Both Pula and Rovinj were sleepy little towns on the coast. Tia and I went on many hikes, walks and runs. We stayed in cozy little apartments that were around a half hour walk out of the town centers. It was nice because many of the days were sunny and beautiful. Of course a few were rainy. We did typically all our own cooking and ate lots of kluskis and polenta. It was nice to relax and just walk through both the towns. We went to wonderful café’s and yes I’ve started drinking coffee. I don’t that it’s more amazing over here but it’s nice to heat up with and people watch. It’s also a large part of the culture and people will spend hours at cafés, it’s never a quick coffee to go like Starbucks. We went to a couple churches but I think the lord see’s me coming and makes sure the doors are locked ha. I’ve yet to go into a church in Europe.
Opatija is definitely more alive than Rovinj and Pula. A little festival was going on here but Tia and I missed the main night by one day, of course. There is the best chocolate shop in Opatija hands down. They have a 5 tear chocolate fountain just for starters. T and I splurged on chocolate and vanilla ice cream covered in fresh whip cream, hazelnuts, strawberries, dark chocolate chunks, and drizzled with dark and white chocolate. I ended up having to order peppermint hot chocolate with a shot of mint liquor. It was heavenly and way too rich. I loved it!
We also took a day trip to Kastav. It was this tiny little town high up in the hills overlooking the coast. There wasn’t a ton up there but we went to the most marvelous restaurant. We ordered spinach gnocchi with a red wine and prosciutto sauce and sausage with fresh cream cheese and walnuts just for the appetizer. For our main dish T and I shared steak with frizzled onions and arugula over golden potatoes and a squid goulash with polenta. Afterward we finished with Belja Kava (latté) and tea. It was a fabulous meal even after having to run to catch the bus on an exceptionally full stomach. Even in Europe when I don’t have a schedule I still am constantly running late.
The Carnival in Rejika was a blast as most of you have seen from the pictures. It’s funny because we asked a bunch of different people why they have this enormous carnival every year and no one could really give us a straight answer. The first night at the hostel I was trying to go to bed early because I was tired, but then this aussie staying at our hostel came and asked if T and I would like to go out to the bars with him. We hadn’t been out in weeks so we agreed. It was really fun. His name was Eddie and we talked about all the differences between our homelands. He was traveling all around by himself and he was going to India soon and had already been to Japan.
The next three nights were similar to one another. Go out to eat at great restaurants (the pizza restaurant was incredible) and then we’d go bar hopping and then to this massive tent set up in the harbor where Croatian bands and DJ’s were playing and dance until we walked back to the hostel. The band the first night was amazing! I love it and had never heard anything like it in my life. It was house music with a trumpet, guitar, saxophone and violin added. It was so crazy and we met tons of great and interesting people. The last day was the best because they had a parade that lasted from noon until 7pm. It was sooo long. It wasn’t commercialized either which was great. It was just big groups of people that came from all over Croatia dressed up and making their own floats. Their costumes were wild. When we finally got back to the hostel I crawled into bed only to be woken up by all our roommates to celebrate one of their birthdays! They made me get up and drink with them and some other guys dressed as Nuns who were also from our hostel. It was so much fun! I didn’t end up going to bed until well past 4am and had to wake up for breakfast at 8am but it was definitely a night I’ll remember.
The next day we headed off on a 9 hour bus ride to Split. The drive was stunning. I cannot begin to explain how beautiful Croatia is. We’ve spent the past 4 days mostly in sun hiking along the beaches and experiencing local cuisine. My favorite was Cevapci. It’s sausage-like meat on warm freshly baked bread with onions and red pepper sauce. I love them. Today was T and I’s last day in Split and we really wanted to hike to the historical park. It was pouring down rain and stormy, but it was worth fighting the wind because when we finally got to the top we could see the entire city and past all the islands. It was incredible. Croatia has been a wonderful place to stay.
For pictures from the festival here is the link to Tia's Facebook Album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=195996&id=637201678&l=cc3cbefdb4
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Highlights of Zagreb
The Fressel’s were amazing hosts. Norma kept us so busy we never ever got bored. Her mother Nina and grandma Nana were so sweet and would always try and feed us more food any chance they got. Her father Boris was very funny and really talkative and her other grandma fed us an amazing meal. Miran, Norma’s boyfriend was so nice and funny. He always had us laughing.
