This Counts as Class

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Unfortunately, this entry can't contain photos, because I'm currently in an internet cafe that doesn't have the USB cable I need to upload the tons of pictures I have taken over the past week. Stay tuned for a blog post that features exclusively photos of Croatia, Italy, and Switzerland.

Anyway, as part of a way of enhancing our knowledge as world travelers, the staff at Kasteel Well took all 85 of us "castle dwellers" to Croatia, starting on the 9th of October (my birthday! By the by, thanks to all you kind people who wished me happy birthday. It was much appreciated). A day of travel is not the best birthday present one can receive, but I sucked it up, like I am inclined to do, and a bus ride to Cologne, Germany and a flight to Split later, we arrived in Croatia at about 7:30 our time. Our destination was the Hotel Medena, in the small town of Seget, about 4 hours away from Dubrovnik. We were to spend a couple days in this part of the country, before making the journey to our final destination.
The hotel was RIGHT on the Adriatic Sea, and after checking in, the first few minutes of hotel lounging were spent on the balconies, as all the students peered out their windows, watching the sun set in the distance. Alysia, Kelsey and I were assigned a room together - hurrah - and after unpacking, we met Gabe, Ciera, and Amanda for dinner. We were told that there was a pizzeria under the hotel, and if we walked a little ways, we would reach the promenade, which went all along the beach. We opted for the second option, and after some searching, happened upon a hole-in-the-wall establishment. The language barrier was pretty strong in this country, because I only knew how to say about three phrases, and Gabe knew one. Needless to say, our food wasn't exactly what we had wanted as a direct result. Kelsey and I had ordered scampi, which we didn't realize meant whole prawns that we would have to break open with our bare hands! It was in a delicious tomato sauce, and once the shells were broken open, the meat was quite delicious, but not worth the effort. Ciera and Alysia kindly offered us bits of chicken that they didn't finish.
In celebration, the lot of us traipsed back down the promenade, followed by a kitten for a good 2 miles, and ended up at a quaint and quiet bar right on the water. Other Emersonians were in attendance, and a cocktail or two later, we headed to bed to get plenty of rest for the coming days ahead of us.

With the assistance of our wonderful Director Dulcia and our Assistant Director Chester Lee (coolest man in the world), we headed to Trogir the following morning. Trogir is a teeny tiny town located on the water, and is a completely medieval town. Our day began with a city walking tour, and climbing the bell tower of St. Lovro, which offered breathtaking views of the coast. After spending time in various basilicas and wandering down marble-paved streets, it was time to call it a day, at around 4. Ciera and I had decided, the previous day that we would go swimming in the Adriatic, if it was the last thing we did, so when we got back to the Hotel at 6, we jumped into our suits, and floated in the dark sea. What an experience! It was dark outside, but the moon and stars were out, offering plenty of light (not to mention lights flooding down from the town). We have pictures, courtesy of our photographer Gabe 😊. It gave off such an Arabian feeling...difficult to describe I guess. It's easily life-changing. A perfect end to a full rich day.

