Croatian dreams and Barcelona breath

Tomorrow I'm going to Barcelona, but tonight I'm looking back on our past few days in Dubrovnik. It's been a very relaxing yet eventful five days, and I'll remember a lot of my stories for a long time to come.

Friday, 3/28

We got up at 6-a-freaking-clock-a.m. to start our first travel day. We packed lunches and boarded buses for Cologne at 7:30. We got to Cologne and sat around the terminal for two and a half hours before we could board. Not cool. Don't make me get up at 6 so I can sit around in a terminal. If you want to see an unhappy Chris, do exactly that. Terrible.

We flew to Split and landed at 2 or so. We went through passport control and took a short bus journey to an old Roman village, where we checked out ruins of an amphitheatre and some other stuff I was too thirsty to properly appreciate.

Split is about 4 hours from Dubrovnik, but the drive was made worth it by the immaculate Croatian countryside. The radiant blue of the sea up against the deep green of the pine trees on the seaside mountains. Our coach buses snakes in and out of the sunset, and I almost forgot how sleep deprived I was at that point.

We got to the hotel late—around 10:30—and we ate a spread our program director had the hotel prepare for us and (mercifully) went to bed.

Saturday, 3/29

Today we began with a walking tour of Dubrovnik. The city is incredibly old, and incredibly pretty. And it's walled. We walked up around the city wall, and I jumped up onto the wall itself and made people nervous. Whatever, dudes. I can handle it.

When you enter the walls of Dubrovnik (through the front gates), the city has one main pedestrian avenue. There is little vehicle traffic in the old city. Little alleyways shoot off to the left (further uphill) and to the right (closer to the ocean). The stone streets are winding and thin and clean. The whole city (minus the abundance of stray dogs and cats) was very clean.

I had a lunch of dried, sugared figs (from an outdoor market) and pizza and went to the Sponza Palace in the afternoon. What I got out of it is that the Croatians did what the rest of Europe did during the Renaissance but later and not quite as well. But admittedly, I wasn't paying very close attention. Most of us weren't. It was so warm and sunny outside, we just wanted to run around.

I had gelato three times today, at three different gelato shops. The business models were pretty American: inexpensive product (7 Kuna=1 Euro=$1.50), large servings and marginal quality. I mean, it was tasty, but not nearly as tasty as any other gelato I've had.

That night, I went to see Skup, one of the better-known plays written by Croatian playwright Martin Drzic. It was in Croatian, so I couldn't understand anything, but the costumes and sight gags were entertaining in and of themselves. It was only like $8 or something, so I thought it was worth it to experience some of Croatia's culture.

Sunday, 3/30

Today we were to go to Mostar, Bosnia, about a 3-hour trip away from Dubrovnik. We couldn't get into the country, though, because when after breakfast, four students asked if they should go get their passports, Johnny, one of the Emerson staff members, said "No, you won't need it." Well, we did, and thanks to Johnny's incompetence, we couldn't get into Bosnia. The ride to and from the border was amazingly picturesque, though, and we had a lot of time to nap and hang out.

When we got back, we went to the beach! I went into the water, which was extremely cold. Like, oh my god I can't breathe this is freeeeeeeeeezing cold. It was good to be in the sun. That made us all very happy. Ben, Meg, Lauren and I went to Restaurant Mea Culpa for dinner, where I got baked lasagne, and went back to the hotel. We went back into town to go to a small club, Fresh, which was mostly filled with American travelers, and then went back to the hotel.

We soon learned that we were lucky to have made it back without incident. On the walk back from the hotel tonight, thirteen (our of 80) Emerson students were jumped by a pack of drunken Croatian teenagers. A few of us were taken to the hospital, but no one got anything more physically severe than a black eye. It was a freak thing, I think. Some of the local Croatian seemed to be slightly disgruntled with the presence of Americans during the tourist off-season (although the town was still filled with tourists), but all-in-all, we were welcomed and our presence embraced. I don't think Dubrovnik is any more unfriendly or friendly to Americans than any other place I've been to. It could've just been a group of drunk-ass teenagers causing trouble, which can happen anywhere, irrespective of country, irrespective of our nationality.

Monday, 3/31

I was thinking about skipping the program this morning (if you have unused class cuts, you're allowed), but I got up anyways. We were going to go to the Modern History Museum, which focuses mostly on the Yugoslav conflict, but it was closed. Dulchia, the executive director of the program, verified that everything was open before we went to these places, but open/close times were quite Mediterranean—approximate and subject to change without notification.

After an abbreviated, improvisational tour of a memorial for those who died during the Yugoslav conflict, I went with my friend Brian to get a haircut! He found a place that charged only 50 Kuna ($11), and although my hair is now shorter than I like, it will grow back, and I don't have to put up with the chastisement of those around me to control my unwieldy hair. And now my head is a Croatian souvenir, too!

