calling from some city...

Well this is several days late, but I just wanted to complete the blog with how our final day in Europe went (Saturday, August 14th). In the next couple days I’ll have some wrap up thoughts on the trip as a whole, plus thoughts on my favorites places. I’ll also post a link to an account with all my pictures- I think final tally was about 4500.

So we had arrived on Friday night in London and immediately went to bed, as our dorm mates were already asleep and we were exhausted. Sleep should have come early, but it didn’t since the beds were the absolute worst I’ve ever slept it. Easily the most uncomfortable bed we slept on for the entire trip. The mattresses were extremely flimsy, and mine sloped significantly in the middle. It also didn’t really fit on the bed frame. I managed to fall asleep though, while Scott didn’t get much sleep. Total exhaustion overcame how uncomfortable the bed was.

I woke up at 8:30 and took a quick shower. Luckily, since we never unpacked the night before, we it didn’t take long to pack up for the last day. We were both tired and anxious to return home. I wished we could have immediately gone to the airport and flown home, but our flight didn’t leave until 6:05 pm. It was cold and drizzling outside as well, which only added to our bad moods. But despite my desire to get home, I wanted to make the most of the day. We put our bags into the luggage room and set out to walk around London for a couple hours. I didn’t really have anything I wanted to see (I definitely have tons of sights to see in London someday, but didn’t feel the need to see anything in 3 hours- not worth it) but I supposed walking around was better than just sitting at the hotel.

It was a bit chilly out, and for the first time during the trip I was wearing my jeans. It was overcast but luckily the rain held out for most of the day. Scott and I walked to Westminster Abbey, possibly the most famous church in the English-speaking world. It was very pretty from the outside, but we didn’t pay to go in. From the church you could also see Big Ben in the background. After, we walked to Buckingham Palace, which is enormous and beautiful. It was nearly noon so we were planning on seeing the changing of the guards ceremony. We stood at the gate for about 10 minutes, watching the guards in their funny outfits (their hats are really tall) and I swear, we saw them move and twitch a bit. Anyways, we then saw the sign that said the ceremony was canceled that day. So, we decided it was time to eat lunch. A British kid we met in Zagreb had recommended a cheap pub for us to eat at while in London that was in Victoria train station. Since we knew where that was, we headed there. The station was huge so it took us a little time to find it but we did, and had huge burgers and fries for lunch.

We went back to the hostel to get our bags and then headed right back to the train station so we could head to the airport. The station is confusing, however, because it’s both a train station and a tube/subway station. We knew we could take the tube straight to Heathrow, but it was really hard figuring out how to buy a ticket. The machines were very hard to understand, and there was no option for just buying a single ticket. Also you had to select which zone to travel in, and we didn’t know what to pick. So, we got in the very long ticket line, in hopes we could purchase a ticket from them. The line was moving a little slowly, and we were both getting anxious we would not get to the airport in time. But luckily we could purchase tickets from the ticket window (one single ride on the tube is 4.50 pounds, which is ridiculously expensive. How do people in London afford to ride public transport on a regular basis?) and ran to catch the tube. We found the line we needed to take, rode it one stop, and then got off and ran to catch the Picadilly Line, which runs straight to Heathrow. Luckily, the tube was there when we arrived so we didn’t have to wait. It was packed, though, but we squished in.

It was hot and uncomfortable, but luckily most people got off this one particular stop so we were able to sit down for the 45 minute ride to Heathrow. Once we got to the airport, it was a bit confusing but we found where we needed to check in. We quickly discovered that the British are serious about airport security. Of course, Heathrow is the third busiest airport in the world so that makes sense. But before we even got to the counter to check-in, we needed to give our passports to a security officer, who then questioned us for 5 minutes about our trip, why we were in London, and what we had in our bags or if others could have put stuff into it. We also needed to show receipt of our hostel stay. After, we were able to check in successfully and headed to security. Before we even went into line, we had to show our passports and boarding passes again. We went through the check no problems, but then had to present passports and boarding passes immediately after as well.

Our gate number wasn’t posted yet, so we each bought a book and drinks and sat down to read. The airport was absolutely mobbed, so it was nice we managed to find two seats together. Once the gate number was posted, we walked over there, where we had to present our boarding passes and passports again just to get into the lounge. We boarded the plane on time, and Scott and I once again had the emergency exit seats- so we had extra leg room! I think this happened 4-5 times on the trip overall. We were getting ready to taxi out to the runway when the pilot unexpectedly came on to say bad weather was moving through the area, and he was not allowed to take off for an hour. I was not happy to hear this news, because it meant another hour sitting on the plane, and I was already ready to be home.

We finally got in the air. The ride was a little bumpy, but we arrived 7 hours later with no major problems. It also did not feel as long as I expected- the in flight entertainment was surprisingly good and kept me entertained as Scott slept. But finally, at 8:50 pm, we landed in Boston. Eurotrip had officially come to an end. 

First stop: Dunkin Donuts!

We made it to the end: today is the last official day of Eurotrip, as we depart for Boston tomorrow evening. We knew the next two days would be a lot of hours traveling, so we wanted to make the most of our remaining relaxation time in Dubrovnik. We had to get up early because we had several things we had to get done before 10 am: check out, and return our smart car. I woke up at 8:45 and breakfast was just about ready. I did some last minute packing and we ate eggs and hash browns for a delicious last meal cooked by Scott on the trip. We checked out but left our bags at the guesthouse for the day, as our flight wasn’t until 8:20 pm. Scott and I climbed into our Smartcar for the last time and had a short 10 minute drive to the drop off point. Conveniently, the drop off point was very close to the beach we went to two days ago. So, after dropping off the car, we walked to the supermarket to get sandwich supplies for lunch, and then walked to the beach.

On our way to the beach, we stopped at a café so Scott could get a cappuccino. While we were sitting down, he received a call from the Smartcar rental office, wanting to know what was wrong with the tires. Scott and I were immediately concerned, thinking there was a problem with the car. As I listened in on Scott’s side of the conversation, and noted his worried face, I was just hoping we didn’t cause any damage to the car that we would have to pay for. Luckily, it was a misunderstanding. When we had to jump the car a couple days ago, we had pulled out a can of “tire foam” that is used as a temporary fix when a tire needs to be changed. We had left the can out because we forgot to return it to its spot under then floorboard of the passenger side. Thus, they thought we had to use the foam because of a tire problem. Once Scott explained this, we were relieved there were no problems with the car. With that settled, we headed to the beach.

We were on the beach by 10:30 and stayed there for the next 5 hours or so. The weather could not have been more perfect for our last day- hot and not a cloud in the sky. We spent the afternoon reading, tanning, and swimming, as usual. I decided to rent a beach chair for the day, as it was extremely cheap. For my last day in Europe, I figured it was worth being comfortable rather than lying in rocks all day. Overall, I loved the beaches in Europe because they offered far prettier and more stunning scenery than the beaches I’ve been to in New England; the water was also warmer, cleaner, and prettier to look at. However, I do wish the beaches in Europe were sand, rather than pebbly or rocky, as it is uncomfortable after a while. On the other hand, you don’t get sand all over you. Anyway, we greatly enjoyed our last lazy day at the beach. It was less crowded than it had been two days ago, which made for a quiet, peaceful afternoon.

Around 3, Scott and I were just about sunned out and needed to escape in the shade for a bit. We walked around a shopping center and then went to the supermarket to get supplies for dinner. Because we needed to leave for the airport at 6, it was just easier to make quick sandwiches again and eat them once we got there, and then snack on the plane. We took the bus back to the guesthouse and had about an hour to relax on the terrace, then change up for the plane. I felt pretty gross because I was all salty from the water and sweaty from the sun and heat, but couldn’t shower. While we waited around for 6pm to arrive, Scott and I again reflected on the trip. We both agreed it truly a fantastic experience and everything worked out even better than we had hoped. At the same time, we were ready to go home. We missed the comforts of home and some of Europe’s little idiosyncrasies that become annoying. I personally was sick of living out of a backpack, and wanted my own room back. It was time to be back in America.

But first we had to fly to London for an overnight stay because it wasn’t possible to get a return flight home from Dubrovnik. We left for the airport at 6, with our guesthouse owner Antie giving us a ride. I don’t think I’ve mentioned Antie before, but he was probably the nicest hotel/hostel owner or worker we met on the entire trip. Scott offered the best description of him: he looks just like Mr. Clean, except he speaks with a Croatian accent. He’s probably in his late 40s, keeps himself in shape, and every day wore a blue bathing suit with a white t-shirt tucked in. As he drove us to the airport, he talked to us about Dubrovnik, where he has lived his entire life. The city is much bigger than I expected, about 50,000 people, and he’s concerned about the future of Dubrovnik because a lot of foreigners have moved into the region in recent years, buying up available land (which is very expensive). You could see he was worried about the place of natives and the local economy will survive the onslaught of Italians and Germans, among others. He also talked about the Balkan War and Dubrovnik’s role in it. The entire city was attacked for close to eight months, and he joined the Croatian army in fighting the Serbs and Montenegrins. He said he woke up every day feeling lucky he was alive that day. On the way to the airport, Antie also took a short detour. He showed us the hotels that used to be the luxury hotels in Dubrovnik before the war. They were never rebuilt. Parts of the buildings remained, but you could see the roofs caved in, all the windows and doors completely gone, and trees and weeds growing all over where the hotels used to stand. You could tell these were beautiful hotels before the war. It’s incredibly sad that they were never repaired and are just left standing there.

We got to the airport at 6:30 and received an unpleasant surprise: our flight was actually taking off at 9:20, not 8:20 as our confirmation email said. So we had extra time to kill. We sat down at the one café in the airport, ate our sandwiches, and waited to check in. Scott worked on his album while I read until it was time to board the plane. Luckily, it did take off at 9:20 and it was a smooth and easy flight. We arrived in London at 11:10 London time (so, it was 12:10 in Croatian time). We then had to take a train from London Gatwick Airport to London’s Victoria train station. Luckily, we were able to run right into a train without waiting (we literally bought our tickets at 11:18 and boarded the 11:20 train). It was a 30 minute ride into London, and by this time, I was exhausted. It had been a long day, and the combination of sun, traveling, and Dramamine wore me out. Once we got to the station, it was about a 20 minute walk to our hostel. Given it was late and freezing out (probably in the 60’s, which was a drastic change from the very hot temperatures we experienced all summer), I decided it worth a splurge and we hailed a taxi. I also wanted the experience of taking a taxi in London. The whole “driving on the other side of the road” thing is even more strange than I expected. Every time we took a turn, I flinched because I was convinced we were going to get into an accident. It was a bizarre experience. The cabbie was a douche though; he didn’t know where the hostel was, so I gave him the address. We get on the street, and he tells us to look for the hostel. Then we get to the end of the street, and he pulls over, saying he doesn’t know where it is. He said there was just a pub up the street. That triggered my memory- I thought I recalled the hostel was above a pub, from the description given online. I told him that and he yelled at us for withholding information. When I explained I had never been to London before and arrived 45 minutes earlier, he still claimed I should have told him it was above the pub and he could have gotten us there faster (meanwhile, as he is pulled over the meter is still running). First of all, I forgot about that, since I’ve never been to the hostel before. Second, it’s not my job to know where places are in London. That is his job, and that is what we are paying him to do. So I was pretty pissed at this point so there was no tip for him.

We checked into the hostel, which had kept reception open late for us. We went up to our room, where our dorm mates were sleeping. So we quickly made up the beds in the dark and went to bed. By far, this was the worst bed we spent in for the whole trip. The bed wasn’t long enough, the mattress completely dipped into the center, and it was just incredibly uncomfortable. The pillow also sucked. Luckily, I was tired enough to fall fast asleep.

Tomorrow: America.

