I guess I was so tired last night when I was writing, that I forgot the most exciting and funny part of my adventure (ok, most of you probably won't find it all that funny, but still....): when I got on the bus at the train station here in Brasov, a guy got on to check all of our tickets, so while I was still thinking bout that, I realised that there was this other guy who was standing in the aisle next to me (I was sitting) who was really leaning over me. It kind of looked like he was resting on a hand rail or something, but the only thing was...there was no handrail, just my leg and backpack - oh, and he was holding a shirt in that hand to obstruct his actions.....hmm.....I knew that my packs were both closed in such a way that he couldn't get into them, but I moved my leg away, and this map in my pocket was sticking half-way out....hmm...so, of course, I moved my leg away and he sort of shuffled his hand OFF/OUT OF my pocket and looked at me, I looked at him so that he knew that I knew what he was doing, and he ended up getting off at the next stop. The funny part (or sad?) is that I'm sure the driver knew what was going on, since I was in the very first seat and after the guy got off, the driver kept looking at me....also, there was a police officer on the bus, who got off at the stop after the pickpocket! nice, hey?
Anyway, that's my story. That's *actually* what I meant to write about last night, and just forgot. Oh, and apparently it's so hot in Bucharest right now that no one is supposed to be going to work (a red caution or some other bad translation)....oh, and there are medical tents set up both in Bucharest and here in Brasov. Awesome.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Romanian adventures
I've now made my way north to Romania, and am currently camped out (figuratively) in a town in Transylvania called Brasov. It's a nice change from Bucharest, heat-wise, as it has dropped to at least 38 in the day, and it's actually in the 20s now at night. I can't even tell you how happy that makes me! I took a train from Veliko Tarnovo to Bucharest the other day and had no trouble finding my first hostel, despite its odd location. The 'hostel' is actually someone's apartment on the 9th floor of a communist-era building. Apparently these buildings have TERRIBLE air circulation, and I thought I was actually going to suffocate that night. Luckily I was booked into another place with air conditioning for my second night, so it was much better; however, it was not so easy to find, and I ended up wandering around the city for hours in the 40+ degree heat with my pack on. ugh. Seems to be the story of my life right now.
Saw some cool buildings in Bucharest though. That Ceauscescu guy was seriously deranged. I knew the Casa Popularii was going to be big, but really? THAT big? It's unbelievable, truly. The pictures I have really don't do it justice. Even just walking around the city is something else - the architecture is on a scale I haven't really seen before. It really seems like a cool city, but walking in 45C heat is brutal, so I walked around at night, but didn't really get as good a feel for the city as I would have liked. Think I'd like to go back at some point, just not in the middle of summer!
Brasov here seems neat. It's a smaller city with lots of tourists, of course, but there seems to be lots to do around here. I've sort of hooked up with this couple from New Zealand whose travel plans are similar to mine right now, and I think we're going to rent a car and see some of the castles and stuff around this area (Bran castle included, D, as well as Sighisoara, I think). Should be good.
Saw some cool buildings in Bucharest though. That Ceauscescu guy was seriously deranged. I knew the Casa Popularii was going to be big, but really? THAT big? It's unbelievable, truly. The pictures I have really don't do it justice. Even just walking around the city is something else - the architecture is on a scale I haven't really seen before. It really seems like a cool city, but walking in 45C heat is brutal, so I walked around at night, but didn't really get as good a feel for the city as I would have liked. Think I'd like to go back at some point, just not in the middle of summer!
Brasov here seems neat. It's a smaller city with lots of tourists, of course, but there seems to be lots to do around here. I've sort of hooked up with this couple from New Zealand whose travel plans are similar to mine right now, and I think we're going to rent a car and see some of the castles and stuff around this area (Bran castle included, D, as well as Sighisoara, I think). Should be good.
