MAR-GOES

Finally, a trip to a warm, sunny, island… so we thought. I had been waiting to go to Croatia for a while because well, Croatia! How many people can say they’ve casually vacationed in Croatia? That, and it looked absolutely beautiful on Google images. We were given one Monday off for “Spring Break”, so we took advantage of it. A lot of our friends ended up coming to Croatia with us, so that was exciting too. We left on Friday around Noon and got into Split, Croatia around 2:30. We got an Air Bnb with Claire and another couple, Emily and Colton, we know from PSU. We checked into our Air Bnb and sprinted to the beach to get whatever amount of sun was left for the day. The beach was literally a 3-minute walk away from our Air Bnb. The beaches I experienced were slightly different than what I’ve been to before… the “sand” is rocks and pebbles. This made things a little bit uncomfortable, but hey I was just happy to be laying on a beach. The water was crystal clear and was screaming my name… too bad it was absolutely freezing! I saluted the brave who were swimming and admired the water from afar. That night we walked around town a little. There is a big palace right in the middle of Split’s Old Town. It is called Diocletian’s Palace and it was built by the Roman Emperor Diocletian in the 4^th century. It is a beautiful maze of ruins full of restaurants, shops, and open space to relax. Things like this are truly what is amazing about Europe. How often do you spend the night exploring the ruins of a 4^th century palace? We had good sushi and headed back to get a good night of sleep. We had a big day planned, a boat trip!

Ok rewind a week before this, I was running like a chicken with its head cut off all over Prague looking for a perfect bathing suit for this boat trip. I finally found a cute black one piece and couldn’t wait to relax on a boat with it on. We wake up Saturday morning, very excited to get on a boat headed towards a small island. Greg was making eggs for us when Colton started to really not feel good. We were concerned but figured he’d be ok. As the time to leave grew closer, he got worse and worse. He decided not to join us on the boat and Emily chose to stay back with him. We were sad we lost two partygoers but we had a boat to catch. When the boat pulled up I was shocked. I don’t mean to sound like an entitled young adult, BUT it was nothing like advertised! This boat was completely covered, so I quickly accepted the fact that I would not be getting any sun. Also, it was set up so that there were just many long tables to sit at. AKA this boat was strictly for people to sit and drink on. I was not pleased with the boat but I was in Croatia so I wasn’t going to let it ruin my mood. When we get on the boat, we met up with all of the other PSU people and grabbed a long table. It was fun to socialize with everyone. However, once the boat started moving the tarp covering us and the wind teamed up to ruin our days. The tarp created a wind tunnel. We were freezing! I was fully clothed and had my towel wrapped around me. All I could think about was docking at the island and praying that the wind was only this bad because we were on a covered boat. We finally got to the island and it was beautiful. Although I am doing a decent bit of complaining, I don’t want to take away from Croatia’s beauty. It really is a special place, but clearly weather affects me and it was not that amazing island weather I had dreamed about. Please go to Croatia in July or August if you can. I’d love to eventually make it back in the summer. ANYWHO, the island we landed on was beautiful but unfortunately it was slightly too windy and cold to completely enjoy relaxing in a bathing suit. While we were laying on the beach there, Greg received a text from Emily saying Colton had to have emergency appendix surgery. We were so thankful that he decided to stay back and head to the hospital. (He later was told that it would have burst that day if he didn’t go when he did.) We were just very grateful that he didn’t push it, no one wanted to think about the potential of the situation if he decided to come on the boat. We were eager to get back to make sure he was ok. We took the time on the island to enjoy ourselves and then headed back on the windy, cold boat.

 

Once we docked back in Split, we ran back to the Air Bnb to hear from Emily. She told us about the hospital in Split. I’ll save the whole detail due to the length of it, but just remember not to take our healthcare for granted. We were just happy to hear that the surgery was successful and hoped for his quick return to our fun. That night Claire, Greg, and I ate at a seafood place close by and had a relaxing night watching TV. (Our Air Bnb had a nice TV that had channels all in English!! Including FOX, obviously I was so happy to see New Girl on.)

We woke up to a very rainy and gloomy Easter Sunday. We actually enjoyed a calm and relaxing day in our living room. I forgot to mention how unique our Air Bnb was.. I have some pictures to attach. It was fun chilling in our green living room, our purple foyer, and our butterfly bedroom.

Anyway, we watched TV and once the rain stopped we headed out to walk around. It was a pleasant Easter. Church bells rang throughout the town and families were gathered. Although I was in Croatia, I really missed my small town home where I knew my family was gathered. It was difficult to be away from everyone but I did get some reassurance. As we were walking back I noticed a painted street block. It was painted as a ladybug. For those of you who don’t know, a ladybug is my paternal grandfather’s heaven sign. I immediately felt a sense of family. Perhaps he came all the way to Croatia to spend Easter with me knowing the family was all together at home. I assume a blue jay traveled from North America and was in a tree near by (my maternal grandfather’s sign). I’m not the total superstitious type, but lady bugs and blue jays have been frequent visitors so I like to think the people we love never truly leave us. Feel free to disagree with me, I never want to impose my beliefs on my readers. Moral of my story, Easter ended up being very lovely for me despite the weather and distance between my family and I.

 

Emily spent the weekend running to the hospital and back (the nurses never let her stay too long, but she was persistent as every good girlfriend should be). Colton ended up staying past our planned departure on Monday and didn’t make it back to Prague until the next Sunday. He is completely recovered now. So thank you to the surgeon and nurses of Split’s hospital for helping our friend if you are reading my little blog lol. But seriously, huge huge props to Emily for being so supportive and strong and to Colton obviously for being patient and strong as well. We all wanted to voluntarily remove our appendixes after the events of the weekend.

The weeks are winding down and I have exactly one left. How did this happen? I’m extremely excited to get home but am appreciating my final days in Europe. I have a few more trips to fill you all in on, one of them being my favorite (spoiler alert)! I have a paper to write, three exams to study for, and a Czech oral exam to practice for, but I also have my last days in Prague to take in and blogs to write! I’m in quite a pickle, but I will use my handy dandy time management skills and get it done.

Thanks for reading.

xx