A Break from Studies: Ways to Maximize your Extended Travel Weekend
Written by Connery October 21, 2015
Germany: Where you can buy a pretzel the size of your head for 2 Euros...
Underpass Tunnel in Florence. Amazing artwork.Why has no one posted about this before me?
La Cantinetta; An excellent restaurant recommended to me by a friend.
While at CIMBA, you will realize that the school workload is at an accelerated pace and therefore requires most of your time during the week. However, on the weekends, you tend to have some time to travel. Even with that, studies will take up some time if you’re like me and procrastinate. However, there are a few opportunities that allow you to travel for more than a couple days, and those are the travel weekends and the travel week. The travel weekends start Thursday and runs until Sunday, and the travel week starts on a Friday and extends until the next Sunday. What I will be writing about this time is how you can make the most of your time traveling while at CIMBA.
Book Trains in Advance: This one I figured out the hard way. Normally tickets from Florence to Milan run about 45 Euros, but those are just economy class seats. When I booked my ticket the night before, all that was available were the business class seats. While they are comfortable, a ticket that normal runs about 40 Euros one-way in economy was 75 Euros for business class… I guess a good rule is you get what you pay for and it’s always good to book in advance.
Expect Flight Delays: While cheap airlines like RyanAir and EasyJet are nice because of the prices, they are often known to be delayed. This is especially true when there is a strike going on in France, making many flights of international companies delayed. This is unfortunately something I learned the hard way as well. I was to take a flight from Milan to Frankfurt at 10pm, but due to the strikes in France, it was delayed until midnight. While it wouldn’t be too bad if I had booked a hostel that was open 24/7, my hostel wouldn’t check anyone in after 11pm… Suffice to say, I didn’t sleep much Friday night except for a couple naps.
Buy Travel Insurance for Flights: As per my last statement, flights will be delayed with the cheap airlines. RyanAir has a policy where if your flight is delayed more than 2 hours, you are eligible for a refund on the flight. That being said, I flew for free, and the whole “not sleeping for the entire weekend” ordeal was a little less painful.
Meet New People: This seems to be a common occurrence with me. Every time I’ve traveled alone, I’ve met wonderful people. My first night in Florence, I was bunking with an Australian a few years older than me. We started chatting for a bit, and within half an hour, we became good friends. Not only that, but we have stayed in contact, and plan on see each other when he tours the U.S.
Have Fun: You’re traveling somewhere new and should take full advantage of your time and have fun with it. Whether by seeing the sights, meeting new people, or going to an event, have fun with your travels!
Overall, your time at CIMBA will test your academics, as well as your budgeting skills. If you can master those, however, your time abroad will be fantastic, and you’ll have so many memories.
Blogger: Connery, Western Michigan University
