The Blaus - South America and Europe

August 18th - Trieste, Italy and Split, Croatia

From Buenos Aires we flew to Milan, because it was the best fare that we could get to anywhere near Eastern Europe. It was a big culture shock going from one continent to the next, and a big sticker shock too. We arrived in Milan in the afternoon, then took a bus to the train station, and boarded a train that went to Trieste through Venice. We were in Milan for about 2 hours, just long enough for Billy to get pooped on by a pigeon, which I'm sure is good luck in Italy. We arrived in Trieste at midnight in the rain, and we did not have a guidebook had no idea where to stay. On the train we asked a guy sitting near us if he had a guidebook, he said no, but he lived in Trieste and offered to let us stay on his couch for the night. It was a very unexpected and nice offer, but we had to decline because he had to work at 7:00 AM the next day, and we needed to sleep in more than that after our long journey. So, he told us about a place that we could go that had cheap rooms, and we went there only to find that a dingy room would cost us 60 Euros (or about $80US). We thought surely this was a joke, so we put our backpacks on and headed back into the rain to find a different place. We wandered into a different hostel that was booked, but the very friendly guys there called all around town trying to find us a place to stay. By this time it was coming up on 2 AM, we had not eaten, and we were exhausted from the 20 hour journey from BsAs to Milan. We finally found a place that was 50 Euros a night, still very expensive, but that is the going rate in Trieste for the cheapest accommodations. This price for a room would not have been that bad a couple years ago when one dollar bought 1.2 Euros, but now that it buys .7 Euros it is bad (thank you Mr. Bush and Mr. Greenspan). We ended up having to haul our bags up 6 flights of stairs to stay with a vey nice guy in his apartment for the night. He made us milk and crackers (a nice Italian midnight snack), and asked Jen if anything ever happened to Billy, would she consider him for a replacement. Italian men of all ages are the same. We were amazed at how nice all the Italians were to us, we had three nice experiences with people in a row, and they all spoke English, which was also a shock after speaking Spanish for 7 months in South America.

The next day we spent the entire day wandering around Trieste waiting for our night bus to Split. It is a beautiful city situated on the sea. We ate pasta, gnocci, pizza and gelato because we were starving, but had to do so at fast food places because everything else was so expensive. It was still great food, but we got a bit panick stricken about what it costs to travel in Europe as an American now. After a nice day of lounging in the parks, we made it to the bus station where we went overnight to Split. We thought the bus ride would be a good opportunity to sleep, but the drivers played loud music, and everytime they stopped they would turn on the lights and make an announcement on the loud speaker, so we basically did not sleep at all.

We arrived at 4AM in Split, and after meeting a guy who had a guidebook, we walked to the nearest hostel. It was full, and the guy at the hostel told us the entire town was booked because that night there was the Brazil versus Croatia soccer game in Slpit. That exlpained why we were accosted by a very large, very drunk guy wearing a Croatia jersey singing and yelling and drinking beer when we arrived. He scared a poor old lady so much that she took refuge hiding behind us everwhere we went.

So, with no options for sleeping, and it being 5 AM, we went back to the bus station to find someone who might be able to let us stay in their home. We met an older babushka who offered a room in her apartment for $50 US a night. We took it, and soon found out that it was actually a good deal. We stayed with this family in their place for 2 nights, and all they did all day was sit in their small kitchen talking and smoking. We slept half the time because we were tired and still not on the right time schedule, but we got to see quite a bit of typical Croatian life. We also went to grab a cup of coffee and were waited on by a 6 foot typical looking Eastern European woman. We asked her if she spoke English, and she belted out very loudly, and what sounded hostile "small" (meaning a little). We paid her for the terrible cup of coffee, and she again belted "change" (meaning do we have any smaller money). She scared us, and we realized that we weren't in Latin America anymore.

We did wake up in time to go see the soccer game that was being shown on big TV screens in the old town. Since we had just come from Brazil, Jen wore a Brazil soccer jersey (Ronaldo's) and Billy wore red and white for Croaita so we wouldn't get too harrassed. It turned out to be a great time. It was a giant party complete with bands playing before and after the game, beer was served by vendors, and people were all very excited about the game. We realized how imoprtant soccer is for Brazil, they are by far the most revered team in the world, and they are welcomed to other countries as if the true champions have arrived. They are like traveling rock stars. We saw many Croats with jerseys that had half of the Croatian colors and half the Brazilian colors. The game ended tied 1 to 1, and everyone was happy.

The town of Split is an amazing old Roman fortress built of marble. There are huge walls and a thriving tourist center inside the old city. It was fun to walk the old, narrow streets getting lost here and there, looking at all the shops and outdoor hip cafes. It was, however, very touristy and and not really in our budget range. We did sit at some of the cooler looking cafes for either coffee or a beer at different times, taking in the sights.

The next morning we headed to a small town outside of Split called Trogir to meet up with Birnie, our friend from SF. He had been on a sailboat for the past 2 weeks cruising the Dalmatian Islands of the Adriatic. It was great to see a familiar face for the first time in months, and fantastic to get on the boat and cruise with them back to Split. The water was gorgeous, it was perfect weather, and we were doing something that we had really wanted to do. Billy got to drive the boat and Jen got to jump in the water. We got back and went to a real hotel in Split, where we slept on the couch in Birnie and Matt's room. That was another treat for us, a real hotel, with a mini bar and a private bathroom and everything. The next day Matt and Birnie had to go to the airport very early in the morning, and we stayed until check out, stole all the shampoo, soap, toilet paper and everything else that was not bolted down on our way out. It was a really fun time and Matt and Birnie even treated us to dinner the last night. We are grateful for their kindness and the towel and toothpaste they left behind.

posted by The Blaus @ 10:45 AM