Friday, July 20, 2007
pics from the tsaravets fortress church
This is one bad view of the interior of the church in the Tsaravets fortress here in Veliko Tarnovo. Sorry about the quality, but I was doing it on the sly....had to pay 3 lv to take pics, but I didn't. This was a rad place though - painted in 1985, it's all done in this intense graphic novel style. I have some postcards of the interior, and they have better lighting for some of these views.....
Another pic of the interior....these images tell the story of the Ottoman rule and after. It's super neat, and I'm surprised they don't make a bigger deal out of it. Maybe it's because so many people hate contemporary art, and think this type of thing has no place in a house of worship...I dunno.
This is the outside of the church. Some of the fortress ruins can be seen here too. It's interesting, cause they're rebuilding the ruins...instead of ruins falling down with time, they're going up....kinda different and neat.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Go East!
Yesterday I arrived here in Veliko Tarnovo, in central Bulgaria, and I think I'm dying. Ok, maybe not literally, but the heat here is unbearable. This is going to be a short post, because it's past midnight and I'm sweating upstairs here...down in my bedroom, there's air conditioning, at least. (I'm not exaggerating either....it's about 40 degrees here in the day, and it only cools down a few degrees at night, excluding the radiating heat from the buildings)
Since I last posted, I visited Belgrade and was utterly frustrated in all my endeavours there. After a lot of walking around the city, I found the Contemporary Art Gallery in Novi Beograde, only to find out it closed in June indefinitely for renos...grr....more walking. Oh well, that's what I'm here for, I suppose...after a frustrating day (the national gallery was closed as well...), I gave up on the gallery-going, and chilled with an ice coffee and people-watched. It's probably what I should have been doing all along, anyway.
From Belgrade, I overnight trained it Sofiya, and that was an interesting experience. Started with a Bulgarian guy and I in my cabin, and everything was nice and quiet, with him speaking no English, and me no Bulgarian. Turned out he was the worst snorer I've ever heard in my life. Add that to the screaming kids next door, and the portuguese party on the other side, and I was thanking my lucky stars for my mp3 player...thanks mum!! Anyway, a few hours later, I wake up to one of the Portuguese people casing out the cabin. Turned out he wanted to sleep in the middle seat, as his friends were still partying....All was good until the bulgarian women got in in Nis at about 3am....there was non-stop chatter for ages. But hey, in the morning, they were feeding me chocolate biscuits and candies and chips...yum! =)
Anyway, I said I was going to keep this short....Sofiya was cool, with lots of wicked communist monuments (most were terribly built and are falling down, making them even better representations of the regime), but on the whole, not terribly impressive. It's really just a big city. I'll write more about it later....I'm off to bed.
Since I last posted, I visited Belgrade and was utterly frustrated in all my endeavours there. After a lot of walking around the city, I found the Contemporary Art Gallery in Novi Beograde, only to find out it closed in June indefinitely for renos...grr....more walking. Oh well, that's what I'm here for, I suppose...after a frustrating day (the national gallery was closed as well...), I gave up on the gallery-going, and chilled with an ice coffee and people-watched. It's probably what I should have been doing all along, anyway.
From Belgrade, I overnight trained it Sofiya, and that was an interesting experience. Started with a Bulgarian guy and I in my cabin, and everything was nice and quiet, with him speaking no English, and me no Bulgarian. Turned out he was the worst snorer I've ever heard in my life. Add that to the screaming kids next door, and the portuguese party on the other side, and I was thanking my lucky stars for my mp3 player...thanks mum!! Anyway, a few hours later, I wake up to one of the Portuguese people casing out the cabin. Turned out he wanted to sleep in the middle seat, as his friends were still partying....All was good until the bulgarian women got in in Nis at about 3am....there was non-stop chatter for ages. But hey, in the morning, they were feeding me chocolate biscuits and candies and chips...yum! =)
Anyway, I said I was going to keep this short....Sofiya was cool, with lots of wicked communist monuments (most were terribly built and are falling down, making them even better representations of the regime), but on the whole, not terribly impressive. It's really just a big city. I'll write more about it later....I'm off to bed.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Sarajevo update
As you can see, I've added some pics on this site in addition to updating the regular photo site. Hopefully this makes all you grumblers happy. No more grumbling just cause your own life is boring, D.
