Lokrum

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Sunday August 4 – Today is the last full day of seeing new things on this trip. Tomorrow I start my journey back to Split and then to Basel the next day. I am still excited to get home, but sad that the vacation is ending and work is beginning. Surely teacher summers should be longer?

Today Tina and I decided to start the day slow, and then go to Lokrum island, which is only 15 minutes away from Dubrovnik by ferry. We got up when we did, ate eggs for breakfast and then got the bus to the old town. We even tried a different bus this time, we were feeling so adventurous. We walked over to the dock and paid for our return ticket to the island, which also included entry into the island as it is a reserve. We walked around for a while, exploring the ruins of a monastery and a fort and looking for somewhere along the coast to relax. There are no sandy beaches, so we were trying to find some rocks that were in the shade. We did manage, but my spot ended up being in a path down and Tina’s got the sun quite quickly afterwards. We stayed for a while anyway, and I tried to swim, but it was a bit cold and rough, so I didn’t go in too far. We did sit in a tide pool for a while though, and that ended up being the best part. First we had to negotiate our way over all the snails, and then we found what felt like a rock seat to sit on, including back support. Next the shrimp came. They cruised over our hands and feet, eating little bits of dead skin, as far as I could tell. It was like a spa day! So funny. We stayed there for a little less than an hour or so, until I thought I might start to burn in the sun. I did get a bit red the other day, so I have to be careful. And it is so sunny and hot all the time!

After the tide pool, we showered off and went to lay in the shade under a tree, away from the water. We stayed there for an hour or so, and then decided to go. We looked up the times for the boat back that Tina had on her phone, and saw we had 8 minutes to get to the boat if we didn’t want to stay another half hour. We got our stuff together, stopped at the bathroom, and then walked quickly to the boat. Once we could see it, it blew the horn and we started running and dived onboard just as it was about to pull away. Very exciting. Back in town, Tina did some souvenir shopping and then we got the bus back to the apartment. Also very exciting – the bus was there, I was in line buying tickets and we still made it on. We got off the bus one stop or so early to find a restaurant that was a bit cheaper than in the old town. I ate some calamari and then we headed back to the apartment to repack and relax. When it was time to go to sleep, I decided to watch the episode of True Blood that I hadn’t seen yet. I stayed up until midnight and it was a good episode, but then I found I had trouble sleeping. It was not a good night of sleep. But glad that I watched the show.

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