Hello friends,
This evening I write to you from a very nice train. It’s an Austrian one, and it’s headed from Budapest to Vienna as Mel and I are making our way to Zurich Via Vienna. When in Switzerland we will get a bit of a break because we will be staying with her bf Stoffel in Zug for a week before finishing up our last two weeks in Germany.
This past week began on a bit of a low note due to weather, but ended on a high note due to a pleasant and unexpected surprise in Budapest. After leaving Greece, Mel and I headed back over the Adriatic to make our way to Croatia via Italy. There is no easy way to go direct from Greece to Croatia with Eurorail, and we still hadn’t been to Venice, so we were alright with backtracking. As soon as we left Greece we wanted to go back though. The weather changed completely.
We have been so lucky with weather this whole trip because we’ve had so much sunshine, so we can’t complain, but we had to dig into the bottom of our backpacks for our warm gear so we could comfortably travel again. We stayed in Venice for a night and it poured rain. The good thing was that the campsite we were staying in bumped us from a tent into a sweet bungalow so we didn’t get soaked! Because we were desperate to find the sunshine in Croatia we only had one day in Venice and took an overnight train to Zagreb. I enjoyed Venice though, and it was cool to see all the canals and water. Melody and I shopped a lot to find the perfect Murano glass jewellery. There were so many beautiful things to see, from the masks to the jewelery, to the glassware, that we kind of lost track of time and didn’t see as much of the city as we could have. What can we say we love to shop, also it was pouring rain so we didn’t feel too badly about it. The sky did open a bit after our canal-side lunch and we were able to wander and get lost in the labyrinth that is Venice.
From Venice we headed overnight to Zagreb, arriving at 4:18am, and we waited around to catch an 8am train to Split. Our plan was to head to Dubrovnik where we had booked an apartment, but after arriving in Split after an overnight train and another 6 hour ride, we were not interested in taking the 4 hour bus all the way to Dubrovnik to only stay a day or two. I cancelled the Dubrovnik apartment and the man didn’t charge me at all, which was very nice so please do stay at the Petra House if ever in Dubrovnik. I don’t know if it’s any good, but if you need to cancel they are nice about it!
In Split we found a hostel (after turning down the many nice old people looking to rent us their apartments for the night). We stayed at the Snooze and Booze and were content to Snooze and Booze and beach while we were in Croatia. We were there for the beach’s and the party, so sightseeing wasn’t on our list of top things to do. Imagine our displeasure when we checked the weather for the next few days and realized that rain was on forecast EVERYDAY! Even in Hvar, our next stop; which prides itself on receiving 2750 average sunshine hours a year!!!! Our first day in Split was overcast, but we went to the beach anyways, didn’t swim or anything, but spent a few hours at a café drinking cappuccinos and having girl talk; always a good time if you ask me, and although Mel and I have spent the last 9 weeks completely together we never seem to run out of stuff to talk about.
That night we were going to take it easy even though it was Friday because we knew the next day in Hvar we were going to have a big night at the famous club Carpe Diem. We ended up going out though because many locals we talked to told us WE HAD TO go out on Friday in Split. Mel and I both got dressed cute but casual, wearing flats for a low key night….we were not prepared for what we encountered on the way to the bar.
We hit up the same spot as the night previously, but knew we were in for a treat because there were swarms of people walking the same way we were, and we got excited…too bad we had only brought 50 Kuna (about 7 Euro) which would buy two beers and hadn’t pre-drank at all. I knew what one of my tasks for the night was “get free drinks”. I wasn’t prepared for the other task which was, don’t get stepped on by the beautiful giant Croatians.
Mel and I are Dancing Queens so took over the dance floor right away…we worked up quite a sweat and made it known that Canadian girls know how to work it. The bar played a lot of top 40 American music at first, and it was funny to watch people sing along to the songs that they had no clue what the words were saying. Later in the night they played actual Croatian music and I had the opportunity to dance with a very attractive Croatian football trainer/player named Marin…sigh. He told me that the Croatian music they were playing was emotional for him and his friends because the musician had recently passed. We danced for a while and then I told him that "I'm sweaty”. To this he looked very uncomfortable and said "No No, your not." And I was like ya “I’m sweaty” and he said, "No, You’re just my girl tonight”. At first I was a tad confused, but then I realized though his English was good, their was still a language barrier that caused him to think I was saying, “I’m Slutty”. I cleared that up pretty quickly, and we both laughed about it after, but kudos to him for his response....What if he took it as an open invitation to invite me to spend the night?...that would have been awkward.
Melody and I hung out with Marin and all his really nice friends the rest of the night and the drinks were free flowing. Our low key evening ended when the music stopped and the sun came up. Those are the best nights though, when you go out with no expectations or anything and you are blindsided with fun. The next night however was one of those nights with high expectations, no motivation and lots and lots of Rain.
