Tourist Stuff

One day last week I was at one of our sister hotels in Dubrovnik since it opened up for a week to host a huge Allergan (makers of Botox) conference. Since I was in Dubrovnik and was done working around 12:30pm (I know...life is so hard), I had the afternoon to wander around and spend some time by myself. It also meant I had to find my way home. You can believe I used that map in the picture. I circled where I live so if anything, I could just get in a taxi and point.

So on this day, I was talking to Nikša from Grand Villa Argentina (the sister hotel) and he told me I had to go see the work of Vlaho Bukovac, a famous Croatian painter, in the Dubrovnik Museum of Modern Art. Considering it was about 50m from the hotel, I figured I might as well do it on my way home. My ticket to the museum is the post card above. There was a good mixture of paintings, sculptures, photographs and installations. Bukovac didn't disappoint either. Fun Fact: Bukovac is from Cavtat, where Hotel Croatia is. I would have taken pictures but I was the only person there besides the employees, and one of them followed me around the entire time, which I didn't appreciate. Art is kind of a personal thing, you know? Anyway, there was as series of photos documenting places before and after the war, which I thought had particular impact.

From there, I walked to Old City at the Ploče entrance of the Stradun (Main Street of Old City). I sat for a little while and people watched, also I needed to brace myself for the street/heel combo of what was about to happen. The Stradun is very slippery because of the amount of foot traffic it's had over the past 800 years. I just came from work and was wearing heels and the Ploče entrance is on a downhill slope so I just sat studying how the other women accomplished the walk with out falling. So after I babystepped my way down and through Old City, I watched some guy get his Audi towed from the middle of the street. I really wish I would have had my camera because he literally parked in the middle of the street and was blocking the taxi stand exit. The tow trucks are not like ours, they park parallel to the car and use a lift mechanism to lift the car up and over onto the back.

This is a picture of the Stradun last time I was there in 2007:

After people watching for about 45 minutes, I bought a public bus ticket (shown above) for 8kn at a newsstand and waited for my number 4 bus to arrive. I remember thinking to myself, "I bet no one knows I'm a tourist," and feeling so proud, then I inserted my bus ticket upside down and clogged the machine...and the entrance to the bus, and then I'm pretty sure everyone knew I was a tourist. Either way I arrived home feeling pretty independent because mastering public transportation is pretty much key when you don't have a car.

Last weekend, Ana and I walked the 2km around the Old City walls in the freezing cold and bora (which is really cold, gusty winter wind). Bora is the reason my camera was shaking so badly while I was recording.

Now that you heard the wind, keep in mind it is freezing outside. The speedo model from one of my previous posts has made a comeback. The same guy was swimming in the same spot again. The Adriatic isn't even warm in the summer!




I wish I could have actually taken pictures while I was on the walls. Unfortunately, I've been having trouble remembering to charge my camera before I want to take pictures. I'll have to get some next time I'm up there, which I most definitely will be... at some point.

A Few Snaps

Seeing how I don't carry around my D60 everywhere (back and forth to work and on errands) I have been snapping funny things here and there with my iPhone. I have a series of things I thought were cute or funny or a little different. The first four are at the grocery store.

1.  It's toast and it's adorable.

2. It's like Mr. Clean...with manners.

3. This is mainly for Gio. I think this will make him happy, especially the amount of WD-40 that is readily available... and the first aid kit. He's very safety-conscious.

4. You order up your cut right there. Notice he's not wearing gloves. I saw him texting (also gloveless) moments later. I don't know if I'm more grossed out that his phone juice is on our meat, or that our meat juice is on his phone.

5. The Petrol Pump. We use Euro-diesel, thank you. Also, they have plastic gloves on the side of the pump. I know my mom can appreciate this since she carries around a gas glove in her car. Side note: we did the math and gas is about $6/gal. I think people would riot for less.

6. This is the view from the window in our office when we leave for the day. While it's very beautiful, it hits me right in the eye for about the last hour of the day. So I use my bangs as blinders and persevere because frankly, the migraine is worth that view.

Hanging in the Hood(s)

I've gotten to know the neighborhoods in Dubrovnik: Lapad, Grad, Gruz, Babin Kuk, etc. I live in Lapad above a main street with cafes, restaurants, and bars. Pretty good location if you ask me... Everything is within walking distance, even Old City is only a 20 minute walk.

These are taken from my street:

The houses across the street:

(I think they are so cute)

This is the view from my apartment at night:

We walked up a different mountain behind our house on Tuesday with the best view in the city. You could see so many islands down the coast and every part of the city. This mountain looked out over Lapad, Lapad Beach, Old City and Babin Kuk.

 

 

Really, we've been doing a lot of walking. This way (and driving), I pretty much have figured out my way around the city. Ana has been showing me a lot of shortcuts and a lot of them involve massive amounts of stairs. We walked 10km around Babin Kuk on Wednesday. Of course, I took plenty of pictures. The weather was cold, but super clear and sunny. Babin Kuk is a main tourist part, besides Old City, of Dubrovnik with lots of hotels and swimming areas. It still amazes me how the water is so clear and pristine.

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Meet the Pets!

So I miss my Bimmer cat dearly. I mean how could I not?

 However, there are some other animals that are keeping me company. Zeljko and Ana have a kitten, a cat, and a German Shepherd. The cat is a little shy so keep in mind she's probably outside somewhere.