Today was really our last full day of the Eurotrip. We have all day tomorrow too, but we will be traveling from Dubrovnik to London, which is just an overnight layover until our flight Saturday. So since this is the last day we will be spending not in transit, we wanted to make the most of it. It ended up being such a good day, and cemented Dubrovnik’s place in my personal top 4 of all the places we have visited.

Anyways, the day got started when I woke up around 8 am, when I heard Scott’s alarm go off. I knew he wanted to get up early to blog on the terrace, so after about 5 seconds of contemplation of getting up early, I went back to sleep. That was a good decision because when Scott woke me up an hour later, he had a surprise waiting: breakfast in bed! We had bought eggs the previous night to make breakfast this morning, but he had it all prepared when I woke up, and had cereal, milk, eggs, and iced coffee waiting on a tray for me. We ate sitting my bed. It was a very thoughtful surprise and an excellent start to the day. After breakfast, we got ready for a busy day ahead. 

We started off by taking the bus to Old Town, which took about 15 minutes. The Old Town of Dubrovnik is where the bulk of the tourist attractions in Dubrovnik are located, and it is completely pedestrian only. It is marked by fortified walls that surround the town. These walls were built in the 15^th century as protection again the Ottoman Empire, but they were never needed until the Balkan Wars. In October 1991, the Serbian army attacked Dubrovnik, to the complete shock of the citizens living there. The walls managed to protect those living there for 8 months, until the Croatian Army was able to arrive and fight off the Serbs. The walls still remain today, and now tourists can “enter” the walls and walk along them. Once Scott and I got a look at the walls and forts towering over us, we knew we needed to walk them. The walk also promised impressive views of both Old Town and the sea along the way.

We got off the bus and started into Town. Immediately, we had to walk down an incredibly steep set of stairs. We got in line to buy tickets, which were 70 kunas. However, I asked if there was a student discount even though no information indicated otherwise, and to our great surprise there was- and tickets were only 30 kunas each! Scott and I thus skipped to walk the walls. At first, there is a steep climb to get back above the city, but for the most part the walk only had gradual climbs and descents. The walls are about a mile and a quarter, and it took us about an hour and a half to complete the walk. There were tons of places to stop along the way to take pictures. A couple things stand out. First, the sea of orange tiled houses of every single house in Old Town is incredible to see. During the war, nearly two thirds of Dubrovnik’s buildings were shelled and needed their roofs replaced after the war. You can clearly see which roofs are newer, and which are the old roofs that survived the war. The roofs that were replaced were still the same terra cotta rooftops that were there before. Thus, everything in Old Town looks as it did before the war, but I’m sure those that lived through it won’t ever forget what happened there. You could still see some damaged buildings that were never rebuilt, but for the most part the town was quickly put back together because so much of its wealth derives from tourism.

Second, the views of the water were beautiful. You could clearly see the beautiful blue-green color of the water and the nearby islands in the distance. Looking down at the rocks below, you could see people laying out sunbathing and kids jumping off the rocks into the water. The marina was packed with boats coming and going. At many points during the walk, you could see both the rooftops of the Old Town, and the ocean in the background. This made a very striking view, so I was taking as many pictures as possible. 

Finally, from the top of the walls you could clearly see the narrow little streets that lead into the center of the town. Most of these streets were incredibly steep as they go downhill. Just walking around town provides exercise for those that live here. I also really like that the Old Town is pedestrian only, like so many other squares and centers we visited in Europe. It’s so much more peaceful and easier to see the sites if you don’t have to worry about cars and buses. It’s also much quieter and has much less pollution, and overall it’s a much more pleasant experience. There were tons of shops and restaurants throughout the town, and I’d much rather take my time strolling around these streets than ones full of noisy vehicles.

After walking the walls, Scott and I descended into town and got lunch from a supermarket. We ate on the steps of the Cathedral, which we entered after eating to take a quick look around. After, we had to decide what to do with the rest of our day. We had originally planned to go to the beach at a nearby island. After thinking about it, however, we decided just to go to the beach in Old Town because it was much more convenient. Before doing that, however, we wanted to take the cable car to Mount Srd, which boasts some of the best panoramic views of the city. It was also the first place bombed during the war because of its strategic position overlooking the city. We made the quick trip up in the cable car, and got our to explore. The views were stunning. You could see over mountains (which many other giant mountain ranges behind us), straight into the whole city of Dubrovnik and out overlooking the sea. Dubrovnik is actually much larger than I was expecting, and it looked beautiful at every point we looked at it. We wandered around for about a half hour, trying to take the best pictures. Mostly, I just stared out in awe at what was in front of me.

We took the cable car back down and then walked to the beach. We were excited to find that the beach in Old Town was mostly very small pebbles and even a little sand! We were incredibly hot and sweaty, as it was a very hot and sunny day out and we had been trekking across the walls, which offered no shade. We immediately took turns running in the water to cool off, and then alternated between tanning, reading, and swimming for the next 3 hours or so. The water was not as clear or clean as other beaches we had been, but it was refreshing and felt good after all the walking we did early. 

At about 5:30, we decided to head to the restroom to get changed up. Since it was our last official night of the Eurotrip, we were going to have a nice dinner in celebration. Earlier in the day, we had found a seafood place that looked good and the prices were within our budget, so we headed back there. We sat down and ordered our food: spaghetti with shellfish for me, chicken risotto for Scott. The food was delicious and all throughout dinner we reflected on the trip and talked about our favorite places and moments. It was interesting that we mostly agreed on a lot of the same things. Of course, we agreed that the trip was so much fun and such a worthwhile and priceless experience.

After dinner, we walked around the shops, buying gifts for our special someones. We got gelato, of course, and the weather was perfect for strolling around town for about an hour and a half. At about 8:30, we decided to catch the bus back to the guesthouse to shower and pack up. The trip is rapidly coming to a close. Tomorrow we are returning our smartcar, then relaxing at the beach until heading to the airport at 6 pm for our flight to London. I can’t believe in just 2 days we will be back in the USA. 

Today’s entry is going to be short, because we didn’t really do much today. After the day we had yesterday, we wanted nothing more to have a very lazy, even boring, day in Dubrovnik. We went to bed by midnight last night, and I was asleep the minute my head hit the pillow. I woke up at about 9:30 and looked to my left and Scotty was not there. Figuring he was outside on the terrace, I lounged in bed for a few more minutes as I more fully woke up. It was nice to actually wake up on my own for once, instead of an alarm clock or Scott shaking me awake. I joined him outside, where he was catching up on his blog. We had cereal for breakfast that we bought last night, and he went over some of the details that the owner had done over with him about Dubrovnik this morning while I was still sleeping. We decided to forego seeing the Old Town of Dubrovnik today and see it tomorrow, and to just relax on the beach today. The owner recommended a nearby beach that is not as crowded as the beaches in Old Town. Since we still have our rental car, it was an easy drive to a supermarket with free parking and then 10 minute walk to the beach.

We drove to the Tommy supermarket and the parking lot was absolutely packed. Apparently, everyone knows you can park there when you go to the beach. However, Scott immediately spotted a very small spot right when you drive in. In any other car, it would have been impossible to park in the small. Luckily, we had the Smartcar, and he maneuvered us in. We made a quick stop in the supermarket for sandwich supplies and water and then we headed down to the beach.

After 10 minutes, the beach came into view. It was another gorgeous site- blue-green water stretching out in front of us with cliffs rising up on three sides of us. Again, you could see houses and hotels built into the sides of the cliffs, and behind them there are even larger mountains. We noticed several rocky beaches to our left, but they looked pretty crowded. Scott said the hotel owner recommended we walk to the right. We started off, in search of another beach. After about 30 minutes of walking, we still had not come across a beach like we were expecting. There were lots of stairs that led down to rocks that people were laying out on, or cement platforms that had chairs set up for people to lay down on, but not a legitimate beach. So either we misunderstood the owner, or he meant the rocks were in fact a beach, but either way we decided just to head back to the beaches when we first walked in. It was hot out, and I wanted to lay out in the sun. Fortunately, however, I got some great picture of the view as we were walking along the coast.

We staked out a spot on the crowded beach and started baking in the sun. Since it was so hot, I immediately went in the water to cool off and then Scott went for a swim. It’s annoying that because there are only 2 of us, we have to switch off going in the water because one of us needs to watch our stuff. In some other places, we felt safe leaving things on the beach to swim together (we never carry our passports, and only take small amounts of cash with us) but the owner yesterday had told us not to carry a lot of cash or passports, because while Dubrovnik is usually very safe, it is August and there are a lot more people here than usual. Actually, he made a crack about southern Italians visiting and thus we needed to watch our stuff closely, which I didn’t appreciate too much seeing as my family is from Southern Italy, but either way it didn’t seem safe to leave our stuff unattended. 

Thus, for the rest of the day we took turns laying out in the sun and reading, and swimming. The water was very refreshing- cooler than other places we have been, but that meant it actually cooled you off when you went in. We stayed on the beach until about 6:30 or so, and then decided it was time to head back for dinner. On the way, we stopped for gelato. We got back to the car and went into the supermarket to get dinner supplies. Once back at the guesthouse, Scott made an awesome meal: bacon and onion burgers with potatoes. It was absolutely delicious; I like that we have expanded our meals from just pasta. Even though Scott’s pasta is really good, we have eaten a lot of pasta on this trip. This was something new, and as usual Scott cooked it to perfection. Tomorrow night is our last real night of the trip, so we are going out to dinner to celebrate.

Anyways right now we are in our room. Scott is singing songs from some musical as I blog and soon we’ll each take a shower and probably go to bed. It was a really relaxing day, but the sun wore us out. Tomorrow we will be exploring Dubrovnik’s Old Town and then going to a nearby island. 

Today can only be described by one word: challenging. Or frustrating. Or irritanting. Take your pick. Scott and I faced a number of challenges today that we weren’t prepared for, because you really couldn’t expect to have a day like we had today. I guess we were due for a long, stressful day because the trip has largely been not been stressful. Sure, there have been stressful moments, but never full days. We have been lucky to travel relatively easily; we haven’t gotten significantly lost or missed a train or plane, or spent unnecessary time getting from one place to the other. Only a few days could really be called “travel” days; mostly we traveled in the morning and arrived at our destination with time to sightsee in the afternoon. Today was supposed to be one of those days. It ended up very differently.

Our tale begins with a 5:30 am alarm, and Scott and I quickly got ready and left. We had to be at the ferry office by 6 and we hoped to get on the 6:30 am fast ferry to Split. That would put us in Split at 7:30 am and once we got to the car, we had a 4 hour drive to Dubrovnik. We would get there at lunchtime and have the whole afternoon!

Wrong.

We were able to purchase the ferry tickets no problem. We considered that a good omen for the rest of the day. Little did we know it was all about to go downhill from there. In the meantime, we got a pastry each for breakfast and then sat by the dock. Luckily, we had entertainment. Right on the marina is a very popular bar in Hvar called Carpe Diem. The bar has to close at 1:30 am, so at that time, they start putting people on water taxis and taking them to nearby islands, where they host a party with DJs that lasts until 6 am. So Scott and I were at the marina to see the last partiers stumble back from the island. It was hilarious watching them all try to stand straight and attempt to walk back to their hostels or hotels.

We got on the ferry and sat down. The ferry had 2 floors of seats, designed like in an airplane. I didn’t really enjoy the ride; it was pretty bumpy and because it was a fast ferry, I could feel the movements of the ocean a lot more. I also didn’t like that we were all sitting in rows and couldn’t move around; there also was no outdoor seating. Luckily, it was only an hour long and we arrived in Split at 7:30. There, we ran into problems. Scott could not find the car keys in his daypack. We sat down on a bench as he went through his stuff, not recalling where it was. I remembered seeing the keys on his bed the first night in Hvar; I was sitting on his bed using his computer and mentioned the keys were sitting there, which he acknowledged. He thought he had put the keys in his daypack with a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff the next morning when we switched hostels. But after going through his entire bag, and mine, we did not have the keys, and he couldn’t remember the last time he saw them. We figured the keys were somewhere back in Hvar.

