22 Mar

American Students Studying Abroad
Compiled by: Online Colleges Resource

Europe’s Markets: The Heart of Every City

21 Mar

By Tom DeFeo  

Once the epicenters of all human civilizations, city markets have always acted as the centers of any region’s commerce, but more importantly, they served as primary vehicles for the flow of the world’s religions, arts and ideas as well as epic diseases. Today, with the advent of modern amenities, city markets may not be as vital to human communities as they once were, but, they still provide travelers with an accurate cultural cross section of any city.

Central Market
Florence Central Market

As ancient precursors to today’s supermarket, city markets have always showcased each region’s own unique food stuffs. For example, Florence’s Central Market is one of the only places on earth where you can purchase cuts of the region’s world renowned beef steaks as well as authentic Tuscan olive oil under the same roof. Similarly, Barcelona’s La Boqueria houses the freshest seafood in Spain along with the region’s specialty, Catalan sausage.

Along with food, markets also offer consumers the chance to purchase almost anything they can imagine. London’s Portobello Market is one of the world’s most famous street markets stretching nearly two miles through West London’s Notting Hill district.

Portobello Market
Portobello Market

Here you can find anything from British antiques and jewelry to fresh fruits and vegetables. More than a storehouse of any city’s cultural manifestations, a market can hold a significant amount of historical relevance in itself. One of the best examples is Latvia’s Riga Market. At over 72,000 square meters, the Riga Market is Europe’s largest and puts mega malls to shame but it’s size is only a result of one of the most important events of the 20th century. Completed in 1930, the Riga Market is comprised of seven old German zeppelin hangars from World War 1 that have since been renovated and redesigned to house some 3000 different vendors. Another one of Europe’s most historically rich markets is Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. Constructed in 1455, the Grand Bazaar is considered Europe’s, as well as the world’s, oldest covered market and still attracts over 250,000 visitors a day.

Riga Market
Riga Market

So the next time you find yourself in a new city try laying off the McDonald’s and instead head on over to the local market for a taste of the city’s specialty as well as a look inside its history and culture.

Marrakech, Morocco

20 Mar

This is an entry for our Spring 2012 Why We Ride Blog Contest. Click here to read the original blog post on Jacquelyn’s blog “poster of a girl”, as well as her other adventures while studying abroad.

Marrakech, Morocco

So i should really be doing my report thats due tomorrow. but i don’t want to. so instead i will write about my trip to morocco since it was the most amazing adventure i’ve embarked.

once again, our flight left at 6:25 am which means we had to catch the 3:30 am shuttle. no bigs. we’re used to it by now. for once, everything went perfectly smooth at the airport. accept i beeped going through security which makes me think those things are bullshit because i was literally wearing leggings and my mickey shirt. no shoes. no jewelry. no nothin. so after being felt up by the lady inspector, we enjoyed a starbucks breakfast sammy and some coffee. we got plane snacks and boarded the hideously yellow ryan air plane. 3 and a half hours later and after the most amazing sun rise and instagrammed pictures out the plane window, we landed in Marrakech. beautiful, sunny, Marrakech.

Met up with our Bus2Alps leaders Jon and Andy. Coolest dudes ever. So glad we decided to go with them. We really wanted to go to Morocco but didn’t want to trek it by ourselves so the bus2alps trip was the perfect solution.

Anyway, we made it to our hostel around 11. Our amazing, hotel-like hostel. Enjoyed some delish hand squeezed orange juice and corn pancakes on the roof top and waited for the rest of the crew to arrive. 28 girls and 4 guys later, we were off on our mini tour of the souks. Crazy place. It was like TJ only way cooler. I couldn’t count on 10 hands the catcalls we received. Things like: “oh hey spice girls!” “shakiraaaa!” “Hannah Montana!” “Ohh Giselle!” those were the only celebrities they know apparently. Then there was “Oh my god! Beautiful!”  “fish and chips!” (don’t get that one…) “nice ass/nice tits” GROSS. It was funny at first. No harm no foul.

Later that night we had an amazing Moroccan feast at the hostel. Couscous and chicken and veggies. And eggplant. And rice. And wine. And bread. Yummmm. And we had our very own Moroccan band singing for us, so naturally we had a dance party. One guy didn’t have teeth. It was great. Super fun night just getting to know all the other kids studying all over the world.

On Friday Allison and I decided to partake in the canyoning trip. I couldn’t recommend this ENOUGH! I never knew how much I love outdoorsy adventures.
I think there were 16 of us that went out. We caravanned to a lounge/ restaurant in the mountains to gear up. Wetsuits, old wet shoes, and awesome helmets. We were good to go. Jon and Andy took us down through this creek climbing through rocks and rivers. Then we attached to a harness and propelled down two waterfalls and into the water below. It was seriously the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life. The water was freezing but the air was so warm. It was tons of fun. We went back to the restaurant, which had this huge wrap around Moroccan style purple velvet couch in an open-air porch with white curtains blowing in the wind. We enjoyed tea and jokes from the host as the sun set behind the mountains. Best day ever!

