Thoughts of a Nomadic One

As I stepped off the bus from Split in Dubrovnik, numerous Croatian ladies approached me. Armed with maps in their hands, they proceeded to show me their house/room/sobe on the map. While this may sound strange to some of you, others will have heard or experienced the attack of these room hawkers in Eastern Europe. Although I encountered a few in Prague, Krakow, Budapest, they were merely passive hostel runners. The 6-7 old women here were like coyotes looking for meat! I politely refused each approach and then I heard the dreaded question, "Are you Japanese?"

FUCK!

Though I can understand the difficulty in differentiating people within an ethic group a few continents away (actually, by the end of this trip even my parents will be able to differentiate by ethnicity due to my tan!), perhaps one shouldn't assume? I don't assume that anyone that looks eastern European to be Polish, Russian or etc. And people should not assume that North American English speakers are American.

After my great escape, it took a frustrating hour in the 33C heat to find the phone #, telephone card and call my hostel owner Mladen for a pickup. After quickly checking in and dropping my stuff off, I went off to explore the old walled city of Dubrovnik. This area was exceptionally pretty and well restored even after being bombarded and put under siege by the Serbians in the Croatian war for independence. The white stone walls set between the light blue Mediterranean sea and the rapidly rising rocky hills and mountain. However, to me, it lacked the simple charm of Split.

Since I missed breakfast, lunch and only had a slice of pizza for my previous dinner, I decided to splurge a bit on my final meal in Croatia. I looked around to find a cheap and deserted restaurant in the old city. I had mussels and a seafood risotto for an amazing price.

The rest of the evening was uneventful except that I had a double room to myself and watched one of the many terrible movies I would see in the following week. The movie called Ripley's Game had John Malkovich and Dougray scott.

I'll be catching a flight to Munich and then Istanbul early in the morning!
Mollim!

1. Great seafood
2. Great beaches
3. Friendly people
4. Beautiful women
5. Fun islands to explore
6. Great water and landscapes
7. Not overflowed by legions of obnoxious tourists

It's very easy to fall in love with Split. The above list but some of the reasons. For myself, the landscape (esp. of Hvar) is incredibly appealing as well as the fresh seafood! The Adriatic sea is also less polluted and warmer than many bodies of water I've seen.

I'm glad I visited this wonderful destination before the onslaught of tourists come. The Brits are already coming in waves so I expect other Europeans and Americans to follow soon.

Croatian cuisine can also be very similar to Italian with emphasis on seafood and much less expensive. In fact, I found a little restaurant in an alley close to the terminal where I got a large seafood paste for under 5 euros!

I am now off to Dubrovnik but it will be hard to find a more charming place than Split and Hvar in Croatia.

Speeding down the street at 85 km/hr on my 150cc scooter, I thought to myself, "I found Paradise in Hvar."

Walls made of stacked grey stones sheltered the grape vines growing from the deep red earth. The magnificent hills, Mediterranean landscape sea and red tile roofs are scenes that I could only imagine seeing in paintings by Monet or other impressionist masters. Neither words nor photos can describe the beautiful landscapes that's been engraved into my mind.

After arriving at on the overnight train from Budapest (more comfortable and less sketchy than Prague-Krakow), I ate a well yearned English breakfast at The Black Cat. The place was recommended by a fellow Canadian who I had shared the compartment with and who had been working in Split for the last 3 months. I met up with some random guys at the Split Hostel who intended to head to the islands and explained to them the recommendations I got from Dave, that crazy Kiwi, to rent scooters and explore Hvar.

It was, by far, the best decision I have made throughout the trip. I've always loved riding scooters around (twice in Varadero, Cuba) and this was an entirely different experience. The winding roads and diverse scenery were incredibly fun to explore on those mopeds! At one moment you can see the green hills dotted with fences of grey rocks and piles of rubble. Then over the next hill you can see the hills set before the beautiful light blue Mediterranean sea. The small towns and grape vine regions were very quaint and a joy to explore.

Though we had to catch the bus to Stari Grad, the ferry on the other side of Hvar town where we landed, it felt like our time on the scooters were far too short. However, our perfect day turned for the worst when the bus was filled up to the maximum and 10 of us were left at the stop requiring us to get into a taxi for 40 Kunas each (approx. 6 Euros) in order to catch our ferry!

ATTENTION POTENTIAL INVESTORS:
If you are interested in a time-share or purchasing real estate in Hvar, Croatia, please contact me.

Numerous times as I was speeding down the road with he hills and Adriatic sea in my sights, I looked up to the clear skies and closed my eyes for just a moment. When I opened them again, I always found myself in Paradise, my Elysium.