There you go, now you know where I ended up going after Malta. My plan was to get to Croatia and although I had to fly into Italy via Treviso to get close enough, it all worked out….so let’s get on with it to find out how it all came about…
Day 105 Wed. Aug. 5
I woke up early and cleaned up, got ready, zipped my bag up and headed over to the airport. I got in and went straight for the information desk to ask about using wifi to find out how to get to Croatia. They very helpful lady informed me that the wifi was not working, oh crap! My next question was how to get to Croatia and she said to go downstairs and buy a bus ticket to train station and then head to Trieste from there and once in Trieste i could take the bus to Croatia, so that is what I did. The bus ride was quick to the train station and there I bought my ticket to Trieste, which was leaving shortly, so I grabbed a water and jumped on the train. The ride was about 3 hrs and once there, I walked out of the station and the bus station was right next door, good thing. I got to the ticket window and I just missed the 1:30 bus to Croatia so my only option was the next one was 5:30 pm, arriving at 4:30 am, so I went ahead and bought the ticket. I know pretty spontaneous, and risky considering I had no idea where I was staying yet but I did it anyways. I was trying earlier to get a friend to look up hostel information for me in Croatia so I did have some numbers. My phone however was dead and my ipod too. I had a few hours to kill, and needed to charge those things so I walked into the restaurant there and got a bite to eat, and noticed that there was an outlet with a small note beside it stating a small fee to charge on it. I asked the gentleman working there if I could charge me phone on it and he kindly said yes and said he wouldn't charge me, I was also able to charge my ipod too, thank god. I sat and ate my food and the gentleman of whom I found out is the owner and of the restaurant and his name is Marco, came over and sat with me to chat for a bit. I told him about my travels of where I have been and where I was heading to, he gave me some tips of places to see in Croatia as he used to go there a lot when he was younger. I stayed there and did a bit of writing, recording some of my travel information and at one point Marco was heading out somewhere and offered to drop me off at the internet cafe so I could look up information but I declined and just continued waiting for my things to charge. He returned and came back over to me again and this time he had a bottle of local sparkling white wine and offered me a glass, so I obliged, and it was quite tasty. We exchanged emails and he also offered if I was ever back in Trieste that he had a vacant apartment I could stay in, how nice. We cheers’d and then I had to head out for for my bus. What a nice man. I walked out to the bus, and got on, I had a woman sitting next to me, Carmella, she was from Croatia and was returning home after her vacation visiting family in Italy. We had a long ride ahead of us and there was a few stops along the way, people would get off and some new people got on, the bus was full and there was even a few people standing. I tried to nap a bit, and then we had a bathroom break and Carmella offered to buy me a drink and we sat and chatted some more, she wanted to know all about my travels. We got back on the bus and again I dozed off for awhile.
Day 106 Thur. Aug 6
Time went by and after a long and uncomfortable ride, we finally arrived in Split, Croatia at 4:20 am. I got off the bus, got my bag and made a phone call to the one hostel, I was surprised the lady had told me she would answer at that time of the night and she did. She gave me directions to a hostel that had a bed available, I was a bit nervous walking along in a city I knew nothing about, but I wanted to try and get some well needed sleep. I got off the phone and made my way following the directions I was given. I walked along the harbour and got to the well lit street with the palm trees, and it was lit up like it was day time. I walked along and turned up the street I was suppose to and then I was met by the hostel owner. She was a very friendly woman, she walked me to the hostel and told me that her guests were all asleep and I needed to go in and go straight to bed (lol). So that is what I did. The room was very crammed, there was a 3 bed bunk, a single bed and then 2-2 bed bunks, a small bathroom, a tiny kitchenette, and then in two small cubbies there was 2 more beds, and then a computer corner. I climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep, still thinking I had no plan for the morning but at least I am here now and I am sure it will be easy to find a place. Almost forgot it was the same day, I got up at about 9 am, when this man came in to get a few of the guests and take them to another location. I grabbed my bags, and walked out, I spoke quickly with the woman who let me in and thanked her and she told me if I had trouble finding another place to come back and she would help me, so nice. I called one of the other hostels I had written down and the man told me to go there to see if they had a bed available, so I walked over and they did, Yeah! Check in was not for a couple of hours, so I left my pack and walked down to the ferry to check out prices for getting to Italy after, also to the train station to check in there too. Then I went for a bite to eat, it was a nice hot sunny day, so I sat out on the patio and enjoyed my breakfast. AfterI took a walk through some of the flea market and then back to hostel to go check in, I got my bag and they let me in my room. The price was good as everyone had told me, it is Croatian Kuna here, which is 7.2 kuna = 1 euro. The room was a long and narrow with 4 bunk beds along one side and locked cabinets on the other, a toilet room and a separate shower room, and even a small fridge.
