crrrrroatia

so were finally in a place with real internet rather than shitty wireless (updating from alexs iphone is impossible...) but alas no usb port, so i cant put up any pictures at the moment. i also have to use like four buttons to get an apostrophe, so thats out too. right now were in dubrovnik, our last stop on our little croatian tour. im not sure where to start at this point, i feel like its been ages since i last posted, though i guess its really only been a bit over a week. so, here goes...

when we arrived in graz we recognized veronika immediately out of the window of the train, and once we had hauled all of our multitudinous baggage onto the little austrian platform we were greeted with hugs and a warm, australian-accented hello. we spent the next two days in a sort of relaxed stupor, finally getting over jet-lag and the exhaustion-induced bickering that had unfortunately factored largely into our four days in vienna. veronika happily showed us her adorable little city, took us out with her friends, and spent an afternoon with us lazily reading books in the stadtpark. graz is exactly what one might imagine when trying to conjure up an image of a traditional germanic town - clean and tidy, full of beautiful churches and impressive architecture, and packed with happy-seeming people in hip euro clothing who like to eat ice cream but somehow manage to stay fashionably thin. all in all graz was a calm success, though money-wise we were happy to move on to the slightly cheaper land of true eastern europe.

and thus we arrived in croatia. we took a train from graz to zagreb - a surprisingly quick journey that cuts through slovenia and plonks you down in the very metropolitan old town area. from there we took a street car (some of which seem to be from the 1950s, others from the future...) and arrived at our hostel, where we had booked 2 beds in a 6 bed room. only late that night did we realize that we unfortunately did not have the luxury of having the whole room. we immediately headed towards the old city, assuming wed wander and go to some museums. we had noticed a large group of english people on the train, but it was not until we reached the old town that it became clear why this was the case - that particular night there was a soccer game in zagreb between the english and croatian national teams. we were quickly swept up in the fanmania, which consisted mostly of beer drinking and singing, with a lot of croatian vs. english group songs, one group trying to out-sing the other. this was all happening with the continual reminder that if any of the competition went beyond drunken vocal chord capabilities it would be taken care of efficiently, as hundreds of cops in full riot gear wandered the streets looking alert. that night we followed the swarms of people decked out in soccer gear towards the stadium and tried to get tickets, but unfortunately the game was sold out. it was an experience just being there though - what dedication those fans have! we found out the next day that england won 4-1, which left zagreb somber and mostly empty, allowing us to have our day of museums and wandering. aside from the obvious language difficulties, i found the city to be incredibly appealing and open, with a much less pompous, museumesque feeling than vienna.

after leaving zagreb we spent the afternoon at the plitviče lakes, which lived up all of the hype id heard. there are 13 lakes all joined by waterfall, all crystal clear, and all surrounded by intricately built wooden-plank pathways that make you truly feel as though youve just inadvertantly stepped into middle earth. we kept waiting to see the procession of elves cross in the jungly forrest behind one of the lakes.
we decided to head straight to split after a good afternoon of hiking and viewing, which meant another 4 hours on a bus. at one stop the driver yelled something in croatian and turned off the motor, apparently signaling that there would be a bit of a break. after a few minutes we decided to go to the bathroom, since it seemed that we werent leaving anytime soon. i got back on the bus when i was done, and just as i sat down the driver pulled out of the parking lot. without alex. i kind of shouted something unintelligable, since i knew the driver didnt speak english, and luckily the man sitting behind us got the gist and translated, so we came to a screeching halt just as alex meandered out of the bathroom, aloof to all of this. he got back on and we thanked the man behind us, which turned into a rather one-sided 45 minute discussion in thickly accented german about the croatian countryside and its history. i tried to listen as best i could with a craned neck and translate the interesting stuff for alex. the man got off the bus one stop before us and happily gave us his business card. though i enjoyed his company, i dont think ill call him.

split proved rather uneventful, as the main attraction - the roman emporer diocletions palace - has been steadily built upon for about the last 5 centuries, leaving alex close to tears once he saw the terrible damage. it now houses many bars, restaurants, kitsch shops, and apartments. yikes. so we saw what we could and spent the next day at the beach, though it was rather rocky and far away, the water was incredibly clear and beautiful.

from split we took a ferry to the island of korčula, which was recommended to us by a woman at our hostel in zagreb. when we went to buy the tickets, however, we were confronted with the fact that there are multiple towns on this island, so we just picked the one with the earliest ferry departure. so we were off to vela luka! we got there just as it was getting dark, and just as it was starting to rain. hard. we took respite in a little cafe with a big awning, and since we didnt have any hostel reserved here we asked the bartender about reasonable hotels. reasonable? hmm, that one with the green cuppola, he says. we look across the bay to a nice looking place, but so far away. considering that the only other option wed come across was a man who kind of chased us down and said in broken english that hed cook for us, we took the chance and started the trek. the bay went in even further than wed thought, so about 35 minutes later we arrived at the hotel, soaking wet, tired, and wanting a room. but they were full. and the next hotel was 2 km back around the bay and up the hill away from the water. so, we started walking back when an old lady poked her head out of a house with a bed sign on the gate, and we were welcomed into her-her daughters-her grandsons house. for roughly $40 a night for the two of us they gave us a lovely room with a big bed (under a big painting of the virgin mary...) homemade wine, local figs, and entertaining non-conversation consisting of a lot of gesturing and smiles.
the next day the sky cleared, however, and we were able to find a secluded swimming cove where we could jump right from gorgeous white rocks into slightly storm chilled, but sharp clear water, lazily floating away the afternoon. quite nice.

and, at last, we come to dubrovnik. how to get here from vela luka? one bus. one? what time? 5am. so, we were up at 3:45 to begin the journey back around the bay, down to the empty bus station, where we sat anxiously and listened to drunken sailors sing and drink til just about the break of day, when we boarded and headed across the little island, across a little water on a car ferry, and down the rocky coast of croatia. dubrovnik is a fortified town overlooking the sea, and is apparently tourist heaven. so now its time to go lose ourselves amongst the throngs and see what its all about. pictures soon!