How I learned to always make sure you have a place to sleep!

Last weekend I did my first trip to the coast of Croatia. I visited a small coast city called Pula. You can see it on the map to the right. It was a interesting trip to say the least. Me and my friend Joao decided to take the bus and arrived at around 6-7 pm. By the time we arrived our other friends were already there and have been partying on the beach the whole day. We were really surprised at the location of the hostel! It was right one the water of the Adriatic Sea. We also were not in a small hotel but we had our own camp ground that we all stayed it. It was a really nice hostel and it was super cheap. I wish we had hostels in the USA! I would travel everywhere! 

Some water from the Sea that I put in a
whiskey bottle

The beach was a white stone beach with many small cliffs and crags that jutted out into the water. As the sun slowly fell into the Adriatic Sea we moved to one of the small cliffs and brought down some wood from the surroundings. As the 15 or so of us sat around I proceeded to build a small fire. here is where I noticed a small cultural difference. I having been raised around tons of bonfires and have been making them since I can remember I watched as my European friends worried that we wouldn't be able to get the fire started without any paper or fuel.

 After asking if I could take the lead I borrowed an empty pack of cigarettes from a one of the French and used only half of the box to get a small fire started. After a few minutes we had a nice sized fire located next to the water. Honestly I felt like I was in a Levi Jean commercial, here we were from all around the world, laughing and drinking around a fire sitting on the edge of a magnificent sea. It was a surreal moment and I will always cherish this of my friends here. 

As a reminder to myself as I get older I want to just remind myself that after we put the fire out we explored the surrounding hotels. As we explored the surrounding hotels remember that we swam in the hotel pool, that we took a cushion, that Joao fell asleep and we put bottles all over him until he woke up. But most importantly that it took over 5 of the French guys on my back and legs to tackle me to the ground! We were just walking around and they all tried to tackle me and it wasn't until 5 of them had wrapped themselves onto me did I falter, and it was after a fight! It was  a great night!

The next day we woke up and went into the city of Pula. Pula is a small city on the coast. It felt like I was in Italy rather than Croatia, they had small streets that lead off into a hundred different ways from the main street. The roads were made of cobble stone and were shiny from years of wear from the all the tourist that come to visit this city. We explored the city and soon came to the first landmark that we visited, the colosseum. It was built by the Romans and it was very impressive. To see the walls and arches of the massive stone that was somehow hoisted into the air and stacked in such a way that they have proven the test of time and still are as strong today as they were years ago. We could see the entire colosseum from the outside and and to think of what type of events were held here that drew such a large crowd was very impressive. 

A small fountain that depicts
 the city of Pula. 

In front of a super old church in Pula

We continued through the city and saw a few more things such as churches and the old fort that looked over  the city. But after walking in the hot sun and the stones we walked over cooking us from underneath we thought it time to hit the beach again! This time we went to a national park on one large peninsula. We found a small area that did not have to many people and spent the next five hours enjoying the sun. The water was still freezing and we could only swim for a short time before giving up and coming back to the beach to lay in the sun. The water was crystal clear, I know many people say that but I have never sen water so clear in all my days. I could see fish from the shore swimming lazily through the chilly sea. It was really a paradise and i was sad to watch the sun go down and end the day.

That night we then went to a small city called Ravine. We arrived around 8pm and thought we could find a hotel to stay in for the night. So we took in a dinner because the stores were closing then set out to find a hotel. I don't know if there was a convention or if there was just a flux in tourist but there wasn't a place that could take us. We were like Mary and Joseph walking from inn to inn looking for a place to sleep. Sadly after walking through the city and even trying a place that the cheapest room was over 100 Euro a night, no place had a spare room. So we set out to find a place to sleep. We collected a slew of pictures of different places we tried to sleep. But we settled on sleeping near the church on top of a hill, hindsight being on top of a hill near the sea means cold breezes all night. So we all cuddled up and slept for a few hours. At 4 in the morning we all woke up and I was frozen to the bone, we all were not prepared for sleeping outside and I already had a cold that started. Me and Joao decided that going to the bus station and getting the first one home was the best plan. So we got to the station and crawled into the back of the bus and spread ourselves on the back seats. We both slept for eight hours, waking only when the bus stopped. At the end of our trip when we were back in Zagreb the entire front of the bus was full but no one wanted to anywhere near the back and the men sleeping spread across the back seats like dead bodies.

