Here are some of the reasons why I love Croatia:
kuna. Talk about exchange rate, my friends. Big bags of Haribo are 6 kuna. 6 kuna are one dollar (or, were, while we were there). Therfore, big bags of Haribo are one dollar. Our first money spent in Croatia was "have-to" money. We had to get from the airport to the town, so we paid bus fare whatever it was. We had to eat dinner that night, so we paid for pizza and the convenience of a nearby restaurant without trying to scout for better deals. It wasn't until climbing in bed at the hostel that night that we looked up the exchange rate. Exuberance followed. The rest of our money spent in Croatia was I'm-a-millionaire-gonna-make-it-rain-kuna money.
konzum. This is the mother of all Croatian supermarket chains. It comes in three sizes: Konzum, Konzum Maxi, and Konzum Super. We definitely hit up the Super Konzum by the bus station at least three times. Best Konzum purchase? Matching "Ja *heart* Hrvatska! (I *heart* Croatia!)" bandannas. Because a team of adventurers without matching bandannas is not a team of adventurers.
zadar. This coastal town is hopping. The water is beautiful, clear, and blue. The world's oldest sea organ wheezes somewhat underwhelmingly, but is still neat. Old men dressed as Summer Santa Claus walk around. Juice is called nectar, which makes it seven fold more fancy. The forum was built underwater (that's a lie).
gelato. I feel like everywhere on the planet touts world famous ice cream, and that's fine by me. Being just across the sea from Italy, Zadar delivers some world famous quality ice cream, and for only a dollar a scoop (roughly). This might or might not have resulted in Breakfast Ice Cream before taking to the woods and 5 Scoops in 5 Hours after coming out of the woods.
hammocks. For all the times I've napped in hammocks, I've never for real slept in one. Until now. It was a delight. After getting over the initial, ugh-I'm-about-to-monumentally-embarrass-myself feeling that comes with jumping into a hammock for the first time, comfort abounded. Except, of course, until halfway through each night when the temperature turned frigid and I had to swaddle in a rain jacket and towel and put socks on my hands and wake up shivering+sweating due to the swaths of synthetic material surrounding me on all sides.
anarchy. Our Croatian experience was a slap in the face to the norm. Not showering for four days? check. Not changing clothes for four days? check. Breakfast Ice Cream? check. Camping in unmarked woods? check. Lighting fires in restricted areas? check. Socks and Chac's? check.
chacos. Yes, I ended up with gnarly blisters all over my feet, but were I to do it all again I would still wear the Chaco's. They're by far my favorite adventure sandals in the world. Once back in Metz, I flossed these bad boys for the first time since acquiring them many moons ago, and nasty globs of dirt surfaced from who knows what trail, puddle, or country. Not saying I deserved the blisters, but I promise to take better care of you from now on, Chaco's.
croatia shirt. My outfit plan for the trip was simple and, dare I say, ingenious. I purchased a t-shirt for a mere 4 euro at Cora prior to leaving, and wore that puppy out. Being me, that means more than your average camp wear and tear of sweat, dirt, soot, and mosquito carcasses. It means olive oil, chocolate, kebab grease, ice cream, apple juice, nectarine juice, and trails of toothpaste. Sorry, Mom.
signs. In Europe, people speak lots of different languages. Hence the importance of descriptive, unambiguous signage......not. We made an Olympic sport of deliberately misreading signs as literally as possible. Because what else would a national park be saying, other than "Don't Stand in the Water and Throw Snowballs Whilst Wearing a Backwards Cap"? What else would an airline be saying on its safety cards, other than "Clear All Severed Arms Before Opening Emergency Exit"?
firsts. This was a trip of firsts for me. First time cutting another human's hair. First time flying RyanAir. First time in Croatia. First time sleeping unprotected in the wilderness. First time sleeping in a hammock. First time peeing in the woods multiple times in succession. First time eating a fish eyeball - it was a challenge, and who was I to ruin the week's theme of obliterating challenges?