This is little kitten Ferdo. He is always a little bit hyper and likes to look for invisible things under the rug.

Meda (which means little bear and couldn't be a more perfect name for her) is Ana's dog and walking companion. She likes to herd me when I get about 10 feet away, like I was here. Clearly, Meda is distraught. After these walks, she really likes to nap.

 

Day in Old City

Today Ana, Mia, and myself went to Old City to walk around and go to lunch. It was a little cloudy, but I took some pictures anyway. First of all, I should preface by telling you Zeljko went to China on a business trip and Ana doesn't drive. Therefore, I have been driving Ana and me around to run errands, etc. SO I drove to Old City and parallel parked in these tiny European streets. If you've ever ridden with me, you'll probably remember that I'd rather park 2 miles away than attempt parallel parking... even in the Mini Cooper. So I was awfully proud of myself and here I offer proof:

Once we got to Old City we walked around the walls and saw something particularly interesting. Keep in mind it was about 50 degrees today, and the water probably isn't much warmer. I think he posed so maybe he's used to the attention. He proceeded to swim back and forth along the dock, and that's what I call dedication.

Of course, there was a lot of other lovely scenery:

I didn't take pictures of my food this time. However, we ate some tradition Bosnian food in a tiny restaurant in Old City. I had "Ćevapi" which is a dish with little sausages served in a flatbread. Oh, and then I had Ferrero Rocher flavored gelato at a little ice cream shop and it was amazing. I kept wondering how it was even possible, but I'm just really happy it is. 

Since it was a Sunday and everything except the churches were closed, the city was fairly empty. I look forward to going back often when I can see it in full swing. Maybe it will be a little sunnier and make for better pictures. There is video camera providing live feed of the Main Street in Old City on the television. So I met one of Ana's friends by waving to the tower while they were on the phone. The Old City channel is honestly very entertaining. Maybe I'll get discovered. 

Internship Has Officially Started

So my internship began on Monday. So far, I have a few responsibilities mainly concerning marketing the hotel. I am updating Facebook and Twitter for three hotels within our sales organization, Excelsa Hotels. Also, I've been re-writing the copy for promotional materials and the website. Everyone I work with is really nice and have been extremely helpful. We implemented a "word a day" for me. Vlaho (the marketing manager) is teaching me a new Croatian word each day. Today's word was "zivjeli" which means "cheers." Our office consists of about 7 people with desks in sort of a U-shape so we can talk during the day. I took a short video from the balcony outside the sales office where I work today. The sun finally came out after 3 days of constant rain!

I'm Finally Here!

So after a long journey (22 hours long), I finally made it on Friday afternoon. I was happy to be on the ground because frankly, after three flights in one day-ish time I feel like I was starting to push my luck. Not to mention the landing in Dubrovnik was a bit shaky and the runway is like a high school track field. Zeljko picked me up from the airport. Unfortunately, he did not pick up my luggage since both bags were lost in Frankfurt... I've been living off of travel size toiletries for days, wreaking havoc on my beauty routine. Anyway, he talked to the lost and found woman and everything finally arrived today. I've finally settled in and started to un-pack. Although, I should have listened to my mom and brought less shoes because I am out of space. In the time I've been living without my electric converters (aka sans computer), I have been documenting random things.

On Friday, I got here and went straight to sleep. It was about 3pm here so I woke up and watched some local television and this is what I came across:



I did find out what it was... it's HANDBALL! Apparently, Croatia is the constant champion (something I'm used to, obviously) of this sport. The Croatian National Team ended up winning over Austria in this particular game. Fun fact: There are more people playing this sport in Germany than there are people in Croatia. I find it very hard to believe I haven't seen this before.

The next day I went to lunch with Zeljko and Ana at a local restaurant. Lots of people have asked me what people eat in Croatia so I took some pictures of my lunch.
This is our appetizer. It's a random assortment of fresh fish, ceviche, seafood pate, and grilled squid salad.

Here was my main course: black risotto. It's made with cuttlefish which makes the sauce black. It is super delicious.

I will say we've been eating our big meal around 1pm, which is a little hard for me. It's like I wake up and I'm eating lamb and potatoes. Don't get me wrong I love lamb and potatoes, but maybe a little breakfast first. Zeljko told me when I start work it won't be this way and I'll eat normal lunch food. It's mostly a "yay we have company let's feed them as much as possible" kind of thing. I've already had some of that homemade wine that got me into trouble last time, which Robert loooooves reminding me of.

So that's what I've been eating. Now here's what I've been doing... It's been raining almost the entire time I've been here so there hasn't been much to do. However, today Ankica, Ana, and myself took their dogs for a walk up on top of the hill behind where we live. Let me just make this clear...this is right behind our house. Pretty awesome.

Ankica and Mischa on the left, Ana and Meda on the right.

The dogs were busy enjoying the scenery.

So this is what I've been up to the past few days. Oh and since it's been raining I've been learning Croatian by watching American movies and TV (Cast Away, Grey's Anatomy, some Tarantino, etc.) in English with Croatian subtitles. I don't think it's working too well because I still don't have a firm grasp on the extra letters in this alphabet. I should probably start with the ABCs.

As soon as my clothes and shoes aren't all over the place I'll post pictures and maybe a video tour of my apartment.