I spent the next day wrapped in blankets sitting in the sun until I was warm. It was an awesome experience and I would not take it back for the world! It was an amazing weekend with amazing people. I love every day here and I am always learning new thinks about the world and myself.

My Easter Story - Road trip 2012

Hello! I know it has been quite  while since I wrote on my blog, this is because my Easter was such a massive trip that I am still getting all the photos and things together! But I am going to try my best to record my feelings and the events that had occurred. 

During Easter me and a few of my friends decided to do a Road trip through Europe. In 10 days we would go to Ljubljana in Slovenia, Munich Germany, Berlin Germany, Prague from the Czech Republic, and lastly Vienna in Austria. It was a tight schedule we were on but we were determined to make it work! So Felix, Catherine, Hector, Andre and I stuffed ourselves into a small four door Volkswagen Polo. 

The first leg of the drive was only a few hours drive, sadly I do not have any idea on how to drive a stick shift so I was unable to drive during the trip. I actually enjoyed this because it game me more time to watch the breath taking countryside roll by. We arrived at our first destination, Ljubljana, it is the capital of Slovenia. It is such a wonderful little town, we arrived at our hostel and quickly left to explore the city. As we walked we could see the castle of Ljubljana from a bridge. It majestically sits on a hill side overlooking the entire city. It really is amazing the wild thoughts that spring up when traveling. Just the impressions from the architecture and people alone make you reconsider what the norm is. Of course this is to be expected but now I have a really bad urge to own a castle! At least a building that is not as vanilla. 

A dragon guarding a bridge
with the Castle in the background

We walked up a huge hill to see the castle which was largely boring. It was just a coffee shop inside and was a few brick walls. Yet what the castle did offer is a view of the surrounding area and that was worth the trek up the hill. You could see for mile and miles around and it was quite a nice view. You can just imagine the history of locations like this, you see the locations where guards could stick their bow and arrows through slits and attack from safe locations. It is amazing how these structures have taken on the test of time. While later exploring the city you can see how the people leave their marks all over. One of the things I saw that confused me to no end was all these locks on a bridge. I kept walking past the bridge and just looking at the locks wondering what are they doing there! I asked my friends and they looked at me like I had asked what color the sky was. Apparently it is common to take a lock with your loved one and write your names on it and lock it on a bridge. It represents that as long as the lock is there that you two will be in love. The romantic in me was delighted at this tradition and I noticed the locks in the different places we visited. After our stop here we left the next day to Munich Germany.

A Church we visited, I really enjoyed the honesty of the architecture  

A castle we saw on our way to Munich as we drove
through Austria

Munich was a lot of fun, I was able to get some real German food and fun and it reminded me of all the meals I have had growing up with my mother cooking similar food. The trip to Munich was amazing. I fell in love with Austria on the spot. We drove some of the most magnificent mountains I have ever known. It was simply breath taking the views that appeared after every tunnel or corner we took on our road trip. I felt a deep connection here with the land, I could feel it pulling my towards it, like I was being led to where I should have been all along. I could not help but want to stop the trip right there and stay as long as possible with these giants surrounding us. We arrived in Munich at a hostel called Jager. We walked in and it was a nice place, we got out keys to our room that held over 40 people and claimed our beds. After we went and took a small walk around the town.

It was a drizzly day but it did not dampen the mood we were all in. We were free from that small car and were glad to be walking. As we walked down a relativity modern city we were not so impressed. It looked like and dirty city that you can find in any country. That was until we got into the heart of the city, around one corner we stumbled into the single best example of Gothic architecture I would say ever existed. It was a massive structure with every sort of carving and detail that could be imagined on the facade of the building. It was one of the most impressive buildings on the trip. What tops it all off is it has a clock that at 12 every day small figurines come out and run around the face of the clock. We continues to explore the city after this building with every corner having something new in store for us. This might be getting a little deep early on in this long post but I now understand just how young our country, the USA, is. Here is a building that stood before electricity, before cars, before America was even found and stands next to a modern skyscraper while remaining timeless. Being on this trip was like walking through a place where time was not chronological. What I mean is that you can walk down a street and see land marks and things from almost the entire history of humans. It is mind boggling to think of the time in which these buildings were erected. 

