Croatian Sensation!
Monday, November 13th, 2006As i’ve expressed to you already i’m a wee bit disappointed with Europe…just not my bag baby. With that being said…Croatia certainly does not fall into that category. To be honest I didn’t know much about it. A few whispers here and there but that was about it. After Belgrade and the cold and snow that accompanied my visit there the mild temperatures in Croatia really hit the spot. The capital of Zagreb is where I started. I checked in at night and mulled over the numerous options…ok, basically one, head south. Croatia has quite a big coastline on the Adriatic Sea and is littered with Islands…a must see so they say. I was going to stay in Zagreb for a day or two but decided my time might be spent better elsewhere. The next morning I headed for the town of Split. I was joined by two American girls and an Aussie guy. On our way to split we stopped at a National Park for the day called Plitvice or something like that. One frustrating thing about taking buses places is that you sometimes don’t know where to get off, as they don’t tell you. We asked the guy checking tickets on the bus how much longer to our stop and you would have thought we just asked him to explain the theory of relativity. Hey, he only works on the bus, how is he supposed to know how much longer to the biggest National Park in the freaking country? Him not knowing the answer to that question befuddled me. (I am now making that face that George Bush makes when he thinks he just said something really smart that one one expected. Befuddled is a big word for me.)
It would be like going into a bar and asking the bartender what he had on tap and having him say:
“Uh…what do you mean…are you looking for beer?”
Or maybe ordering a Burger at McDonalds and the guy at the counter saying: ( I shouldn’t make a joke here as this could be me in a few months.)
“Aaaah…what?…can I help you?” And then getting that look from them like how dare you bother me by ordering food…can’t you go somewhere else?
Needless to say we got off at the right spot. The park was amazing. Beautiful lakes that were a color of green I couldn’t begin to describe, surrounded by moutains that had a few remaining colors left from the foliage. Being out of the city and in a beautiful park like this was a breathe of fresh air to say the least.
After the park we headed back on a bus passing through the park and headed to Split. Split lies on the coast and is the gateway to the Croatian Islands. If you didnt know any better and someone put you in Split and didnt tell you where you were you would most likely say Italy or Greece. The roman influence all over Croatia is huge. Split has an old palace still relatively intact right in the middle of the city. Getting lost walking through the narrow streets of the palace and having a look at the massive Cathedral lined with pillars was astonishing. The white marble streets and walkways made you feel like you were back in time…i really loved split. The first night in Split the four of us who went to the park shared a dorm room. Me and the aussie guy took the upstairs part of the dorm and gave the girls the downstairs so they had a bit of privacy. Apparently we were talking a bit too loud upstairs before bed and one of the girls so eloquently yelled up at us to talk quieter. I apologized and went to bed. The next morning, and I don’t know if it was intentional, these two broads talked louder than imagineable.
“I sooo need a cup of coffee…I mean like, the coffee like is kinda different, ya know. They like serve it in like small cups…kinda wierd.”
“The weather here is great, I mean, it’s like so warm…like warmer than D.C….can you believe it…I mean, it’s like wierd.”
“Ya…I know…like, what do you wanna do today? I mean, there is so much to do…Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah.”
These girls were at least my age or older. One was a lawyer and one was unemployed or something…I could care less.
I was pretty much punching myself in the face while they were talking. It took all I had not to ask them to talk quieter…but this is the new Brian G…patience my friends.
After Split I headed to the islands. One thing about Europe you need to know is that when the high season is over, summer, things shut down quite a bit. The islands are no exeption. Very quiet but considerably cheaper and almost non accessible during the summer due to the crowds and high prices. I am probably very lucky to have made it. The first island called, Hvar, was amazing. A small little town, similar so split sat at the bottom of a hill that was overlooked by a castle. The small harbor was full of small fishing boats and grizzly fisherman cleaning bringing buckets of fish ashore. It is so pleasant to stroll around the island and take it all in. I can’t say enough about the architecture…the romans knew what they were doing. The ability of the people here in croatia to not change any of it and make all of their shops, banks, restaurants etc…blend right in is splendid. They have some of the most beautiful banks I have ever seen in the world and most probably wouldn’t know they were banks unless you looked close enough.
After Hvar I hit the island of Korcula. Korcula was a bit more touristy. I got my own room for about $15 per night. It had a queen bed, TV and DVD player, small kitchenette and a huge bathroom, very nice. I spent two nights here cause the room was so damn good. Nice to have your own room and not wake up to people snoring or hooking up. The weather here for these two days wasn’t great, a bit of rain and wind. I headed from Korcula down to Dubrovnik, in the very southern tip of Croatia. I only spent a few hours here as I caught an overnight bus from here back to Zagreb so I could get to Slovenia, which is where I am am now.
I will give you the scoop on Slovenia in a few days. One thing I did do so far here in Slovenia is go and see Borat. Please do yourselves a favor and go see it if you haven’t already.
Gagnonius Out!
Gagnonius