Villa Varos Split

... and making sure we had everything we needed.

Just went and had a short walk around and baked trout dinner at Serum which was a cool little place like being in someones living room.
Went to a couple of bars afterwards and found out why it was so quiet in Split - Sunday is the "day of the dead" (the way the barman in the first bar explained it to me) which is the day of the year that everyone visits the graves of their ...

... it was the perfect time to be sick. We just watched movies on his laptop, American shows on the TV with 2 channels (Friends, Xena Warrior Princess…), cooked, and played Chess on our mini travel set. Overall, it was nice to relax but I know I started feeling a little bored.

Saturday came around and the storm was clearing (only a little bit of rain and clouds that morning). We then hopped on a ferry to another island, called Korcula.

... about to watch our second sunset here-it truly is a highlight so far for us. Originally we were only going to stay one night and drive into Split today, but the beauty of having Fred means that is we like a place, we can stay longer :) Our third campsite in Croatia is by far the best; I had to really force myself away from doing nothing to write this! Although I have to admit that I have a million dollar view while writing it :)

... really not swim so off we went. Refreshing .... yes very refreshing. Definitely not the warmest warmer I have jumped into, actually quite chilly. But hey we did it, we were freezing, and our chest still hurt to breathe.

Port of the night was Hvar. They had a fortress that acted like a lookout and had some really nice landscape shots so Benny and I made our way up there. A little wander around town and a nice hot shower to get the salt out of the hair. We then found ourselves a ...

... hurled my way.
After that, we boarded our 10 hour overnight ferry to Split, Croatia. Since sleeper rooms were $400, we opted for deck chairs and a miserably uncomfortable night of sleepng across 4 chairs in a room much like a movie theater, but without any windows or air or movies or nice smells. We managed to link up with a Dutch couple and a Canuck/English couple who were also backpacking, so at least we were able to share some ...

... hour for a bus to come & then get a 2 hour bus trip there, it was not fun! Had a wee wonder around the city - it was like a maze literally - then headed off to a beach. Went over to Hvar on the ferry the second day. I coped grand on the ferry, the boat didn't sink, so i count that as grand!

They were a good few relaxing days, catching up with our tans!

... didn't want to join us so we had the water to ourselves.  After swimming, we tanned and skipped rocks and once again we started the rock skipping trend.  After conquering Zagreb, Split was our next area of conquest.  Hopefully, I will be able to build a rock skipping empire by the time I leave Europe.  So, after the beach, we went back to the hostel for a nap and then went out for dinner with our new friends.  After dinner we went on a pub crawl with ...

... one!) I'm really excited because I think we can really make a difference with this community. It was really nice to see that Pam and Carl were as inspired as we were. They were really moved by the stories the man was telling us. After debriefing over some espressos and hot chocolate, we parted ways. We found a cheap little Internet cafe so that I could call home and let them know I'm OK. I also got to see the first wedding ...

... them that they should not view us putting our flag as an anti-American thing. If other travellers see me without my backpack, they always assume I am American. This happens to a lot of Canadians. Putting our flags on our backpacks just reminds people that there are Canadians out there seeing the world as well. I know that is why I put my flag on my bag. It is not that I want people to think that I am not American but rather that I am Canadian. Most people ...

... really excited, but disappointed at the end of the day. Not because of the wind conditions. I had been over-confident and got myself a larger sail, the wind was exceptionally strong, my windsurfing skills clearly have a lot to be desired, the weather got kinda chilly and I kept falling off into the cold cold water. Think I need some lessons before trying it again! Another day trip was over to the island of Hvar, where I went hooning around smaller islands with ...