The end is near...

I apologize for the delay in updating the blog...after my exhausting (and very, very writing intensive) senior project, it appears that my brain is reluctant to keep working...

So, we're now in Dubrovnik, which is cheerfully dubbed the 'Pearl of the Adriatic'....one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We arrived about fourish days ago (I think?) and have been thoroughly enjoying our stay. Before Dubrovnik, we spent a lovely two days on the island of Hvar. We intended to do some diving, but the phone lines were down due to rain, and we were unable to call ahead and make a reservation. Feeling lazy, we walked around the town, marvelling at turquiose water that never seems to get old, drinking wine, and searching for an off-the-beaten track beach.

After a bit of walking (up and down, up and down...the entire place is built into a mountain, just like the rest of the country. My gluts are screaming sore!), I spotted a couple occupying a rather tantalizing and spot next to the water. We spent about an hour there, I even had my first topless sunbathing experience (so chic, so european...she was doing it, so I thought I'd join). It was invigorating...until a boatload of tourists sputtered by and a couple of people blatantly 'snuck' a few pictures. If I end up on the internet...sheesh! I put my clothes back on and we spent the rest of the evening enjoying life.

The next day, we headed to Dubrovnik by bus. The ride was 5 and a half hours short, with a twenty minute stop in part of Bosnia. I bought some ice cream and that was about as exciting as it got. We were utterly swarmed by 'private room' touts as soon as we arrived in Dubrovnik...I finally felt like I was in more familiar territory, after my experiences in India and Africa!

We settled on a room/apartment with a cooky old woman and her cookier old son. The apartment is fine, it just reeks a bit of mildew and we share our space with several resident spiders and a load of pesky little flies. We're not complaining The woman is just too jolly...

The entire part of the old city is surrounded by hugely impressive walls built around the 17th century. For a mere 20 kuna, we walked the walls (no easy physical task, I might add) and enjoyed gorgeous views of the ocean and the red-tiled city around us. We were even treated to a suprise air show by five planes of some kind (I know my brother and dad would have been more appreciative).

The next day, we decided to splurge on one of the many boat tours offered here...there are three popular islands nearby and we (well, porter) wanted to do something besides walk around the city. Unfortunately, we made a very bad choice...and the entire experience was laughable. First, we expected to be boarding the large, stately boat promised to us in the brochure. Instead, we were nearly left behind, because we didn't see the glorified dingy we were actually using. Stuffed beyond legal capacity I'm sure, we were hoping to transfer to something more respectable sometime soon. Alas, no such luck.

The captain was a large, sweaty, greasy toothless fellow, and our boatmates a wide variety of nationalities. Hell, there was even a dog aboard. I think my jaw hit the floor when the captain had porter do a bit of the driving while he served us some crappy soda and juice.

The rest of the day was progressively worse, though adventurous to say the least. We didnt stay on any of the islands as long as promised, we were taunted by the other groups enjoying their time on the nice boats, and we were furious to find that our 'real boat' apparently blew a pipe the day before, and the company had blatantly lied to all of us.

We were even more angry to find that we had to pay for our drinks at lunch, even though the brochure proclaims drinks are included. Luckily, the third island was quite beautiful and the beach helped me to forget my frustration.

For awhile at least. The boat broke down about a half mile before we made it back to port. I'd even made some sarcastic joke about the smokey engine...it was so bad, it was laughable!

To say the least, they didn't give much of our money back...we were able to get refunded for the drinks at lunch...but the ticket hawker who had done all the lying was conveniently absent upon our return.

Alas, buyer beware. Porter and I bought ourselves some cheap and wonderful wine to make life a little better.

The day after, we finally went diving in a very wild sea. Some of the waves seemed taller than I, and the current was strong enough to toss us around a little violently at the surface. Upon leaping in, we were lucky not to be bashed to death against the rocks. Once we were fairly deep, it wasnt so difficult...but swimming against the current was certainly a workout. We did two dives, both quite lovely. Shhh...it was porter's first open water experience.

Today, unfortunately, it's pouring rain. We were hoping to go to the beach, but we're taking care of errands instead. Porter leaves for the states tomorrow, and I've been frantically attempting to arrange my departure for Bulgaria. It seems that my plan to go through Macedonia is only possible in the summer months (it's spring, apparently), so I'll have to go to Sarajevo, then Belgrade, then Sofia. *Sigh*...at least it will be an adventure? I'm trying to be optimistic!

Overall, we've had a wonderful trip together, and it will be hard to say goodbye for the next two months. I am increasingly nervous about my time in Bulgaria, but it's an excited sort of nervous I suppose. I will write again soon!

If you want to seem some pics, here's the URL to porters site:

http://personal.utulsa.edu/~brian-porter/