I'm currently sitting in my hostel in Belgrade, Serbia. I got here this afternoon after a brutally long day that involved 2 hours sleep, a rush to the bus station for a 6am bus, an 8 hour bus ride, during which we came thisclose to hitting an oncoming vehicle (seriously....not what you want to happen during the first hour of 8), and then a couple of long walks in the heat with my pack on (but hey, I gave myself a walking tour of the city!). So yeh, all this, and I'm only staying till tomorrow night, at which point I'm catching a night train to Sofia, in Bulgaria.
So, Sarajevo was amazing. I was a little unprepared, I think, after coming to Bosnia from the beautiful Croatian coast. I got on the bus in Dubrovnik in shorts and a tank top because it was so warm there, but once I got off in Bosnia, things were a little different....First, the bus trip between DB and Mostar, Bosnia is beautiful. You begin by going up the coast of Croatia, and then once you head inland, it's all these crazy beautiful green rocky mountains. Coming into Mostar was super interesting, but a little shocking, seeing how much destruction is left over from the war over a decade ago.
Bombed out shells of houses are a common sight in the area unfortunately, as are the bulletholes in the pavement and buildings (obviously). I got into Sarajevo at about 9pm and I'm not going to lie, it was a bit intimidating. It was so different from what I had gotten used to in the previous weeks, and it was one of the first times I was getting into a city at night. I had no map that actually showed the street my hostel was supposed to be on, so I ended up catching my first taxi. I was ripped off a bit, being told one price and having to pay another, but it was a couple dollars, so I wasn't terribly worried.
Anyway, the Haris hostel is at the top of this massively steep hill (and this is not just me complaining, you'll see the pictures soon), which is a pain (literally...in my poor old knees), but it afforded us a killer view over the city. From any of you that remember the madness that went on in Sarajevo from 1992-1995, the city is in a valley, completely surrounded by hills (which the Serbs used to their advantage). One of the first things you notice in the area around the hostel is the absolutely huge (and plentiful) graveyards scattered over the hills. It really is something to see....
But back to the hostel. I've already raved about it, so no more, but it really was a great time. The first night there, we hung out at the hostel with Haris and drank rakia (homemade moonshine, basically....actually a homemade plum brandy). The next day, Haris took us on this amazing tour, taking us to the Tunnel of Hope, 'Sniper Alley' and the Holiday Inn where all the journalists stayed during the siege, the Olympic Museum, a typical Bosnian home from the Ottoman Empire, and then for some super yummy food and coffee. Listening to him speak about the city was great, because, having lived through both good times and bad in the city, he gives a really interesting perspective on things. And makes you realise just how much you take for granted in your own life. After that, there was a lot of wandering around the city, watching people playing chess in the parks, and taking a look at all the mosques (from outside, of course....some made you put on a veil if you wanted to enter even the courtyard). I was staying just outside the Turkish (old) area of the city, so it was really fun to hang out in all the turkish coffee shops and wander through the crazy narrow streets. One night, a bunch of us all went out and found some great live music in a pub, too. It was sort of a mix of traditional Bosnian music and contemporary party/bar music. It was kinda cool.
Oh yeah, and it was my first time being in a muslim city....the call to prayer that is played from all of the mosques is really quite cool to hear. Apparently each mosque tries to 'outdo' the other ones, so you hear this chanting/music-like voice from so many mosques all at once (from a certain point on the hill, I counted 30 spires around the city without even trying too hard)...
Anyway, it's 1.30 am and I've been up for a looooong time. I'll try to keep up with the pictures better, but access is not always easy.
