Split, Croatia

9/12/14 – 9/14/14

(excerpts taken straight from my journal I kept during my 2014 study abroad experience)

9-15-14

We left at 9:00pm for our 12-hour bus ride, and arrived in Split at 9:30am. We checked into our apartments (we had 10 girls in ours with only 2 bathrooms and 1 shower) and only had about an hour before we had to meet up again to go white water rafting.

We made our departure to Omis to begin our way down the river. We had to take a bus up a steep mountain and then put on lifejackets, water shoes, and helmets. My group chose the young “skipper” because we thought he would be more fun. We learned all of the commands, (“bomba” meant sit in the boat) and we began down the river. The trip was pretty easy until we had to avoid the rapid, so we had to get out and carry our raft through the woods. Finally, we were back in the water again and all was going smooth. We were about to hit a dangerous rapid when our “skipper” told us that there was a suction hole under water where a man had previously died. As we were going through the rapid, he yelled “bomba”, but it was too late. Our raft spun sideways and completely flipped over, sending us all under water. It felt like forever, being under water with the rapids pushing you down the river and the raft above your head so you can’t surface, when in reality it was only about 5 seconds, if that. As soon as I was able to surface, I grabbed the raft and climbed up on a rock. Two of the other girls were right next to me and we did a head count for our boat. The other 4 people managed to climb aboard other boats. We then had to flip the raft over and get back in. Everyone ended up being okay and we headed back down the river. I ended up with a cut knee, bruised arm and fat lip, but I was just lucky to be alive with everyone else. The rest of our trip went smoothly; we finished our trip and headed back to Split.

When we got back, we hiked up to Telegrin, which is the highest point on the Marjan Peninsula. The views of the city and the ocean were amazing, but it was very windy.

Then we got ready and headed to dinner (through the lightening storm) to a restaurant called “Fife”. We had a family style dinner for only 100 Kuna (15 Euro), with meat, fish, soup, salad and wine.

Then we headed to “F-caffé” and spent the rest of the night there. All of the other American trips also ended up there.

The next day, we were up and leaving for our boat cruise at 9:00am. The views from the boat were beautiful and the water was so clean and blue, that it almost looked fake. The boat drivers gave us shots of “Rakija”, which is a fruity brandy that’s popular in Croatia. The first place we stopped was Veli Drvenik, where there was a tiki bar and we could swim for a little while. Then we headed off to Ciovo Island for our lunch break. We again had meat, fish, salad, wine and coffee. After lunch, we got to swim (in the bluest water I have ever seen) on a pebble beach for about 2 hours. It was perfect and I have never seen anything so beautiful before. I was devastated when it was time to leave. I could have stayed on that island forever.

We made our way back to Trogir (where we started) and we had about an hour and a half to walk around the town. We got dinner at a restaurant on the water called “Capo”, and then walked around the town. It was full of narrow back alleyways that led to stores, restaurants and houses. We visited a few souvenir shops and then made our way back to the group.

The guys were playing football with a young Croatian boy who couldn’t speak any English, but he was having so much fun. We took a group picture with him, as another girl and I kissed him on the cheeks. He loved our group and seemed pretty sad when we told him we had to leave.

We drove back to Split to get ready for the night. (It’s impossible to take a hot shower after 9 other girls have already showered).

We ended up going to an outdoor bar, which was pretty cool because they had 2 bars, a DJ with a dance floor, tables and chairs, a water fountain that changed colors, and it overlooked the harbor and all of the boats. We walked across the street to buy beer at the little stand, drank them, and then headed back to the bar. While there, we met two German guys who were backpacking through Europe. One’s name was Philippe Thulliez and he gave me a bunch of info about traveling in Europe. He also told me to ski in Northern Italy instead of Switzerland because it’s cheaper.

The next day, we woke up early and had to meet at the bus at 7:00am. We took an hour bus ride to Krka National Park, which is Croatia’s most famous park. We saw the Skardinski Buk, which is a collection of 17 waterfalls ranging up to 45 meters. There was a bridge that crossed over the river right near the waterfall with a perfect view. Walking through the woods over the water was so cool, but because they had so much rain over the summer, the water was coming up over the path and we weren’t allowed to swim.

After, we headed back to the bus for our remaining 11-hour ride from home. We only stopped twice for food and the bathroom (and the boarder) but I slept most of the way. For some reason, they made us all get off the bus at the boarder to check our passports. I loved the Euroadventures staff that led our trip and I to have them again and maybe apply for a job when I graduate.