In the afternoon, the museum we had planned to go to was also closed, so we went to the modest Dubrovnik aquarium for about 30 minutes and then had the afternoon to ourselves. There was something that looked like it used to be a turtle tank. Now, it looks like it's a dead turtle tank.

Because we have two travel breaks and a slightly abbreviated semester, we need to use travel excursion programs towards academic hours requirements. The shortage of true classroom time is the reason the Kasteel Well is subject to rumblings of shutdown. So when these museums were closed, we needed to find replacements in order to appease the administrators back home. I've said it many times and I'll say it again: I can't believe we're getting college credit for this. It feels like a sabbatical.

We got seafood for dinner, which was something most of us agreed needed to happen while we were in Croatia, whose currency is relatively weak and whose seafood is very fresh.

Tuesday, 4/1

By the way, one of these nights, we had an earthquake, which we were told is a weekly occurrence in Dubrovnik. Many other people were waken up, but I slept through it, which is probably why I forget when it was.

Today was our last full day in Dubrovnik, and my group was supposed to go to what was advertised by Emerson student services as an impressionism gallery, so I was pretty excited. It turned out to be some really inferior modern art. Again, the program was short. Meh.

For lunch, we went to a nice vegetarian place called Nishta. We liked it so much and word got around so quick twenty people from Emerson went there for dinner that night.

That afternoon, we went to outside of Dubrovnik to see Trestno, where there is a nice renaissance-period villa and gardens. Some people swam in the water while others strolled amongst the fountains and trees. I took a nap on the docks in the sun. A relaxing afternoon.

Wednesday, 4/2

Today we went to Dubrovnik's synagogue/Jewish history museum. The area's Jewish community is much, much smaller than it once was. The museum and tour were interesting and short, and we were done before 11. I bought figs, an apple and a roll (to be accompanied by Barpy, a hazelnut crème which cost half as much as Nutella) for a snack on the plane. And then, of course, I bought gelato (Emerson students could rarely be seen with gelatoless hands in the city) and headed back to the hotel to catch a cab to the airport.

We got into Barcelona around 6, and took a bus to the city center and the metro to our apartment. (Yes! We got an apartment!) It cost us 21 Euro ($33) a night. It's completely worth it! We can cook our own meals (which will save us money while allowing us to eat and drink better, chill out in privacy and sleep in our own beds. I feel like a real person!

We took advantage of our cooking facilities by making a big meal. I did laundry, we watched a movie together and we went to bed happy.

Now, I’m writing from our apartment in Barcelona.

Thursday, 4/3

We started slow today, which was fine with all of us. We made a big breakfast and then split up: the girls went shopping and Ben, Jeff and I went to rent bikes down by the beach. But—reoccurring theme alert—we got gelato first. We rode around for a while and saw a lot of the city. The city's very cool. It's very modern; very New York. We returned the bikes (just 5 Euro for two hours) and went back to the apartment to meet up with the girls make dinner.

After that, we went to the hostel where most of our Emerson friends are staying to visit. There are probably 40 of us in the city, our of the 80 in the program. On Wednesday, flights were scarce out of Dubrovnik, and Barcelona is was an extremely popular choice for the second half of the travel break. We didn't know where the hostel was in the classical sense, but we did know the nearest metro stop and the name of the hostel. We found it easily. Ben and I decided that we're getting quite good at this!

After we went to the hostel bar, it was too late to take the metro (even though it was just past midnight), so we walked back to the apartment. It wasn't that far though.

And now, I’m writing back at the castle!

Friday, 4/4

We got up around the same time and made about the same breakfast and left the apartment at about the same time. We went to the beach, and even though it wasn't as warm as Thursday and we could tan or go swimming, it was still nice for a little while.

After that, we went to the Sagrada Familia, Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi's still-under construction magnum opus. Construction began in 1882, was interrupted by the death of Gaudi (who left full plans for the project) and the Spanish Civil War (in 1936) and is scheduled to be completed in 2026. It's the most mammoth cathedral I've ever seen. It made me sad, though. Building such huge churches was understandable in centuries past, but here and now, when we have such a firm grasp of the extent of the problems in the world, there are much more worthy things into which we should be pouring our money. God's hands and feet shouldn't be so self-indulged as to keep building massive basilicas. We have enough already.

Acts 17:24 (NIV): The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.

Saturday, 4/5

We got up at 4:30 a.m. so we could leave the apartment, get on the metro at 5, take a bus at 5:45 and catch our 8:30 flight. We got back to the castle around 11, which we were all were thankful for. It was a great travel break (and much less costly than the first), and we have a lot of awesome things to look back on!


Ben and I leave for our last big trip on Wednesday. We're skipping 3 classes that day (which was planned and is sanctioned by the program) flying to Milan and continuing via train to Rome. On Friday, we'll pick up and go to Florence, and then train it back to Milan on Sunday morning for our return flight. People have said it's good I left Italy for last—now everything won't pale in comparison! It'll be a while before I write again. When I get back next Sunday, I have finals and stuff. Until then!