I'm currently sitting in my hostel in Belgrade, Serbia. I got here this afternoon after a brutally long day that involved 2 hours sleep, a rush to the bus station for a 6am bus, an 8 hour bus ride, during which we came thisclose to hitting an oncoming vehicle (seriously....not what you want to happen during the first hour of 8), and then a couple of long walks in the heat with my pack on (but hey, I gave myself a walking tour of the city!). So yeh, all this, and I'm only staying till tomorrow night, at which point I'm catching a night train to Sofia, in Bulgaria.
So, Sarajevo was amazing. I was a little unprepared, I think, after coming to Bosnia from the beautiful Croatian coast. I got on the bus in Dubrovnik in shorts and a tank top because it was so warm there, but once I got off in Bosnia, things were a little different....First, the bus trip between DB and Mostar, Bosnia is beautiful. You begin by going up the coast of Croatia, and then once you head inland, it's all these crazy beautiful green rocky mountains. Coming into Mostar was super interesting, but a little shocking, seeing how much destruction is left over from the war over a decade ago.
Bombed out shells of houses are a common sight in the area unfortunately, as are the bulletholes in the pavement and buildings (obviously). I got into Sarajevo at about 9pm and I'm not going to lie, it was a bit intimidating. It was so different from what I had gotten used to in the previous weeks, and it was one of the first times I was getting into a city at night. I had no map that actually showed the street my hostel was supposed to be on, so I ended up catching my first taxi. I was ripped off a bit, being told one price and having to pay another, but it was a couple dollars, so I wasn't terribly worried.
Anyway, the Haris hostel is at the top of this massively steep hill (and this is not just me complaining, you'll see the pictures soon), which is a pain (literally...in my poor old knees), but it afforded us a killer view over the city. From any of you that remember the madness that went on in Sarajevo from 1992-1995, the city is in a valley, completely surrounded by hills (which the Serbs used to their advantage). One of the first things you notice in the area around the hostel is the absolutely huge (and plentiful) graveyards scattered over the hills. It really is something to see....
But back to the hostel. I've already raved about it, so no more, but it really was a great time. The first night there, we hung out at the hostel with Haris and drank rakia (homemade moonshine, basically....actually a homemade plum brandy). The next day, Haris took us on this amazing tour, taking us to the Tunnel of Hope, 'Sniper Alley' and the Holiday Inn where all the journalists stayed during the siege, the Olympic Museum, a typical Bosnian home from the Ottoman Empire, and then for some super yummy food and coffee. Listening to him speak about the city was great, because, having lived through both good times and bad in the city, he gives a really interesting perspective on things. And makes you realise just how much you take for granted in your own life. After that, there was a lot of wandering around the city, watching people playing chess in the parks, and taking a look at all the mosques (from outside, of course....some made you put on a veil if you wanted to enter even the courtyard). I was staying just outside the Turkish (old) area of the city, so it was really fun to hang out in all the turkish coffee shops and wander through the crazy narrow streets. One night, a bunch of us all went out and found some great live music in a pub, too. It was sort of a mix of traditional Bosnian music and contemporary party/bar music. It was kinda cool.
Oh yeah, and it was my first time being in a muslim city....the call to prayer that is played from all of the mosques is really quite cool to hear. Apparently each mosque tries to 'outdo' the other ones, so you hear this chanting/music-like voice from so many mosques all at once (from a certain point on the hill, I counted 30 spires around the city without even trying too hard)...
Anyway, it's 1.30 am and I've been up for a looooong time. I'll try to keep up with the pictures better, but access is not always easy.
Some Sarajevo pictures
Ok, so these pictures are a few that I took while in Sarajevo. I'm uploading more onto my flickr site as I write.This first pic is of the 'Tunnel of Hope', on the far side of the Sarajevo airport. Basically, during the war, the Serbs left the area around the airport open (at first because of a lack of tactical advantage, then because the UN took over the airport to administer humanitarian aid), so the Bosnians started digging this 800m long tunnel from either end, meeting in the middle. During the 4 years during which Sarajevo was under siege, this was one of the main ways supplies were brought into the city, and it was also used to shuttle people out of the city who had somewhere in Croatia or somewhere else to go.
