For the past week or so I had been debating where to go over the long weekend. I facebooked a classmate from Croatia, and she sold me on her home country. I was at first going to go with some other girls, but they had other trips planned or school assignments (some people here actually have to study) so I got on the bus at 10:00 with just my backpack. My shoulder bag stuffed with a jacket made a perfect pillow, and I slept remarkably well considering. The bus was unloaded at the Slovenian border sometime around 2 am for passport control. A few minutes later a Croatian border guard walked through the bus, and we were officially admitted into Croatia.
Besides a short stop at a rest station (with a meters long line for the bathroom), I the next thing I distinctly remember is blearily asking the fellow next to me if the bus leader had just announced that we were in Zadar. At 5 am I stumbled off the bus, asked a taxi driver which direction town was, and walked through the gate as the sun hit the islands. My first hours in Zadar were spent walking along the white stone promenade and through the city. There is a "sea organ"built along the wall which is "played" by the waves as they roll in. The rhythmic splashing of the water was turned into chords which were quiet and peaceful in the morning and louder when the breeze picked up in the evening. You can listen to it on the
Videos page. (click Read more)
By seven the market was starting to buzz. Zadar has a special fish market built inside the city walls and full of the local catches. Raw fish didn't sound so great for breakfast so I visited two bakery stands to satiate my grumbling stomach. It was even more fun at the fruit stands, where I tried to explain to the apricot lady that I only wanted one piece of fruit, but ended up with one kilo! The currency in Croatia is the Kuna, which was trading at about 7,5 Kn : €1. Even in a tourist town like Zadar, everything runs cheaper. Boutique gelato cones are 6 Kn (€0,81 vs Graz, €1,10), a gourmet cappuccino 10 Kn (€1,35 vs Graz, €2,50-€3).
At 8-ish I stumbled across my lodging, Hostel Elena, and decided to give it a shot even though I was not technically supposed to check in until 12:00. The owner greeted me at the door, showed me to the bathroom so I could freshen up and change clothes, let me deposit my heavy backpack in the office, and then led me up to the kitchen on the top floor and put a pot of water on for tea for me, since it was still so early that I probably didn't want to go see the city yet. The hostel was full of English, Aussie, and American students/recent graduates.
My morning/afternoon consisted of walks through the harbor, a Franciscan monestary/museum, a ride across the harbor from one of the "Boatmen of Zadar" in his bright orange boat (rowed standing up), finishing my history class reading at a cafe, sun-bathing on the wharf and beach, visiting the archeology museum, catching one of the Zadar sunsets over the islands made famous by Alfred Hitchcock, and my first Casablanca at the Garden. Why is it that when I finally find my ultimate club I am travelling alone? Relaxed music, bean-bag chairs and pillows stacked on benches, overlooking the harbor from the top of the city wall. Dreamy!
Even though the last week has been "normal," there are so many moments that stand out as having been really exceptional. Like Monday night, when Ruth and I made a quick trip to meet some of our new Austrian friends at a pub and ended up hanging out and watching a movie for the entire evening. Or last night, when the same three guys (+Maria!) came over, and Basti made us Kaiserschmarrn. Christoph brought Maria and I "goodbye Austria survival" gifts of Manner Schnitte and Mozartkugeln. In Maria's words, "unglaublich," unbelievable! 
I have also managed to say goodbye to so many friends, spend an entire day hiking in the Vorberge (foothills), fail my first university exam (and therefore the class), score an A on an oral history exam, 
sell my bicycle (for the same amount I bought it for!), go for one last coffee at Café Binder, and move out of my apartment.
For the past week or so I had been debating where to go over the long weekend. I facebooked a classmate from Croatia, and she sold me on her home country. I was at first going to go with some other girls, but they had other trips planned or school assignments (some people here actually have to study) so I got on the bus at 10:00 with just my backpack. My shoulder bag stuffed with a jacket made a perfect pillow, and I slept remarkably well considering. The bus was unloaded at the Slovenian border sometime around 2 am for passport control. A few minutes later a Croatian border guard walked through the bus, and we were officially admitted into Croatia.
At 8-ish I stumbled across my lodging, Hostel Elena, and decided to give it a shot even though I was not technically supposed to check in until 12:00. The owner greeted me at the door, showed me to the bathroom so I could freshen up and change clothes, let me deposit my heavy backpack in the office, and then led me up to the kitchen on the top floor and put a pot of water on for tea for me, since it was still so early that I probably didn't want to go see the city yet. The hostel was full of English, Aussie, and American students/recent graduates.
My morning/afternoon consisted of walks through the harbor, a Franciscan monestary/museum, a ride across the harbor from one of the "Boatmen of Zadar" in his bright orange boat (rowed standing up), finishing my history class reading at a cafe, sun-bathing on the wharf and beach, visiting the archeology museum, catching one of the Zadar sunsets over the islands made famous by Alfred Hitchcock, and my first Casablanca at the Garden. Why is it that when I finally find my ultimate club I am travelling alone? Relaxed music, bean-bag chairs and pillows stacked on benches, overlooking the harbor from the top of the city wall. Dreamy!
I have been avoiding blogging all of this because every time I sit down at my computer I feel guilty for not working on my history paper... but that is in the final stages, so here is the week's news from Graz in summary.
Monday afternoon I jumped on a train to go meet two very special girls who were passing through Austria on their way from Prague to Venice. Erika was my roommate for a year and a half, but studied abroad my last semester at Calvin. She and her sister Marijke are currently in the middle of a month backpacking around Europe. Wien Meidlung train station was the first time we had seen each other in two and a half years. There was much screaming and hugging :) (click Read More)
I still can't believe that they were actually here. The three days went by so fast that they feel like a huge blur. That is about the pace of life right now. I realized a little while ago that there were only 8 weeks left until I flew home. Last night Ruth, Petra and I went to see the King's Speech. Hanging out in Petra's flat with our Turkish friends (Mediha had cooked- lessons to come!), we realized there was only one month left in Graz. And when I leave, so will they. Coming back to Graz will never be the same.
Mom and Dad were subjected to essentially the same Vienna tour that I did with my friends about a month ago, so you should recognize the locations of some of the pictures! We took the U-Bahn into downtown and did a walking tour around Stephansplatz and the Dom, down the main shopping streets (Dad was not as amused as Mom and I that "douglas" is the name of a makeup store chain), past the Oper (where Mom met a charming gentleman selling Mozart tickets), and through the Hofburg.
In the afternoon we headed out to Schönbrunn and walked up to the Gloriette through the gardens. The weather started out clear and sunny, but by the time that we reached the huge summer palace it was a little cloudy, though not unpleasant! Mom and Dad went on a tour of the imperial apartments while I explored the Carriage House- Ana, it is definitely going on our list! 
Over the next 24 hours we also made stops by the Hundertwasser houses, Belvedere palace and gardens, the Nachsmarkt, parliament, Stadpark, Manner chocolate store, and espresso and tortes (including Sacher) at a Viennese Café/Konditorei... by the time that we finally got on the train to Graz, Mom and Dad were pretty exhausted!
We were absolutely ravenous by the time we had walked down to the Naschmarkt and chosen a place for the girls to get some Wiener Schnitzle. After we re-charged we headed to the closest U-bahn station- where I found my first Starbucks in months! I dragged the girls in so they could smell the Seattle aroma of strong black coffee- they brew it strong in Vienna! I sipped my tall black on the U-bahn on our way to the Prater just outside of the Innenstadt. The area is an amusement park built around a giant ferris wheel, which was built in the park near the turn of the century. We didn't go up, but we had fun and ate Mozart Kugeln! 
