Dubrovnik

After my last post I caught the train to Zagreb and met some guys from USC who I would eventually spend the rest of the night with. We arrived in Zagreb, and they went immediately to an internet cafe so I decided to tag along. I had about 3 hours to kill in Zagreb, so it wasn't bad to have some company.

While walking through the city (which is gorgeous - probably my favorite city and I only spent a few hours there), we asked a security guard if he knew where the nearest internet cafe was. While trying to help us out, he asked us where we were all from. I just went with the flow when one of them said "California", and his eyes lit up and started talking in a hushed wisper.

"Ahhh...California...This I know. You know...Motorcycle men...Hells Angels...(looks around)...We have chapter here."

At this we all kind of smiled but were definitely intriuged.

"But what is different...We are not criminals, big men who fight and things...Instead we like to drink, have good time and....(makes thrusting gestures)...fuck lots of pretty women, no?"

Now this guy probably stands in front of the bank everyday, just watching people pass, and was definitely excited to meet someone, let alone Americans from California who know about Hells Angels - but we were excited to meet him too.

After giving us some directions, he invited us to a pub on Friday night where his band is playing (this guy is about 50), and told us that he plays the harmonica and that there are plenty of girls to go around. None of us were going to be there, but we obliged and told him we would try to make it.

We thanked him for his recommendation and headed towards the pizza place where I ordered a "Sexy Pizza" - pizza with mushrooms, eggs and sausage (which turned out to be a big hot dog cut in two). You'll see why they call it sexy pizza when I upload pictures (which I promise will be soon).

So me and the guys got on board a night train to Split with our pizza and beer, and had a pretty good ride just hanging out, listening to music off of one of their ipods, and jamming to some guitar jams provided by my travel guitar. The second half of the ride sucked, and we all slept in about every position possible to get some sleep.

When we arrived in Split, we were immediately accosted by people shouting "Cheap accommodation, no problem, very close, good for you". Those guys were staying in Split and had no reservations, so they bit on the first woman to offer it to them, and we parted ways soon after.

I instead had a bus to catch to Dubrovnik (no trains run to Dubrovnik), and even though it was incredibly uncomfortable, the scenery was amazing. We actually stopped at a cafe in Bosnia along the way. The bus drivers almost left without a few people both times we stopped though. They seemed generally unconcerned with the girl screaming "STOP! MY BOYFRIEND!" until they saw him running toward the bus.

When I got to Dubrovnik, I was again accosted by about ten women telling me that they had a good place to stay in, and even though I told them all I already had reservations in a reputable place, they continued to push. One woman got really pissed off at me and went to the other women that didn't pick up travelers and yelled something while pointing to me while I stood at the bus stop. Oh well.

When I got to the hostel (which I had a terrible time finding), I felt instantly welcomed. A couple and their son runs the place, and the first thing I did was sit down with a welcome drink (plum brandy) while he explained what there is to do in Dubrovnik while drawing up bus routes on my map. I arrived with an Australian girl, and she also had a welcome drink poured for her. He had a sip and decided she wasn't ready for liquor at noon time, and offered me the rest in fear that the host would be offended. I obliged, and when I was shown to my room, the bed looked really, really nice. The view from the hostel was amazing.

Spending a night on the night train followed by a five hour bus ride and two shots of brandy can make you really damn tired.

I slept for about two hours before I decided to head down to the harbor and check out the town. My original plan was to see the old town at night (the famous part), but I saw rain clouds coming and I didn't want to push my luck...again. (My camera works by the way) I grabbed some dinner at a local pizza place and watched Turkey play Portugal in the EuroCup.

After having an AMAZING breakfast cooked by Milka (some kind of fried pastries), I decided I would walk into the Old City. While walking through, I couldn't help but notice the intense Croation decor hanging from every window and cafe. Croatia plays Austria tonight, and actually I'm writing this while watching the game at the hostel as the son hangs a flag from the balcony. Everyone is wearing a jersey or wearing a flag for a cape, and the honking was near constant. Every time someone passed someone with ANY kind of fan gear, an apparently compulsory beep was heard.

The Old City was really amazing though. It's a giant walled fortress, and inside the architecture is really breathtaking. After about thirty minutes though, you realize that the only thing inside of the old city is cafes, tourist shops and restaurants. It's flooded with tourists and gets old pretty quick. Eventually I left and made my way down the coast, passing quite a few five star hotels along the way. Despite the tourism, it as an amazing thing to see.

Dubrovnik is renown for it's seafood, so on the way home I picked up some pasta and about 40 fresh mussels for 14 kuna (about $2.40). When I got back to the hostel, I started cooking my meal when Milka (the mom of six who runs the place) starts asking what in the hell I'm exactly doing. My plan was to cook the mussels in olive oil, salt, garlic, and parsley, and pour that mixture over the pasta. When Milka (who was a cook for 25 years) told me to start doing something different though, I definitely obliged. She eventually took over my piss-poor efforts, and cooked me up a delicious meal of pasta and mussels.

And that about leads me to what I'm doing now. I just finished cleaning my dishes, and I'm watching the end of the game with the rests of the guests on their big projection screen. Croatia is in the lead, and if they win, I think we will all go out with the son and celebrate. After a low point in Bled, I'm having a great time in Croatia.

Tomorrow I'm off on a day trip to Bosnia with the son and a few guests. Should be really cool to be there.

And it looks like CROATIA WINS! Time to celebrate...I actually JUST took this picture.