Croatia

Monday of the last week of my trip starts to get boring for readers as I realized that my trip was soon coming to an end and I started to focus on relaxing. To that end I did a lot of reading, picking up books and trading them back through different hostel book exchanges. I was stalked by Marian Keyes, an Irish writer who lured me in with her collection of short articles and stories and personal anecdotes and then I kept reading even though the subject matter of the books got MORE AND MORE DEPRESSING! Not a bad author but not the sort of holiday fluff topics I would have preferred. Anyways that's what I did for pretty much the last week. I wandered. I saw historical stuff. And I found places to sit and enjoy my book, whichever I was reading at the time.

This all started in Zagreb. I had two days there and I had spent the first one tramping all over the upper Old Town and the lower New Town and I decided to take advantage of the warm sunny skies and the availability of a gigantic man-made lake nearby. Lake Jarun is on the outskirts of the city, so I was able to hop on a tram, following directions to get off at the "really ugly church" and then walk down a couple of blocks to the water. I emerged on the long side of the lake, which is set up for rowing.

I really loved that Zagreb is super into sport and athletics. As I walked along the long I followed a trail of standing information signs about great Croatian athletes and their accomplishments. At the end I reached the portion at the upper left of the picture above, which is a little lagoon out of the way of the rowers. It's lined with cafes. I did the Croatian thing and picked one, got a coffee, and then sat for a couple of hours reading in the sun. The view looked something like this

When I felt like I had been there long enough I kept going, past a really cool bouncy playground for kids (so jealous! they had bouncy slides and trampolines and everything!) and settled myself at another cafe on the opposite end of the lake section for a beer and some more reading.

I finally finished up my day with....more reading! This time I tried to settle myself on the beach itself, but was defeated by the wind which kicked up right at the moment I lay down and refused to quit. I headed back into town, past a lake that was suddenly full of after work rowers skating down the lanes and surrounded by joggers on the running paths. My favorite was the rowing coach on a bicycle chasing the rowers down the side and yelling at them through a microphone.

I had a late night train so I found a place to sit and eat a quiet dinner and then walked back in the gathering dark through the main town squares. The night was warm and full of groups of teenagers hanging out on the greens. It seemed like a really great place to hang out with your friends and only made me like Zagreb more. 

I grabbed my bag and returned to the train station for a short wait before the train arrived. I was devastated to find myself in a small compartment with a large family. A mother, two daughters and her young son were my companions. I reclaimed my window seat from the son and settled in as best as I could. The family was really nice, one of the daughters encouraged me to put my feet up on the bench, I rewarded her by kicking her in my sleep, hard enough to wake me up.

I dozed as best I could until they left the train in the middle of the night and I could lie down and sleep for a couple of hours as the train continued on to Split.

I arrived early in the morning and walked over to the hostel. I got a bit lost on the way but someone walking their dog was able to give me directions. Speaking of dogs, I go on and on about how much I love Croatia but they could stand to learn to clean up after their animals. It's a minefield out there!

The hostel was quite busy, a large group of undergrad Americans were busy checking out and I just waited out the crush on the sofa. When they left I collected a map of the city and chatted a bit with "Ladybird" a Norwegian who runs the hostel. It turned out I would be the only guest that night as the Americans had accidentally booked an extra night so I was the only person who had seen the rooms come available after they realized their mistake and canceled at the last minute.

The sky was threatening rain, and followed through on that shortly after. I made my way quickly down to the harbor and then ducked into Diocletian's Palace.

The facade and the walls are about the only thing that remains of the palace other than the sub-basement structures.

I entered along the riverfront and then paid a small entry fee to explore the basement structures. These are important mainly because they map exactly to the rooms that were placed above so it's possibly to see how the palace was designed when it was first built.

Now the palace is used to house vendors and acts as the heart of the old town. I came up the stairs onto the main plaza, which I think is still called the peristyle. It is home to some roman ruins as well as a church that was closed to tourists during the lead up to Easter.

I exited through a gate in the side of the walls and found myself in a market. The vendor directly in front of the gate was selling tiny little chicks for Easter. The rest of the market was a mix of a farmers market and tourist items. I passed back through the same gate and tried to lose myself in the little alleyways. It was a great place for that, tiny little walkways between old stone buildings but the walls enclose a limited amount of space and so I easily found myself by the back gate. Here I found what I was pretty sure was a statue of a wizard.

I referred to him that way later on in my travels and was informed it's actually supposed to be a bishop. But...really....wizard. I was excited to spot a small space invader mosaic on the bottom left of the block the statue is balanced on. At this point I circled around the outside of the walls to the one gate I had not been through yet and once again entered the palace. This time I found myself at the Temple of Jupiter. One remaining column dates from the 5th century, as does a headless sphinx out front. The temple was of course made into a baptistry.

Sorry the quality isn't that good on the pictures, I'm working with wikipedia commons for them but it's good enough to see that the temple is tiny and it's just crowded on all sides by other buildings. A sad end to a temple created for what was supposed to be the mightiest of the gods.

