Monday, August 3, 2009

Heading westward

So after I left the internet terminal in Tirana I was headed back to meet the coach for our final night in a hotel. And a young kid - about 9 or 10 accosted me and was grabbing at my water & my purse trying to get me to give them to him. I kept walking, but he was blocking my path yelling and grabbing for quite a ways. That was an experience and a half!!! Caught the coach & went back to the hotel. And had dinner, then some pool time. The rooms at the hotel were insanely spacious, but it was definitely an older hotel & a bit rundown. But I slept like a fecking baby!!

 

The next day we were back on the road  and headed for Croatia!!! So excited about that! We went through Montenagro & stopped at this crazy cheap supermarket. It was pretty excellent to get so much for so little. Montenagro was a beautiful little country, but we just drove thru it, that one place was our onlz stop. And then into Dubrovnik. This campsite was pretty excellent. Spacious, really clean & nice ammenities & free WIFI. Plus a beach not too far away. That first night we got in at 7ish and had some dinner and checked out the area, I spent a little time online using a fellow Contiki member's computer, but had no luck trying to upload photos. GRRR.

 

Wednesday the 29th we were up early and into Old Town to wander around & see what there was to see. It was hot as hades so I did a few touristy things, checked out the market, got some moolah, and some ice cream. Then there was a cruise - but I didn't go. I went and hung out on the rocks. In Old Town there is a wall surrounding it & loads of big rocks that you can lay on and sun yourself and swim in the gorgeous water. So I did that with a couple of girls from our group for a couple of hours. Then we got some lunch & headed back to camp. It was still hot, so we went ´down to the beach & did some more swimming & sunning there. Once it started getting chilly we packed up & headed back. Helped with dinner prep, took a shower, had some dinner, did a little sewing for a friend. There are a lot of people who cannot sew - I've repaired a few things for friends on this trip. lol

 

Thursday was another free day...and I spent it on the beach. Up & breakfast & then I did a little laundry & was on the beach by 10:30ish. It was ace. I applied & reapplied sunscreen - but by the time I back off the beach to eat a little something at 4:30 -- I was a little rosy on my back. I had switched up the swimsuit too, so I had a little more exposed skin, so I burnt my bum! yikes!! But it was still a most excellent day! That night after dinner we did a little massage train, but I ended up giving out more since I wasn't able to get one b/c of my burn.

 

Friday we left Dubrovnik. Back onto the bus. Le Sigh. Went through Bosnia/Herzegovina, another beautiful country! Back into Croatia, had lunch in Split, which was not enough time because it was really cool there. Had kind of a Miami feel too it...then back onto the coach & into Zadar. It was an interesting coach day. Late people & a fair amount of drama. When a person is late there is a punishment. It's called Booth of Truth. The late individual has to go to the front of the coach & get asked whatever 3 questions anyone can think up & they have to answer it. It's funny, but can be really embarrassing & sometimes a bit mean. It's definitely a juvenille thing. But it was a bit of a yuck one that day, so at camp we set up a little girly circle & just hung out until we went to bed pretty early. Oh - also, in town it was really tight & our coach driver scratched up a couple of cars...so that took a bit of time off of our Split adventure. It was unfortunate, he's a bloody amazing driver!

 

Saturday we got up and on the coach and crossed another border into Hungary! Went to Budapest. Got into camp pretty late & after dinner we hung out for a bit chatting, then went to bed around 12ish.

 

Sunday was a day in Budapest. It was such a nice city. SO HOT! But we wandered around a few shops, got a great lunch with some great service, wandered thru the city-amazing architecture. Went to the House of Terror & got an education...then some ice cream. Out to the water & wandered the Danube down to this Holocaust memorial. It was a spot that the Nazi's dumped Jewish bodies into the water & there is now a line of about 60 pairs of shoes marking the area. Very powerful stuff. Took some photos & took a moment. Then went for a little nap in a park in the shade. After that we met up with the group & went for a river cruise with a buffet dinner. It was a nice way to spend the dinner hours. And after that a bunch of us went out to Margaret Island to a salsa club & partied until 1:30am. It was a pretty excellent day!!!

 

Yesterday was back on the coach and we crossed over to Austria! After we unpacked our stuff it was really early so I had a cat nap in the tent for a couple of hours. It rained & I was loving the sound. Then we all got ready and headed into a theme/amusement park. I was not looking forward to it - but it was a great nite! Had some amazing schnitzel, danced our butts off like goons to the music coming from the rides - and rode one ride. Oh - ice cream too. LOL But it was just a ton of fun. When we got back to camp it started to pour, so I just went to bed. it rained all night & it's still raining today. Packing up all the went tents is going to be SO ROUGH! LOL But really ´- 30plus days in and this is the first time we have had any significant rain - that's pretty damn good!!!

 

So I think that about catches everyone up!!!

 

Next stop: Prague!

 

 

4 comments:

  1. sounds like fun, oh to be young, thanks for the card, keep on enjoying--love grandma

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  2. Hey chicka, still sounds like an amazing time... miss you. Ben is 14.6 pounds and eatting formula and when Dean gets home tomorrow rice cereal for the first time, for a week and then his first food. That\'s all that\'s new here after his Dr. appt. Not crawling yet, hopefully while Dean is home so he doesn\'t miss it... Love you,K

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  3. Hi Shelle!! Such cool write ups!! I just got to read your July 27th one, as we were away on holidays as you know!... It all sounds sooo amazing! - Perhaps you shouldn\'t walk around alone again - like in Tirana... Please?? I really couldn\'t stand it if something happened to you! I would definitely have hated the Istanbul massage thing! Ha ha... Yuck. Stay safe... have fun... and hope your cough is gone now. Miss you tons. XOXO Mom.

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  4. holy cow...another whirlwind bus ride thru the amazing euro countries...at my age I\'d be napping on the bus and miss all the beautiful scenery...I\'d have to be driving the bus!! You forget how gorgeous other countries are until you hear about them from people. I could never camp especially in a foreign country. aw to be young and free!!! Hooray for you and you sound like you are loving every minute. We had a lovely day here in Edm. We had Uni-Curb installed today and now we have the professionals pour in the rocks. The yard looks wonderful but winter is now just around the corner....seems like summer just arrived---much like it probably feels like you just started your Contiki tour just a few days ago!!! As always for me--it is late and I have to take my car in for an oil change so have to get up early on a Saturday---bummer!!!...Keep up the great reporting and stay safe.B

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