The next day we rode camels. As if the adventures could get any better… they did! We went to a traditional Berber (mountain) family home and enjoyed tea from the Woman of the household.Dodging crazy men selling ugly necklaces and little boys asking for kisses, we made it back to the van and headed further into the mountains. Couldn’t get enough of the camels. We named our favorite Wednesday, and her baby Sunday (sonny for short). We rode on Savanna. Apparently they had real names but ours are cooler. It was a quick ride. But it was cool. Favorite part of the day was our hike up to the waterfall. We drove even farther up into the mountains and stopped at this amazing village. It reminded me of the river in White Fang. But nobody had seen the movie so they had no idea what I was talking about. We hiked up through the village of restaurants and shops built into the mountain and came to the top with a huge waterfall. It was beautiful. Ending the day with a delicious dinner on a rooftop patio at one of the restaurants couldn’t have been more appropriate. It was our last night as a group so we got some drinks back at the hostel and hung out in the lounge. Good times with good friends.

Most people left early the next day, but Allison and I had the whole day so we shopped. Obvi. We were bargaining queens. We got two leather backpacks for $40 and a satchel and another backpack for $45. Amazing deals. Tons of jewelry. Too much sun and yum kebabs later, we were back at the hostel waiting for our shuttle. HUGE miscommunication the guy never showed up so the hostel called us someone to walk us to the car. But we didn’t know we had to pay him (because we didn’t know he was the wrong guy) so we were late finding out shuttle. Then there was tons of traffic. Then our shuttle driver hit a motorbike guy. We were tripppppin. But we made it in time. With time to get snacks. So all was good. And we returned from Africa, tanned, with new friends and new stories. And another adventure to write about in the journal. Couldn’t recommend a bus2alps trip enough. Can’t wait to spend spring break with them in Greece! YAHOOO

 

 

 

 

Get em while they’re hot

16 Mar

Woooo Spring Break 012!!! Most of you have just returned from Spring Break or will be returning to us shortly. Now that the margarita high is wearing down and those photos of Puerta Vallerta, Punta Cana, The Bahamas, or a relaxing week at home are being posted online, its time daydream about the incredible places you’re going this summer.

Spring is here. The temperature has changed and life is wonderful. You may have looked out your window and noticed quite a few people heading for the green parts of campus, catching some rays, maybe even starting a slip n slide in front of the library. Hell, you probably were doing this. Now is the happiest time of the year. You’re coming off the high of an incredible Spring Break and are buzzing with this excitement to keep the fun going. The desire for one more epic trip after graduation orbefore an internship is there.

Fast forward to the summer of our life on one of our 2 week Summer Break trips to Europe. We started these trips with go getters like yourself in mind. The ones who come back from Spring Break and can only think about what epic trip they are going on this summer. While you are basking in the college sun, think about how beautiful Greece is in May, how wonderful swimming in the Mediterranean will be, and how mind-blowing Amsterdam is when all of the tulips are in bloom.

These trips are starting to fill. Get your friends and get a move on while you still have the opportunity to do something amazing. Especially for those graduating, this is the time for you to make an incredible memory to happily daydream about when you are filling out TPS reports in a cubicle 6 months or 5 years from now. Save you sanity, and  book the best graduation mama can buy.

Mediterranean Island Hopping – 15 days in the Greek Isles and Italian Coast
Best of Wester Europe – 15 days of Europe’s hottest cities

Embark on the summer of your life.

How To Take Great Pictures

14 Mar

by Kelley Robinson

As a journalism major in college, I was lucky enough pick up a few tips that are easy to share on improving your photography while abroad. Here are a few easy ways to take enhance your photo excursions before you press the Facebook share button.

Rule of Thirds

A friend and I in Milan on the
Bus2alps Best of Italy Spring Break

This rule is one to live by. Whether I am setting up a video camera for an interview or snapping a portrait of a friend, I always am aware of where I am placing the subject of the photo. Our eyes have been studied and show that we react more to images using a sound rule of thirds than to perfectly centered images.

In the example to the left you can see the image, when broken up into thirds puts my friend and I, the subjects of the photo, directly where the right and bottom lines intersect. When composing photos, always aim to put your subjects where you think these lines will intersect when the image is broken up into thirds.

Sometimes, as in the case of my photo in Milan, you aren’t the one taking the photo: hence the beauty of cropping. When you transfer your photos to your computer, in only a few moments you will have photos perfectly cropped to match the rule of thirds in any basic photo editor.

