I am Bradimir (in Dubrovnik)

---

I've Croatized my name; I am Bradimir. I saw the word "Croatized" and laughed my head off. I figured I must use it in writing and in practice. It is done. I am Bradimir.

I'll have to add the pictures later. And I'll have to type fast, as Internet access is expensive! So sorry if I left anything out or spell something wrong or offend entire races of people leading to war.


Quick travel update:
At the moment, I'm in a hostel in Dubrovnik. I am thinking of doing Korcula, Hvar, then Split but I might squeeze Mljet inbetween here and Korcula because yesterday I walked for 12 hours so needless to say I saw a lot. I read about whitewater rafting near Split that I might have to do. And I might see some beauty in Plitivice as it has been highly recommended to me by friends and tour guides alike. But what remains of May is more or less an open book; June 1st I'll be in Trieste, Italy is the next solid rendezvous.



Some completely awesome stories that will change your life and redefine existence:

Zagreb

-------------

I can't say enough about the endless kindness shown to me in Zagreb. It was my first setting of the trip bein the lone foriegner for a prolonged period of time. And it was great! Now that I've left and I'm just another tourist, it is even clearer. But it wasn't just a "wow, they really like me" thing. The people were all awesome and I look forward to the day(s) when I see them again.

Once I got settled the first days, I started to explore Zagreb a little bit more. One day, Zeljka and Elena and I went to some museums and, upon arrival, we learned that it was indeed International Museum Day (I apologize for not sending cards out this year!). This meant that admission was free and also that you had to dodge the armies of 9 year olds running around going crazy. We went to the Museum of the City of Zagreb where you can imagine the topic. Later, we went to Mimara where I enjoyed the beauty; they have countless pieces of art from various periods. I was forced to act as the tour guide with a handout in Croatian as my loan reference. Thankfully I was Croatized prior to this, so it wasn't a problem.

The next day in Zagreb I got an awesome tour of the various squares (trg, try to pronounce that!) of the town. One was named after my favorite Croatian beer (Tomislav), so it stood out. Later we walked through the botanical garden and saw trees from China, but not before inhaling some burek, something similar to Greek spinach pie but with cheese only. Mmmm. I ate another meal that day in the student cafeteria, borrowing Zeljka's student card and posing as a Croatian scholar. Doing so gives you an 80%!d(MISSING)iscount on the awesome food. Again, being Croatized prior was to my advantage.

The last night in Zagreb (Friday) was as eventful as could be. The roommate Christina and her friend Dena were having a joint birthday BBQ so the night contained happy faces, fire, canals, awesome weather, and awesome people. It was set by this lakeside where we built a fire over the provided oven and then feasted on grilled chicken and mushrooms. Thankfully the bday girls had an awesome time, and for me, it was kind of like a last hurrah before I left on the all night bus the next night. It was a bit of a late night, but it was well worth it because it made me adequately tired for the busride the next day.

My last day was pretty relaxing. It even included a lengthy dog walk along the canal. I offended scores of devoted readers with my opinions of dogs in my previous entry, so in this sense, it was a sort of redemption. Afterwards, I went to the bus station for an awesome send-off from the awesome people that I met in Zagreb. They loaded me up with sandwiches and chocolates and waved furiously as the bus drove away. Hopefully we run into each other again soon!

Dubrovnik

----------------
I arrived in the morning of the 21st and ditched my bags at the hostel and went on a super hyper walk around the walled city of Dubrovnik, the so-called pearl of the Adriatic. It was a shift back into super tourist/backpacker mode, so I armed myself with my walking shoes and camera and went nutty. I spent a lot of my time in the walled portion of the city. There are all sorts of interesting historic pathways and beautiful caveats to explore. The walled city itself rests on the sea on a sort of mini-peninsula. This made it quite suseptible to attack, so it has these giant think walls all around it. A tourist can walk around these walls at a cost. I suffered this cost and went for the audio guide as well and had an awesome walk around where it filled me in about what I was seeing.

One repeated theme that I've noticed in Croatia are references to Serbs. They are not the most popular minority here. This comes on in various forms, like certain bars being for "them", but this isn't anything new about Croatia specifically (certain places are "for" certain people everywhere). But it comes out in sayings and dialogue as well, as sometimes in should. Even in the audio tour of the walls and in the tourist books, it is more or less unanimously agreed that when Serbia attacked Dubrovnik in 1991 that it was completely uncalled for. The tiles on all roofs on the old town in Dubrovnik are of a reddish shade. The tour talked about how if you look carefully, you can see which tiles were 15 years old and which were older. Those 15 years old were replacements from the Serbian bombings. I sometimes say that I don't like Mexicans because I hate their soccer team, but hatred caused by war is a little bit more real.

After running around the walls, I ran around the other various peninsulas in the area. I walked towards Babin Kuk and Lapad, some surrounding villas and collapsed at the beach for a bit for the sunset after a day of walking. Eventually I made it back to the hostel after a day of walking solo, and met a cool French Canadian guy named Nick (a 26 year old RCMP officer here for scuba diving). After sharing some Cervici, we bonded and so today we're going to the nearby island of Lokrum and plan to eventually hike to the top of the mountian that acts as a backdrop to Dubrovnik from the sea. It should be pretty fun!

I've written too much and I don't think any of you will make it this far anyway, haha. So hope all is well and again, thanks for the emails and hope everyone is well! Bok!

bradimir

---

Comments

[Lucienne]

further
great blogs, I can really hear your sarcasm and sense of humor. ps, I've been further! Pfffffft ;-P

[Carriage Ct King]

Rest of the name
If Bradimir is one substitude, try Tonas for another name . . . .and we'll keep you one edge for the 3rd!

[T]

Montenegro
hey, you can become the first ever tourist in Montenegro.