Croatia

After a 10 hour flight from Singapore to Istanbul it is a huge relief to get off the plane and walk around again. Luckily enough I managed to get around 5 hours sleep on the plane and the other 5 were well entertained with flight food, movies and a series of the big bang theory. 

After descending the plane I make my way down the excessivley long hall to where I think I can see stores in the distance. I seem to collect a vast amount of stares from men who look like bin laden and their harems of wives. I thought I was very conservative in my jeans, boots and singlet top -perhaps I should have brought my burka with me? I pass three stands of turkish ice cream ( Im not sure how it differs from our ice cream), a store full of at least a 100 different kinds of turkish delight - who would have thought that it is actually such a popular food here? and a store full of beautifully designed lamps, crockery and jewelry I manage to locate the area to purchase wifi. The clerk is very helpful and after about 10 minutes decides to make it his duty to find me an adaptor so I can charge my computer - loving the customer service! And so once again the wait in transit begins, 2 and a half hours to entertain myself. A chai latte and a brownie should help pass the time.

The flight to Zagreb only takes 1 hour and 45 minutes so in comparison to the other flights it literally flew by (sorry bad joke lol). In my wallet I have 250 Kunas - which to me sounded like more than enough for the week. But after purchasing an hour of wifi for 50 kuna, I begin to realise it wont! I find a small cafe / bar to relax and unwind. The only alcoholic beverage that I can understand is a bottle of Stella Artois beer - which to me tastes like nail polish remover- and the best looking food is a toasted sandwhich. So after another purchase of 50 kuna I sit back to catchup on facebook - my lifeline to my world back home. After 45 minute my computer dies and they dont seem to sell adaptors. So I decide to clear customs and engage in some duty free. After getting through to the other side I realise - there is no duty free!!!! I go to the only form of hope which is a small vending machine - which apparently is not working. So now I am left with 2.5 hours to wait and nothing to eat or drink. Oh well, all part of the fun! So I ake a pillow out of my bags and lie down to catch up on some reading until my flight arrives.

Finally I arrive in Split! After a long process of getting through the passport check I anxiously wait at the baggae claim. Fingers crossed that my bags managed to make it the entire way from Brisbane to Split with no trouble. Success - mine is the 5th bagh off the trolley, thank God for that. So after a refreshing baby wipe shower in the nearest bathroom and a quick wardrobe change I of course find the nearest bar and relax with a wine to wait for my friends flight to arrive. After about half an hour of bordem it occurs to me to check the adaptor I bought back in Australia for Europe. it turns out to be the correct fitting!! So greatful for the way things have a way of working out. The wondefully helpful waiter helps me plug in my computer, brings me a sandwhich and another wine and engages in conversation. They seem to speak great english here which is very beneficial.

After 3 hours my friend finally arrives, we get a taxi and drive through the gorgeous old country side. Now the challenge is to find our hostel. After walking the cobble stoned pavements we finally find it and check in. The other friends who are joining us for yacht week are here to greet us. t is so good to finally be here. I would reccomend this hostel to anyone who is looking into going to split. It is clean, the people are friendly, there is free wi fi and it is very reasonably priced if you are on a budget. 

http://gollybossy.com/ or you can book through http://www.booking.com/

Hostel life is much different to what I had thought. My room is small and narrow and shared with 5 other girls. The beds are small rectangular shaped holes on the wall with matresses and beddoing and are suprisingly comfortbale. Everything is coded and locked and you need your indicidual pin to get in. We each have our own lockers too which is fantastic. After 5 minutes of manuvering I manage to fit my bag in the locker - clearly it is designed for backpackers and not insane people like myself whos definition of backpacking is a 17 kg wheelie bag, a lap top, high heels and my handbag. After a relaxing shower I head back down stairs to meet everyone for dinner and drinks!! 

We find a cute little cafe and order some food - I am starving! We then explore the streets and nightlife in split. There is a man doing a puppet show, weird and wonderful nick nacks to buy, beer stands and a concert going on. It is so much fun wandering these new surroundings equipped with a vodka and red bull in hand, I could get used to this. 

We head back to the hostel to google charlies bar which is supposed to be a lot of fun, and then it hits me, the wall that I had been trying to avoid for the past few hours -smack!! I guess 5 hours sleep of 35 hours is just not enough. As much as I dont want to miss out - I say my goodnights and head to bed to get a decent sleep for the massive week ahead. 

This morning I wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day. Its 2 hours before we have all planned to meet so I take the time to do 30 minutes of pilates followed by some much need yoga stretches and meditation. I shower, re-pack my bag and head downstairs to meet the crew. We are off to get food, alcohol and head to the harbour to meet our skipper and board our yacht . . . to be contiued :)