Hiking in Croatia is spectacular. I could do it every day. It was absolutely beautiful. I couldn’t stop taking pictures. Another thing I liked was the fact that we took many breaks ha. Right when we got off the bus to start climbing we went in this little lodge and got some gluwein (hot spiced wine) and some Schnapps. Then we went sledding and started on our way. We didn’t even go for 15 minutes and we stopped in a little vineyard to do some wine tasting and then purchase a 2 liter bottle. We stopped for cookie and wine breaks, met lots of other hikers and laughed the entire time. At the top we stopped for a very Croatian meal of sausage, veal, cheeses, bread, sauerkraut, some beer and more Schnapps. Of course I was the only one to freeze coming back down the Mt. thank goodness Norma and Tia had given me warm clothes because I wasn’t “equipped”. I was still getting over jetlag so I took a nap in the bar while we waited for the bus. Again I could hike any day in Croatia.
I would love to drive in Zagreb. Everyone drives fast (old people must not drive). Sometimes it was hectic trying to cross the street because there is a good chance they aren’t going to stop for you. Also personal space doesn’t exist here. Even when you’re walking down the street and have the whole sidewalk people will slightly nudge you so they don’t have to move. I’ve already gotten better at standing my ground.
We went out twice to the bars. The first time was for Norma’s friend’s birthday. All the girls were nice and two of them were studying English at the University. The first bar was like any other bar but the second was called “Wrong Way” and it was really cool. It was this big warehouse with tons of art on the walls, packed with all different people and some house music. In Croatia on your birthday you’re suppose to pay for everyone else’s drink, but Tia and I couldn’t have that so we bought a round for all the girls. The other time we went out it was to “Sirup”. This club was really different. It was like walking into an alien spaceship. Everything was silver and futuristic. We ended up dancing to crazy house music until past 5am. On the way home we stopped at a bakery and I got a pastry filled with nutella. It made the night.
Food here was delicious. I haven’t been hungry since I got here. The cheese is my favorite. We buy it fresh at the markets and it’s so soft and yummy. I eat so much of it for breakfast. I’ve also discovered the chocolate. Tia and I have eaten at least a bar of chocolate a day, sometimes more ha. I’m not use to the different courses so I’ve had 3 helpings of soup to then find out that the meat and potatoes are coming along with some homemade strudel after that. I try to see if there are multiple courses so I don’t feel sick from eating so much. I’m also not use to drinking wine at lunch; at the two big lunches each of Norma’s grandma’s cooked they served great wine and a shot before we even started eating. When I was eating the meal I had to drink something with it and wouldn’t realize that I’d emptied my glass and almost immediately someone would fill it and they don’t take no for an answer when it comes to food. So I’ve accidently gotten tipsy during lunch with the grandparents. Good thing only Tia could tell ha. Everyone here can drink so much and not feel anything. I get made fun of a lot because I just cannot drink as much as everyone else. There have only been two things I haven’t liked: These fish like sardines that were deep fried and whole, bones and everything. The bones didn’t bother me (T and I gutted them ) but I ate quite a few anyway so they wouldn’t know. I had to refuse this sauce that was supposed to go on the meat and potatoes because it was mayo with a little Tabasco and basil. Nina didn’t understand that I couldn’t try it ha. Those of you that know me well know mayo makes me want to hurl. Thank goodness Tia helped explain that I couldn’t try it. Other than that one time I’ve been a really good sport about eating food that hasn’t quite been my favorite.
We also went to the Museum of Modern Art. It was so cool. Ha. The architecture building was really (surprise surprise) modern and beautiful. It had this crazy light show going on in the huge windows and once you went in you could walk in the rooms with it. Its really hard to explain. There were great pieces one of the sadest were all these masks of different womens faces and they were all living in the same shelter and were either abused and fled or had AIDS and no one would take them in. It was really sad but I ended up reading every single story mesmerized. Another of my favorites were these pictures from old magazines that had pictures of people in real life next to it doing similar things. We spent a little over 3 hours and I could have walked through it again. To leave we went down this slide. It was really fun and built into the building. T and I felt like little kids.
Tia has been the little navigator. She’s great at it. Very independent and good at figuring things out that are in different languages. I was more helpful today in finding our new apartment in Pula, which took about an hour ha but we made it safe!