Avoid Distracting Backgrounds

Many times when taking photos, we fail to notice the what is going on behind our subjects, and a classic mistake is the “pole growing from the head” photo. Unless that is a effect you are purposefully going for, you could be accidentally making your subject looked odd.

Also to avoid is super bright backgrounds behind your subject. We all know that trying to take a photo with the sun or open window behind our subjects rarely turns out well. You can try to brighten your subject with a flash but on many cameras your bright background will then appear washed out. Best to reposition yourself so that the light source helps your photo rather than ruins it.

Take the “Touristy” Photos

I promise as much as you think you are too cool for it, you aren’t. Jumping photo in front of the Louvre? I’ll take that challenge. Holding up the leaning tower of Pisa? Just try and stop me. And don’t even get me started about throwing a coin in the Trevi Fountain with a camera in front of me.

These are your memories, do what you want with them and don’t care about drawing your attention to yourself or taking the cliche path for a minute. Cliches are created often times because they are so true or rewarding. So go for it, and don’t ever be ashamed of doing what you need to do for that great, fun photo you’ll appreciate forever.

The best weekend of my life – London

13 Mar

This is an entry for our Spring 2012 Why We Ride Blog Contest. Click here to read the original blog post on Samantha’s blog “Adventures Abroad”, as well as her other adventures while studying abroad.

Well, a lot of things happened this weekend in London but most importantly…. I FELL IN LOVE. I fell head over heels in love withthe city of London and I seriously love everything about it. I cannot wait to go back… and I will go back. I learned to ride the tube everywhere, drank some incredible tea, saw the sights & had the time of my life!

I must say that I am so glad that Nicole & I decided to use bus2alps for our trip to London because I seriously cannot imaginehow we would have planned the trip & figured everything out on our own! For anyone studying abroad, I definitely recommend Bus2Alps because it lets you enjoy your vacation & not have to spend time trying to find things or figure things out in a random city & they have pretty cool hook-ups too! We got tickets for a cheap pub crawl (10 pounds) and 2 tours included in our trip! (check them out: http://bus2alps.com) Lauren (our bus2alps leader) was such a great help throughout the whole weekend and she even taught Nicole & me how to ride the tube.

The tube was kind of confusing at first but we finally got it & now I kind of wish we had a metro system back home!

I don’t even know where to start. I guess at the beginning… (I’m sorry in advance for what I know will be a LONG blog!)

I was blessed with some great travel buddies – Nicole & Devan. It took 2 buses, a plane & lots of walking to get to our hostel but everything went smoothly and it couldn’t have gone better. We got checked in at the hostel & with our bus2alps leader & headedup to our room. None of us had ever stayed in a hostel before so at first we were slightly in shock when we walked into a room with 4 bunk beds, cages under the beds for belongings, and 2 adult men sleeping in bunks. We laughed it off and went out exploring & in the morning we met all of our roommates – they were really cool! The 2 adult guys were from Chili but live in Spain and are spending a few weeks traveling Europe. 3 guys were our age and from the states & are studying in Spain & Ireland (jealous!).

Friday started with a tour of the main tourist attractions in London including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Hyde Park Corner, & The Houses of Parliament. The tour ended and our group headed to a traditional English pub called “The Old Monk” where we got fish & chips, burgers & some English beer!

Friday night, our group all bought tickets for a pub crawl for 10 pounds! The pub crawl included entry to 4 bars, drink specials, afree white shirt & marker (everyone wrote all over each other all night!) & entry into a really cool club in London, Zoo Bar! Halfway through some of us took a break & went to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner in Chinatown! At the club, Nicole & requested Levels to the DJ and at first he tried to tell us no but he gave in & played it & the entire club went so crazy that they played 3 different versions of the song in a row!

Saturday began with a trip to Portobello Market in West London. Its on of the most famous street markets in the world & goes straight through Notting Hill (made famous by the movie). The market included everything: antiques, fashion, food & souvenirs.

After the market, Nicole & I headed off to St. John’s Wood where the famous Abbey Road is. We took some pictures in the crosswalk, explored the town, & ate lunch outside at Duke of York.

After lunch, we met up with our tour guide for a Harry Potter London walking tour where we got to see a lot of the inspiration for the movie as well as some filming locations!

Inspiration to Diagon Alley.

Had to stop for baklava.