Basically, there are many reasons why I love Croatia. Probably the most important reason is that I came out of those woods feeling that much stronger and braver for having survived, and survived well. One thing's for sure, this trip will forever be in my memory as a once in a lifetime experience.
zadar. This coastal town is hopping. The water is beautiful, clear, and blue. The world's oldest sea organ wheezes somewhat underwhelmingly, but is still neat. Old men dressed as Summer Santa Claus walk around. Juice is called nectar, which makes it seven fold more fancy. The forum was built underwater (that's a lie).
gelato. I feel like everywhere on the planet touts world famous ice cream, and that's fine by me. Being just across the sea from Italy, Zadar delivers some world famous quality ice cream, and for only a dollar a scoop (roughly). This might or might not have resulted in Breakfast Ice Cream before taking to the woods and 5 Scoops in 5 Hours after coming out of the woods.
hammocks. For all the times I've napped in hammocks, I've never for real slept in one. Until now. It was a delight. After getting over the initial, ugh-I'm-about-to-monumentally-embarrass-myself feeling that comes with jumping into a hammock for the first time, comfort abounded. Except, of course, until halfway through each night when the temperature turned frigid and I had to swaddle in a rain jacket and towel and put socks on my hands and wake up shivering+sweating due to the swaths of synthetic material surrounding me on all sides.
anarchy. Our Croatian experience was a slap in the face to the norm. Not showering for four days? check. Not changing clothes for four days? check. Breakfast Ice Cream? check. Camping in unmarked woods? check. Lighting fires in restricted areas? check. Socks and Chac's? check.
chacos. Yes, I ended up with gnarly blisters all over my feet, but were I to do it all again I would still wear the Chaco's. They're by far my favorite adventure sandals in the world. Once back in Metz, I flossed these bad boys for the first time since acquiring them many moons ago, and nasty globs of dirt surfaced from who knows what trail, puddle, or country. Not saying I deserved the blisters, but I promise to take better care of you from now on, Chaco's.
croatia shirt. My outfit plan for the trip was simple and, dare I say, ingenious. I purchased a t-shirt for a mere 4 euro at Cora prior to leaving, and wore that puppy out. Being me, that means more than your average camp wear and tear of sweat, dirt, soot, and mosquito carcasses. It means olive oil, chocolate, kebab grease, ice cream, apple juice, nectarine juice, and trails of toothpaste. Sorry, Mom.
signs. In Europe, people speak lots of different languages. Hence the importance of descriptive, unambiguous signage......not. We made an Olympic sport of deliberately misreading signs as literally as possible. Because what else would a national park be saying, other than "Don't Stand in the Water and Throw Snowballs Whilst Wearing a Backwards Cap"? What else would an airline be saying on its safety cards, other than "Clear All Severed Arms Before Opening Emergency Exit"?
firsts. This was a trip of firsts for me. First time cutting another human's hair. First time flying RyanAir. First time in Croatia. First time sleeping unprotected in the wilderness. First time sleeping in a hammock. First time peeing in the woods multiple times in succession. First time eating a fish eyeball - it was a challenge, and who was I to ruin the week's theme of obliterating challenges?
Basically, there are many reasons why I love Croatia. Probably the most important reason is that I came out of those woods feeling that much stronger and braver for having survived, and survived well. One thing's for sure, this trip will forever be in my memory as a once in a lifetime experience.
Hi.
ReplyDeleteI am from Croatia and are glad that you liked my country but I could not help myself but wondering what's Italy has to do with quality of Croatia's ice cream?
I am asking because often I read similar comparisons (for pizza, olives, ice cream, coffe ...) and can not understand it.
Does foreigners (mostly non Europeans) think that Italy has best food in Europe???
Hey there! I'm no expert, but I'd imagine that "foreigners" are most familiar with Italian food, which is why we use it for comparison with other European cuisines. I guess it would be more accurate to say that the coastal regions of Italy and Croatia both share a common Mediterranean cuisine? Comparing the ice cream was more for the perspective of my family, who've listened to me rave on and on about Italian gelato :)
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