This is one of the lucky buildings that survived, but you can see the damage it took. This is a completely normal sight around the city.
This is one of the cathedrals to go with the many many mosques around the city. I haven't transferred all of my Sarajevo pics yet, so the mosque pictures come later.....
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
First, an addendum to the previous post....when I wrote that post, I was in the middle of some evasive manoeuvers (just like in star trek, people!)....one of the guys from that group (the other two people were a really nice couple) was, unfortunately, planning on going to the same islands as I was to go swimming. I was actively trying to avoid him, and one of my tactics was hiding out in the internet cafe...BUT....a guy I thought was him came in there, and as I ducked out the door, I got caught by the actual guy I was avoiding. Curses! Foiled again! Anyway, ended up going to the beautiful island and I went swimming, but all I could think about was leaving, cause this guy was just sooooo boring, and I really did not want to be there. I see a need to stand up for myself but in a tactful (key word...I can stand up for myself, but.....) way. hm. sounds like a future lesson to me.....any takers on being my teacher in this endeavour? Let me know....
So I'm in Dubrovnik now, heading out to Sarajevo tomorrow. I'll try to put some pics up the next time I'm at a computer, cause I know all this writing must be getting boring by now. Dubrovnik really is impressive. I mean, I don't know what I was expecting, but walking up to these giant walls is something else. I really don't think any pics I take will do it justice, but I'll give it a shot. Been doing a lot of walking here, and think I'm going to head up to the town walls and go for a stroll up there next. I think it's going to be even crazier here tonight than it was last night, cause it's the opening ceremony for the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. It's tourists galore here in the old town, but luckily my wonderful croatian 'travel agent' found me a place on the lapad peninsula, so the house I'm staying in is pretty out of the way...it's beautiful.
I don't really have a lot to report, other than it's really freakin hot.
So I'm in Dubrovnik now, heading out to Sarajevo tomorrow. I'll try to put some pics up the next time I'm at a computer, cause I know all this writing must be getting boring by now. Dubrovnik really is impressive. I mean, I don't know what I was expecting, but walking up to these giant walls is something else. I really don't think any pics I take will do it justice, but I'll give it a shot. Been doing a lot of walking here, and think I'm going to head up to the town walls and go for a stroll up there next. I think it's going to be even crazier here tonight than it was last night, cause it's the opening ceremony for the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. It's tourists galore here in the old town, but luckily my wonderful croatian 'travel agent' found me a place on the lapad peninsula, so the house I'm staying in is pretty out of the way...it's beautiful.
I don't really have a lot to report, other than it's really freakin hot.
Friday, July 6, 2007
At the car wash......
So I know I just posted yesterday, but I wasn't ready to face the sun yet today, so I figured I'd put something else up here.....
Hvar is a fun place, and much more lively than Bol was. This city is really much more international (Bol is more for young families and young couples, on vacation from other places in Croatia), so you end up hearing English a lot more....I haven't quite decided if that's a good thing or not, but it's just a fact. Yesterday, after finding a lovely room not too far from the harbour, complete with a small terrace and everything, I headed up the hill and checked out the fortress up there. It was pretty cool and gave some pretty amazing views of the town and surrounding islands. Speaking of those surrounding islands, I think I'm heading out there pretty shortly to do some swimming (hvar is beautiful, but is not built so much for swimming).
Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention yesterday is that on the boat over here, as you round the island, you get this intense whiff of lavender, because Hvar is the lavender island, so the hillsides are just covered in it! Because of that, the town smells like lavender as well, with all the people selling little sachets to tourists on the sidewalks. It's pretty nice.
So last night, there was this (not bad) Croatian rock band playing in the main square for some reason. Don't ask me why, but there were lots of people out and about. During the concert, I got to talking to this group of three people (around my age) from Zagreb on the island for a while, and hung out with them a bit. It was kind of funny...after the concert, they were heading to a party up the hill somewhere.....turns out the word 'party' is used fairly loosely, and the 'party' was being held at a car wash, which is a term also used fairly loosely.