By the time I got to the temple my camera started to flash red on the battery light. I had unfortunately decided to leave my charger at home in London. It wasn't even an accident, I was trying to "pack light" and I decided that a camera charger was just one thing too many. It was a terrible decision. I started just turning on my camera really quickly and then turning it back off right away after taking a picture. Still even that wasn't going to make it last until the end of the trip.

I took a break from sightseeing and walked down to the beach front. I strolled through a gorgeous plaza and then grabbed a quick lunch by the water. I had decided to check out the views over Split from the park on the hill above the city. I got horribly lost trying to find the view point and climbed up the hill through a suburb and completely missed the path that would have taken me up to the sightseeing place. I was too stubborn to admit defeat so I just kept going for way too long before I turned back and discovered the path up on the way down. Up again I went. The viewpoint was outside of a cafe that had hebrew lettering on the front. I was confused enough to open up the door of the cafe but there was nothing inside but a waitress. I realized later the cafe is located directly in front of the old Jewish cemetery of Split. I admired the view from Marjan hill, the sun had finally come out and it was breathtaking.

I had no real destination so I kept going along the path in Marjan hill, then broke up through the woods along some steps that led me up near the zoo. Here I got properly lost as I made my way down the other side of the hill but I eventually stumbled out around the cafe with the hebrew lettering. I went down a different way than I had come up, passing straight down a steep and narrow street back into the town. My camera was well and truly dead so I went to find a camera shop. I stopped at the first one I saw and although they weren't able to help me they drew me a map so I could find another store that might have a charger. I walked over to that store, past the national theatre and to the least touristy part of the city I had been in yet. There I found the small store where my hero was able to simply charge up the battery for me over the course of a few hours. It was such a relief! Now that I had time to kill and no batteries I wandered some more. I tried to find a place I could get my hair cut but the English speaking salon had no appointments and I didn't feel confident enough to communicate my desires for hair length and style to the lady at a different salon. I went back to the park where the wizard statue was and explored some of the streets outside of the palace. I finished up with some coffee and reading at a cafe on the waterfront in front of the palace facade.

When I went back my camera battery was all charged! I bought some groceries and returned to my guest house. I was still the only guest so I had the place entirely to myself. This and the return of the rain meant I had a good excuse to just curl up on the couch in the common room and read a book and pretend that it was my living room, a luxury I miss terribly while living in a residence hall.

I woke up early the next day to catch the ferry to Hvar Island. It's a couple of hours by boat off the coast of Croatia. The ferry ride was uneventful. When I got into land I jumped right on a bus to take me to Hvar town on the other side of the island. The drive reminded me pretty forcefully of Oahu. I got to Hvar town about an hour later.

I didn't have any plans and there weren't any sights I was looking to see so I just started to walk. I walked through the main town square.

And then along the marina and just followed the path down the coast. I passed by a franciscan monastery

Then I continued up the coast past it. There were houses perched on the edge of the hillside and lapping waves below. I walked a few miles, the houses disappeared and it was just me on the one lane highway.

Eventually I reached a small cove with a hotel. The hotel was closed but I sat down and read and listened to the sound of the ocean. The water was a beautiful clear blue. It was somewhat overcast but warm enough and I relaxed and stayed for at least an hour, possibly more. After I made my way slowly back into town I found  myself back at the bus station for a beer and then choosing the cheapest of the expensive options for lunch. There wasn't too much time left before the bus back to catch the ferry so I tried to run quickly up to the fortress at the top of the hill.

I hadn't really left myself enough time to do this and so I was panicking a bit. It didn't help that the gate I was aiming for had been closed and the path rerouted. I gave up on making it inside the fortress and instead just took pictures out over the town.

I did make it to the closed gate before I started back down, simply for the feeling of accomplishment.

I do a bit regret not being able to see the fortress, for some reason during the day it held absolutely no interest for me and then as soon as I was getting ready to leave I HAD TO SEE IT. Instead I rushed back down the hill to be early for the bus and the reversed the way I had came. Bus to ferry and then back to the hostel for a quick dinner. I went out into Split for a nightcap but didn't stay out long. I had a 5am bus the next morning (of course).

I was up in the dark and tramping my was to the bus station. I slept for a couple of hours on the way to Dubrovnik but every time I woke up I found I was in an even more beautiful, enchanting part of the countryside. The drive was a highlight, probably the best I've taken on my recent journeys. It was just unbelievably gorgeous scenery all the time.

We started out inland but eventually made our way to the coast, even passing very very briefly through Bosnia and Hercegovina, they stopped to check passports but didn't give stamps. I arrived in Dubronik around midmorning and figured since I was at the bus station already I should check on the bus to the airport which I would need the next day. I went to the lady at the information window where they had posted a sign with the airport bus times for Wednesday and Thursday. Both of those days the bus had come at the same convenient time and I asked if the bus would come again at that time on Friday. Instead of an answer I was informed I would have to come back 24 hours before hand to ask about the bus times. "But today, isn't today Thursday?" "Yes." "And I asked you about Friday?" "...." "So, it's less than 24 hours?" "We don't have the information yet!" Ah, thank you, transportation lady for reminding me that only misanthropes get these types of jobs.

