Let Me Guess, Bruno?

Saturday, July 10

We accidentally slept past our alarm and didn’t wake up until about 10am, which was perfectly fine with me! About 8 of us headed to town to catch the ferry to Lokrum. Lokrum is a small island that is about a 10 minute ferry ride. It has cliffs, rocky beaches, a few bars, and is a giant forest wit hidden ponds that you can swim in. We got gelato while waiting to get on the ferry and sat and watched some kittens play, they were so cute and really young! Once we got to Lokrum, we started walking around and figuring out what we wanted to do. We ran into several guys from SAS and we all decided that we wanted to find cliffs to jump from. On the ferry ticket, there was a map of the island so it was pretty convenient to know where to go! We had head about the “Dead Sea”, a small pond with a rope swing and a big flat rock to hang out on. When we got there, not many people where there, but we saw a lot of peacocks and baby ones! They would walk up to us and just stare and come close to our feet, so cute. We put our stuff under some big, shady trees, laid our towels out on the rock, took pictures, then jumped in! It seemed even saltier than the ocean (which was already super salty) and it was so easy to float! It was so hot outside so it felt great to get in the cold water. The rope swing was kind of high and you had to pull yourself about 4 feet out of the water to get up to a small knot to sit on, so it was nearly impossible! We watched the guys jump off the cliffs into the pond but it was too shallow for me to try. Boys will be boys. After hanging out there for a few hours then hitting my heel on a huge rock and getting another foot injury… we started walking around trying to find some real cliffs.

We saw a few kids jumping off a 30 foot cliff and then a ladder coming out of the ocean onto the main parts of the island. Shea and I were the first ones to jump off the cliff! Everyone was a little scared, but 30 feet really isn’t high at all. It was so much fun and we jumped for hours. I have a few videos of everyone and a lot of pictures! It was a beautiful sight, and the water was that deep blue color with really pretty rocks covered in bright green plants, just like a painting! You could see the Croatia and all of the little houses with bright orange tiled roofs, along with sail boats, kayaks, and huge cruises. It was amazing and it definitely made our trip to Lokrum worth it! We were pretty warn out after a while because it got exhausting jumping, swimming against the waves, climbing up a huge ladder, and crawling back up the jagged rocks to the top to jump again… but worth it!! We took the last ferry back around 5pm and went to the ship to get ready again for our last full night out in Dubrovnik!

The other night we met a guy named Bruno (yes, another one) and his friend Tom told us how his dad owns the restaurant on the edge by the Old Harbor where we ate. When we were walking around, we saw Bruno working there. How fun is that to work at a beautiful restaurant on the edge of Croatia?! The restaurant was full so we ate at one just outside the city wall (everything is so close together here) called Dubrovka. At this restaurant, there was live music by an older man who was playing the harmonica, guitar, and singing with a back up guitarist. He had multicolored lights around him and a small white tent. This place was really nice and we sat outside on a deck that overlooked the water and the outside of the Old City lit up with big lights. He played songs such as Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Layla, House of the Rising Sun, and many more classics sung with a heavy accent, but fun to listen to! I ordered the seafood risotto again, of course, and it was even better this time. The bread was soft and fresh, along with the tomatoes and pesto sauce! Mmm I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.

Dubrovnik has a festival once a year and we happened to be there while it was going on! I’m not sure what it is for, and the locals we met didn’t really know either… While eating, we got to see a firework show that was inside the Old City. It was so relaxing to sit in the cool breeze with amazing views, while eating a delicious meal watching a firework show! Once we were finished, we walked into the Old City which was packed full of people, way more than yesterday. In the main square part, there was a huge stage with lights, it looked like a concert setting, and we thought we were heading a man sing really well with a great band playing along. When we shoved our way close enough to see, it was a woman! She was amazing and reminded us of Cher because of her deep voice. Everyone around us seemed to love her and they were all singing along. We finally found out that she is one of the most famous singers in Croatia, and here we are standing by her listening for free. It was so cool and we stood there and listened for an hour or two. After that, it was about 10pm and we wanted to go to a club called East West, which was a little past the other side of the Old City (again, about a 10 minute walk). I absolutely love how small and convenient Dubrovnik is. It has all the things necessary, doesn’t seem to crowded, and everything is in short walking distance, so you see you friends everywhere! When we got to East West, the bouncer said Americans weren’t allowed and that you had to be 21. I pretended to be 22 from Sweden and he said he’d let me in, but it was too expensive, haha. Then we all just sat on a bench that overlooked the beach that was lit up by the moon. It was perfect night weather and the stars were so bright! Next, we walked to Fuego, the only other place to go at night, and it was less crowded than the night before, thankfully. On the way there, we ran into Tom and Bruno again and they showed us how to get in for cheaper and how to get let in front of the line haha. It pays off to talk to the locals!

That’s another thing I love about this whole traveling idea- meeting locals. It helps you understand the city environment better and how they live their lives. I don’t want to act like a tourist here, I want to fit in and really see the change that I want to feel from traveling. In Spain we met locals and hung out with them at clubs and stuff and talked for a while about their country, beliefs, ways they live and do things, and anything you can imagine. In Italy we didn’t meet any locals because it was a little too scary and dirty to go out at night in Rome and Naples. I think that is why I liked Spain and Croatia so much more, I got to know locals who speak enough English and it made me feel like I got something out of being there (besides seeing great views and having the time of my life). That’s just a small thought that goes way deeper but is so hard to explain!

This trip makes me want to continue traveling and immerse myself into other cultures, meet people around the world, and stay in touch! Also, I realized that I have a talent for picking up languages and pronouncing them like they are supposed to be. In Spain, learning Spanish in the few days that I was there was such motivation to learn it more and to act on the fact that I could pick it up easily and that the locals would tell me how well I learned how to pronounce things. It’s not fun sitting in a classroom learning Spanish from an American, but when you are in a country speaking it, it can be the most fun experience of the whole trip! Opposite to what I just said, Croatian is SO hard to speak and I could barely count to ten. I kept practicing and asking our new friends and I finally got it down, but I forgot it already. They don’t use the same vocal movements and sounds made by English and Spanish words, so I was definitely not used to it. I can’t wait for other countries where I can try more languages! I didn’t realize I had such an interest in it, I guess because I’m not around it in America.

Anyways, after Fuego a big group of us walked out to the bus and we missed it (thinking it was the last one) but guess who appeared again to save us? Tom! He told us when the next bus was coming which was soon, and we were about to start the 45 minute walk back to the ship! The locals were so helpful the entire trip, basically our tour guides!

One Croatian guy was saying how he can’t wait to go to college in America because he is ready to get out of Croatia. I was telling him that to us, it’s paradise here and people would do anything to visit. He knew that we felt that way, but I guess growing up here and having it seem so normal made his country seem so casual. Then, it started making me think that way about myself. I was always wanting to go live in somewhere cooler, but America is amazing. I appreciate it so much more being away from it all and hearing foreign people all say how they want to go to America for either school, travel, or just to live there in general. This is such an amazing experience and I honestly wish all of my friends could understand it because it’s nearly impossible to explain the feelings/thoughts this trip provokes! Thanks again Mom and Dad for this opportunity, I don’t think I can every thank you enough. This is the best decision of my life and I know that it will have a positive impact on my forever. Simply unforgettable!