Since my last post, I've been busy with working on my German and hanging out with my friends around Graz, mostly. During the week, in order to celebrate Mexico's 200th year of independence, some of the Mexican people in our group had a little get together. Wild shenanigans ensued, with most of the people from our classes coming out to party. Me and a few buddies brought some American flair to the party in the form of beer pong and flip cup. Good times all around.
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| Welcome to Europe, Beer Pong! |
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| Happy Birthday, Mexico! |
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| Some friends enjoying the festivities |
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| We generally like to have a good time. |
This weekend however, I had a chance to do something pretty exciting. Me and a big group of friends from my school decided to make a road trip over to Croatia to check out what's going on over there. Quick overview: Croatia is a country in Cental/Southeastern Europe which sits across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. It's history dates back thousand of years and the architecture really reflects it. Many of the buildings that I saw seemed very worn (not in a bad way, more of just an historic, preserved way). It has a Mediterranean feel to it and much of the daily life revolves around the sea and peoples interaction with it (this makes the food VERY good).
So, on a rainy Thursday after class, we all met up and were on our way. There were five total cars driving over, with about 23 people in total (this made travel somewhat difficult but everyone who came was still a lot of fun either way). Again, our group consisted of a great variety of people form around the world which always make for some fun and interesting times. I had the pleasure of driving over with a group of Finnish people. One of the best decisions I've made so far. I drove with Toni, a big, lovable teddy bear who took responsibility of us and drove the whole way, Jari, a nice, funny guy who was a great back seat partner and Ville. Now Ville, being Finnish, lives up to the name Viking. He literally drank beer the ENTIRE trip (car rides and breakfast not withheld), blasted Finnish metal during the car rides and felt that a "big juicy steak" was suitable for every meal. He even threatened to burn down an entire village we were staying if he found that any of his stuff was stolen from our hostel (it wasn't, luckily.) He also happens to be one of the most hilarious people I've ever met, so needless to say the trip over with the Fins was a blast.
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| About to take off |
Our journey to Croatia took us through Slovenia and the scenery along the drive was unlike anything in the United States. Incredibly beautiful and incredibly green. After a day of driving, we made it to our first destination in Croatia, Zadar. Though we arrived late at night, it wasn't late enough for us to grab a few drinks, check out the beach and hang out for a few hours. Weary from our travels, we headed in for a few hours of sleep.
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| Our arrival in Zadar |
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| Hanging out for a bit |
The next day, we got up on the earlier side to drive into town and walk around. The city of Zadar is fairly small but there was plenty of fun to be had in the hours we were there. Like I mentioned before, the buildings here had a very old feel to them. You could look around at the bricks and cobbles and just imagine how many people had walked on them before and some of the historic times they had seen. After strolling around for awhile and absorbing some scenery, we checked out a local restaurant to try some Croatian fare. Because of it's location along the Adriatic Sea, the best food to try is naturally the sea food, which turned out to be some of the best sea food I've tried. After a delicious pasta and a half liter, we headed back to the city for a few hours before heading to our next destination.
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The coast in the morning
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| Some of the Architecture |
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| Some of the preserved ancient structures |
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| Try and tell me that doesn't look amazing |
We decided to check out one of the many waterfalls in Croatia along the way to Split, the next city we were visiting. The Krka National Park, located a few kilometers from the town of
Šibenik, contains some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world. We walked through the town along the way and it turns out we arrived about 15 minutes too late to go the falls. We'd have to stop by on our way back, but in the meantime it was nice to stretch our legs and absorb some of the scenery. We left a bit disappointed, but our spirits were still high because of the beauty around us and the pleasure of the company. We got into Split in the earlier evening so we had time to check into our hostel and check out the city for a few hours. After a quick bite to eat, we grabbed a few drinks at our hostel and then went to one of the local clubs. It was a pretty fun time and we ended up staying until about 5AM or so. After another fun-filled evening, we grabbed one or two hours of sleep.
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| The town near the falls |
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| A nice little port town |
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| Me, with the Krka River behind me |
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| Our arrival in Split |
On Saturday, we explored the city of Split for a few hours. Split is generally accepted as being around 1,700 years old, so there is hundreds of years of history and culture around every corner.The winding streets and strictly masonry architecture made for a fun adventure and the city was unlike anywhere I had been in Europe to date. It had the same Mediterranean feel and the scenery and buildings really were very different and very amazing. Being a city by the sea, we had no choice but to check out the beaches. So we all wandered over to the coast and caught some rays for a few hours. The sea was nice but the beaches were mostly rocky. It was still refreshing and fun as always, and it was my first dip in the Adriatic. Afterwards, we tested some more of the local cuisine and carried on for a couple more hours.
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| Split during the day, with the sea in the background |
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| The Adriatic Sea |
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| Oh what up, Mediterranean? |
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| Everybody happy! |
Then the majority of the group left to go check out the city of Dubrovnik, while me, the Fins, another Finnish girl name Mari, a Brazilian girl named Thais, a Swedish guy named Robin and a Mexican guy named Roberto stayed behind in Split, not wanting to travel much more. (turns out it was a good decision, as the other group got lost and turned what should have been a 2 hour trip into a 9 hour disaster and ended up sleeping in the streets). So we checked out Diocletian's Palace, a 1,700 year old structure in the heart of the city that was of course, nothing short of amazing. When you look at something that old and well-preserved, it's hard not to gaze up and around you with your jaw on the floor. It really was one of the oldest and most unique things I've seen in Europe. So I picked my jaw off the cobbles and we ducked into a local restaurant to grab some more Croatia food. For whatever reason, whether it was the wine or just the generally good atmosphere and company, we couldn't stop laughing the entire meal and all of us nearly died of laughter at one point or another. Some of us headed in for the evening afterward and some of us drank an unnecessary amount of alcohol for the next fews hours. I'll leave you to guess as to what I did.
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| Diocletian's Palace |
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| Some pretty amazing stuff |
The next day, we grabbed a quick breakfast before embarking on our way home. Being only two cars this time, the travel was much easier and more efficient. This made it easy for us to stop at Krka again and check out the waterfalls. After a short walk, we saw what is one of the most breathtaking natural beauties I have ever or will ever see. The falls continuously step down and form one of the most incredible and unique waterfalls I ever seen. I was a bit taken aback at first by the commercial interference (we had to pay 15 bucks to get in and there were shops and cafes all around) but once I started walking around, all of that was gone. There's a trail through the woods that leads up around the falls so you get a good view of every angle of the falls. At the end, we took a dip in and swam around near the base. By far one the coolest things I have ever done. I swam over to a rock that wasn't more than 10 feet from the base of the raging waters. It literally left me speechless. If you ever get the chance to do something like this, do not hesitate. Purely amazing.
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| The surrounding landscape |
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| The walk over... |
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| How beautiful is that? |
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| If you every find yourself in Croatia, go here. |
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| The crew |
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| Yea, I was that close |
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| Be jealous of us. |
So, after an overall perfect trip, I can say that Croatia is a very cool country. There's endless amounts of things to see and when you go with a group like I did, it's indescribably fun. I was glad to have started travelling around and Croatia was the perfect place to start. I loved everything about the trip and I have plenty of great pictures and memories to remind me of it. I hope you guys enjoyed reading about it (it was a long post, I know but there was a lot to say).
Until next time...
Eric