Hiking in Croatia is spectacular. I could do it every day. It was absolutely beautiful. I couldn’t stop taking pictures. Another thing I liked was the fact that we took many breaks ha. Right when we got off the bus to start climbing we went in this little lodge and got some gluwein (hot spiced wine) and some Schnapps. Then we went sledding and started on our way. We didn’t even go for 15 minutes and we stopped in a little vineyard to do some wine tasting and then purchase a 2 liter bottle. We stopped for cookie and wine breaks, met lots of other hikers and laughed the entire time. At the top we stopped for a very Croatian meal of sausage, veal, cheeses, bread, sauerkraut, some beer and more Schnapps. Of course I was the only one to freeze coming back down the Mt. thank goodness Norma and Tia had given me warm clothes because I wasn’t “equipped”. I was still getting over jetlag so I took a nap in the bar while we waited for the bus. Again I could hike any day in Croatia.
I would love to drive in Zagreb. Everyone drives fast (old people must not drive). Sometimes it was hectic trying to cross the street because there is a good chance they aren’t going to stop for you. Also personal space doesn’t exist here. Even when you’re walking down the street and have the whole sidewalk people will slightly nudge you so they don’t have to move. I’ve already gotten better at standing my ground.
We went out twice to the bars. The first time was for Norma’s friend’s birthday. All the girls were nice and two of them were studying English at the University. The first bar was like any other bar but the second was called “Wrong Way” and it was really cool. It was this big warehouse with tons of art on the walls, packed with all different people and some house music. In Croatia on your birthday you’re suppose to pay for everyone else’s drink, but Tia and I couldn’t have that so we bought a round for all the girls. The other time we went out it was to “Sirup”. This club was really different. It was like walking into an alien spaceship. Everything was silver and futuristic. We ended up dancing to crazy house music until past 5am. On the way home we stopped at a bakery and I got a pastry filled with nutella. It made the night.
Food here was delicious. I haven’t been hungry since I got here. The cheese is my favorite. We buy it fresh at the markets and it’s so soft and yummy. I eat so much of it for breakfast. I’ve also discovered the chocolate. Tia and I have eaten at least a bar of chocolate a day, sometimes more ha. I’m not use to the different courses so I’ve had 3 helpings of soup to then find out that the meat and potatoes are coming along with some homemade strudel after that. I try to see if there are multiple courses so I don’t feel sick from eating so much. I’m also not use to drinking wine at lunch; at the two big lunches each of Norma’s grandma’s cooked they served great wine and a shot before we even started eating. When I was eating the meal I had to drink something with it and wouldn’t realize that I’d emptied my glass and almost immediately someone would fill it and they don’t take no for an answer when it comes to food. So I’ve accidently gotten tipsy during lunch with the grandparents. Good thing only Tia could tell ha. Everyone here can drink so much and not feel anything. I get made fun of a lot because I just cannot drink as much as everyone else. There have only been two things I haven’t liked: These fish like sardines that were deep fried and whole, bones and everything. The bones didn’t bother me (T and I gutted them ) but I ate quite a few anyway so they wouldn’t know. I had to refuse this sauce that was supposed to go on the meat and potatoes because it was mayo with a little Tabasco and basil. Nina didn’t understand that I couldn’t try it ha. Those of you that know me well know mayo makes me want to hurl. Thank goodness Tia helped explain that I couldn’t try it. Other than that one time I’ve been a really good sport about eating food that hasn’t quite been my favorite.
We also went to the Museum of Modern Art. It was so cool. Ha. The architecture building was really (surprise surprise) modern and beautiful. It had this crazy light show going on in the huge windows and once you went in you could walk in the rooms with it. Its really hard to explain. There were great pieces one of the sadest were all these masks of different womens faces and they were all living in the same shelter and were either abused and fled or had AIDS and no one would take them in. It was really sad but I ended up reading every single story mesmerized. Another of my favorites were these pictures from old magazines that had pictures of people in real life next to it doing similar things. We spent a little over 3 hours and I could have walked through it again. To leave we went down this slide. It was really fun and built into the building. T and I felt like little kids.
Tia has been the little navigator. She’s great at it. Very independent and good at figuring things out that are in different languages. I was more helpful today in finding our new apartment in Pula, which took about an hour ha but we made it safe!
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