Villa Matejuska Split

... beach again as it was such a nice day.<br>Walked to Marjan Forest Park and hired bikes and rode around park. Some pretty steep hills but awesome views from the top of the park and heaps fun going back down.<br>Went back to Fife for dinner since it was so awesome and so cheap and had tripe and roast veal.<br>Fife is some of the best and best value food I've had in ages. Especially compared to most of the other touristy places in Split

... chilled out and went to bed.<br><br>Of course what we didn&#8217;t know is that the next day, the island was going to experience a full on storm. We were told it might rain a little that day, but raining a little was a big understatement. From the time we woke up the next morning until after we left two days later, it was POURING down rain and VERY windy. We were house-bound for 2 days. The only time we went out was one evening when the rain ...

... it wasn't luxury, it was decent and we really enjoyed it. There was a couple from Switzerland who were in Croatia for windsurfing and we talked to them for a little while the following morning before we headed out.<br><br><br><br>Today has to have been the most relaxing day of the trip! We woke this morning and while we were having our breakfast, Matt spotted three dolphins swimming out in the water below us! We watched them for ...

... to dump our bags on the ship before a little exploration around Split. Quite a pretty little town, had a little bit of a feel like Greece being a seaside town with plenty of alleyways with nooks and crannys. Wandering our way through we saw a couple of the markets, a few ruins and a statue which must have been important in some way (rub his toe).<br><br>We got onboard and said our hellos to everyone onboard. 28 people ..... 16 South Africans ... yes 16!! We were out numbered!! 6 ...

... a brief stop in Bologna and a lunch of wine and cheese and cookies on the train, we made it to Ancona, which is a sleepy port city full of African and Middle Eastern immigrants. Our only real excitement in Ancona was witnessing a near brawl. We were sitting in a little outdoor cantina when a bus pulled up and a few dozen big hairy guys piled out. After some communication difficulties it was finally made clear that they wanted ice for their ...

... to the station in good time after a hot dog detour. I was gonna be OK. Confidence is the name of the game.<br><br>I met a nice Aussie girl (Emma) on the train, always good to have company on long journeys. We talked for a bit and then just passed out. Sleep was a luxury on the train. It was a noisy, slow, annoying train that stops at every station, no air-con, air circulation was surprisingly low, but then it got really cold in the middle of the night, so all was good ...

... Booze and Snooze."  It was here we befriended an American girl (Jordan), a younger engaged Aussie couple (Dan and Cathy), and a Frenchman (Pierre).  Along the way, we befriended several more Aussies including a Special Olympics athlete who competed in Beijing.  The first day in Split, Dan, Peter, and I went to the beach.  The weather was in the 70's and not a cloud in the sky.  Naturally, we were down to t-shirts, shorts, and flip flops.  The ...

... They try and get kosher meat when they can. When they can't, which is most of the time, they have fish or veggie dishes. When the Rabbi does come, 100% of the community comes to the synagogue. I was so inspired by this community. I mean, they have Shabbos dinner every Friday night! And even though none of them keep Kosher in their homes, they all insist on keeping the synagogue as Kosher as they can. I feel so inspired by ...

... I will just have to eat cheaply while I am here. After checking in, I decided to hit the beach instead of tour the town. Something told me that I would enjoy the town more at dark than while the sun was up. It ended up being a great decision as it was scorching hot (again) today. In between y dunks into the sea, I continued reading the Davinci Code. I havent been able to put this book down since I started it 3 days ago. I have read 280 pages already and have ...

... in Uruguay) just all seemed to work out. Another "too easy" moment came today, after Pauly had failed to return to the hostel for the 3am curfew (something to do with a Norwegian girl...), and we had booked a bus to Split at 8am, and he was nowhere to be seen at 7:20. Eventually found him, ran frantically to a local bus (with hangovers prominent), and used our combined mind powers to get the driver to move quicker, and we arrived at the long distance bus ...