Island Life

Another long train ride from Zagreb, the capitol of Croatia, to Slplit. There was a mother with a baby and a toddler on board. For 6 hours, one of those kids were crying. And not just a cry, but a blood-curdling scream. There was not one passenger who didn't want to throw one of those kids off the train. I was playing Gin Rummy to pass the time (funny that everyone seems to play by slightly different rules). A young Croatian couple asked to borrow the cards. In return, the gentleman offered me one of his cigarettes at our rest stop. I almost felt obliged to take it from him even though I don't smoke. Many people in Europe smoke, so I felt rude turning him down. No worries, I did. Split is an amazingly beautiful, quaint city. I stayed in an apartment in the old palace that was built in the 300's ad. Actually, when you get off the train, everyone bombards you with rooms in their private homes to rent. I had a very nice room in the center of everything, but literally, the shower was maybe two feet by two feet. There was no way I was shaving my legs in that thing. I met Branka, a friend of a friend from the bar who actually lives in Croatia. She took us to a local restaurant and then on a private tour of the palace ruins. There was so much more to the palace than I ever would have found. We were climbing staircases and going down narrow alleyways - and all of a sudden we would be at a small local bar in the middle of the 1700 year-old palace. Today, I took an hour long boat ride out to the island of Hvar. It's incredible. It reminds me of a mixture of Italy and the Yucatan. The harbor is filled with yachts, sailboats, and fishing boats. In fact the fishing boats bring back fresh fish that the restaurants serve for lunch and dinner. I'm staying at a hotel right on the water with a sports bar. When sitting down to order a drink, the guys and girls behind me were quoting Dirty Dancing, so I knew I must be in the right place. I tried to play pool, but there was no chalk and the air was so moist that I couldn't get a proper stroke.it was more frustrating than fun, but I won anyways! The island sells Cuban cigars, so I tried to smoke one of those. Anyone who has seen me try to smoke a cigarette can only imagine how humorous this adventure was. After five or six tries of puffing and not releasing any smoke, I gave up and returned to my Irish coffee. (Preparing for Ireland) there isn't really any beach to visit on this island, so tomorrow, I'm taking a water taxi to a nearby island to swim and tan - well, turn red really. I don't have any sunscreen either, so this should be interesting. They say there are no bugs here, but I have managed to gain 6 mosquito bites while I am writing this blog. Guess it's time to turn in.