I got my bed, sorted out my things and then went back to the reception to see if I could book for another night, they are all booked up but if someone cancels then no problem but of course I wouldn’t know until then, crap. I logged online and checked emails, and some other things, had to look in to hostels and transportation for Italy, then I took a short nap. i got up and met a couple from Australia, and chatted with them shortly. Locked my things up and went for a walk. I went to go look into the walking tour here, but wandered around and took some pics
these two go together – Catherdral of St Domnius
the Silver Gate
this is Grgur Ninski (Gregory of Nin) rubbing his toe is suppose to bring good luck
this is the basement halls of the Diocletian’s Palace
this is the promenade that I walked up earlier this morning that is lit up like daylight
I walked to the square for the walking tour and it was 11 euro, so instead I went to the tourist information and grabbed a map that shows you the tour to do on your own, I will try that tomorrow. I walked along, grabbed some groceries and some food for dinner, then returned to the hostel. I ate, met a couple more roommates, 2 girls from the U.S, they were studying in Dublin and were just doing some touring around Europe for a few weeks. I put my pics on my puter and then turned in for the night, tomorrow was up in the air so I wanted a good nights sleep to be ready for it.
Day 107 Fri. Aug. 7
I got up early to check out if needed, I packed my bag and went to the reception and yahoo…I can stay another night. I put my things back in the room. I walked back down to the ferry again to get more information for the ferry to Italy, and bought a ticket for tomorrow evening. Then went to another port to see about going to the island of Brac today and enjoying some sunshine. I went back to the hostel quickly and put on my bathing suit and headed back, got a ticket and boarded the ferry. The ride was about an hour, and we got in. some pics from the ferry ride over
I went to the bus station to look into heading over to the big beautiful beach that Marco had told me about, but it was another 5 euro and there was a line up of people heading there, so I opted out of that. I walked back down by the ferry port and there was a small beach or tons of other spots to lay out in the sun. I walked along to find a place to chill out and get some tanning in. I thought I found a good spot, on the rocks to listen to the waves and although it was on the rocks it was nice and quiet, but suddenly this man came over to chat with me and he was a bit on the creepy side, so I kept on walking.
Some more random pics
As I wandered along to find another place to lay out, each time I stopped and thought it would be a nice spot, no word of a lie, that man appeared out of nowhere, so I decided to go down to the sandy beach close by the ferry with all the other people and lay down and chill there. I found a spot on the sand and got comfortable. I laid out for a few hours, I dozed off a few times, dipped in the water, very refreshing. I gathering my things to get back to the ferry and head back to Split. I walked along, grabbed a burger and ate it on the ferry. more pics on the walk to the ferry and the ride back to Split
The views of both the island and Split were beautiful, the mountains in the background and the blue waters. So nice. I got back to the hostel, showered and got online to check some hostels in Naples and check the Italy trains. I packed my bag and got things organized for tomorrow and then off to bed.
Day 108 Sat. Aug 8
Leaving Croatia today. Got up early and got ready, grabbed my bag and walked to the train station to get a locker to leave my bags, none were available, so I went over to the storage place and paid to leave it there. I packed my small bag with all my valuables and then went for a nice brkfast. I finished and went over to the walking tour location, again I decided not to pay the money and took my map to follow the route on my own. I of course can’t tell you what everything is but I did mark a few things and here is a link to learn about Croatia and some more pics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia
Narodni Trg, the public square of Split, that is a 15th century clock
the Golden Gate
After walking around I made my way to the beach, it was another hot day and I wanted to work on my tan and chill out before heading out to the ferry to go to Ancona, Italy. Everyone had the same idea, the beach was full but I managed to find a spot, laid out my towel and put my full pack down and got comfortable. I laid out there for quite a few hours and stupid thing is, I never got in the water as my bag was full of my valuables and I was not leaving it for a second. So, I laid there and sweat like crazy.
I finally had enough of people walking by and knocking sand on me and it was really starting to get busy, so I got up and went for a walk. I got a few things at a store and then went back to the same restaurant for something to eat. Grabbed my backpack and walked down to the ferry port, where I had to wait for about 2hours. Finally at about 8 pm we all lined up and had to go through customs, people were so annoying, butting in and pushing like crazy, stupid thing is if they have a cabin then they are already guaranteed a place to sit.
My ferry
I got on, found a spot to sit, and I met a couple of Aussie girls, Ema and Carley, we chatted for a bit. We left at around 9 pm and there were tons of Italians on the ferry, obviously since it is so easy they head over to Croatia for a little holiday and then head home. I took a walk outside to take a few pics
Went back in and I found the spot to be really hot and too much noise, so I took a walk around to see what other options there were on this ferry. I went downstairs and there was quite a few spots empty there, and even a small area that was kinda cool, so I grabbed a seat and chilled out. I did a bit of blogging as there were outlets on the ferry thankfully. Then, once some of the other people were setting up their sleeping bags, I shut down my puter and made up a sleeping spot for myself, on the floor. I used my towel as a base, my sleeping sheet as a pillow and my sarong as a blanket, it was still pretty warm so didn’t really need too much. I tucked my bags away, set my phone alarm and laid down to sleep.
So, one night sleeping on the ferry and tomorrow I will be in Ancona, Italy…. I know it was a short visit in Split, Croatia but for what I did see, was nice and it is definitely a place I will return to again sometime. There are so many other parts of the country to see, along the coast are some beautiful beach areas and I have heard great things about both islands, Brac and Hvar, so if you ever get a chance, check them out…..I know I will come back to Croatia again. Sorry I didn’t get to give you more information about the country and I am sure the walking tour would have been very informative but after being lucky with so many free tours, I didn’t really want to pay.
I will continue when I awake tomorrow morning, still on the ferry and due to arrive in Italy at approx. 9 am…….so stay tuned for more travel adventures :)
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