.
I didn't see Jeff until the next day. As I was on the computer checking to see if he had emailed me, I hear a knock at the window, and a tired Jeff was starring in at me. Apparently his flight to London was delayed, which made him miss his flight to Klagenfurt, which forced him to reroute to Salzburg, where he had a restless night taking a very early train to Ljubljana. But, I was happy to see him, although it didn't seem that he was enjoying things very much.
.
He went to bed, and I saw the town. Ljubljana is small, but it is definitely uni
que. The city has had a number of different influences on itself as Ljub belonged to different empires at different times. Much of the architecture, I am told, is venetian, although to me, the structure and look of the city looks very Viennese and Austrian. The talk of the city is the architecture designed by "Slovenia's favorite son", Joze Pleznick (triple bridge, dragon bridge, etc.) If Pleznick is Slovenia's favorite, I guess France Preseren is in second place. He wrote the national anthem (a drinking song) and many other poems about a 4 year old girl, with whom he was infatuated. Something to be proud of. If it sounds like I know a lot about Ljubljana, you're right... I know everything. In other words, that's all there is to know..
But I still enjoyed the city, and the surrounding country of Slovenia is beautiful. To me, it surprisingly looked more Austrian than the Mediterranean feel that I expected. Jeff and I got up early the next day to take the train (which we later found out was a bus) to Rijeka, Croatia. It was on this bus that we met Michael, and later regretted it. Michael is a tall, skinny man from Dublin, and apparently he must have had a very successful and lucrative gardening business, because Michael spends all of his time traveling around the world. His list of countries seen is impressive, covering every continent and more countries than I'm sure he could count. Michael started up conversation with us, noticing that we were also backpacking, and he didn't stop talking...
.
We informed him that we were taking a car from Rijeka to Split, and
he asked if he could share it with us. Don't be worried mom, he seemed perfectly safe. We agreed, half thinking that we shouldn't, but agreeing nevertheless. And shortly after arriving in Rijeka, we found our car and began down the coast of Croatia..
The weather was not as we had hoped for and much of the time was rainy and overcast. This ruined our hopes of a beautiful drive down the coast, which took forever. And Michael kept talking...
.
Six hours later, we arrived in Split. I won't go into too much detail about what he was talking about because I don't like even thinking about it. Michael was full of conspiracy theories and anti-bush sensational thinking. At one point he claimed that 25% of American youth lived in poverty. I only wished that was the worst thing he said. My favorite comment of his was that 19% of optimists live longer while suffering a deadly disease. Jeff and I had the same thoughts as "occasional pessimists". If 19% lived longer due to their optimism, then 81% of optimists' optimism was disappointed! ha ha...
.
On arrival in Split, I was tired of driving and I expected Michael to just go on his way, which was the deal. I was also on a short fuse because Split was huge and a driving nightmare, and I couldn't find a parking spot. Once we did find one and exited the car, Michael left his bags in the car and started to follow us. I said rather bluntly, "don't you want your bags?", implying, "this is the last stop, you psycho". I would've done it with more tact, but it was obvious that I wanted him to leave.
.
He took his bags, but kept following us, still talking. Jeff and I found our rented apartment, which was going to be a four bed room, but the landlady had it reserved for only us two. But, Michael invited himself to stay in the room, which we again, also regretted. Fortunately we were able to escape him and get some dinner, which involved our first sight of the city.
.
Split is incredible. It originally was the location of Diocletian's palace, who was a roman emperor that persecuted the Christians. He also was the emperor that split Rome into four different kingdoms, which later led to the fall of the empire. He wasn't very popular, and when he died, protests of celebration reportedly erupted throughout Rome.
.
We ate well, thanks to Rick Steves' suggestions. We returned to the apartment, to continue listening to Michael talk. It was getting late, and I was really tired, and I was not ready to hear all of it. Among the things he said, and this made Jeff and I really upset and we showed it, were:
1. If a woman gets raped it is her fault.
2. David Koresh and Timothy McVeigh were justified in what they did.
3. Ireland didn't need America's help in WWII, because they would have sided with the nazis. This led to:
4. The holocaust was the Jews' fault.
.
I can't remember everything else, but he was full of it. Talk to Jeff to confirm, as he took notes. Basically, this guy is clearly a psychopath.
.
We were really upset, and we yelled at him, and it led Jeff and I to be really nervous. We both waited for him to fall asleep first. Jeff told me the next morning that he woke up to Michael rumaging around in his bag in the middle of the night for something, and Jeff stayed awake for two hours just watching him and making sure that he wasn't going to kill us. I told Jeff that I slept with my knife in my grip. We both were
pretty worried..
Michael left the next morning! Hurray! and we immediately locked the doors. Relieved that he was gone, we went out to see the city. We hoped for sunny weather to see the beaches or head out to some islands, but it was still rainy and overcast, so we were forced to stay in town. But it wasn't bad. Diocletian's palace remains very well preserved, considering. He built a Mausoleum for himself and a temple to Jupiter (who he thought he was, Jupiter) in the center of town, and they still remain... but with a certain touch. Diocletian had two Christian bishops killed while he was in Split, and so once Diocletian was dead and the Christians were in power, they converted his Mausoleum into a cathedral with two altars over the coffins of the two bishops. Who knows what happened to Diocletian's tomb. The temple of Jupiter was also changed, obviously, but into the Baptistry of St. John. This building I like the most. It was simple and hard to find, but it included the most-well preserved half-barrell roof of it's kind. It was very cool.
.
We finished some laundry got some good sleep, and then the weather improved enough to see the beaches. I went swimming, I'm skinny I know, and I slipped and cut up my legs and feet pretty bad. But all was patched up with the first aid kit from the rental car. I hope they don't charge me for that. We mostly relaxed on Saturday while waiting for Jeff's flight, and at 3 o'clock I dropped him off at the airport and I began my drive, alone this time, to Dubrovnik.
.
Up to this point, Croatia was fun and interesting. With this drive to Dubrovnik, it became absolutely amazing. It is indescribably beautiful here. The drive is along the only road to Dubrovnik, which is a narrow road curving along the different bays of Croatia's Dalmatian coast. The water reminds me of Koh Phi Phi, as it is clean and crystal blue, and every view was picture-worthy. The road at some points was carved right into the mountains overlooking the sea. One road in particular was built right into these high cliffs, probably about 300 m above the sea level. It was a two-lane highway, and there was construction, and with this being eastern Europe, the road conditions were not that great and they lacked any type of structure to block
the edge. Oh, and I was driving a Hyundai. Very dangerous. But I don't know if I would have done any different had I known the conditions ahead of time. The view was fantastic, despite the fact that I had little time to look!.
The road took me through Bosnia, and four hours after driving I arrived in Dubrovnik. My hostel is the Villa Miclia; I was upgraded to my own private room for free, very nice. Next door is the beach. This city is amazing as well, and there is a lot more to say, but I'd rather go out and see it rather than stay in this cafe typing! It's Sunday, but I'm probably the only Mormon for miles. I once heard that there was a missionary couple in Serbia, and I know that there were elders in Split, but they're gone now. I think the closest branch is across the Adriatic in Italy-- so that means no church.
.
Today I'm just seeing the town and taking it easy. Tomorrow I'm taking the bus to Montenegro. I heard that a short bus ride away is the Adriatic's only Fjord. That'll be interesting. Tuesday I'll take a ferry to a nearby archipelago, and then catch my flight late to Stuttgart.
.
Ok, I'm done typing.
No comments:
Post a Comment