We called the villa we stayed at the first night to ask if any keys had been turned in (pay attention to that particular question we asked). We decided to walk back to the car, get the rental car number off the front of the car (where it is plastered on), and start making phone calls. Of course, it was only 8 am, and most offices in Europe are not open at this time. We found out the Split Smartcar office opened at 10. We could not get anybody on the phone from the car rental company, so we headed to the tourist office to get the address and directions to the office in Split. At this point, I became extremely frustrated because the line in the tourist office was very long, and there was only one person working. That seemed ludicrous to me- only one person there to answer the millions of questions about ferries, buses, accommodations, etc? This office was located right on the marina- so the busiest part of Split. And no one to actually assist those who need help. Then, a couple in front of us literally took 20 minutes as the guy tried to find them accommodations in another island. I literally wanted to scream because they actually could find a place to stay themselves if they looked online for 2 seconds. But after 45 minutes of waiting, we asked for the address (since online did not provide one). The guy had no clue what we were talking about. He made a phone call, and luckily that person knew what we were looking for. He drew the route for us on the map, and we headed out.

We found the square that the office was supposed to be, no problem. But we could not find the office anywhere. We sat down with our stuff and Scott was finally able to get in touch with someone at the office in Zagreb we rented the car from. We were distressed to learn it would cost 200 euro to replace the key, and they would have to send us another key from Zagreb to Split. That bus ride was 6 hours. So the key wouldn’t arrive until late afternoon, depending on the unpredictable bus timetable. At that point, Scott’s phone died. He plugged it last night to charge, but for some reason it didn’t charge. At that point, we knew we needed a phone to be able to do anything, so we set off to try somewhere to charge the phone. Luckily, an extremely nice woman at the internet café let us charge the phone.

At this point, Scott and I were convinced it was left behind at the hostel. I figured it was likely the key had fallen off of Scott’s bed at the first night in Hvar, and it was somewhere there. Remember, when we called the first time, we only asked if the key had been turned in. So Scott called the owner back and asked if the area around the beds could be searched. She said she would call back in a half hour. When she did 20 minutes later, Scott and I were thrilled- they found the key. We asked if she could put it on the next ferry to Split, which she was happy to do. The key would be on the 1:45 ferry, arriving to us at 2:45.

At this point, it was only 11:30, so we left Scott’s phone at the internet café to charge and put our bags in storage, and set off to walk around Split. I had wanted to see Split on this trip anyways, so we wanted to make the most of our unexpected time in Split. We spent about an hour and a half exploring. We saw many parts of Diocletian’s Palace, who was a Roman ruler who built a huge palace and square during his reign. When the modern city of Split was built, it literally built right on the old palace. So many of the ruins of the palace remain, and these coexist side by side with modern buildings. It was really cool to see, for example, normal buildings right next to the remains of an ancient tower. We also walked through the outdoor market, which is absolutely huge, and then did some poking around regular stores. We got stuff to make sandwiches from the supermarket, and today Scott was the sandwich maker (my usual job) and they were really good- very fresh meat and bread. After we just decided to hang out in a small park area to get out of the sun and relax.

At 2:30 Scot went to go get the key from the ferry while I stayed with the bags. I finished my book and just hung out. And then started to get worried when he hadn’t returned by 3:30- the ferry was due to arrive at 2:45. Since I don’t have a phone, I couldn’t get in touch with him so I just sat and waited. Finally, he arrived, with the key. The ferry had been 30 minutes late and then it took some time to track down the location of the key. But he had it, and we headed to the car.

Once we got there, we got the next unexpected surprise of the day. The battery was dead. We had no clue why- we didn’t leave the lights on or a door open, or anything. Scott went to talk to the parking attendant at the lot we were at to see if he had jumper cables. There was a mechanic located right next door- but he didn’t have any. What kind of mechanic doesn’t have jumper cables? But the attendant was able to locate some for us from down the street. We had a car to use to jump our car, but we could not put the car into neutral to back the car out. The jumper cables were not long enough to stretch from where our battery was (under the floorboard on the passenger side) to the other car. Luckily, the mechanic from down the street came down, attached a battery to our car, used it to put the car in neutral so it could be pushed out. We then successfully jumped the car, and we were off.

It was now 4:30. If we ran into no more problems the rest of the day (a big if, given how the day was going), we could be in Dubrovnik by 8:30. We started on the road, exhausted, but grateful to be heading to Dubrovnik and not having to pay for a new key. The parking attendant didn’t even charge us for the extra hours we spent in the lot. They were so nice and helpful. Anyways, we started for Dubrovnik, and once again everything was very well signed and easy to follow. The drive was very interesting, however. First we left Split behind us, and had to get to the highway. This involved driving through a mountain range to get to the other side, where the highway was. We were driving up to an enormous mountain towering over the car, and Scott just smiled and said: “We’re going up that!” It was a very windy and twisty ride, of course, with very narrow roads. Scott maneuvered the Smartcar perfectly, however. While we were at the top, we were rewarded with amazing views of both the mountain range, with deep plunging valleys, and the sea in the background. It was a stunning image, and Scott remembered this was the mountain he went to with his family a couple years ago when their ship docked in Split for the day. So that was cool- obviously, he never expected to be in that same spot again.

We made it to the highway, and I was relieved to have straight roads for a while. By then, another crisis was brewing: we were running low on gas. We still had about a 1/3 of a tank of gas, but we needed to get some before we entered Bosnia. The road to Dubrovnik runs through Bosnia for some time, before reentering Croatia. The rental agency told us it was fine to drive on this road, but not to go into Bosnia’s towns. Because of the war, they didn’t want anyone to see the “Croatia” license plates. While I didn’t really think we were in any danger, I know Scott was nervous about getting gas in time. The problem was the highway from Split to Dubrovnik is still being built (it isn’t finished yet) so there is not one gas station on the entire stretch of the highway.

I could see Scott getting very anxious next to me and tensing up at the wheel. I tried to make him feel better by serenading him with some Keith Urban, but he just told me to stop singing. Hmph. Anyways just when we were getting really nervous, the highway ended and we asked the lady collecting our toll where the next gas station was. She clearly was used to getting this question; we were relieved to hear it was only 8 km away. We made it there no problem and filled up.

The last 2 hours of the drive was a very windy road, up and down through mountains and cliffs, and along the water. We saw some absolutely beautiful views along the way, though. I was a little nervous about border control, but the Bosnian control just waved us through without even looking at our passports. The Croatian border control actually had us stop and looked at the passports, but there were no problems at all. We continued on the drive; again, we saw beautiful views along the way. I can’t really describe how stunning the scenery was. For being so close to sea level, it was very forested and green. The views of the villages perched on the cliffs down near the sea was beautiful, as usual. The sunset was gorgeous as well, with the sky a mixture of soft pinks and purples.

We finally arrived in Dubrovnik, and we were treated to an amazing nighttime view of the city as we drove in. I can already tell Dubrovnik is going to rival Santorini and Cinque Terre in terms of its beauty. The cliffs just straight down to the harbor, with the city literally built into them. Everything was lit up at night, which only made the picture more memorable. We found our hostel, and once we learned the supermarket was closing in 20 minutes, we just parked the car and started running.

It was a 5 steep downhill jog to the supermarket, where we got supplies for breakfast during our stay, and dinner tonight. We then had to make the very difficult climb back up to the villa, but we made it. We checked into our room, which is really nice. The kitchen area especially is gorgeous, and it’s very tastefully decorated. Definitely the nicest place we have stayed at. Scott started cooking dinner- pasta and chicken in a lemon garlic sauce. As usual, it was amazing. He also made some sangria; after today, we definitely needed a drink.

I’m about to shower now and get to bed. Even though today was a really challenging day, we persevered through it and got to Dubrovnik. I was definitely very frustrated and anxious today, as was Scott, but we kept our cool when it mattered. Every time we had a problem, we solved it. And we got to see some of Split in the meantime. It was a long day, but now we have 3 days to relax and enjoy Dubrovnik!

We were up pretty late last night, but still rose early this morning. Scott got up before I did to blog on the terrace, and I work up around 9 on my own and joined him. We had to check out of our hostel by 10 am and switch to our new hostel, which was less than a 5minute walk away. Our new hostel was also very nice; we weren’t able to check in since it was only 10 am, so we dropped our bags off and headed to the beach for the whole day. The sun was shining without a cloud in the sky and it was already hot out, so I was excited for the day. 

We walked around the marina trying to find a suitable beach. Hvar doesn’t haven’t any sand beaches, and really doesn’t have a lot of pebbly beaches either. Mostly, the “beaches” are large rocks with lounge chairs on them. We went to one such spot yesterday, but Scott and I wanted something nicer since we were planning on being at the beach all day. Also, the day before Scott had kicked a sea urchin when climbing on the rocks, and it was very painful. He didn’t want to return to the rocky area because their likely would be more sea urchins there, and he already was having a lot of difficulty walking. After walking along the water for a while, we came to a large pebble beach that had some free space for people to put down towels. Scott and I staked a spot close to the water’s edge and settled down. We weren’t sure if we were allowed to be there, since there were several large luxury hotels located right on the water, and the beach might have been only for their guests. But we just went on the beach, and nobody told us to leave, so I guess it was okay. 

We stayed there for a couple hours, baking in the sun, listening to music, and reading. I had bought The Runaway Jury in the Paris airport last week and have been engrossed in that novel. Scott went swimming for a bit, and luckily did not suffer any injuries today. I went in the water briefly; as I said yesterday, I think the Adriatic has the prettiest water of all the places we’ve seen, but it also has the coldest. It was refreshing, but I got out quickly to return to the warmth of the sun’s rays. At about 1, we were hungry and decided to head back towards the marina area. We went to the supermarket and bought stuff for sandwiches. The bread was pretty terrible though, so lunch was disappointing. Since it was a long walk back to the beach we were at, we decided to go to the very small pebbly beach just off the marina, the closest beach to the hostel. We managed to find a small space of available beach to set down our towels, and we remained there for the rest of the afternoon. We both burned a little today, but I was glad because I tried to keep my sunglasses off today and now my raccoon eyes don’t look as bad. 

At 5, Scott was ready to head back so he went to check us into our new hotel, and planned to pick me up on the way back. He checked us into the room, and apparently the owner thought we were a couple- asking him “Where’s your girl?” It was pretty funny- check Scott’s blog for more details on that conversation. Anyways at 6, Scott returned and we went to the ferry office to buy our ferry tickets tomorrow. The woman at the ferry office explained that the fast ferry from Hvar town leaving at 6:30 am was already sold out, but they often have tickets available on the morning of the ferry. She suggested we arrive at 6 am tomorrow to see if there are any tickets for that ferry. If not, we would have no problem buying tickets for the 7:45 am ferry to Split from Stari Grad (another town on the island; we would have to catch the 7 am bus). Even though arriving at the ticket office at 6 am was very early, it was definitely preferable because it was faster than the later ferry from Stari Grad, and cheaper as well.

Our next stop was the supermarket, where we wanted to buy something new for dinner. We decided on steak and fried potatoes, plus we still had some leftover tortellini from the previous night. We ran into a little trouble at the supermarket because we obviously cannot read Croatian, so it was hard to figure out if what we were buying was actually steak. But we selected our food and headed back to the hostel so Scott could cook. We ran into a huge problem when we found out the oven was broken. Scott was able to cook the pasta and potatoes no problem on the stove, but we had to use this mini panini type grill to cook the steaks. We actually don’t think they were steak- we think it was pork instead. Either way, the pasta and potatoes were excellent, and the meat was pretty good as well. Given that Scott cooked the meal using only instincts, it was really, really good. The meal was also supplemented with some good Croatian rum (and Coke Zero, which is what they consider Diet Coke). It’s a sweet rum, but strong enough we both got a nice buzz after a couple drinks.

