Croatia- A Place So Wonderful I Can't Even Think of a Clever Title

Oh wow.  Croatia, the land of my daydreams.  I'm going to be honest for a moment though.  Croatia was never on my radar.  Never.  I couldn't tell you anything about this country before I went and I still couldn't tell you much.  I do know that this is definitely a contender for my favorite happening abroad thus far.  I was introduced to the idea of Croatia by my roommate, Anne.  She walked into the living room one night soon after we had moved to Florence and asked if anyone was interested in visiting Croatia for a weekend.  I humored her and was interested in the idea, but felt that I should give preference to places, like Spain and Ireland, that I have been itching to visit since I developed my love of travel.  After listening to the schpeel, Anne showed up a picture of the major waterfall at Krka National Park.  Talk about a deal-breaker, we were all on our laptops booking the trip before Anne could even finished her sentence.

So the last Thursday in September we made our way through the rain to the train station and anxiously waited the for the start of our Croatia adventure.  And waited.  And waited.  Our bus was coming from Rome and must have forgotten the correct time, showing up and an hour and a half late.  When we finally made it on to the bus, the pickings were slim and got stuck in the very back.  We had a long nine hours ahead of us.  Little did we know..  The rest of the drive was marked by 15 minute cigarette stops for the drivers every two hours and a whopping 45 minute stop at the border because the drivers didn't have their paperwork.  It was good times.

Once we finally made it to Split, we had signed up to go white-water rafting and immediately jumped into that.  We were bused to the Cetina River near Omis, Croatia, a very cool pirate town.  But really it was.  And they actually use 'ahoy' as a greeting there.  Life MADE.  Anyway, once we got to the river, we climbed into wet suits and met our guide.  My apartmentmates and I had to met two other students on the bus and formed a rafting group with Erin and Nathan.  Struggling into with a wet suit with someone you've just met is a great bonding experience and we were all pumped.  I thought being in a wet suit was going to be an unpleasant experience, but I found that I really liked them!  It made me feel super legit and ready for anything.  Honestly, I felt like Katniss Everdeen in it and I love any opportunity that makes me feel like a Class A bad ass.

Pirate Town of Omis.  You can see the old fort on the far right side.

I volunteer as tribute!

I have always wanted to go white water rafting and what's cooler than to get to say that I did in Europe?!  The river was beautiful and the water was irresistible.  We jumped in at the first opportunity.  And, good grief, was the water cold.  It's that shocking kind of cold where the only you can do is choke out laughter that makes you sounds like a demented toddler and flap your arms around pointlessly.  But it was great.  I don't know what we've done wrong in America, but the water is just ridiculously clear and clean.  The current is just strong enough to push you around but not so strong that swimming is a pain.  Once our guide fished us out of the water, we started rafting for real.  We were taught the proper strokes and commands and we pretty much beasted it.  Our guide said that we were on Class 2 rapids and in one spot Class 3.  Nothing too intense but we were still easily the best boat.  The Class 3 rapid was easily my favorite.  It was steepest and the quickest.  Our guide said that we had to sit to go down it and in the process got absolutely soaked.  Nothing better!

At the bottom of the rapid there was a waterfall that we could steer the raft under.  We were told that the water was clean enough that we could drink it straight from the waterfall.  You've never seen a group of college students so excited about a drink of water before.  We each took a turn drinking and it might as well have been the fountain of youth.  We were bursting with excitement and joy.  

After enjoying the waterfall, we were shown a cliff jumping spot.  Pretty perfect that I found a cliff to jump off of in Europe.  : )  How can you say no to a great adrenaline rush?  

We finally came to the end of the journey and enjoyed a wonderful lunch along the river.  From there we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the Pub Crawl that was going on later that evening.

Now for those of you that have had anything to do with me that involves alcohol, I'm not really big in the party scene.  Generally I tend to avoid it, and when I do partake, it's usually as a chaperone figure.  Rest assured, some things never change.  We met some interesting people- Andy and Kevin from Germany, Sam from Australia, and Iris from Croatia- and had some memorable moments, but as most chaperone evenings go, they end early.  We called it quits before reaching the final pub and attempted to catch some z's.

Anne, myself, and Erin- my fellow chaperones supreme!

The following morning we went with the tour group on an island hopping outing along the Dalmatian Coast.  Basically, I spent the day on a boat enjoying the sunshine and watching the waves.  It was bliss.  Watching the water rises and fall and catch the light is one of the most relaxing things I've done, probably ever.  It's mesmerizing.  It gives you some quite time for reflection and to soak in just what a wonderful moment you're currently dwelling in.  And it's all your's.  

We made our first stop and got the chance to poke around a town for a little while.  We found a swimming cove and took the opportunity to put photographic genius to work.  I'll spare you my work for now.  I don't want to overwhelm you.  : P  We then returned to the boat for lunch.  We passed the time simply sipping on wine and throwing our scraps to the seagulls following the boat.  Our guide then said that we would spending a few hours at a private beach, but to get to it, we had to jump off the boat and swim out.  Did I mention that I really like jumping off things?  

After enjoying the beach for a few hours we headed back and cleaned up for the evening festivities.  We we bused to dinner in a neighboring town and I ordered shrimp after hearing that Croatia has sublime seafood.  I was not, however, expecting THIS.  

They were staring at me all during dinner because, yes, they still had eyes.

Afterward, we pretty much had a free evening at our disposal and since we had missed the last bar on the pub crawl, we decided to get check it out.  It was right on the beach and a great mix of American and Croatian music.  We enjoyed the dance floor for a little while then decided to head out to the beach.  We had had enough foresight to wear our swimsuits under our clothes for a MIDNIGHT SWIM.  : D  Or really more like 2am..  Details..

Words cannot express how much I loved this.  Sure, I almost had a moment of slight panic as I ran past the others who didn't want to go to the deep water as they asked, "How can you go out there?!  What about sharks??" and scenes of a shark attack played in my head, but pure adrenaline had taken over at that point and I yelled back, "Oh well!"  You could still hear the music from the club playing over the water and we had a dance party, right there, in the middle of the Adriatic Sea at night in Croatia.  Life was grand.  

Not a great picture, but here's the proof, kids!

Our final day in Croatia was spent in Krka National Park.  Remember the picture Anne showed that I mentioned at the beginning of the post?  Yeah, I got to see that.  The park is ridiculous pretty.  You walk along a wooden path that takes you over all these pools and streams and mini waterfalls.  You finally make your way down to the big falls and there it is, The Big One.  You stand there and appreciate it for a few moments and then you charge the water.  I'm pretty sure I spent more time in a swimsuit that weekend than I did the entire duration of the summer, and that is perfectly fine with me.  Into the water we went, yet again, and enjoyed our final few hours in Croatia.  We finally separated from our beloved H2O and enjoyed a wonderful lunch then headed to the bus.  

And that was my weekend!  Definitely no regrets.  I had no idea what to expect from this weekend and I could not have asked for better.  It was so refreshing to reconnect with Mother Nature for a little while and send the summer off in style.  I made some new friends and chartered some unfamiliar waters.  No complaints from this girl.

Go get your feet wet today!

Sam