Ja sam zaljubljen u Hrvatskoj

No, my blog post title isn't gibberish, it's Croatian. Aka, it says I am in love with Croatia.

I can't believe it. After 4 months, this past weekend was my last trip. It feels like yesterday that I was stressed out planning every trip and city and country I would be visiting and now, it's all over. Luckily, Croatia was amazing and we went out with a bang.

While the trip in Croatia was amazing, the lead up to the trip was anything but that. Croatia was definitely one of the top trips I wanted to go on, but to get there I had to get through a 12 hour bus ride...yes, a 12 hour bus ride, it's as bad as it sounds. Somehow through movies and music I made it through the ride there. Even though my ZzzQuil made me appear drugged to immigration control between Italy and Croatia, they let me in.

After arriving in Croatia we dropped our stuff at our hostel and were on our way to white water rafting. I was so tired from driving through the night but so ready for the adventure that I was about to endure.

It wasn't the greatest weather, but it almost made the experience better (and definitely funnier). About halfway through our rafting trip, it began to rain...and by rain I mean torrential downpour. The cold and uncomfortable rest of the trip made us paddle harder and laugh at the situation.

Even with the rain, the scenery was some of the most beautiful I had ever seen. I felt as if I was rafting through a rain forest. Beautiful mountains, waterfalls, wild life, trees and more. One of my most favorite parts of Croatia was the scenery. Every where you turned it was beautiful. Whether it be the forests or the sea, everything was picture perfect.
 
After a long, wet day in the river we headed back to our hostel to change and go to dinner. Coincidentally, I happened to run into one of my best friends in Croatia, completely by mistake. We met up with Melinda to go to a typical Croatian restaurant for dinner and it was one of the best meals I have had in Europe (also the cheapest).
 
In Croatia, their currency is the Kuna. When you get your bill, you may have a minor panic attach when you see your meal was 415 kuna, but in reality it's about 5 euros. But, I am still dreaming about the Croatian stuffed peppers and mashed potatoes I got that night at Fife.

Following dinner, Bus2Alps organized a pub crawl though out Split. With free drinks and discounts, we hopped from bar to bar and ended up at a club above a marina (weird but funny and cool).

The next day was filled with beautiful weather and a free day. We walked around, shopped and went to the beach. It was truly a relaxing day filled with shrimp, hummus, veggies and more amazing food. Croatia is also known for their candy shops. They are big stores filled with pirate barrels of candy. BARRELS ON BARRELS ON BARRELS filled with chocolates, fudge, gummies, and literally ANY OTHER CANDY YOU CAN THINK OF. As you can imagine, I spent too much money there... but it was all worth it.




After a long day, we yet again found an amazing dinner. The yellow fish tuna and tomato tartar with Croatian wine topped off an amazing day.

Our last day was truly unforgettable. On our way home we drove the Krka National Park and were given a couple hours of free time. We walked around the water falls and were completely mesmerized by the scenery. Just as I thought Croatia couldn't be any more beautiful, the national park exceeded all expectations. Even driving home included beautiful scenery the entire way.


The trip to Split, Croatia was the cherry on top to an amazing semester.