I caught the bus into town and tried to find my hostel. This was complicated by the fact that my phone, knowing when I was at its mercy, "lost" the email with the directions. I had to find an internet cafe and retrieve the directions from there instead before I could get to the hostel. I was staying at the only hostel located within the walls of the old city of Dubrovnik. It was kind of like being on a movie set, everything is made out of clean white stone, and there are markets and you climb this big stairway up to a monastery and then hang a left, then right, then walk along the wall that faces the sea in this smaller alley and if you are lucky at the end you are at the hostel. It was a nice looking place and the staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. I got a map and dropped off my bags and went to have my day in the city. 

I started with a drink. There was a tiny little cafe that clings to the side of the cliff and the walls right over the sea. I got a beer and watched the water roll against the walls, clear swells that never broke into waves. When I was done I tackled the walls. The walls of the city are its main attraction. Built in the early middle Ages they remain intact today. The walls encircle the entire old city. I paid my dues and climbed up.

The walls provide a great perspective over the red tile roofs of the city, and you continue, the buildings creep closer and closer to the walls so that you are practically standing in people's back yards. There are also a number of towers and bastions to be explored and gorgeous views to admire out over the sea.

Halfway around the city there is another entrance onto the walls. At this point you have to stop and show your ticket that you bought at the other entrance as well. I, unfortunately, had stuck my ticket in my back pocket and it was no where to be found when I got to the second entrance. The man at the desk was not cooperative and said I would have to buy another ticket. I said that was ridiculous. I had my receipt! We disagreed. Pretttty vehemently. Eventually I made enough of an entitled fuss that he let me past. When I finished at the wall I returned to the place I had bought my ticket because it also entitled you to visit a fort outside the city and I didn't want to miss out. There the man was able to check my receipt then just call the fort and tell them I was coming without a ticket and to let me in. Easy as that!

It shouldn't have been hard to find the fort. I just left the city through the gate, and turned left. And got lost. In a little maze of back streets. Even though I could see the fort I had no idea how to reach it. Eventually I stumbled out at the base and climbed up the stairs, through a magic little garden, to the entrance to the fort. This, in stark contrast to the walls crowded with tourists, was completely empty. I was literally the only person besides one elderly employee at the desk who was there.

There wasn't that much to see there, the place was mostly empty except for some cannons, but it gave a great view back onto the walls that I had just walked. And I loved that I had the place to myself.

I came back down and on my way stopped to feel the water, it was icy and so I decided that the beach would not be my afternoon destination. Instead I walked back through the gates into the old city and all the way across to the the marina. Then it was back out through another gate and around the outside of the walls to the funicular station. Dubrovnik sits at the base of a rather imposing mountain. On the small side for a mountain, quite large for a hill. I took the funicular to the top.

Great views, but it was cold and quite windy up there. You could see behind the mountain into a dusty valley ringed with more like it, all covered in scrub brush and dirt.

There was also the vista out over the ocean with Dubrovnik tiny below. I was freezing, so I only stayed up there long enough to take some pictures and took the first funicular back down.

I was tired and in need of some coffee. At this point I re-entered the old city from the top of the hill and at the first restaurant the owner stopped me to say he had seen me coming into the city with my back pack just that morning. Would I sit down and talk with him. The universe had decided to give me free coffee! I stayed to talk for about half an hour but couldn't be persuaded to spend any more time with the owner and instead went back to the hostel to properly check in. I relaxed and then found a place for dinner. When I came back I hung out with some of the other guests who were just getting ready to go out and find dinner for themselves. I decided to stay in but we talked about going out later. Instead it started to pour and pour down rain. I stayed in the hostel and hung out with the girl working there, who was great company. Eventually everyone else returned and we spent the night hanging out and drinking in the hostel to avoid the rain. It was a fun way to end my travels since I was leaving in the morning.

The next day I woke up and went to run an errand in the city. I don't even remember why I had gone out, there was breakfast in the common room so that couldn't have been it. I think I went to pick up some snacks for the plane and to spend my last few Croatian coins. I ran into the owner of the cafe from the day before who offered me a ride to the airport and I declined. Trying to leave the city with my backpack I got terribly, annoyingly lost but somehow made it out in time to catch the bus to the airport. Then it was just a quick trip to the airport, through security and onto the plane back to London.

There isn't much left to say about this week. I arrived the day that Passover was starting. I had already done my shopping and cleaning so I could go into the holiday relatively relaxed. I spent the first seder at Chabad, which was hosting jointly with and at the Western Marble Arch Synagogue. I expected, and feared, that the meal would last until 2 or 3 in the morning, but we finished up around midnight instead. It was lovely. I sat next to some really interesting people, an American girl, an English woman and a South African man. I got to participate by reading one of the passages and the food was delicious. The next night I had my own seder by myself, which sounds sad and lonely but I loved it. I got to cook all my favorite foods, chicken soup and then roast chicken thighs and I made my own seder plate and I got to read everything myself and then sing all the songs using the tunes I know. All of my Jewish friends were for the most part out of town and I think subjecting non-Jews to a full Orthodox seder can be a bit much to ask sometimes.

Anyway that wraps it up for now, I'll be posting a couple more blogs in an attempt to cover some of the highlights of what happened April, May, June and July.