This morning my alarm woke me up at 6:10am just like every other morning I have been in Graz. I began my regular morning routine, but I couldn’t help but notice that the dynamic was so different. I realized that this was one of the last times I would be in my room and my last day with my exchange student Meli. In this moment, I decided to make this a great last day. We started off the day with an hour drive to Lurgrotte and I made the big mistake of drinking a huge water bottle on the bus. Little did I know that I would have to hike 30 minutes to get to the cave entrance where the only bathrooms were located. This hike would’ve been totally manageable any other day, but since I made the decision to drink so much water the hike was not very enjoyable. As we were walking the last stretch of the hike I caught a glimpse of the bathrooms. I had never been so happy to see a bathroom in my life. Once we had all used the bathroom and bought snacks, we embarked on our journey into the cave. Within the first five steps into the cave, it felt as if the temperature dropped 20°. The cave was a lot bigger than I thought it would be and it was filled with stalactites and stalagmites. About three fourths of the way through the tour we stopped in a huge dome where we watched an amazing light show. During the light show, lights lit up the stalagmites and stalactites in syncopation to the music. Then shortly after the light show, we hiked back out of the cave. After our wonderful tour was over, we had a bit of free time to sit around and eat our lunch. Unfortunately, not many of us remembered to bring our lunches, so we had ice cream from the shop. After about 30 minutes of free time we decided to walk back to the bus stop because there was a grocery store. On our hike back to the bus stop we were caught in the middle of a torrential downpour. Luckily, everyone made it back safe and sound and we were all glad to reach the grocery store. After everyone bought and ate the food from the grocery store, we walked back to the bus stop and waited for the bus to pick us up. As we reached Graz, a group of us decided to go shopping. Most of us went shopping for our families, while others finished the trip by buying new stylish clothing for themselves. After about an hour of shopping, I went home and had a family dinner with my host family. We ate a ton of food ranging from toast to T-bone steak to fish. Once I had finished this wonderful food, I decided I needed to run to work off all of the dinner. The spectacular views I had of Graz on this run really provided me with a great ending to this amazing day and it was a perfect way for me to wrap up a great trip. As soon as I got home I took a shower and packed my bag. Packing my suitcase was probably the saddest thing I had done all day. I couldn’t believe that this outstanding trip was over. I have so many great memories from this trip and it is something that I will never forget. ~Olivia
