Croatia

My last trip with both Allie and Doyle before being back together in the states! So surreal.

I trained down to Milan by Allie on Wednesday Night. I am so happy I made it work to go down there to see her place, her town, and her roommates! It is so crazy to me how different each part of Italy is. Milan feels very urban and Americanized but still has some architecture that resembles Italian ~vibes~. I loved it.

Thursday morning, we took the metro and the bus to Milan Bergamo airport. We hoped on a super quick flight to Croatia, where we met Doyle in Zagreb. We ended up hopping on a five-hour bus ride which felt like we were driving through southern Wisconsin. We stopped at a random restaurant that looked like it could have been in the Wisconsin Dells. It was definitely a funny experience.

When we got to our Airbnb in Split, we dropped off our stuff and then grabbed a drink in a paper cup in a fancy bar that only accepted cash. Makes lots of sense.

Friday morning, we headed on our guided tour to Plitvice Lakes. Plitvice is a gorgeous National Park filled with waterfalls and aqua water. This was a spot recommended to me by one of the girls in my class. We spent the day walking there until it was time to hop on the bus and grab some lunch. We went to a great restaurant and had a great lunch that fueled our naps on the bus ride home.

When we got back to Croatia, we walked around a bit and then decided to make some dinner reservations. We had a fantastic meal at a reasonably fancy venue. Well, a fancy venue that had a DJ wearing a retro Beatles shirt. After dinner, we went to Charlie’s Bar and got reasonably drunk in an alley with all the other Americans at the little dive bar.

This is where we met Eddie. The iconic man that we spent the rest of the vacation with. Doyle started talking to Eddie about business outside of Charlie’s. Like real men. Eddie works in Switzerland and was in Croatia for the weekend. Even though he initially thought he would be spending the weekend in Italy since he thought that is where Croatia was.

The next day Allie, Doyle, and I spent the day wandering around the little town of Split. We saw Diocletian’s Palace, St. Dominus Cathedral, and the little marketplace underneath it. This is where we unintentionally ran into Eddie! All four of us then climbed the Marjan Hill and grabbed a couple of drinks and dinner afterward. Dinner was, again, fantastic. We lucked out with some very quality and tasty food. All of which were reasonably priced. That is one thing to note about Croatia; it is a cheap vacation place.

Sunday was filled with sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. It was Palm Sunday, so plenty of people walked around in their “Sunday best” with palms. Allie and I grabbed breakfast at a cute place that overlooked the sea and chilled by the water until I hopped on my short flight back to Florence!

Also, an important detail to add, is that I got another stamp on my passport, which I freakin love!

Croatia was home to some of the bluest water I had ever seen. It had an atmosphere unlike any other place I had been to before, and I am so happy to have seen it with two of my best friends. #bestiesincroatia, as Allie would say. Doyle totally loved that.

I hopped on the train home from the Rome Airport for one last time. Those train rides are always my favorite because they are the perfect amount of time. An hour and a half of music and a smooth ride through Italy. It’s the little things, man.