Take me back to Switzerland

12 Mar
This is an entry for our Spring 2012 Why We Ride Blog Contest. Click here to read the original blog post on Lauren’s blog “la bella vita”, as well as her other adventures while studying abroad.
This past weekend I went to Interlaken, Switzerland! This was probably one of the most spur of the moment, random trips I’ve ever taken! After my roommates and I booked our trip 2 days before it left we were a little nervous that we would be so out of the loop, but thanks to Bus2alps, the student travel group we went with, everything was as smooth as it could be:) As soon as we arrived in Interlaken after our 12 hour bus ride I automatically felt at home. Even just walking into our hostel, Balmer’s Herberage (if anyone ever makes it to Interlaken you have to stay here!!!!) I could tell that it was my kind of place! Balmer’s was amazing…from the Swiss decorations, awesome staff, and even bar underneath I couldn’t have asked for a more culture filled and welcoming place to stay! Little did I know that this little hostel was the start to one of the most amazing weekends I could have ever dreamed of. I can honestly say that I’ve never met nicer people, eaten such amazing chocolate, and seen unbelievable views like I did in this little Swiss town. No matter which way I turned I was surrounded by the beautiful snow covered Swiss Alps, what more could I ask for:)

The first day we spend wondering around the small, but enchanting city of Interlaken:) We soon found out that even though the exchange rate was awesome compared to Italy, everything was sooo expensive! So, we let the scenery be good enough for us and decided to explore the lakes that give Interlaken it’s name as well as the hundreds of panoramic views and of course we had to stop in some chocolate shops! The lakes were straight out of a postcard, turquoise water, pebble beaches, and the Swiss Alps as a backdrop:)

When I thought I had seen all the beauty that Interlaken had to offer, we ran into one of the Bus2alps girls, Jenny, who told us that we had to come with her to the top of the MetroPole hotel for the most amazing view. Once we got there I completely understood why…every which way I turned were the huge snow covered Alps, below me were the small colorful villages of Interlaken, and all I could hear was the Swiss-German dialect spoken around me. I literally felt like I was in a dream! Mimosa’s at this panoramic bar were a definite must, even though they were 9 Swiss Francs for what seemed like a shot of orange juice ahh!

 

     To finish our first day off we had to go rent all of our ski gear for the next day and then thought it would be a perfect idea to go to a chocolate show and then to the bar underneath our hostel:) Even though I was dreading going to rent our ski stuff because all I wanted to do was go explore, I was pleasantly surprised at how fun it was. All of the people at Outdoor Interlaken were Australian and some of the coolest people I’ve met. Not only did they help us pick out the perfect gear for our once in a lifetime skiing experience, but they also were just good hearted people:) Although they weren’t Swiss, they really defined for me the attitude and kindness that all of the Swiss people seemed to go out of their way to show constantly. The chocolate show was awesome, especially since we got so much free chocolate! It was so cool because we literally got to see every stage that the chocolate goes through from when its picked off of the cocoa trees to being made right there in Switzerland! We even got to try fresh cocoa beans, sadly they tasted nothing like chocolate hah.

The second day we woke up super early and started heading for the slopes!!!! It was a pretty good trek to get there, but it was well worth it! It was so funny how strict all off the transportation cops were there compared to Italy where you can pretty much ride all of the buses and trains for free if your sneaky. But, that definitely wasn’t the case in Switzerland! As soon as I saw one of the many policemen walking towards me I though it was no big deal, I would just give him my bus pass that the hostel gave me and he would be on his way, but of course that didn’t happen at all. Little did I know that even if you had your name and hostel on the card, if you forget to put the date on there you’ll end up with a 90 franc ticket!!! I almost had a heart attack, but luckily Austin withBus2alps was there to tell me that I didn’t have to pay it! It was so crazy how high the train took us and then we still had to take a gondola up even higher, the views were amazzzing!

When we first got to the top of the mountain I literally couldn’t believe what I was seeing, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much white in my life, or such a beautiful sunrise:) It as almost mystifying and crazy; words can’t even begin to describe it or how unreal the skiing was. It was definitely the craziest skiing I’ve ever done considering I’ve only been skiing in Indiana hah. I never knew that trails could last longer than an five minutes! It was pretty crazy how in the middle of nowhere I felt, yet there were little homes, restaurants, and pubs everywhere on the side of the mountains that you could stop at…so of course we had to stop and get a local Swiss beer!!

That was probably my favorite part of the whole day, I even got to call my dad and tell him how much he would love all of the snow:) Once we finally got to the top of the mountain we ate lunch in a huge Indian tee pee, it was so cool!!! The only downside to getting to the top was having to find our way down…which turned into skiing/walking uphill, falling off of a t-bar in the middle of nowhere by myself hah, and getting stuck in what seemed like a blizzard. Let’s just say that by the end of the day I was so tired I could barely move. But, we still had night sledding and a traditional Swiss fondue dinner which was soo good:) I’m so thankful that I got to go to this amazing place and hope that I can go back again someday, and hopefully my dad can come because it would be in absolute heaven:) If only Bus2alps could plan that trip for us too!!

I probably could have stayed a lot longer in Switzerland, but I’m determined to get back there someday no matter what:) I can’t think of a better way to spend my first weekend trip in Europe and hope to do soo many more trips with Bus2alps!!

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