Melody and I stayed at a lovely apartment hostel on Hvar island, with a room all to ourselves and very beautiful veranda. The first night in Hvar was low key, but we did get to meet up with two Aussie girls Olivia and Jane who we had partied with in Split two nights before. The first full day in Hvar was supposed to be rainy, but to our complete delight the sun was out and it was warm. We walked to Hula beach club and rented two chairs for 50 Kuna each and basked in the sun on our last beach day and last swim of Ocean water for a while. It turned out great and we made use of Mels water proof camera and the fact that Europe is A-ok with toplessness! The next day it was back on the Katamaran to head to Zagreb for the night via Split.
The Katamaran was scheduled to leave Hvar at 1:45pm arrive in Split at 2:45pm and then we would catch a train at 3pm to go to Zagreb. 15 minutes was cutting it close, but the train station and port were super close so it was doable. When boarding the Katamaran it was real shaky and inside was worse so Mel and I waited off the boat until departure...foreshadowing? On the boat they were playing the Korea vs. Portugal game so I was happy to find a seat close to watch…only problem was all those pesky people who kept getting up and standing in front of me while they asked the bartender for a barf bag… It was crazy! I mean due to the choppy water from all the bad weather this boat was skipping on the water and was sooooo wobbly and everyone on the boat just looked nauseous. I don’t get sick really but I was feeling nauseous and hating my life, but it was the worst when the woman in front of me started making use of her bag. Like if I don’t see or smell puke then Im good, but as soon as I see or smell it that’s it! I didn’t Guelph though, I’m a lady…and I had a wicked game of football to occupy and take my mind off the fact that everyone around me was spewing their guts out. Forza Portugal!!!!
The domino effect: Rainy in Hvar, Mel and I leave Hvar, Water is choppy we both become nauseous, Katamaran is 15min late due to weather, Mel and I run for train, Mel and I miss train, Mel and I take bus to Zagreb, Mel and I Nauseous whole night in Zagreb. Upside: I still had fun, the hostel was wicked and showed us a nice chill time, we had Szechuan! I highly reccomend the Funk Hostel in Zagreb.
The train from Zagreb to Budapest was great as Mel and I were able to sleep most of the way until a large group of Hungarian school children boarded on their way home from an overnight class trip. 4 girls came and sat in our 6 person car with us. We smiled and Mel and I laughed to ourselves because the sweetest girl was wearing a sweater that said BITCH! down the side, and we just knew that her, nor her parents had any idea what that meant. The girls ranged in age from 12-14, and when they started playing music on their phone a familiar voice tickled my eardrum! JUSTIN BIEBER is truly and international success! Tweens everywhere love him! We bonded over Justin and I told them he was Canadian and that we were too. The girls didn’t speak English really, but they knew and loved many of the tween musicians and of course my girl GAAAAGAAAA!
Before we knew it Mel and I were celebrities on the train, I felt like Selena Gomez. The kids were taking our pictures and taking pictures of us. The whole group of children had matching bandanas and they were going from car to car signing each others as their class trip was coming to an end. We signed the bandanas of the 4 girls in our cart (I got real good at drawing an 11pt maple leaf) and before we knew it our car was packed with all these Hungarian kids wanting us to sign their bandanas. It was super cute and made us pumped to be heading to Budapest.
Mel and I didn’t originally plan to go to Budapest but it got added into our itinerary somewhere along the way, and boy am I glad it did. Another one of those things that you have no expectations for and then get blindsided by an amazing time. Our first day was spent taking in the sites on the free walking tour. Our guides Agnes and Balag were locals and full of spunk and really interesting information. I don’t know much about history but felt like they truly gave me a lesson. It was very cool learning about Hungary's communist past as well as religious past, and quite surreal being in a country that sided with Germany during both World Wars. Hungary used to be a huge country, but due to wars lost much of its land and people, many of which can be found elsewhere in the world. Hungary was controlled politically communist until the late 80's and the people are very happy to be a free and independent country.
When they became free the people had almost nothing so the UK sent over large amounts of clothes and charity shops were set up all over the city. Budapest is a bargain shopper/vintage lovers Dream!! Mel and I spent the rest of the afternoon tracking down the best shops in the city, most of which can be found by looking for the Union Jack on store signs! Yes, we shopped and at one point I spent 7000 forint!!! (but thats only 25euro, so it was great because I got 3 shirts and a pair of pants and shorts). I have no idea how I'm going to get on the plane, I'll probably have to wear everything I own so my suitcase isn't overweight.
Our last day was spent at the Spas and Baths and it was lovely and cheap! I got a full body massage by a man with amazing hands named Baros. I was a little nervous at first because he was young and kind of cute and he touched me in places that,...well you know what I mean. It was my first massage ever and it was amazing, definitely a must do in Budapest!
After feeling relaxed and nicely pampered at the Spas, it was back to breaking our backs with our backpacks cuz we had a train to catch! We are now on an overnighter to Zurich where we will be staying with Stoffel.
Croatia and BudaPest are both places I must go back to. Mel and I felt a bit shortchanged in these places; Croatia due to the less than average weather and Budapest because we felt like we didn’t have enough time there. Both are places I must go again! (to dance with Marin and get felt up by Baros).
Now I will try to sleep as we arrive at 7:20am. I have bumped my flight back a week so will be arriving back in Canada on July 14th, so let's play together then!
Love and Kisses,
TaCaGo
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