Dobar Dan

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Hello again,

I have returned from the east... well eastern Europe that is, and I will say it was a very pleasant experience. Crystal clear waters, hot sunshine, good company, beautiful sights... there are many wonderful things do discover around the world and Croatia is no exception.

I have spent the last ten days touring Split, a Croatian coastal city on the Adriatic Sea and the islands just off the coast. It has been a dramatically different experience from the rest of my travels thus far but one that will always be remembered. Split is a tourist city and 70% of their income is from the tourism industry. So one can imagine what the energy of a place like that is like. People from all over the world, restaurants, day treks, markets with stands and people trying to sell something at every corner, taxis, buses, crowds, chaos haha. All of this taking place around a 14th century palace that marks the city center, it is quite an extraordinary environment.

Veronica (my cousin), her best friend Manon and I arrived early in the morning and the sun was shining and the heat was cooking. We found our hostel dropped our bags and hit the sandy beach... oh well the beaches were not quite sandy. They are actually rock cliffs and stone walks. The beaches we did find were pebble beaches and this was nice but not as easy on the feet. The water though was so clear that you could look straight through it right to the bottom even at 20 and 30 feet. It was a cool and refreshing element that just kept you coming back for more.

We packed in a lot of activities into the ten days we were there. We had to just dive in and join the crowd with all of the events that were going on. We obviously hung around Split and saw and participated in the events in town. Restaurants, dance clubs, bars, shops, swimming, walking, ice cream (lots and lots of ice cream haha). Along with that we visited two of the islands Brac (broch) and Hvar. We went to Krka National Park with some amazing water falls. We did scuba diving, rented a boat, danced, ate and swam. Just non stop activities, it was such an amazing time. It was all possible because all of it was cheep! haha well sort of, relative to other places around the world we were able to get a good value out of our money. So we were able to afford all of these activities. However this was the trip that I have spent the most money and it was the shortest amount of time in a place... thats kind of a bummer haha. Oh well it was fun and worth every penny.

I now put my life back in my backpack and head to Barnacre farm for one night to rendezvous with two friends that I met there. On monday we are leaving to hike and camp in the Highlands of Scotland for two weeks. I am looking forward to getting back to living simply and enjoying some nature. This will be the first adventure hiking I will have done in Europe and I am sure it will be another crazy experience.

I now leave you with all the many many pictures we took. It was great because Veronica had an underwater camera and we got tons of cool shots. LIke always I hope everyone is happy and healthy and doing well, till next time.

All Love,
Brian

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Comments

[Paul Verstegen]

Hey
Living life to the fullest! Way to go Brian, we're all enjoying your trip journal. Uncle Paul

[Grandma and grandpa]

too much fun
I don't see how you will ever come down to earth after all that. I guess hiking will help you with that.