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Published: August 5th 2007
Tonight is, sadly, my last night in Croatia. I'm taking an 8 hour bus ride to Zadar tomorrow to fly to London, where I'll be for a few days before heading home. This trip has gone way too fast! An update on the last few days before I reflect on the last few weeks: I was in Hvar before this, which is an island right off of Split. It was very beautiful and a lot of fun, but pretty resorty. 2 days was enough there, although I would definitely go back with friends. The weather has been soooo hot for the last week or so, I think every night in Split and Hvar I literally could not cool down unless I was in the water, it made it pretty difficult to sleep. Luckily there seems to be more of a breeze in Dubrovnik, sleeping here has been much more pleasant. Dubrovnik, in fact, may be my favorite place that I've been on this trip. The ocean is absolutely beautiful, the perfect temperature, and super-salty, so it smells so good! I took the bus here from Split on Wednesday, I was kind of dreading the 5 hour bus ride, but it was amazing! The road goes right along the coast the whole way, it was so beautiful, I was glad that I didn't have to drive. My hostel here was really nice, right near the beach, and I met a couple of other girls traveling alone, so that was nice. I went in to the Old City for a bit yesterday, which was pretty impressive, its completely surrounded by huge walls and has a really extensive history. It was really crowded with tourists and tour groups though, so I was pretty stoked to come back to the water. I think I might be a little cultured out, hanging around the ocean for the last couple days has been excellent. Today I spent almost the whole day by the water, right down to sunset. Dubrovnik is definitely high on my return-to list, I feel like I could definitely spend at least another week here.
It' unreal to think that this trip is coming to an end. I feel that the England portion will be more of a much-needed visit with old friends ("old"...I just met Claire in February, but she feels like a sister), so I feel like I should reflect on the trip so far now. Traveling alone has been an amazing experience, I would definitely do it again. I feel like I learned a lot about my self and what I'm capable of. Luckily (knocking on wood here, seriously), I've not had any major snags, but I feel that if I did, I could deal with it. I'm proud that I managed to carry my ginormous backpack on my own this whole way, including some rather long hikes to hostels (yes, sometimes I sneered at girls whose boyfriends were carrying their bags, I'm allowed). In terms of the negatives of being on my own...it would be nice to have someone hold my luggage when I, say, need to go to the restroom in train stations. And eating dinner alone is still not the most comfortable feeling. Aside from that, it was great.
Ok, because I love lists, here's some of my favorite things from this trip:
Favorite New City: Dubrovnik (it was Barcelona for a while, and it definitely comes in a close 2nd)
Favorite Meal: Dinner in Cesme, Turkey...lovely meal overlooking the ocean... actually, Turkey wins the food category pretty much overall
Best Hostels: Kabul, Barcelona; Ostello Gallo de Oro, Florence; Fluxus, Ljubliana....they were all friendly, clean, and really easy to meet people in
Most Amazing, Life Changing, Wow experience: Climbing Tiede
Places that I would like to return for more than one night: Bergamo, Italy; Ljublijana, Slovenia
Best Running: Tenerife...hills galore and cool weather
Best Sandwiches: Mozzarella, Tomato and basil from the stand in the Tulierries, Paris and the same thing from seaside cafe in Monterossa
Best Drinking: Wine in Italy...anywhere where you can get a half-liter of wine for 3 euro works for me
Most frequently met English-speaking tourists: Australians, and other med students
Least frequently met: Americans (our economy really does suck)
Most strangely difficult question to answer: "Where are you from?"...well...
Favorite question to answer: "Awwww, how's New Orleans?" I like getting to sell my new city
Ok, I think that's all for now...I will update from England!
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Mom
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amazing
Your trip has been an amazing experience that you will take with you for the rest of your life. I am very proud to have a daughter that can conquer the world as you have done. Reading about your experiences has been like being with you for the last 7 weeks! I can't wait to see you and hear first hand about everything you have seen.