June 3rd I started the day off with Stasa’s class. We continued to learn about numerous global environmental issues that were quite eye-opening. For lunch, Allie, Brooke, and I picked up subs at a really cute sandwich shop near Old Town. My other professor, Rob, on a whim decided to not have class in the RIT campus but on the top of Mt. Srd overlooking the whole city of Dubrovnik. The hike up was absolutely brutal, again with loose gravel; reaching the top was really rewarding. At the top were structures damaged from the War of Independence and the trenches. Below are some pictures from the top of the mountain and the war aftermath. Our lesson was about the differences between the US and Croatia. Personally, I have noticed a distinct difference in restaurant service quality. In the United States of America, splitting checks is relatively easy. Waiters and waitresses give the group a really hard time whenever we ask for separate checks; some flat out refuse. Most have somewhat of an attitude and aren’t friendly or welcoming. My hypothesis is that because tipping is not common in Croatia, there is no incentive for a personable front. Although local Croatians may be used to this, it can take tourists quite aback – I know it surprised me. Although you can take a cable car down the mountain, everyone else wanted to not pay and walk back down, so that’s what we ended up doing. We ate dinner at a restaurant in Old Town called Mea Culpa which had an amazing lasagna. After dinner, we bought some gelato at a little alley shop named Dolce Vita. I had Ferrero Rocher flavored gelato and it was so tasty. All of us went back to the hotel after dinner and just chilled and drank wine on the patio until it was time to go bed.
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Tuesday our professors took us on a cruise of the Elaphite Islands. Our ship was one of the Galleons used in the television show Game of Thrones. I personally don’t watch the show so it was just a cool ship to me but some of you might recognize it. Our first stop on the cruise was the island of Kolocep. We didn’t really have a good amount of time to explore this island before having to head back to the ship; however, Stasa (one of my Croatian professors) gave us a history lesson on the island. Apparently, the sand from the beach comes from the Sahara desert. We also observed the hundreds and hundreds of sea urchins at the bottom of the sea. Mike actually caught one and we got to see the organism move around in his hand. Sipan was the second island we visited. This island is full of mystery and incredible stories. Hidden away in the thick brush was a 12th century Knights Templar church. We were allowed in and were able to climb to the very top for a crazy view. Back on the boat for lunch, I had fresh fish and white wine. The fish was just caught hours before and was very flavorful. The 3rd stop on the cruise was the island of Lopud. We took an incredibly long, uphill hike up a mountain. The trail was covered in loose gravel, making the whole trek even harder. At the top of the mountain was a goat sanctuary and past that, an amazing view making the hike completely worth it. The goats didn’t really mind us, however, I did get charged by a goat when I when too close. Thankfully, the goat gave up when I ran away. We were extremely hot and soaked with sweat after the hike so the swim in the sea after was more than refreshing. After our swim, we rushed to buy Croatian gelato and get back on the boat because we were a bit late from our long swim.
Dinner we just picked up at the local supermarket before just relaxing and going to bed. The hike really drained everyone and I had a great night’s sleep. June 1st was everyone’s first day of classes. I am talking two classes for six credits – Seminar in Management: Sustainable Small Business and Concepts of Environmental Science. The RIT Dubrovnik campus is about a 40 minute walk from my hotel. We could take the bus and get there a lot faster, however, all of us wanted to walk to really see and experience residential Dubrovnik. First I had to apply for a temporary visa at the local police station. All of us needed visas because we are staying in the country for a long period of time. The whole process took about an hour and then we were on our way to get coffee with our professors. After coffee, we headed to campus for class. The picture below I took when walking to class. The lectures were very introductory and explained the basic outlines of what we will be doing during our time here. The campus is really nice and the best part about it is it has actual working wifi! In between classes, we walked to Old Town for lunch. Old Town in Dubrovnik looks very European – stone everywhere. The whole area is surrounded by tall stone walls which protected the villagers during war. After class, all of us decided to go swimming/ exploring on the rocky coast. The area we picked ended up being too cold to swim so we just tanned and took pictures. Dinner was at a Mexican restaurant (we were kind of getting sick of seafood) and I had chimichangas for the first time. We went back to the hotel just in time to catch the sunset. This is the view I have from my hotel room every night.