 After dinner we showered and then went into town for gelato (actually, our second gelato of the day). We walked around town again, listened for a while to the live music playing on the square, and did some shopping in the little gift shops set up along the harbor. We decided to call it a night early because we both wanted to do some blogging before bed, and needed to pack as well. Scott’s alarm was set for 5:30 am tomorrow morning, so we said our goodnights at 11:30. 

Dubrovnik, Croatia, here we come. 

Today was going to be a busy day of traveling because we were heading to Hvar, an island off the coast of Split, Croatia. Initially we were going to spend these 2 nights in Split, but Scott had been to Split before, and even though his visit was brief he didn’t remember much worth visiting. We had gotten several recommendations on our travels to go to Hvar, so we changed our plans about 10 days ago. I was very excited for beach time, and expected Hvar to be gorgeous. 

We wanted to arrive in Hvar as soon as possible, but that proved to be difficult because of the ferry times leaving Split. There was a ferry leaving at 11 am or a ferry leaving at 2:30. While we wanted to be on the earlier ferry, logistically it didn’t work out. We had a 3 hour drive from Plitvice to Split, and we needed to figure out where we would park our car for 2 nights. We also needed to buy tickets. We toyed with the idea of leaving Plitvice at 7 am, but the night before we were unable to find the owners of the villa to pay them. Since they were expecting us for breakfast at 8:15 am the next morning, we decided just to take the later ferry because that way we would not have to rush.

So Scott woke me up at 8, we packed up, and ate breakfast. We were on the road shortly before 9. A quick stop at the market provided us with sandwich fixings for lunch, and we started the drive to Split. Once again, this proved to be very easy given the good quality of the roads and the extensive signs pointing you exactly where you want to go. We arrived in Split shortly before noon, and had to decide where to park. We drove towards the port, hoping to find a lot as close to there as possible. A young woman directing traffic at the port proved helpful. She pointed us in the direction of the parking lot, but warned it might be full. Sure enough it was. Since it was a one-way street we had to keep driving. We weren’t sure what the next move would be, but we saw a blue “P” sign and checked that parking lot out. We immediately were thrilled to learn we could park for 2 days, at a very reasonable (actually, pretty cheap) price.

Parking was thus taken care of much quicker than we expected. It was then time to buy tickets for the ferry. Luckily, the ticket booth is right by the port and we had no trouble getting a ticket for the 2:30 ferry. Since we were literally standing right in front of where the boat would leave from, Scott and I decided to just to sit on a bench facing the port and eat our lunch. It was a beautiful day out, so it was nice to be in the sun, and I love just staring out at the ocean. 

Soon it was 2 and we boarded the ship for our 2:30 pm departure. Luckily this boat had outdoor seating, and we snagged a good spot to camp out for the next hour and a half. The ride went smoothly; mostly, Scott and I just listened to music, and he did some blogging. Unlike the ferry ride to Santorini, we never really entered the open sea, given that Hvar is so close to the mainland of Croatia. Thus, other islands were constantly in view, making the trip there very scenic. The only problem with the ferry ride was the fact that nearly everyone around us was chain smoking the entire trip. Scott and I constantly had other people’s smoke blowing in our faces, and it was disgusting. The number one issue I have with Europe is the fact that so many more people smoke, and it’s allowed in public settings. It’s really awful and I can’t believe people are just allowed to blow secondhand smoke in other’s faces like that. I mean, I saw people smoking at the Plitvice National Lakes Park! Ugh. Europe is so enivornmentally conscious compared to the US and generally much more concerned with being “green” which I think it awesome, but something simple like preventing smoking in restaurants, parks, and bars they don’t do. It’s mind-boggling.

Anyways. We got to Stari Grad, which is a town on the island, and had to take a bus to Hvar Town, where we would be staying. Luckily the buses are timed to meet the incoming ferries, so it was very easy to get on the bus and we arrived in Hvar after a 20 minute ride. We arrived at the bus station and after a 10 minute walk, we arrived at our hostel for the night. Because we booked the Hvar trip so late, we were unable to find a cheap place to stay for both nights. So we are in one hostel one night and then have to transfer to another one tomorrow that is close by. Our hostel is really nice with a very cool outdoor terrace patio and bar. We are in a 10 bed dorm, and the beds are absolutely crammed together. I can barely fit in the space between me and Scott’s bunk beds and the ones next to us. But it’s clean and the bathroom was huge and spotless, so it’s fine. Unfortunately for Scott, he was once again the only boy in the room (with 9 girls).

It was about 5 pm so we decided to relax on the beach for a couple hours. We walked around town for a bit to check things out, and just decided to sit on the chairs that were placed on the large rocks. Hvar is really pretty. All of the houses are cream-colored with terra cotta roofs, and there are a lot of flowers everywhere. Hvar is known for its lavender, apparently. There were lots of boats in the marina, and everyone was concentrated on the beaches, shops, bars, and restaurants that surround the marina. The sea is incredibly clear, with very blue-green water. I think of all the seas we have seen on this trip, the Adriatic is the most striking and beautiful. While Scott went for a swim, I was content just to stare out at the sea in front of me.

After relaxing and reading for a couple hours, we watched the sunset at 8pm and then headed to the supermarket to buy food for dinner. We decided on tortellini with meat sauce; I was excited because tortellini is my favorite food and Scott’s meat sauce with added hamburger meat, onions, and peppers is really good. We got all the food and went back to the hostel, where Scott whipped up the meal. We ate on the outdoor terrace, and it was delicious as usual. As we ate, we reflected on the trip as the whole and talked about how we were looking forward to the last 5 days. We knew Hvar and Dubrovnik would be a great- and relaxing- end to the trip. 

We showered and decided to go out. Unfortunately, Hvar is extremely expensive. It is, after all, a resort town. So we finished the sangria that Djuro and Ljubica had bought us, and then did some window shopping at all of the cute outdoor shops/stands along the harbor. We got delicious gelato- of course- and enjoyed walking around. It seemed like everyone was out partying; Hvar would definitely be an awesome place to be if you were with a large group of friends and had money to spend. At about 1 am, we decided to go back to the hostel and get some sleep. 

Full day of beaching it in Hvar tomorrow. 

Today was one of the days I had been looking forward too. During the winter, when I was planning our trip, a classmate gave me the web site of a friend who is a photographer. She explained he took some amazing pictures of Croatia that I should take a look at since it was one of the stops on our trip. When I looked at the pictures, I noticed several were of the Plitvice Lakes National Park. The photos were stunning, and I immediately emailed Scott to suggest we put Plitvice on the Croatia itinerary, and he immediately agreed. The Plitvice Lakes National Park consists of 16 lakes surrounded by 3 mountains and numerous large waterfalls. It is also well known for the brilliantly clear color of its lakes, and is home to many species of plants and animals. The Plitvice Lakes are also historically important because the first shots of the Yugoslavian War were fired there; in fact, a park ranger was the first casualty of the war. The Serbian Army occupied the park for many years before the Croatian Army was able to take it over. Starting in 2000, however, the park began to attract tourists once again as it was rebuilt. It’s a very popular tourist destination for European travelers, but relatively few Americans know about the park. Luckily, Scott and I were “in the know” because it was going to be an amazing day.

We woke up at 9 am because we had to pack our bags and check out of the hostel in Zagreb by 10. Our roommates for the night, we were asleep when we got back from Osijek, were still sleeping when we woke up so we had to take our stuff out in the hall to pack. It took about 40 minutes for us to get everything together and to get dressed for the day, but then we were off shortly before 10. We had about a 2 hr drive to Plitvice, and one again there were no problems. Today, when we were going through the tolls, there were police out directing traffic. It went much more efficiently and quickly than it did the previous night.

We arrived at the park shortly before noon and we found the villa we were staying in for the night. It was a cozy little room but had plenty of room for the two of us- though Scott and I would once again be sharing a bed. The owner’s wife brought us each a welcome shot. Scott and I received different shots, however- mine was cherry flavored and very weak (I could barely taste any alcohol) whereas Scott’s was very strong (though both shots were very small anyways). After we had our shots, we headed to the supermarket to buy bread, lunch meat, and apples for lunch. We ate in the car and drove to the park.

We were told we could park for free at one of the hotels at the park, but that proved to be false information. Luckily, the parking at the park was very reasonable, and even though the lot was technically full, because we had the Smartcar we were able to find a spot to squeeze into. We had to wait in line for about 20 minutes, but we got our tickets and had the entire afternoon ahead of us to explore the park.

The park has about 10 trails that you can hike to explore the lakes and waterfalls; there are also shuttle buses and boats that connect different parts of the lakes together. The park can be divided into two main sections- the Upper Lakes, and the Lower Lakes. Scott and I decided to follow the advice of Danielle and Amber, the Canadian sisters we met in Zagreb. They told us to follow paths F and C and that would allow us to get a good taste of each section of the park. We started off by following path F, and took two boats across the lake and started to hike back the way we came. After, we would take path C to see the opposite side of the park, and then take the shuttle bus back to the entrance and parking lot. Satisfied with our plan, Scott and I set off.

The park is absolutely incredible. Everywhere you looked there was lush, green vegetation and mountains looming in the background. The day had started off overcast and cool, and some raindrops threatened to make it a very wet day. By the time we arrived at the park, however, the sun was shining, making everything bright and vivacious. It’s hard to describe the specifics of what we saw, because I can’t really put my feelings and thoughts into words that would accurately describe what I saw. I took 250 pictures, however, so I will be able to remember and relive those memories. There are three really cool things about the park, however, that I want to share. 

First, the water was the clearest blue I have ever seen in my life. In fact, I commented to Scott, the water was so blue it was green. You could see right through the water to the bottom of the lakes in most places. There were also lots of fish swimming around, and we saw ducks as well. There is no swimming allowed in the lakes, which was disappointing, especially for Scott. It seemed like it would be pretty easy just to jump in the lakes because there did not seem to be any park rangers that I noticed, and most of the hiking trail did not have hand rails (even in places that it would be dangerous if someone tripped or slipped, because they would be falling down a small cliff or into a waterfall). Nevertheless, we were unable to swim. I think they do not allow swimming so that they could maintain the purity of the water; a lot of people would contaminate it, especially wearing all different lotions and oils. While it would have been absolutely amazing to swim in the lakes, it was worth just looking at the brilliant blue-green expanse of water in front of me. 

Second, the hiking trails added to the experience. While in many stops they were just regular hiking trails, in others wooden planks had been hastily thrown together and built over streams, lakes, and waterfalls. It was incredible to hear the rushing water and realize it was rushing downstream directly under your feet. In many spots, the water was spilling over slightly onto the walking trail. This was very cool, once I was certain the walking path wasn’t going to fall apart on me.

Third, the waterfalls are amazing. You see several waterfalls that are spliced out over the park that all lead to the Big Waterfall (that is literally the name of the waterfall. Either than, or the name just doesn’t translate to English). Anyways, it was really amazing to be so up close to the waterfalls- they are amazing. I have a lot of pictures that I will share because those do the waterfalls more justice than I can do explaining them. The sun was at an awkward angle at this time of day, however, so those washed some of my photos out and made it difficult to see. Nevertheless, it was truly awesome to see. I had seen pictures of The Big Waterfall online, but it’s wonderful to see them in person. 