Olympic Park

The next day we set out to Berlin but not before stopping at the Olympic park. The infamous place of the 1972 massacre. It is bizarre to walk in a place where I have seen on television history being made. Yet people were still swimming in the pool and using the gyms. It actually has a fair ground located on the premise. I also want to say that we rode on the space needle like thing and was treated to a wonderful view of Munich. It was a perfect way to see the city before we left. After we all again loaded into our tiny polo and away we went to the next leg of our trip, Berlin!

The awesomest tour guide

Lady Victory above the Brandenburg Gates

Berlin was the longest place we stayed at during our trip. Now you can really get lost in Berlin and in more than one way. Lost in its size, lost in the people, lost in the history, there is a million ways to occupy your time. We arrived in Berlin late at night and decided to just get dinner then go out tomorrow. So when we woke the next morning we decided to go on a free tour of the city. This was probably one of the best choices of the trip. We had this wonderful Brit who was one of the most interesting and well read people I have met. He knew the date, time, and answer to every question. He really made Berlin come alive and gave insights into land marks that no guide book could ever give. If you ever find a tour for free by the Red T-shirt company TAKE IT! We started our guide at the  Brandenburg gates of Berlin where lady Victory sits upon. What is interesting is how she was not only stolen and traveled all over only to return here where she once started but she was not initially called lady Victory but renamed after the fall of Napoleon.  We then walked to a monument that I think is one of the most wonderful monuments I know of, the level of thought that went into this is simply genius. This monument is a large field of concrete pillars that are standing in regimental lines with some seeming to lean a little to far one way or another.

When we first saw the monument it was just a nifty place that was fun to make photos. There was almost no mark to say what the park represents. You can see children running and laughing through the giant columns. It is not until you hear some of the ideas and meaning of the monument does the entire scene sink it. It is a monument to the Jews that were killed in the Holocaust. We were sitting and being told that the designer built it so children would run through and that their voices would carry. This is because in his interviews with holocaust survivors he heard time and time again that it was the sound of the children that gave the people in the camp hope. It is one of the few things he said about his monument, he wants people to make their own conclusions about the monument. What is interesting is the ground is slightly hilly that the columns are standing up out of. This is characteristic of shallow graves and to me the monuments are that of head stones. What happens during a bright day also is that the stones have a good and bad side. It seemed to me to be a prefect representation of Berlin. It is large and massive, it has a good and a dark side. I sat for many hours drawing deep conclusions to what this monument means. I was really moved by it, even more so when you visit the museum located beneath the columns.

A child walking through the towering structures

Here beneath the tons of concrete stones lies the story of WWII. There are many different rooms each with a different way of telling the story of the horrible events that took place. Words do no justice to the effect of this museum so I will try my best to bring to tell some of the emotions that filled me as I walked through history. I was just reading the history of the holocaust looking at photos of mass graves and un-naturally skinny humans when I looked around at the other people around me. Here was people of every age and location in the world looking at the horrors of human potential and were all reacting in the same way. It makes you feel more connected to the human race. Here no words were needed, human beings feeling compassion for other humans. Women being moved to tears, men holding their tongues as they swallow past their growing lump in their throats, and all along the children look on, ignorant of the meaning yet they too could feel the solemn atmosphere.  On the back wall of the first rooms were large photos showing individuals and their stories of how they came to die. This room led to another room, where on the floor was excepts from letters and messages that made it out of the concentration camps.

The booth 

I could not help but to start to choke up at this point. I walked out of this room and sat down at a small booth and thought I would be delivered from the brutal truth I was facing. In this booth was a small phone that you picked up and could listen to actual survivor stories of people in the camps, what I thought would be stories of happiness soon turned to me weeping as I listened in horror. There were many options of different stories and I was only able to make it through a few before I could no longer listen. One story is thus, It was of a woman who was being accepted into the camp with her two children and her mother. The Nazi's were separating the old and young from the able bodied. One child was only 6 and was sent to the children's line, the next boy was 11 but being large for his age he could pass as 13 and join the able bodied who were being sent to work. The officer who was making the final choices asked the mother how old the boy was because he seemed large enough to work. The mother thinking that she was saving her child from harsh labor said he was 11 and the office said with a smile that he should go to the children's line, the mother then asked if the grandmother could go with them to take care of them. The officer smiled and sent the grandmother to the other line rather than work. One soldier said that it would only be a week and they would be reunited. Later the mother found out that the children and the old were all killed and that she sent her son and mother to die rather than work and survive as she did. All the other stories were of this same magnitude and I was brought to tears as I listened. Even the darkest thoughts I have ever had never amounted to a grain of salt in the mountain of evil that was the Holocaust. I left the museum with puffy eyes, the museum exiting into the middle of these large columns. It was one of my favorite and yet horrible experiences while in Berlin.