It was hilarious, and fun for a while, but we were in this tiny little ramshackle room with all the windows shut, and everyone (all 8 or 9 people) were smoking non-stop the entire time, while drinking homemade wine out of mineral water bottles. Too funny. I stayed for a while, but since only the 3 I came with spoke english, the only language flying was croatian, and it got a little boring after a while, so I walked home. Funny way to spend the night....
Hvar is a fun place, and much more lively than Bol was. This city is really much more international (Bol is more for young families and young couples, on vacation from other places in Croatia), so you end up hearing English a lot more....I haven't quite decided if that's a good thing or not, but it's just a fact. Yesterday, after finding a lovely room not too far from the harbour, complete with a small terrace and everything, I headed up the hill and checked out the fortress up there. It was pretty cool and gave some pretty amazing views of the town and surrounding islands. Speaking of those surrounding islands, I think I'm heading out there pretty shortly to do some swimming (hvar is beautiful, but is not built so much for swimming).
Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention yesterday is that on the boat over here, as you round the island, you get this intense whiff of lavender, because Hvar is the lavender island, so the hillsides are just covered in it! Because of that, the town smells like lavender as well, with all the people selling little sachets to tourists on the sidewalks. It's pretty nice.
So last night, there was this (not bad) Croatian rock band playing in the main square for some reason. Don't ask me why, but there were lots of people out and about. During the concert, I got to talking to this group of three people (around my age) from Zagreb on the island for a while, and hung out with them a bit. It was kind of funny...after the concert, they were heading to a party up the hill somewhere.....turns out the word 'party' is used fairly loosely, and the 'party' was being held at a car wash, which is a term also used fairly loosely.
It was hilarious, and fun for a while, but we were in this tiny little ramshackle room with all the windows shut, and everyone (all 8 or 9 people) were smoking non-stop the entire time, while drinking homemade wine out of mineral water bottles. Too funny. I stayed for a while, but since only the 3 I came with spoke english, the only language flying was croatian, and it got a little boring after a while, so I walked home. Funny way to spend the night....
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Croatian adventures....
Sorry I've been neglecting my duty to all of you (all four people who read it!...*joking*), but internet was expensive in Zagreb and even worse when I got to the island of Brač. Ok, so we'll start with Zagreb, I guess....
My bro's friend Christina picked me up from the train station on her vespa, and brave girl that she is, gave me (and my pack!) a ride to the flat in which she was putting me up. She's an awesome girl, and let me stay in her mum's vacant flat downtown, which was super nice, and a great change from living/sleeping with 7-11 other people in the room! Seriously, I can't tell you how nice it is to be in a place on your own after living in dorms often with no kitchens! So yeh, the first night, I took it easy and made some tasty food and drank some cheap croatian wine. Oh, and I hung out in the main square for a bit, getting called funny names (I think) by some guy who was not quite all there....but don't worry mum, he was doing it to everyone, not just me! Oh, and there was some skateboard competition going on, so I watched a bit of that, with all the skaters in zagreb who I didn't ever see skate anywhere...hmm....maybe the cobblestone streets were a little off-putting.
The next day was started in the market outside the flat, buying some fruit and veggies for the day, and the rest was spent wandering the streets, seeing the 'sights' of zagreb, heading up to the upper town to see the cool tile roof on a church up there, hanging out drinking coffee, and stuff like that. Truthfully, Christina wasn't lying...there isn't a LOT to do in the city, but I had a great time nonetheless. One night, I hung out with Christina and her fiance Niksa. Both are fabulous people, and it was a nice, chill evening.