Those were just my three favorite aspects about the park; the whole experience was amazing. I would definitely go back one day and hike other trails. At about 7 pm, Scott and I were hungry and ready to leave the park. We paid for our parking and then went to a bistro near our villa that the owner recommended. The food was reasonably priced as expected and it was very good. Scott and I decided to get chocolate pancakes for desert, and those reminded him of the pancakes his grandmother makes. 

After dinner we returned to the villa, tired but very happy. The past two days of the trip could not have been more different from each other, but both were wonderful in their own unique ways. We each took showers and did some blogging, and then continued our ritual of giving each other backrubs. At 12:30, it was time to go to bed. We were off to the island of Hvar in the morning! 

Today was a different type of day for us. Instead of visiting a museum or archeological ruins, or going to the beach,. Scott and I were traveling to Osijek, Croatia, a city about three hours away, and then onto Plavna, Serbia. In Osijek, we would be touring the library named after his grandparents that was dedicated in 2006. In Osijek, we would be meeting up with some of Scott’s family, who would then be taking us to Plavna, Serbia, a town where Scott’s grandmother lived when she was 4-10 years old. Understandably, Scott was very excited to see his family, who had visited him about 8 years ago. He had been unable to go to Croatia in 2006 when the library was dedicated to his grandparents (other members of his family made the trip) and he was disappointed to this point he had yet to visit Croatia. This was a very special and unique opportunity for him. I was excited to do something different for a day and to see towns that I likely never would have had the opportunity to see. Scott had been trying to plan this day for several weeks now, which proved difficult. His grandmother basically went back and forth between Scott and his relatives, trying to make everything work out. Up until yesterday, we thought we would have to take a bus to Osijek, which was making planning very difficult. We also did not have a lot of time to spend with his family, because we were only in Zagreb for 2 days. Once we got the car yesterday, Scott was relieved he could make the phone call to his grandmother to tell his relatives we were going to Osijek the following day, and to expect us around noon.

Scott was still a little nervous about the trip, however, simply because he had not seen his family in 8 years, and was a bit anxious as to what to expect during the day. But naturally, everything would work out even better than we expected. The day started with us waking up early so we could be on the road by 8 am. We had breakfast and started the journey in our Smartcar! I was a bit nervous because I do not like riding in cars- I always feel sick. I much prefer to be in an SVU or truck. Secondly, I was worried about us getting lost in a foreign country and having difficulty getting to Osijek. I trusted Scott and his driving abilities, but it was a different experience than him driving me around in his Highlander back home. But the ride could not have gone smoother. The highways were incredibly well-signed so we knew we were going the right way the whole time. The car was also far roomier than I expected- we had tons of legroom and the ceiling of the car was not close to our heads like I anticipated. It felt just like being in a regular car- unless you looked behind you and realized that was the entire car.

Nevertheless, the car ride was a pleasant experience. My medicine made me sleepy as usual, so I dozed off and on for the three-hour drive. We got to Osijek at about 11:15. As we drove up, Scott told me to keep my eyes open for the library because he did not know what it looked like. It was very easily noticeable, however- a huge building with all glass windows that looked much more modern than its surroundings. It was very impressive looking, and when I looked at Scott any anxiety he had seemed to lift right off his shoulders, and excitement took its place. He called his contact in Osijek, who told us where to park behind the library and that we would be met by a woman named Maja, who was going to be showing us around. 

The Lena and George Hendrickson Library is part of a seminary in Osijek. In addition to the library, which also has classrooms, and the church itself, there are dorms for students and other offices in another building. Maja and Andrew met us and explained they both went to the seminary and now work for the school. The seminary has about 30 students that live in the dorms, and another 100 or so that commute and take classes. They showed us around the library, which is beautiful. It’s very bright and clean, with several floors stacked with books, and large tables for students to work on. The classrooms are really big, with very nice tables and chairs for the students- better than some of the classroom amenities at Dartmouth. It was interesting to notice that most of the books were in English; Maya and Andrew explained that most of the classes were in English as well, because the teachers come from the United States, so its necessary for the students to learn English. We also got a tour of the dorms as well, which were currently being remodeled, so things were a bit messy. Our guides explained the students were on vacation until October, when classes would start again.

During the tour, Scott’s family arrived- Djuro and Ljubica. Djuro and Scott’s grandmother Lena are cousins; Scott met Djuro and Ljubica when they visited the Hendrickson family 8 years ago. I immediately could tell they are warm, friendly people, as they greeted us with excited smiles and gave Scott hugs. While Ljubica does not speak English, Djuro is fluent so we had no problems communicating with him. After the tour, we got into Djuro’s car to head to their home in Plavna, Serbia, which was an hour and a half drive. On the drive over, there were relatively few awkward pauses: Djuro was full of questions about how Scott and his family were doing, and we were eager to ask questions about their background (after all, Scott has only met Djuro and Ljubica once before, so we wanted to learn about their life as well). We talked about our travels on the trip, and they kept telling us how happy they were we came to meet up with them today. We got through the Croatian-Serbian border, and after examining our passports, we passed through with no problems.

We soon arrived in Plavna, the town where Scott’s grandmother spent part of her childhood. At that time, Plavna was part of Hungary; therefore, Djuro pointed out the villages that were primarily comprised of Hungarians. Other villages were German. Since the end of the Balkan War, Plavna has been part of Serbia, but Djuro explained there are not really a lot of Serbians in the area. Throughout the entire day, Djuro gave us commentary on Croatian and Serbian history, as well as the Balkan War and the break-up of  Yugoslavia. He summed up the conflict with an incredibly insightful comment (which I think explains the nature of conflict and war in general): “We don’t hate each other. But everybody just wants to be right.” Given that I love politics and history, it was fascinating learning from Djuro today. I also found it interesting that Djuro and Ljubiza have both Croatian and Serbian passports, and use a different one depending on the situation. For example, in their travels today, they used their Serbian passports. However, when they went to the US, they used their Croatian passports because its far easier for Croatians to enter the US than Serbians (given the conflict in Kosovo, and Croatia’s more advanced development). 

As we drove through Serbia, I could clearly see the differences between Croatia and Serbia. Croatia received a lot more tourists than Serbia because of its coast. As a result, it is more developed and is preparing to join the European Union (which Djuro just called “joining Europe” which I thought was both a funny and intriguing comment). As Djuro said, “Serbia has more work to do.” The buildings were older and more decrepit, and there were fewer stores and restaurants in the towns we drove through. Most of the area we saw in Serbia was farmland; Djuro himself is a farmer. He grows corn and soybeans. Still, many of the houses in Serbia were painted in the same bright, cheerful colors as the ones I saw in Croatia. 

We arrived at Djuro and Ljubica’s house, and it immediately reminded me of my grandparent’s house (my dad’s). Not in appearance, but in both how the house smelt and felt: very warm, homey, and delicious- Ljubica was cooking us a feast. They have a very nice house, as Djuro gave us a tour of their kitchen, bedroom, and living room, and showed off pictures of his daughters (2), grandchildren (4), and great grandchildren (2 beautiful baby girls). 

Our lunch was ready quickly, which was good news as both Scott and I were very hungry. Ljubica made us so much food, and all of it was homemade. First, we started with delicious noodle soup, with hand-made noodles. After we each inhaled a bowl, the main course was brought out: roasted chicken with potatoes. With the chicken came a really sweet and delicious tomato sauce. We took our time eating lunch, as the conversation continued to flow between us. At times, Scott and I had to sit as Djuro translated so Ljubica could be part of the conversation. They were both so animated and eager to learn about our lives, and I really enjoyed our conversation. I also wish Scott and I spoke at least Croatian so that Ljubica could have participated in the conversation more, though she seemed content to sit back and listen to us talk. Even though she didn’t understand the words we were saying, she was very adept at picking up social cues and could guess what her husband was telling us. At one point in the conversation, Djuro was making a small joke about her (In English) when she started responding to him. When Scott and I turned and asked if she understood English, Djuro replied, “No, she just understands me,” and we all had a laugh at that. 

After lunch was finished, Scott and I were both full. But then Ljubica brought our desert: a cake topped with whipped cream and chocolate bits. We asked what it was, but they were unsure of the translation in English. So we just dug into our pieces of cake, and it tasted just like banana cream pie- with the addition of blackberries. It was incredible, and I tried to savor every bite. But of course, it was just too good so I ate it incredibly quickly while Scott took his time to truly enjoy it. I think we all know I don’t have that amount of patience.

After desert, Djuro took us on a tour of the property. He also has a garden at his house, where they grow all the food they use themselves. We noticed a small blue fruit hanging in the trees, and wondered what it was. Djuro told us to eat one, and we saw it was plums! The plums do not turn their typical red-purple color until you rub them up a bit; otherwise, they are blue. We saw their animals: turkeys, chickens, and roosters. I especially liked the roosters, especially one tall one that had a lot of attitude. We nicknamed him Sassy. There was a moment of sadness, however, when Scott and I realized the chicken we had just eaten for lunch had previously frolicked around the same pens as the chickens we currently saw. In fact, the chicken we ate was probably alive in the morning. According to Djuro, the chickens were looking at during that moment were just about ready to be slaughtered. Poor chickens…but on the other hand, she was delicious!

Ljubica made us coffee and Scott and I decided it was acceptable to have a second piece of cake for desert. We are on vacation, after all. Scott tried several times during the meal to help Ljubica clean up the kitchen, but each time she shushed him and said “No, No!” It was quite funny- once she lightly tapped his hand so he would drop the plate he was trying to clean from the table.

It was then time to leave their wonderful home so they could show us around Plavna before driving us back to Osijek. Before we left, they brought out gifts that they had bought us- a toiletry set of perfume, shower gel, and deodorant. It was incredibly thoughtful and I was especially touched they bought something for me even though we had never met before and I wasn’t even a family member. But it just speaks to the type of caring people they are.

They made many stops in town, showing us important places and giving us other interesting pieces of information about Yugoslavian history and the war. We saw the house that Djuro was born in and the houses of Scott’s grandmother’s friends. We went to a grocery store in Plavna so we could see their stores. To our surprise, it was stocked with a ton of American brands. It was a small store, but it truly had everything, even though Plavna is such a small village. As if they had not done enough for us, they insisted on sending us back to Osijek with some mini croissants, coffee, and a bottle of sangria.

He took us to the Tvrdava Bac Fortress, which was built in 1338 and ruins remain today. In fact, one tall tower is basically intact, which is amazing. Djuro also took us a beautiful park nearby on the Danube River, and we wished we had more time to spend to there. In addition, he was sure to show us beautiful views of the Danube and surrounding country from both the Serbian and Croatian side of the border (The Danube River splits the two countries). One last final stop was a drive through of the town of Vukovar, which was the main site of the war. The whole town was completely leveled during the war, so it had to be rebuilt. So we would see the new buildings in town, but then we saw the remains of buildings that were never rebuilt- buildings that have just completely fallen apart but nobody ever picked up the pieces. Many other buildings were crumbling and you could still see the bullet holes. It really made me think of how terrible the war must have been for those affected and involved. 

We arrived back in Osijek and were extremely sad to say goodbye to Djuro and Ljubica. They were so welcoming and friendly and I immediately felt at home with them. They gave us hugs goodbye and Scott and I reluctantly started the drive back to Zagreb. I was really happy this trip worked out, especially for Scott’s sake. I knew this was important to him and it could not have worked out better. For my sake, I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to meet Djuro and Ljubica.