In front of the Opera house

We also saw some other sights in Berlin, such as the wonderful opera houses and music schools. As we walked we saw the Berlin wall, it was much smaller than I had imagined it being. It was only a few inches thick and not overly tall, but considering 149 miles of wall was starting to be built at 1am and they were done by 6am it makes sense. Talk about German efficacy! Later in the day after the tour me and Catherine and Andre walked for hours looking for the East Side Gallery, a section of that wall that has murals all over it. After finding our way we were rewarded with some really moving images that were on the wall. It was defiantly worth the walk. Some other places we visited was Check Point Charley, Where the USA and Russia had over 40 tanks aimed at one another. Luckily through a amazing example of diplomacy both sides removed their tanks and thus stopped a potentially nasty event from occurring! We also saw another holocaust museum, this one was interesting because there is a large field of gravel. This field as I later found out was all that remained of the Nazi buildings. They completely destroyed almost all the buildings the Nazi's built and put the remains in this field as a reminder to the world of Berlins and Germany's stance on the Nazi's. As we left Berlin I still had only scratched the surface of what Berlin had to offer, with the many AMAZING museums that I could not visit, wonderful people, and all the other experiences I was reminded of what the French say about Berlin, "Paris will always be Paris, but Berlin is always becoming Berlin" This is the spirit of Berlin, ever changing and never the same place twice. I look forward to my next encounter with this wonderful and dark city.

The rubble of Nazi buildings

Replication of Check Point Charley

After Berlin we were now on our return trip back to Croatia. We then found ourselves in Prague. I feel I was cheated from really getting to know Prague and this is why, Everyone else LOVES Prague. All the people I have met only talk about just how amazing this place is, so I went into Prague with super high expectations, only to be let down. Now I am not saying Prague is not a great place, just not as advertised. We stayed with some friends of our friend, Hector. We went to the castle that is there in Prague and as we approached a large crowd was gathered outside, we were arriving right when the guards were changing. It was awesome to watch, every motion was exact, precise, and on point. It was really amazing to see, I have only seen such discipline in the American color guard, it had never occurred that other countries also perform these routines.

The inside of the Church

 Inside the Castle walls they also had a massive Gothic style church with animals carved in stone hanging off every corner. You could look at any spot on the building and find where a craftsman's hand has worked. I really love these buildings that are testimates to human ability and achievement. Skyscrapers are impressive due to size, but these building are the definition of art, they demonstrate years of high level output by true masters of their craft. Inside the church was also work of equal merit. Some amazing works of wood carvings, metal craft, and more masonry were displayed like trophies throughout the church. I have many of these photos on my Flickr feed. You can find it at the bottom of this post. It has all the photos you have seen here and more also. Some that tell the story of my trip better than this post alone. After we examined the rest of the church we explored the rest of the castle. We saw the old walls that still have the small slits that a archer would fire his arrows at anyone trying to siege the castle. There was a room that was used for torture with some equipment that was used to "extract" information from enemies of the castle. One particular one was a metal fitting that surrounded the body and they would then proceed to dunk you into a water well.

One of my favorite statues
 in the Church

The castle had a wondrous view of Prague. You could see for miles in nearly every direction. It was really amazing how small everything looked from the walls of the castle. I could only imagine being a child looking into the city, full of wonder and awe at the unknown life that laid outside the city walls.  In different room through out the castle they had set up example of how the castle use to look, or the original use of rooms. They had some really  unique rooms. One being the armory, you were able to see all the weapons that were used through out the defense of the castle. One room was what seemed to be a laboratory filled with all types of experimenting equipment.
We left the castle and walked the city a little. One thing we did was walk across a famous bridge in Prague, it is said that if you touch one of the murals where a dog is, that you will one day return to Prague. Our entourage all took our turns in placing our hands on the dog and giving it a good rub. I know for me I sure hope I return! I would love to give Prague another chance to prove itself! One final not about Prague was we ate a HUGE amount of food! We ate ribs twice, it was amazing, I miss good ol' BBQ. I was so happy I was able to eat it here! But we soon left Prague after enjoying the night life, especially my friend Felix! and made our way on ward to Vienna.

