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Dobar dan, all!
(Hopefully you're reading this sometime during the daylight, because it means "Good afternoon" in Croatia. And if you're reading this at any other time of day, then "Bok!" -that means "Hi." It's not as exciting as dobar dan. But perhaps you will come back to read it in the afternoon, as I have much to write about. For that reason, I will break Croatia trip blog into 'chapters')
Wow… so I have so much to write about my first day back from Croatia! I forgot my journal, so I did not get a chance to write along the trip - but fear not, I'm sure that my recollection of the trip will not be lacking interesting occurrences. The past 5 days were quite tiring and adventurous.
I went to Croatia with my roommate Amara. If we were not both roommates and classmates (Introduction to Sexual Studies), then neither of us would have ever thought about going to Croatia.
1- Arriving in Croatia
We arrived in Zagreb, Croatia by plane on Thursday afternoon. After picking up our luggage, we searched for the information desk, and then asked how we could get to the main bus station. "Take the bus" was all we got before more questioning. Many answers to our inquiries seemed short and rude. (However, as a behavioral scientist, I tried to brush this off and tried to take into consideration cultural norms and whatnot about communication between Croatians…and all that other stuff).
Anyway, Amara and I hopped on the next bus to the main bus station.30 kuna. What? That's kind of expensive. Not really. The exchange rate is like 7.2 kuna to 1 euro. (1 euro = $1.50 …so like $1 is about 4.70 kunas)
Zagreb didn't look too fancy. Whenever traveling to another country (Croatia is my second ever, and first European country outside Netherlands) I have certain expectations -stereotyped, maybe?) of what the country will be like. So in my head pictured a very tropical setting where people are walking around dirt roads with sandals and sarongs. Okay so that really is stereotyped. Well we arrived at the main bus station, and asked the first person at a desk how we can get to Dubrovnik. "Take the bus." Sweet. "So umm…where do we go to get the bus?" We went inside the bus terminal and asked info where to go. "Take the bus"--(that seems to be popular there)-- "or the plane." We bought tickets for the next bus to Dubrovnik. We definitely did not anticipate having to spend half of what we withdrew from the bank for round trip bus tickets between Zagreb and Dubrovnik. Also, we thought that the trip would be a few hours, giving us a few hours of daylight to wander around Dubrovnik. We were so wrong. The bus trip was 11 hours! We had about 5 hours before the bus ride, so to kill time we walked to the hostel that we were going to stay at in a few days.
[So apparently I'm really bad at talking; or I just get worried about being a tourist and about speaking English in a foreign country, so I might speak with broken English (I started doing this my first weeks in Amsterdam, after having to always repeat myself). And my sentences were all over the place when I was trying to ask for an info sheet about the city bus lines, or explaining how many nights we would stay in the hostel in Zagreb.]
We got back to the bus station early. I was so excited about spending 11 hours on a bus. Ha. We got ready for the bus ride. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, took out my contacts - all in the bathroom of the bus terminal. It made me wonder about the lives of vagabonds. Hmmm…that's a crazy life.
Also, I'm not a big fan of having to pay to use a 'public' restroom.
The bus ride wasn't too bad. Of course I probably only slept about 3 hours total on the 11 hour trip.
2-Dubrovnik
We got to Dubrovnik as the sun was rising. It was amazing! I got a little camera happy and took a ton of pictures - more than 500 total. I didn't post them all though. As soon as we got off the bus at the station in Dubrovnik, a woman approached us and asked us if we needed any help with anything. I thought "Oh wow, that's really nice. Such a change from the people at Info at the airport and bus stations."
Psych! Her looks and demeanor made her seem to have stepped out of a fairy tale - as the witch who is posing as a little old lady who only wants to helps. Then she whipped out her magic wand. Ha. Just kidding. She took out some brochure - laminated and crinkled - and tried to tell us about a hostel. We said no thanks and went to set down our things and figure out where to go. She kept following us and asking Amara and me where we were going and telling us maybe she could help. She move on to 2 other girls who had gotten off the same bus. We tried to ask info about the bus, and that lady just kept lurking right there. It was so creepy…and annoying.
We took the bus to Old Town, which is like the downtown center of Dubrovnik. It's the cool place to go - cafes, restaurants, souvenir and other shops (a lot of boutiques and jewelry shops). Very touristy.
It really was like walking into a fairy tale. Old Town is surrounded by high city walls, with canons and vista posts. The main entrance to Old Town is the Piles Gate, accessed across a stone bridge. It was about 7am and the streets and sidewalks shone so brightly from the reflection of the sun. The roads were cream-colored and pristine. We finally got to our hostel - it was a tiny room in a private home. It was cute. We checked in and then walked around the city. There wasn't really anyone on the streets. Most of the shops were still closed. Amara and I just wandered around the city and took a bunch of pictures.
Exhausted from the day before and the long bus ride, we crashed out in our hostel. We woke up a couple hours later to foreign voices and the clanging of chairs and tables being set up outside a neighboring restaurant. It was still early in the day- about 1pm. We spent the rest of the day wandering, sight-seeing, window shopping, and taking pictures. Hmm…we actually spent most of the time in Croatia doing those things. In the evening I went for a run - kinda. Mostly jogged up a few random streets, explored a fort and a nearby beach. I like walking around and exploring (a lot more than shopping).
Then the next day we went to the beach!!! That was the best part of the trip. We quickly shopped for souvenirs before the stores closed, then bought lunch and walked to the beach. I swam in the Adriatic Sea! Yeah, I was super excited about that. Took a ton more pictures.
Okay so that was most of what happened in Dubrovnik.
I have yet to write about Zagreb. Better and more interesting stories there... 11 hour bus ride with an autistic guy, smelly ladies, rude people, creepy guys, and a hammock-wearing troubadour.
...more to come!
Random notes:
-A few people asked me if I was Japanese.
I thought that was odd. I don't think I look Japanese. Amara is Chinese (She doesn't speak it though; and she's from Canada). And a few people tried talking to her (or us?) in Japanese.
-I sometimes get self-conscious when people look at me. So I kept thinking that maybe because Amara and I were obvious tourists, that that's why we got so many different looks. Hmm…
-I am going to be so broke when I get back from Europe. I bought stuff for my sisters.
And I got something for myself.
Okay, so for those of you who know me really well, you know that I don't wear boots or high-heels (for fear of my knees falling off). I pretty much just stick to chucks, slip-on vans, or my running shoes. Weeeell… I bought a pair of black high heel (2 ½ - 3 inches?--okay so maybe not that high by some people's standards, but definitely high for me) Italian boots. They're super cute. Hehe. And only like $40! I just hope I can walk in them…and not fall.
-There were a lot of older people (60s and up) out and about. Croatia seems to have more able-bodied older people than America. Interesting…
-It's cool to smoke when you're like 11 years old.
(psych)
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