The drive back to Zagreb took a little more than 3 hours. We ran into an absolutely insane thunder and lightening storm on the way back. It was raining so hard it was impossible to see out the windshield, and Scott had to pull over and put his hazards on. The lightening was so frequent and widespread it was lighting up the entire sky for seconds at a time. It was pretty cool to see, though it was kind of scary because we were worried about hydroplaning, and did not know how well the Smartcar handle the amount of rain that was pouring from the sky. Luckily, the worst stretch of it was only about 20 minutes long, and we passed through the worst of it. For the rest of the drive, we only ran into rain. Like I said, I completely trust Scott driving and knew he would get us through safely. We were making good time back to Zagreb, but then we reached the toll booth. Apparently, Croatians do not know how to navigate through the toll booth efficiently. Instead of getting in lines behind the lanes that were opened (about half were closed) everyone just drove up and then had to merge over into lanes that were open, trying to cut the line. Of course, this just makes the entire process slower and we had to wait 45 minutes to pay our toll. That was extremely frustrating, especially since at this point Scott and I had been in a car for about 10 hours in the day.

 We finally got back to the hostel and are exhausted. Time for bed and to go to the Plitvice National Lakes Park tomorrow! I’m definitely going to bed with a huge smile on my face tonight. 

As Scott commented in the mid-adfternoon, today was a bit of a lazy day, but it was definitely enjoyable. We slept in for the first time in quite a while, as we got up by 9 pretty much every day we were in France so we could eat the free breakfast. However, there isnt breakfast at this hostel, so we slept in until 10:30. Scott woke up earlier, but he was nice and let me sleep. It was definitely needed as traveling can be really exhausting at times, especially when you are changing cities. Anyways our first stop was the supermarket, which was about 15 minutes away. We needed to stock up on necessities. First, Scott needed deoderant. Even though we are in Europe, we cannot have a smelly Scott. We got yogurt and apples for breakfast for the next 2 mornings, a 6 pack of large water bottles (Notes: this is the first time we have bought water in bulk. We have just been reusing water bottles and replacing them every few days, and filling up with tap water. We’ve had no problems with the drinking water, but the girls staying in our room said they got sick off the water in another city in Croatia. We decided it was not worth the risk of getting sick and we are just going to stick to bottled water while we are here), a small bottle of Coke, bread and lunch meat to make sandwiches for lunch today, and food for dinner: pasta, tomato sause, chicken, and a pepper and onion to add to the sause. All of this food only cost us 10 euros each- which is amazing. We’re going to be eating great for barely any money at all, thanks to Scott’s excellent cooking.

After dropping the food off at the hostel, we headed out to try to rent a car. About a week ago, we decided it was going to be significantly easier for us to get to the Plitvice National Lakes Park, where we will be on Saturday. Then we would move onto Split from the lakes on Sunday, and continue to the island of Hvar, which is less than 2 hours by ferry. We were running into huge problems with the bus schedule, because they do not run at the times we need. To get from Plitvice to Split, our only options were an 8 hour bus ride during the whole day (even though its only about 4 hours apart, the bus stops so often and makes detours it takes forever) OR we could take an overnight bus. That would put us in Split at 5 am with nothing open. So having a car would allow us to leave Plitvice early Sunday morning, drive to Split, get on a ferry, and arrive in Hvar in early afternoon with time to go to the beach that day. We had run into problems because the car rental office (Hertz) said Scott needed an international driving permit, and he doesn’t have one. However, my guidebook specifically said this was not required. In addition, we decided having a car tomorrow would be very helpful as we are going to Osijek to visit Scott’s relatives. That is a 4 hour bus ride with inconvient times (getting us back to Zagreb at 1 am because there are not any departures between 5-9 pm from Osijek) or 4.5-5.5 hour trains, which we heard was a nightmare and the trains were awful. Having a car would allow us to spend as much time in Osijek that we wanted without being constrained. So we decided just to go down to the office and see if we could rent a car in person, because over the phone was not getting us anywhere.

There we ran into a problem. Today was a national holiday in Croatia, so the office, along with most other places, was closed. We decided to see if we could find another place so we headed into the center to try to find another place. We first ate our lunches in the square, where I noticed a tourist information office. We went in there to see if they could help- and luckily they could! The office has a service they use, and one phone call revealed we would be able to rent the car. However, there was a 1 week minimum for the car. After calling his father, Scott got permission to get the car for the week, as Mr. Hendrickson is generously helping us with the cost of the car. While having a car overall will not save us any money, it is making our travel so much easier and faster. We learned we could get the car this evening, even though they wouldnt start charging us until the morning. Scott and I were instantly thrilled, because now we dont have to ride buses here at all. The only issues will be parking, but 5 nights we know we have available parking at our hotels. It will just be the 2 nights we are in Hvar we will have to figure out where to park. Oh, and the best news of all? The car is a SMARTCAR! This should definitely be hilarious.

Anyways, we decided just to spend the afternoon strolling around the town. We went into the Cathedral, which was very pretty, and another church as well. I really like the architecture of Zagreb because the buildings are all painted bright colors, like pink, yellow, orange, and lilac. It’s very light and pleasant to look at, plus most restaurants have outdoor seating with colorful chairs and umbrellas. After, we found a park with gorgeous colorful flowers to hang out in, and then we decided to go to the Botanical Gardens and explore there for a while. The gardens were cool as they had hundreds of different plants and trees.

We were tired so we decided to head back to the hostel. Since, we have just been relaxing. The car arrived at the hostel and Scott got his instructions on how to drive it. He was bouncing around, he was so excited. He made us a delicious dinner and right now we are doing a load of laundry as it was only 2 euro and we could fit all our stuff into one load. One funny thing happened I should share. We got a thunder and lightening storm tonight, and it was pouring like crazy. Suddenly, one of our roommates came running downstairs to say there was a leak in the roof in the stairway. We run up, and sure enough, there was a 6 inch gap where water was just gushing through as the thunder crashed overhead. Luckily the hostel worker was able to get that under control. It was pretty funny though but luckily nothing got damaged.

Well I am off to shower and go to bed early. Like I said, we are off to Osijek tomorrow for the day!

Today wasn’t a really exciting day for us because it was a travel day. Nevertheless, it was still a long and busy day. We woke up at 9 once again to catch the free breakfast at the hostel and then finished packing to check out. Sara left us then to head to the train station and to head home to Boston. We were very sad to see her go- I’m so glad we took this trip together. Now I’m stuck with Scott for the last 10 days, boo. (I joke. Kind of. Love you Scotty!). Anyways we said our goodbyes to Sara and then Scott and I headed out for some last sightseeing in Paris. We decided to go back to Sacre Coeur because it was close to the hostel, free, and so I could take pictures because my camera was dead the first time we went. It was overcast and threatening rain, but the sun managed to peak out so I could get some pretty shots of the very pretty church. We climbed up the hill to see the views of the city. After wandering around a bit, we sat down on the steps to listen to a very good harp player (ok fine, I will admit I did not know the name of the instrument until I asked Scott. Whatever) He played some songs that we knew, including ˝My Heart Will Go On˝ from Titanic. We could have sat there all day listening to this guy play. He was quite popular too, in only 20 minutes while we were sitting there, he sold 5 CDs. After, we poked around the tourist shops for a little bit.

While we were sitting on the hill, we got a call from Sara, who said “I might be going to Croatia with you guys after all!” She explained that a mysterious piece of luggage was found the airport, and her entire terminal (there are 3 terminals) was shut down, and no one was allowed in. But literally as we were on the phone with her, they started letting people back in, and she was able to make her flight. 

We decided to head back to the hostel to get lunch from the supermarket and continue organizing pictures from my camera and Sara’s camera until it was time to head to the airport. At the same time, I was reflecting on the overall visit to Paris. Overall, its one of my favorite stops on the trip, and maybe my favorite big city. It was easy to navigate and wasnt so hot, so it was a really pleasant city to be in. I loved all of the sites and museums that we visited, and would go back to nearly all of them on my next visit. There are many other sites I want to someday visit as well. The only downside to Paris is the cost involved- it was by far the most expensive city we visited to eat. You simply could not find really cheap food, so that was annoying. The only other downside is French people themselves, who just aren’t really friendly or hospitable. But thats fine- I would return to Paris in a heartbeat. It will never top Rome (you simply cant beat Italian culture, in my opinion) but Paris was ideal to visit in the summer, whereas you cant go to Rome comfortably in the summer. So while Rome is my favorite big city, Paris is a very close second. It truly is a beautiful place.

Anyways we wanted to the airport early because we had to sort out our tickets at the airport. We bought our tickets through an online booking agency, and thus has to pay the airport taxes before getting our boarding passes. Luckily, this proved very easy to do and we were pleased we each saved over 100 dollars each using this booking agency, rather than paying for the price of the tickets normally. We used EuropeByAir, which basically sells $99 flight vouchers on routes throughout Europe, and then you pay airport taxes. Because the flight from Paris to Zagreb was very expensive, we had expected to save money by going this route, and happily, it did. We paid the taxes and then got our boarding passes.

There was a humorous incident while we were waiting in line. We were next up at the check in counter, when an old woman came over and told us that she could cut the line because she had bought a reserved ticket and paid for the right to cut the line. The German woman at the ticket counter, however, told us we were next in line. The old woman started to argue and say she should go next. The counter attendant asked to see her ticket; when that happened, the woman started stuttering about how it was in “her papers.” The attendant looks at us, and mutters “French people think they’re so entitled” and then took our passports and told the woman to get in line. Scott and I just watched with a smile and a chuckle; we were glad we’re not the only people who felt this way about the French. 

Anyways, we went through security, where we witnessed another funny incident. A French man was going through security and set the alarm off. The worker asked him to take his dress shoes off. The guy started pitching a fit, yelling and gestering in French that he didn’t want to take his shoes off. Finally, he did and threw the shoes through the alarm, instead of placing them on the belt. The worker of course started to yell at him, and the two bickered back and off. Scott and I didn’t really see what the problem with taking one’s shoes off were, but it was funny to watch. 

The flight was no problem. Once again we were sitting in the emergency row, so we had extra leg room. It was an hour and a half flight, and it was a little bumpy but overall no problems. We arrived at 7:30 and then got our bags, and immediately got on the bus to take us to the main station at 8 pm. We arrived and got on the proper tram, and it was only 5 minutes walk to the hostel. We checked in, and met our roommates, two Canadian sisters. 

Two quick pieces of information about Zagreb. First, at the airport, we also stopped at the ATM to get money- we now needed Croatian kune! (kuna is the singular). It’s kind of weird, because 1 US dollar is about 5.5 kune, and 1 euro is about 7.23 kune. So all the prices look very high, until you remember to do the conversion and you actually see it’s very cheap. Second, the most important piece of info we learned right away was that you don’t really need to pay for the tram system in Zagreb. There is a free zone that exists around the city center. Our hostel is technically 2 stops away from this free zone, but the workers at the hostel assured us we did not have to pay for tickets. Since we had already bought one ticket for the ride to the hostel, but couldn’t figure out how to validate it, we’re just going to carry that ticket around with us. Sounds great to us- every little bit saved counts! 

It was past 9 pm at this point, so we went to the town center to get dinner. We quickly found a place to sit down and eat that was so cheap. We couldn’t believe how cheap the food is. Scott got a drink, burger, and friends for only 40 kune- which was about 5.5 euros. I got this huge plate of mixed grilled meat- chicken, hamburger, and steak with 4 large pieces of warm bread with butter for only 50 euros, plus water- in total, under 7 euros for a whole meal. It was delicious and very satisfying.

We decided to walk around Old Town for a bit. I really like Zagreb because the main squares and streets are pedestrian only. So all the restaurants have outdoor seating and everyone was sitting outside, eating and drinking. We walked up to the Upper Town and enjoyed seeing the city below us. We saw a massive, beautiful cathedral I want to visit tomorrow. We came across an outdoor concert, and then looked for the outdoor movie that we were told was in English. It actually was in French, and it was over by the time we got there. We then decided to head back to the hostel to get a full night’s sleep. After conversation with our roommates, we went to sleep. Tomorrow is our only day to explore Zagreb, so we’re excited for that. 