On May 31st Ryan, Allie, and I went on a day excursion to Bosnia and Herzegovina which is the same country, just a weird name. We had bought the tickets previously before through an online site called Viator. The country of Bosnia and Herzegovina is about a 3 hour ride from Dubrovnik. They picked us up from our hotel along with about 10 other people and our first stop was the city of Medjugorje. Medjugorje is an extremely important holy site to Roman Catholics. The Virgin Mary appeared to 6 local Catholics on the village hill in 1981. A church was built in the area as well as many intricate statues. The village now is quite built up and more “touristy” than expected. There were crowds of people and the streets were lined with souvenir shops. The mass ceremonies are held inside and outside the church every hour with loud speakers and at least a couple hundred benches outside The second stop was Mostar. Within the past couple decades, Bosnia and Herzegovina experienced a major religious war which destroyed a lot of the country. When we were driving to Mostar, this was incredibly evident: bullet holes in the stone buildings, abandoned houses, and debris. The actual city was just recently restored and looks almost exactly the same as it did before. The heart of Mostar, called Old Town, was stunning. All of the roads/pathways were stone and gave off a very medieval vibe. Rivers ran through the city, giving life to fruit trees and bushes. Connecting one side of the village to the other was a huge stone bridge. This bridge had quite the history: it was bombed during the war and recently put back up. We took a lot of really great photos here. For lunch we ate at a local Bosnian restaurant called Sadrvan which is completely outside. The waiters and waitresses all dressed in traditional Bosnian clothing. Ryan and I ordered a meat dish that had little balls of meat and spices wrapped in onions with potatoes and sour cream; it was heavenly. For dessert, we all ordered traditional baklava which was also incredibly delicious. Next stop was a little village with a complicated name I don’t remember. The whole village was on a steep hill with steps going up for walkways – no roads. Allie and I walked up pretty far and ended up talking to a local Bosnian for a bit. The high altitude gave us the perfect angle for some awesome shots. When we got back to our hotel, the whole group wanted to go out drinking so we went to a place called the Cave Bar, and yes, part of the bar is actually in a cave. The rest of the bar is outside right on the water overlooking the city. One of my drinks that I ordered below is called an Octopus (Bacardi, apricot liqueur, blue curacao, and pineapple juice): by far the best cocktail I have ever had in my life. Although I was pretty busy the whole day, I really enjoyed my time in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am really glad I took the time before hand to organize the excursion.
I actually arrived in Croatia, I know, finally right? The Munich flight was delayed by a couple hours, but not cancelled. Because of the delay, Brooke, Mike, and I couldn’t explore Munich – we wouldn’t have enough time. However, we did experience some German culture. I ordered white sausages and a pretzel which was pretty good at a restaurant in the airport. We all ordered German beer as well which easily was the beer I have ever had in my life. I don’t even like beer and it was amazingly smooth. The flight into Croatia from Munich was beautiful: rolling hills, light blue water, and lush greenery. The whole experience almost seemed unreal to me. I think it really hit me that I was here, in Europe, when all the other study abroad students and I went to the beach and swam in the Adriatic Sea. Tasting the salt, feeling the cool water, watching the sunset – it was absolutely unreal. After swimming, all of us met up with some other RIT students that happened to be in Croatia and went to a quaint restaurant by the sea. I ordered a seafood platter to try a little bit of everything, however, when my dinner came I was a little shocked. Everything still had its head, legs, you name it. Us Americans are so spoiled when it comes to ease of eating. Because I was so unused to everything being whole, I ended up getting a small fish bone stuck in my throat. The little bastard was pricking my throat every time I swallowed until the next morning when it fell out randomly. Wifi is incredibly terrible here (trash tier, that’s for you Philip) in Dubrovnik, coming and going at the worst times. I’ll never take for granted steady, reliable wifi ever again. In regards to these blog posts, I will try to post whenever I can get decent wifi.
May 28th marked the first day of my study abroad experience to Croatia. I had planned on this flight schedule: Rochester to Washington DC, then Washington DC to Zurich, Switzerland, and then lastly Zurich to Dubrovnik, Croatia. Key word: planned. What eventually happened was a completely different story - a 24 hour flight disaster. Let's start from the very beginning. My first flight to Washington DC went perfectly. The plane was timely and only took 1 hr 15 min. We (two other students studying abroad and me) arrived at the airport at 4:00 pm. Below is a picture from the first flight. We were only supposed to have a layover of 1 hr 45 min in Washington and leave at 5:40 but after sitting on the plane for 30 min we received a PA saying something was wrong on the plane. We then waited another hour before a new PA announced another issue with the plane. Naturally, a baby decided to scream for 15 min after every PA. We waited a total of 2 hr 30 min before they moved us off the plane. By then we would've already missed the connecting flight to Croatia - so to the customer service desk we went. We didn't get to speak to anyone until 10:00 pm. They told us there were no international flights that night or the morning after; we would have to stay overnight and fly to Munich, Germany at 5:00 pm. United put us up at the Hilton and gave us a free lunch, whoopie. After customer service we needed to pick up our checked bags, which were lost, so that whole endeavor took 2 hr 30 min. By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was midnight. Below is a picture of our hotel. Looking on the bright side of things, our 24 hour delay opened up another adventure. Because the new flight is to Munich and we will have a 6 hr 45 min layover there, the three of us are going to use that time to explore Munich, look at some historical buildings, and try some German beer :D
Moral of the story: never fly United. Fingers crossed the rest of my flights run smoothly! |