Equipment that was in one of the rooms, it is actually a small still that could
do everything from making booze to purifying water

Ah, Vienna, I only knew you for a day and yet I know we are destined to be together! This place in in the wonderful country of Austria, which as you saw earlier has amazing mountains. Vienna is the city of Music and it is rightly named so. Every where you go there is an opportunity to go to a concert, show, or opera. I really wish I was able to attend one show. For students the price goes from 100 Euros to 8 Euros. Sadly I was only there for one day. Yet we saw so much of this city my feet get tired just thinking of all the buildings we saw.
On every corner they have some street performance or artist painting, but what is noticeably different is rather than mediocre players, these were people who seemed to be masters of their art. We walked by one woman who was singing opera and it was pitch perfect. Yet people walked by as though it was nothing special. What gets me so excited about Vienna besides the wonderful people is the buildings. Every building you pass has a building that is more grand and impressive behind it. If I was a god, this is where I would live, I felt like the entire city was Zeus's home. 
But if this is Zeus's home he lived at the palace.

The palace was massive, a city in its own right. Not only did it have a house that you could get lost in for weeks, but upon the top of the hill located behind the palace was a wonderful structure that overlooked the entire city.
 In one direction was the palaces zoo (it has its own zoo) which I heard was one of the better zoos. They had a hedge maze located on the grounds also, which was also massive. It was raining lightly as we walked over the grounds of the palace and after walking and seeing everything we could see without paying we decided to see the inside of the castle.

The inside was really also exquisite, it was full of history and the tour really opened my eyes to the history of Austria. I for one was unaware that Mary Antoinette was from Austria. I knew that she was queen of France but not that she was from here. Also the Kings brother was killed in Spain at the same time his son committed suicide. This is how the fall of the Royal family occurred. It was all very interesting. But what I enjoyed almost as much as walking through the halls was the fact they said not to take any photos inside the palace. Well I don't know why but I went with great determination to get as many photos as I can! I paid for entrance into this place and now you are saying I can't take photos! Poppycock! So my photo to the right was taken of one of the dining halls. It is too bad I had to shoot without looking through the camera lens. There were a great many photos that did not turn out as I had hoped! But either way the palace really makes you wonder how would it be to grow up in such a lavished and extravagant life. I for one think I would not enjoy it as much as I first thought. The thought of having to always be proper and not being able to relax and kick back would drive me crazy! But lastly we left the castle and walked around the city before we had to leave. I have many wonderful photos again but they are in the link below to my Flickr.

As we were walking around the city they had this huge monument to Communism soldiers. I was so confused and had to double take when I saw the structure. Sure enough it was a massive monument with depictions of Soviets Soldiers. I sat a long while reading that the monument is for all the fallen soldiers that helped free Austria from Fascism. It was an eye opener, here my whole life I have assumed the Communism was detested. Seeing a monument in the honor of communism really gave me mixed feelings of confusion and  a little anger. It was only after thinking for a long while and staring at the monument did I accept the monument as a good thing. This was for the men and women who helped free a people. The Communist Russians did help us win WWII and we cannot forget that despite how much we may not like it as Americans. I was happy that there was a monument to the people who died for a belief that freed people. With these thoughts fresh in my head we drove home to Zagreb. After 10 days on the road I came back to Zagreb with larger horizons of understanding, with a greater knowledge of culture, and with the realization how much I missed my Croatian family here. I am going to have a hard time leaving them when I go back home... But a wise woman once said you have to grow where you are planted. So I am going to make the most of every day I have left here, the same is true when I go home. I know that all the wonderful people I have met will always be in my heart helping me along my journey through life. If you made it to this point and read the story of my travels I congratulate you! It took almost 4 days of writing to get all this down on paper, that does not include selecting and editing photos! But luckily I have another trip I just returned from and I will have that up shortly also! Don't forget I have more photos here

More Photos -> http://www.flickr.com/photos/akbproductions/sets/72157629948688159/

The top of the main column of the monument