Today was perhaps our busiest day of continuous sightseeing. We’ve had days that have been just as long, but I don’t remember seeing as many sites in one day as we did today. Anyways, the morning started as it usually does: Scott waking me up at 9 am so we could get breakfast at the hostel before departing for the day. We ate our free cereal and croissants (with the nutella we bring down to breakfast every morning…we’re such fat kids) and then got ready. Armed with our passes in our hands, we were excited for the last full day in Paris. Sadly, it was Sara’s last day on the trip, as she departs early afternoon tomorrow.

Anyways, our first stop was the Army Museum and Napoleon’s Tomb, which is located at Des Invalides, where we had walked by on our first day in Paris. I was really excited for this museum, and my expectations were even surpassed. One fantastic thing about the museum was that is wasn’t that crowded, which is a huge change from our experiences at the Louvre, Pompidou, and Versailles. It’s nice being able to look at the exhibit without getting pushed and elbowed from behind from a huge swarm of Asian tourists (Note: For some reason, I have only really seen Asians tourists in huge packs of people. They are always in huge tour groups, so they’re always packed in front of the important sites, and refuse to move to let you see the object of interest or take a picture. Other tourists are generally much less pushy. I feel I’ve been on this trip long enough to make such generalizations). The museum began with medieval army paraphernalia, such as suits of armor, swords, guns, and cannons. Scott was in a very silly moody today, and Sara loves taking funny pictures, so soon the three of us were posing along with the suits of armor and galloping horses, and sticking our heads into the cannons. The paraphernalia was incredibly interesting as well. 

The museum also featured an extensive exhibit devoted to World War I and II that included anything you could think of: posters, uniforms, tanks, guns, rucksacks and their contents, paintings, and video. I love the history of the world wars so seeing some of the stuff on display was fascinating for me. I just wish more of the descriptions were in English because it would have been interesting to see how French explanations of the events from the world wars may differ from how I’ve learned it in America. There was also a small exhibit on Jewish concentration camps in France, and about the liberation of those camps after the war. That was definitely a very moving part of the museum. 

After the museum, we went to the dome to see Napoleon’s tomb. It’s absolutely massive- I can’t even describe how big it is. The altar above the tomb dedicated to him is really awesome as well because it’s very ornately decorated with a lot of gold. The whole church itself the tomb is located in is very pretty with many ceiling and wall paintings. I really loved the visit to the museum and tomb; it may have been my favorite sight of the entire trip to Paris.

After the army museum, Sara and I headed off to the D’Orsay Museum and Scott went on a tour of the Paris sewage system because he had already been to that museum with his family. I’m not sure why spending some time wandering around a sewer system was appealing to him rather than spend his time in the company of 2 beautiful and witty girls, but he’s a weird one. So Sara and I went off to the museum, which was fantastic. It used to be an old train station, but train stations back in the day were much more grand looking and beautiful. The clock in particular looked straight out of the 1800’s and was really cool. The museum is mainly an impressionist museum, and while I normally do not like paintings, I really like impressionist art. I like that the paintings use a lot of colors that blend together. Many of the paintings were of landscapes or everyday scenes. Overall, they are more interesting to look at than portraits of people or religious art, which is what we have seen for the most part on this trip. This type of art is what I could see myself putting on the walls of my own house. We saw a lot of work by Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, Sisley, and others. My favorite painter is probably Monet; I loved his work on display. The museum also had a small collection of impressive French sculptures. Again, the French do not get enough credit for being really good at sculpting. The museum also featured some exhibit of furniture, some of which were located in a huge, beautiful grand ballroom. The only downside to the museum was the upstairs floor was undergoing renovation, so the exhibit was crammed onto the first floor on temporary walls. That made it difficult because it was too crowded. Overall, I really enjoyed the visit and would go back.

After the museum Sara got lunch and I got desert (I had packed a sandwich) and we went to Luxembourg Gardens again. Today was finally a beautiful day in Paris, and the Gardens were spectacular- the grass was bright green and perfectly manicured, the flowers were colorful and blooming, and there were people everywhere just hanging out, tanning, and reading. It was great to see down, chat, and people watch with Sara for about an hour with the sun shining down on our faces. 

It was time to meet up with Scott at the Pantheon, where we spent the next 30 or so minutes exploring. The Pantheon is not as impressive as the one in Rome, but still very cool because it houses Foucault’s pendulum in the center of the building. In the basement, there is a crypt where many of France’s most famous and influential citizens lie. For example, I saw the tombs of Marie Curie, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Victor Hugo. Very cool stuff. 

It was about 6 at this point and we wanted to do some shopping- so naturally, we headed to the famous boulevard, Champs-Elysees Avenue. Once upon a time, this was the place for French designer and car sellers to own stores. Now, it’s overrun with chains and tourist traps. Still, it was still a trip we had to make. There are still many expensive shops that line the avenue, including the largest Louis Vitton flagship store in the world. The building was huge and there was a very long line to get in because the store assigns a sales associate for every customer that walks in the door. Thus, people have to wait for the next available sales person before they can go in to shop. I was extremely excited because there was a GAP! It’s the largest Gap in the continental US. There were a lot of cute things, and it was just funny to be in a Gap on my Eurotrip. I had to buy something of course- just a navy t-shirt that says “GAP Paris” on it to commemorate the visit. 

After we walked down to the Champs-Elysees we were hungry, and after wandering around a bit aimlessly, we found a reasonably priced place to eat dinner a bit away from the avenue. Paris is really expensive for food, which has been annoying. But we actually decided to eat a meat chain restaurant, and we all decided to embrace the fact we were Americans and order burgers, fries, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, and coke. It was actually a nice change of pace to eat American style food, with American style service (aka: water and bread were included, as were chips, and the cokes were a reasonable size and price). Plus, the food was good.

After dinner it was dark out, so we headed to our last site of Paris: the Arc de Triomphe. It’s a really cool arch, and we climbed to the top so we could get a view of Paris lit up at night. There is definitely a good reason Paris is known as the City of Lights. It was absolutely beautiful looking down at the traffic converging around the arch and seeing the city spread out in front of us. The Eiffel Tower is also lit up spectacularly- that was very cool to look at. As I stood staring at the tower with the wind lightly blowing in my face, I thought it was the perfect end to our stay in Paris. I really loved Paris and need to come back again soon.

 We went back to the hostel to pack up. Scott and I are off to Croatia tomorrow, and Sara heads back home. We will miss her a great deal, but for now I am just excited for the last 10 days of the trip!

We had a busy day of sightseeing planned for today. We had our Museum Passes in hand, so that allows us not to pay any ticket fees (since we paid for the pass) and to skip the lines. So we were excited to be able to see all the things we wanted to see in Paris in an efficient manner.

Scott woke up me shortly past 9 am because wanted to eat the free breakfast at the hostel before departing for the day. After breakfast, we got ready to go and made a quick stop at the supermarket to buy bread and ham to pack lunch. First, we went to the Louvre Museum. Obviously, the Louvre is an incredibly famous and well-known museum, particularly because it houses Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting Mona Lisa. After the Vatican Museum, it’s Europe’s most crowded museum, and it’s also the oldest museum in Europe. We got there and took pictures of the outside. The building of the Louvre itself is absolutely gorgeous because it used to be a palace in the 16^th century- just incredible architecture, as well as small fountains and the large glass pyramid entrance. We took note of the very long line to get in- probably 2 hours long- and promptly went to our own entrance, that was only for people with museum passes. We had no line to wait in and found ourselves quickly in the museum lobby.

So the Louvre is massive. It has several floors with numerous wings, and it’s impossible to see everything in one visit; you have to prioritize what you want to see. Its said that if you stared at every piece of art in the Louvre for 30 seconds each, it would take abut 2 years to go through the entire place. So it was essential for us to grab a map, figure out what we wanted to see, and then focus on those wings. I think we ended up seeing a good chunk of the museum. It was incredibly crowded, so that made it difficult to move around. We saw French paintings that were pretty interesting, but I’m not a huge fan of paintings. Of course we found the Mona Lisa. I’ve heard from many people that the painting is not that impressive and is over-rated. So I had low expectations, and so the painting basically met my low expectations. It’s a really small painting, and while I understand why it’s so famous, I don’t particularly find it pretty. You have to stand pretty far back from the painting itself, and there was just a massive crowd in front of it. It was good to see to say I’ve seen it, but I’ll never have to see it again in my life. However, we were told by someone on our travels to look at the painting directly behind the Mona Lisa, because it was much more impressive and sure enough, that painting was very cool.

Anyways, after the Mona Lisa we wondered throughout the museum. We saw some awesome French sculptures; many of the coolest sculptures we saw were the ones that not a lot of people were looking at. We saw the famous statues of Aphrodite and Psyche and Cupid. There were awesome sculptures of men sitting in chairs, reading and writing; these were cool because of the elaborate and intricate detailing. Its amazing how fine the details can be on a sculpture, and how realistic they could be. We saw countless statues with bodies intertwined, such as one with a lion biting a man, or one with a man and woman lying in each other’s arms, each with stab wounds. We saw some very interesting Egyptian art, including floor to ceiling sculptures that came out of the wall (I am sure there is a proper art term for them, but I don’t know what it is). We saw many jars and bowls- some people find these endlessly fascinating, or so Scott and I have heard. We saw the famous Code of Hammurabi, which is a code of laws from ancient Babylon etched on a statue of an index finger- you can clearly see the etchings, which was awesome. Finally, we saw the Napoleon III apartments, which were extravagantly decorated, of course. You would think after Versailles yesterday I would be sick of royal apartments, but I find still found it really cool to look at.

I’m sure we saw other art, but it’s difficult to remember. After about 2 hours in the museum, Scott and I decided we had enough so we went outside to wait for Sara to finish up. She tends to wander off on her own when in museums, so we usually find her at the end. We ate our sandwiches, took some more touristy pictures in front of the pyramid, and then headed on a walk along the Seine River.

Paris is an incredibly beautiful city. All of the buildings are so elegant looking and classy, and the city is just really pleasant to look at. Our next stop on our walk was the Saint-Chappelle, a Gothic church. Built in the mid 1200s, the Sainte-Chappelle is famous for its stained glass windows, which depict the stories of the Bible. The detailing was really pretty; I love stained glass windows. It’s a small church, so the visit there was relatively brief. Next, we went to Notre-Dame, a massive cathedral. The outside of the cathedral is really impressive- with incredibly fine details on the façade and 28 statues that line the middle. The inside was really pretty as well, so I took a lot of pictures of the ceiling details and stained glass windows. You can also climb to the top of Notre Dame, but the line was very long. While our museum passes covered the entrance fee, it did not allow to skip the lines like other sites (honestly, doesn’t seem very fair since skipping lines is one of the main perks of buying the pass in the first place). We debated, but decided we did not need to see the view from the top of Notre Dame. After taking more pictures of the outside, we headed to the next stop of the day: the Pompidou Center.

The Pompidou Center is a museum known for its modern art. I was extremely excited to see this museum, because I knew it would be something new and different from the other museums we have gone to. The outside of the building is incredible cool- its multicolored (mostly blue, red, and white) and you can see all of the stairs and elevators from the outside. The building is “exoskeletal,” meaning the functional arts of the building such as pipes and heating ducts are on the outside and thus visible. We got our tickets and headed to the first part of the gallery (there are 2 floors).

The first floor was a gallery by women of feminist art- entitled elles@centrepompidou. This exhibit looks at women’s role in art, because until very recently, women artists had far fewer opportunities than men artists. I loved most of the art in this gallery because it was really provocative and interesting. Some of the art was pretty radical, but it clearly shows the struggles that women face in the world that are often not understood or talked about (or least, until recently. Perhaps times are changing). A lot of the pieces also had to do with women taking control of their own lives, bodies, and minds, with the understanding we as women are allowed to express these points of view. The art brought attention to the ways in which women has been discriminated against in the past and continues to this day. Also, a lot of the explanations of art offered a lot of room for personal reflection and coming to our own points of view about the art, which I liked. So overall this was a really interesting exhibit.

