Back on the ship

My last two days in Croatia were equally as wonderful. I made it to the Zagreb Filharmonica where I bumped into two SAS students. That's a good surprise! I like to see them chosing to spend their money and invest their time in the cultural arts. It snowed all day the next day, so I decided to visit three of the museums in town and took snowy photos of places I'd been the day before. For those of you from the land of winter, you know what I mean when I say it was one of those perfect snowfalls -- big, fluffy flakes covering everything in a blanket of shimmering magic. Everyone was using their umbrellas as they walked around the city to keep the snow off of them. Not something I see a lot of people doing in the USA, but I happily joined them. (Thanks Mom and Dad for my umbrella. It has come in handy to keep out the sun, the rain and now the snow.)

I splurged and purchased a plane ticket to fly from Zagreb back to Dubrovnik. Just couldn't afford to spend the hours back on the bus and miss out on seeing the walled city of Old Dubrovnik. Unfortunately, the weather in Dubrovnik did not cooperated and we were rerouted back to Split and then transported by bus back to Dubrovnik. Croatia Airlines handled the entire situation very professionally, and I appreciated how quickly the bus got us back to Dubrovnik. The ride is much faster when the airlines want you to be happy compared to the public bus ride, which took almost two additional hours and made multiple stops. We arrived back to the ship around 2:30 am, giving me plenty of time to grab some sleep before breakfast at 8:00 am.

The Old City of Dubrovnik is lovely. I have heard people describe Croatia as what Europe used to look like. I am not sure what this statement means exactly, as I have never been to Europe before the past five days. (Can't really count airports.) However, I will say I was awed by the architecture everywhere I went. Cobblestone streets, marble sidewalks, narrow pedestrian passages between buildings and more. I walked to the Old City about 45 minutes from where the ship was docked. I figure I see more using my feet and with only one day in Dubrovnik, there was no time to waste. The walk around the walls took me about an hour and half, stopping multiple times for photos and to enjoy the views of the Adriatic Sea. As much as people continue to tell me I need to return during warming weather, I cannot imagine wrestling with the crowds during the high season would be very enjoyable. There was a noticeable difference between the crowds when we walked on The Great Wall in China (in September) and walking the walls in Dubrovnik in November.

There is a great deal of influence in Croatia from Italy (right across the Adriatic Sea), so I found locals directing me most of the time to pizzarias and other Italian restaurants for meals. It was all delicious! There was also plenty of gelato to be eaten and a delicious national dessert made with a bavarian creme type of thick layer, whipped cream, a flakey pastry crust (top and bottom) and sometimes a chocolate icing. Sound familiar to anyone? It very much reminded me of chocolate eclair, but not quite the same. You can find it everywhere in Croatia. I am told in one place it is made more with a custardy substance and served warm. Yum-yum.