The next day offered us Split, Solen, and Dubrovnik. We left the hotel at 9:30, and arrived at 10 at an archaeological park, with fascinating Greek and Roman ruins. However, we were all tired, hot, and sweaty. The weather was in the 70s, even that early in the morning, and coming from the Netherlands, we were ill prepared. We had quite the interesting tour guide, who's difficulty with the English language proved to be quite disturbing. But that's a story for another time. After a quick tour of the ruins, which included a Greek amphitheater, we boarded the bus to Split, and had a quick lunch and gelato before heading to Dubrovnik. Before we left Split, however, we visited the ruins of Diocletian's Palace. We ran back to the bus, just in time to board, and began our 4 1/2 hour journey to Dubrovnik. This trip was filled with some of the most stunning mountain ranges many of us had ever laid eyes on...good stuff to listen to Ne, Irascaris by 😉. We had a brief stop over in Bosnia, during which we bought snacks and drinks, then continued.
Before I continue, it might be necessary to explain. Up until about 15 years ago, Croatia used to be part of a large country, Yugoslavia. However, during the wars that took place, the country split several different ways, consisting of the smaller, different countries like Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Slovenia, etc...the Croats only just received their independence last year. Yay for the Croats!
Anywho, after Bosnia, we only had an hour til our destination. We arrived in Dubrovnik at around 7:30, just in time for a buffet prepared for us by the hotel. Many Emersonians decided to go into the Old City, a 25 minute walk from where we were, but the three of us were so dog-tired, that we just laid low, and turned in early, at around 10.
The next day brought a city walking tour with the wonderful Rob Duckers - he bought us all gelato! Yum...upon entering the city, we were all taken aback. The Old City of Dubrovnik is very small: easily walkable. The most crazy thing about the place is that it is completely fortified by a wall, all the way around, and for 20 KUNA (about 5$, or 3.50€), you can walk the wall in its entirety. This was paid for by the college, and we spent 2 full hours climbing the wall, which overlooks the clear, glistening Adriatic. WAIT TIL YOU SEE THE PICTURES!!! Just a few more days until I can post them...after this morning program, we were set free, and Alysia and I decided to go swimming. We asked around, and were told that there was a beach right between our hotel and another hotel. Well, we searched hi and low but couldn't find it. We finally happened upon a huge resort, the Grand Sun Casino, and decided we would ask them.
"How do we get to the beach?" we inquired.
"Take that elevator to level B." they replied.
We looked at each other quizzically, and shrugged. If they were going to let us use their private beach, then we certainly weren't going to argue. We had the place to ourselves, and sang "Little Mermaid" songs as we drifted in the water. There is no sand on the beaches in Dubronik, only cliffs and pebbled beaches, which makes for much cleaner swimsuits.
Earlier in the day, we had seen an add for a Woodwinds concert, featuring the music of Haydn, Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. And what joy, it was only 100 KN! (10$). We are required for our History of Music class, to attend no less than three classical music concerts, and this would be our first. We met up with Gabe and Amory, and sat for an hour in a simple Dominican chapel, listening to a quite talented trio of a floutist, basoonist, and clarinetist. After this uplifting experience, we got gelato (something that happened no less than 10 times this week. How can we resist when it's less than a dollar for a cone?), then headed to our beds.
Monday proved to be the best day for all. It started with a guided tour of the Fortress Lovrijenac with Chester Lee. Chester is a tiny little Asian man who can only be described as a living grasshopper. This structure was the protector of Dubrovnik during the Renaissance, and currently serves as an outdoor theater for various productions every summer, namely Hamlet. We ended at around 11, three hours earlier than we were supposed to, and Kelsey and I went swimming at our luxury resort 😊, afterwhich we had to endure a rather boring tour of the Rector's Palace. It wouldn't have been so bad if the walls hadn't been covered with pretty awful quality paintings. However, we lived, and Monty, Taylor, Alysia, Kelsey, Lindsday, and I got a cheap dinner of pizza then headed to the Cliff Bar.
Explanation: the cliff bar is lovingly dubbed "Cold Drinks" by us Emerson kids. That's because the advertisements all state "Cold Drinks" quite plainly, but never offer us a name for the bar. One way or another, this place is a LITERAL hole in the wall (it's reached by going through a doorway in the wall of Dubrovnik), and you are suddenly on the cliffs, which have been staircased and tabled for a luxury dining and drinking experience. However, for those of us who don't have money, i.e. all of us, we head down to the cliffs, and lie out on the rocks, watching the sunset. Later, as it got dark, we found a flat rock slab, and the lot of us watched the moon rise over the ocean, and pretended to be cheesy. It was all far too beautiful to count as class, but it did, which makes the deal even sweeter.
The next day brought about our final day of academic excursions in Dubrovnik, and we were over and done with by noon. We got our luggage from the hotel, and checked into our hostel, which was right down the street. It was very clean and presentable: much bigger than our Paris one, and after a quick nap, Alysia, Kelsey and I headed into the city to get dinner at Fresh, which sells wraps and smoothies for cheap. We went back to the cliff bar, to watch the sun set one last time, before meeting up with another group of Emerson kids who would be flying with us to Rome the next day. We made a friend with a stray dog, who was oddly domesticated. She loved us, and we nicknamed her "Huberta". She followed us around for the majority of the night, curling up at our feet. (FYI, there are a TON of kittens, puppies, cats and dogs in Dubrovnik. They're all well fed, so they just hang around all the time. I have about 50 photos of just animals). By 10, we were tired, and left for the hostel. We met one of our roommates, Ruth, a really nice girl from Manchester, U.K., and chit chatted a bit before we all turned in.
After an accidental shower in the men's bathroom (luckily there were no men about), we had breakfast with another one of our roommates, Ophelie, from Lyon, and checked out, preparing for a fierce day of travel which undoubtedly lay before us. Six hours later, we would land in Rome, Italy, and begin our Roman Holiday.

But, that adventure is to be saved for another entry. I leave you all to your reading, and hope that you miss me as much as I miss you.

Love,

Me

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