From Zagreb, on C's advice, I took an early-morning train to Split (ok, the early morning bit was my idea), on the coast. I was there for a few hours, until my ferry to the island of Brač left. Split is kind of neat. In the middle of town is Diocletian's palace, so you can wander through these amazing Roman ruins (and for free! unless you actually want to go IN any of the places, but the outside is cool enough).
From there, took a catamaran to Bol, on Brač. What a beautiful place, but pretty expensive. I spent my four days there hanging out on a light-coloured stone beach, reading my book, and swimming in the amazingly blue and ridiculously clear Adriatic sea. Didn't do much most nights, but one of them, I met this Croatian cop, and ended up having a few drinks with him, laughing at drunk tourists going crazy in the outdoor bar. It was interesting to hear some of the stories of a cop on a boat in the Adriatic....sounds like a good life, to me! Most days are spent inspecting boats and cruising around the sea.....not bad! Had an early-morning/late night dip in the sea with some of the people we met at the bar and headed home. That was about the most excitement on the island though....it was super relaxing.
So that brings me here, to the island of Hvar. Got here about an hour ago, and now I need to find somewhere to stay for a couple days, before heading out to Korčula, then Dubrovnik. In all, it looks like I'll be spending more time in Croatia than planned, but hey....I'm not complaining! Hvar looks like something out of a james bond movie....all glamourous people (ok, not all, but...) and beautiful yachts.
My bro's friend Christina picked me up from the train station on her vespa, and brave girl that she is, gave me (and my pack!) a ride to the flat in which she was putting me up. She's an awesome girl, and let me stay in her mum's vacant flat downtown, which was super nice, and a great change from living/sleeping with 7-11 other people in the room! Seriously, I can't tell you how nice it is to be in a place on your own after living in dorms often with no kitchens! So yeh, the first night, I took it easy and made some tasty food and drank some cheap croatian wine. Oh, and I hung out in the main square for a bit, getting called funny names (I think) by some guy who was not quite all there....but don't worry mum, he was doing it to everyone, not just me! Oh, and there was some skateboard competition going on, so I watched a bit of that, with all the skaters in zagreb who I didn't ever see skate anywhere...hmm....maybe the cobblestone streets were a little off-putting.
The next day was started in the market outside the flat, buying some fruit and veggies for the day, and the rest was spent wandering the streets, seeing the 'sights' of zagreb, heading up to the upper town to see the cool tile roof on a church up there, hanging out drinking coffee, and stuff like that. Truthfully, Christina wasn't lying...there isn't a LOT to do in the city, but I had a great time nonetheless. One night, I hung out with Christina and her fiance Niksa. Both are fabulous people, and it was a nice, chill evening.
From Zagreb, on C's advice, I took an early-morning train to Split (ok, the early morning bit was my idea), on the coast. I was there for a few hours, until my ferry to the island of Brač left. Split is kind of neat. In the middle of town is Diocletian's palace, so you can wander through these amazing Roman ruins (and for free! unless you actually want to go IN any of the places, but the outside is cool enough).
From there, took a catamaran to Bol, on Brač. What a beautiful place, but pretty expensive. I spent my four days there hanging out on a light-coloured stone beach, reading my book, and swimming in the amazingly blue and ridiculously clear Adriatic sea. Didn't do much most nights, but one of them, I met this Croatian cop, and ended up having a few drinks with him, laughing at drunk tourists going crazy in the outdoor bar. It was interesting to hear some of the stories of a cop on a boat in the Adriatic....sounds like a good life, to me! Most days are spent inspecting boats and cruising around the sea.....not bad! Had an early-morning/late night dip in the sea with some of the people we met at the bar and headed home. That was about the most excitement on the island though....it was super relaxing.
So that brings me here, to the island of Hvar. Got here about an hour ago, and now I need to find somewhere to stay for a couple days, before heading out to Korčula, then Dubrovnik. In all, it looks like I'll be spending more time in Croatia than planned, but hey....I'm not complaining! Hvar looks like something out of a james bond movie....all glamourous people (ok, not all, but...) and beautiful yachts.
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