Saving one of the best for last

Dubrovnik, Croatia was our last port of the journey. I think everyone on the ship would agree that two nights and three days in a beautiful country like Croatia is simply not enough time. The city of Dubrovnik was very different from any other city I have been to this summer. The city is surrounded by large city walls making it look like an old medieval city. The stone walls, marble grounds, and green shutters were an incredible site. Another thing that was so remarkable about the city of Dubrovnik was the damage that was done while they were at war in 1991 with the Serbs. There were pictures and books in every souvenir store which showed the snipers sitting on the city walls killing thousands of innocent civilians. The country has been through an immense about of pain and destruction in the last twenty years, but the city they live in now is one of the most peaceful and beautiful cities all throughout Europe.

At our meeting before arriving, we were told that due to the size of port our ship was unable to dock and we would have to use our lifeboats to tender to land. This was rather inconvenient especially with trying to get back to the ship late at night. The majority of the students ended up getting hotels in town so we didn’t have to worry about getting back in time to catch the last tender. My friends and I booked a three person apartment which was quite quaint right on the main strip. Since our funds have been diminishing for the past two months we decided to put eight of us into a three bedroom room. It actually worked out quite lovely with the use of an extra sleeping bag, blanket, and numerous $5 blow up pool floaties from the convenient store used as mattresses. No one was counting on a good night’s sleep in our last port so it was never really an issue. Although, with no hot water it did make it a little challenging for seven girls to shower and get ready, but we still managed.

So after we checked into our apartment Friday morning we dropped off our stuff, walked through the town and headed to the beach. The majority of the ship all flocked to the beach for an afternoon in the sun, relaxing, playing Frisbee, volleyball and anything else we could get out hands on. The only thing which would have made it better would have been a cornhole set. Next time I go to Europe Ill know what I need to pack. After a day at the beach we all headed back to our home to get ready for the night and head to dinner.

After dinner a lot of us headed to a Latino Club called Fuego for the night. It was a hoppin place and I think the regulars enjoyed 500 Americans invading their clubs, considering 90% of them were females.

Saturday morning we grabbed some breakfast around 9am, shopped around and contemplated our day. Unfortunately while we were there it was over 100 degrees so walking the city walls for two hours didn’t seem to appealing to lethargic group in the morning. Half of the group headed back to the beach whereas the others including myself went to an area we heard about from others to participate in some cliff jumping. To get to the cliffs we had to go through a little archway in the city walls which had a sign for a bar called “Cold Drinks.” The bar sat in the cliffs and overlooked the Adriatic Sea; it was an absolutely incredible view. Once passing through the bar the cliffs were off to the side full of people. Luckily there were levels for every person interested. They had some baby 10-25 foot cliffs, as well as a 50 foot cliff, and the big daddy which is said to be a little over 90 feet. I was yet to do anything very daring in Europe so I knew I had to take part in the cliffs. Unfortunately one of my friends Danielle who I was staying with jumped the day before, landed in a slight chair position and has a bruise on her butt and legs the size of the Grand Canyon. Considering ski season is approaching not to mention a twelve day voyage home I decided to go off the 50 foot one. Once I got up there I was still quite a bit nervous, certainly the highest thing I have ever jumped off. I tried to tell myself it was just like jumping off the pontoon like I’d done 1000 times before, but it was actually nothing at all like that. I even made the 35 foot leap in Bloomington at the quarries, but the jagged rocks and the extra fifteen feet or so made it quite a big difference. I had a few safety nets in the water ready to rescue me but after my five second count down I leaped and came out okay. We hung out at the cliffs for the day, a few people did the 90 and I did the 50ft and the smaller ones a few more times.

Later that afternoon we headed to the beach to meet up with the rest of the group for the afternoon. Because it was our last night in port we knew it was going to be a late night, we lounged around at the beach, took naps and later went back to the apartment for more napping and showering. My roommates (8 of us) went to a small restaurant called Wanda in an alley off the main strip. We all concluded it was the best meal we had the whole entire summer. We ordered various bruschetta and other appetizers as well as incredible spaghetti and seafood pasta dishes. The owner also lived in the States for awhile so he felt obligated to give us free dessert and more drinks as well. We of course didn’t want to be rude and decline so we gladly accepted. After our dinner we all headed to the East West beach club to meet up with everyone for the night. Considering the night before at Fuego was literally a heat wave it was great to spend the evening outside in the fresh air. The club had music going outside at the bar and outside club area as well as inside in the dance area. The night continued into the early hours of the morning until we decided to call it a night. When we got back I cuddled up on my floatie for a few hours rest. Our last day in Croatia was spent like the normal last days, spending our last bit of the country’s currency. We bought a few souvenirs and headed back to the cliffs, the view from all of the different landings was too hard to pass up on our last day. We had a few photo shoots with the three guys jumping for the smaller rocks doing dives and flips over each other from 25 feet up. I was a little sore from the previous day’s jumps so I refrained from jumping again.

When we got back to the boat I got to call my parents and talk with them for awhile and tell them about my time in Croatia. I don’t think the 90ft cliff would have gone over too well with them, but considering I don’t have any broken limbs from the smaller jump I think they aren’t too mad.

One main reason I want to come back to Croatia to see the different islands and various cities surrounded Dubrovnik. My cousin, Steve, spent some time working in Croatia and gave me an incredible list of sites to see throughout the country. Due to our time constraints I didn’t make it to many of the sites he recommended. He did reassure I would have a great time just in Dubrovnik for the weekend, which I surely did, I guess Ill have to come back to see everything else he recommended which I missed.

Sunday night we had our last BBQ on the outside deck before setting sail. The photographer on our ship took a picture of the entire community (nearly 1000) as we stood on the back 4 levels of the boat and he stood on land. The rest of the night we all hung out on the pool deck listening to the house band play music and reminiscing about our last eight weeks.

Its hard to believe the voyage has come to an end. In one way it went by in a blink of an eye but it also seems like forever ago when I said goodbye to my parents in Halifax. Im happy to say I took a thousand pictures, kept a journal, and wrote a blog so I can go back and relieve this journey as often as needed. And I think come February in Bloomington when my basketball team is in last place and I still don’t have a job after graduation I will look back over all of my memories from Europe. Im also very glad to say that I’ve made friends from all corners of the country and will look forward to road trips and reunions in the very near future.

Its now Tuesday, our second day into our 12 day trip home. I’ve completed one global studies paper, three anthropology papers, and have two more final papers and two tests to work on in these next few days. Im excited to get the work done and relax for a few days before we get back to Virginia.

I better get back to my studies, I hope you all have enjoyed my blog as much as I have writing it and hearing from everyone. I’ll put up a post later next week after my finals. Hope everyone has a great last few weeks of summer, cant wait to see everyone so soon!

-ANM

ps. Keep the emails coming, being at sea is when I get lonely. :(