The second floor of the museum was also really cool, as it showcased many famous examples of modern art by Picasso, Dali, Pollack, Delaunay, and Kandinsky. I especially like the art that uses a lot of color. Both floors of the museum showcased not only paintings, but eccentric and unique “sculptures” in which modern objects were altered or presented in a different way. It’s kind of hard to describe the art, mainly because the viewer is intended to derive their own meaning from what they are looking at. Overall, the museum was highly entertaining to me, and I enjoyed the roughly 2 hours we spent there.

After the Pompidou Center, we were supposed to wander down Champs-Elysees for the early evening and then go to the Arc de Triomphe. However, it was raining. Pouring, in fact, and for the first time this whole trip, the weather ruined our plans. We decided just to head back to the hostel and to move our evening’s plans to tomorrow night. Sara and Scott made salads for dinner, and I went to an Italian restaurant close to the hostel for a plate of pasta. It was mediocre, but it was food and it was cheap, so that’s good. Right now we are just relaxing at the hostel and working on organizing all of our photos and putting them into albums. Tomorrow is our last day in Paris and it’s packed with sights to see. Sadly, its also Sara’s last day in Europe- she leaves Wednesday morning. Sad.

Paris continues to be wonderful- very excited to see what tomorrow brings!

Today was a day I was really looking forward too- we were going to the Palace of Versailles! As I’m sure those reading this blog have figured out by now, I LOVE palaces. The bigger and more extravagant and ridiculously over the top, the better. Therefore, Versailles was a place I absolutely had to visit on this trip.

We meant to get up at 8, but when that alarm went off it was way too early, so we slept until 8:45ish when we managed to drag ourselves out of bed. I’m still really sore from the canyoning- I can’t wait to treat myself to a massage when I get back home. Anyways we had our free breakfast at the hostel and then made sandwiches with ham and bread from the supermarket to pack for the day. We headed to Versailles. It took a little longer than I expected to get there because we had to use the metro, a bus, and then the RER train to get there. We arrived around 11 and got in the ticket line.

Here we had an unpleasant surprise. When Sara and Scott were researching museum passes and stuff yesterday, they were told by multiple people that Versailles was free today because it’s the first Sunday of the month. Thus, we decided to wait in the expected long lines because we could spend the whole day at Versailles, and it would save us the most money. However, when we got there, we found it was not free; in fact, it cost us 25 euro. That sucks because had we been told the proper information, we would have bought 4 day museum passes, instead of 2 day passes, which would have saved us money and time standing in line today. So that was frustrating.

But there was nothing we could do, so after about a 45 minute wait we bought our tickets. At least we will not have to pay any entrance fees the next 2 days, and we are planning on seeing so many sights that it will be worth it. Luckily, for me Versailles proved to be worth the very steep entrance fee. Also, while the Chateau was crowded, it was not as bad as I thought it would be, nor was the line as long. We got the combined ticket that allows you to visit the three main parts of Versailles: the Chateau, the Domain du Marie-Antoinette, and the Gardens.

Simply put, Versailles is amazing. Its impressive just walking up to the building- the gold plated doors just scream at you. The beginning rooms just contain many large portraits of guys I didn’t know, with walls covered by pretty tapestries. Not that interesting. But once we entered the Royal Apartment, I was immediately in heaven. Everything about the Chateau is just incredible- from the elaborate and bright paintings that span the entire ceilings, to the chandeliers, to the brightly colored tapestries and gold furnishing everywhere. I especially liked seeing the bed chambers of the King and Queen. A couple things jumped out at me- first, the beds were incredibly small. Second, it does seem a bit awkward that the King and Queen had their own bedrooms. They also weren’t that close to each other at all. But anyways, my favorite room might have been the Hall of Mirrors. This is a huge long hallway that has dozens of chandeliers hanging from the ceiling; there are gold statues and other furnishings everywhere, and it’s just an incredible sight to behold. I also liked seeing another long hall that had huge paintings that depicted French war history. The sheer size of these portraits was impressive, as was the number of them. Of course, the French have fought in a lot of wars. One of the final rooms is the 1830 room, which is dedicated to the first king in the Republic. Again, the decorations are so beautiful I can’t really accurately describe them. Luckily, I was able to take tons of photos- before my camera died.

The tour of the Chateau took about 2 hours, and then we ate our packed lunches out on the courtyard. Next, we entered the Royal Gardens. As soon as I saw the Gardens stretched out in front of me, my jaw literally dropped. It’s absolutely massive and incredibly impressive. To walk from the beginning of the gardens to the end of the Grand Canal (which is centrally located down the gardens, with extensive networks of trees on the side) takes an hour. So that gives you an idea of how far the Gardens stretch out in front of you. There are fountains placed throughout, and these went off at 3:30, just adding to the overall picture. It’s just an amazing sight to be standing at the top of the Gardens, looking out at the massive collection of trees, lawns, and water in front of you. There was also accordion music playing in the background; as Scott commented, this made us feel very royal. I could just picture myself taking casual strolls around the property every late afternoon.

Sara and I split up from Scott (as he did not want to wait for us to use the restroom) and we spent the next couple hours exploring the garden and visiting the domain du Marie-Antoinette. We visited her house and took comical pictures throughout. We also spend some time resting in the Temple of Love, though sadly after waiting 30 minutes for Scott to arrive, he failed to show. Typical man. Anyways there were other parts of her estate to explore, but we were tired and wanted to see the fountains. We walked back and rested with our feet in the water for a bit. We met back up with Scott and then decided, after 6 hours in Versailles, it was time to head back to Paris.

We were tired, but decided to go visit the Sacre Coeur quickly because it is very close to our hostel. The Sacre Coeur is a large church that sits at the top of a hill and offers a very pretty view of the entire city. The church itself is gorgeous from the outside, and very impressive as you stand at the base of the hill and look up at it. Along the slope of the hill, people were sitting down on the lawn, laughing, reading, talking, kissing, eating, drinking- just hanging out. We climbed the stairs to the top and quickly explored the church. It’s very white on the inside, with gorgeous paintings on the dome, ceilings, and walls. There was actually a Mass service on while we were there, so we kind of quickly went through the church. After admiring the view from the top for a while, we headed back to the hostel and then went to get dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Anyways, it’s late and we have a ton of places to visit on the agenda tomorrow. Can’t wait! I really love Paris so far. 

            Today started very early in the morning: with a 5:30 am alarm. I was happy that I woke up though, since I was using Sara’s phone and was paranoid I would sleep through it or I wouldn’t set the alarm properly. But I did, and was quickly dressed and out of the    hostel. It was too early for the hostel shuttle bus to be running, so I had a 15 minute walk to the tram stop. Luckily, the tram arrived right away and I was on my way to the train station.

There I ran into problems. I found the train I was planning on taking on the self-help machines. I saw the train was sold out in second class. My choices were thus pay more for that train in first class, or to wait for a later train. While I didn’t want to spend the extra money, I needed to get to Paris as early as possible, and other trains required several changes as well. It was just easier to suck it up and pay the extra $40 for first class. In the grand scheme of the trip, it’s not a huge deal. But the machine would not accept my credit card. So I quickly got into the ticket line. Only 2 ticket windows were open, and the line was moving very slowly. That’s because people were using the ticket window to ask question about travel in other countries, or to ask what track their train was leaving from, even though clearly that’s not what the ticket window is for, or that info is available elsewhere. It got closer and closer to 6:35, and I was getting nervous I wasn’t going to make the train. I finally get to the front of the line, but my debit card would not work. I don’t have another card, and I didn’t have enough cash on me. Starting to freak out, I asked if there was an ATM nearby. Luckily, there was one right outside the train station. I sprint there, and get enough euros to pay for the train. I sprint back, and the ticket window attendant had very nicely already printed my ticket so I just had to give him the money and then I sprinted to the track.

            I got on the train and managed to find my cabin and seat. The train was so clean and new and so much nicer than the cheap trains we’ve been using. Obviously that was because I was in first class- too bad I can’t afford to travel like this all the time! The seats were large and really comfortable, and there was a clean bathroom nearby. So, it was a really easy and pleasant traveling experience. I wish I didn’t have to spend the extra money, but I got to Paris in style at least.

            I arrived at 12:15 and found the RER train I needed to take to another Paris train station. Once arriving at that station 10 minutes later, I got a call from Scott who was at the hostel with Sara and gave me directions to the hostel- luckily, only a 10 minute walk. We couldn’t check into our room, so Scott and Sara filled me in on the information they learned in the morning about maximizing our time in Paris. We bought Paris Museum Passes that we are going to use on Monday and Tuesday because we can see as many sites as we want covered on the pass, and skip the lines. Originally, we were planning to see many museums on Sunday because they are free because it’s the first Sunday of the month. However, after talking to a woman at the Pompidou Center, Scott and Sara learned that having the pass would not allow us to skip any lines on Sunday, and that the lines would be so long it wouldn’t be a fun experience and we likely would not have gotten to see as many sites as we wanted. Thus, we mapped out a plan for the next 4 days that using the pass, allows us to get our money’s worth for the pass and skip lines.

            After grabbing sandwich stuff from the supermarket, we went to the Eiffel Tower. We were going to walk but once we realized it was an hour walk from the hostel we got there quickly using the metro. As we were walking up, the tower just larger and larger and larger. It’s absolutely massive and really impressive once you get up close- you can’t really appreciate it’s size until you’re standing right under it. It’s not really beautiful, per se, but so impressive architecturally. After taking many pictures from all angles at the bottom, we got in land to walk up the tower. There are 3 platforms to the tower: at 200 feet, 400 ft, and 900 ft (the top). You can walk up to the first 2 platforms, or take the elevator up to the top. Since it was significantly cheaper and involved barely any waiting time, we walked and skipped going to the top. It’s said that the views are better from the 2^nd platform anyways because at the top it’s a more sweeping view of Paris and more difficult to pick landmarks out. Thus, I don’t really think we missed out by skipping the top platform. We walked up to both platforms and explored them both from every angle. It’s just a really amazing thing to see in person; far cooler than I expected. Of course, it was quite painful walking up because I am incredibly sore from canyoning yesterday.

            After lounging around the gardens in front of the Eiffel Tower and taking more pictures, we headed to Les Invalides, which used to be a hospital for those wounded in war. Now, it’s a hotel and an army museum, and also contains Napoleon’s Tomb. We just wandered around the outside today, and it looks really amazing. I’m definitely going back into the museums on Tuesday when I have my pass. We then walked to Luxembourg Gardens, where we strolled through the park a bit and rested by a fountain. The park is really pretty and I’m hoping to have another chance to walk around. We were pretty tired by this point, so we decided to go back to the hostel. We had walked pretty far from the hostel, so we hopped on the metro.

            Once getting back, we checked in. We got our stuff out of the luggage storage and paid for the room. There, Scott learned that 300 euros were missing from his wallet. We all went through all of his stuff, and Sara and I went through our stuff as well. After rehashing the past few days, it was pretty much apparent that Scott had the money in the morning, and now it’s gone. Obviously someone stole the money from his bag, which sucks. Understandingly, he was not hungry so Sara and I went to dinner. We found a place really close to the hostel because we just wanted food. We each got fairly cheap pasta, but we’ve already found that drinks in Paris are astronomically expensive.

            We headed back to the hostel, where we found Scott still awake. He’s still pissed off, understandably, but I was nice and gave him a back massage and now he’s feeling a bit better. We’re off to bed early as we are all exhausted and are getting up early in the morning to go to Versailles!