Our last night together in Croatia

(Will post pictures separately, again-- this is getting annoying!)

So today/tonight is the end of our time together. I leave for Budapest with Jill and Cari tomorrow afternoon while Katie and Stef stay 2 more nights and head to Dubrovnik for another 2 nights. Last night we were all pretty beat and just ended up going to a local Croatian restaurant to taste the typical fare there. We were told to get pastasada-- a meat dish served in a brown sauce made of port, onion and various spices and served with homemade dumplings. We all got the same thing because it was recommended to us by our apartment's owner. Instead of individual servings, the waiter brought what was probably the biggest platter of meat we have ever seen. The table next to us-- a very cute Norwegian couple-- even commented that it looked like a lot of food even for Americans. We thought that was funny. The perception here is that Americans overeat, or rather, that we overdo everything! We have been laughing the whole trip because any soda or beverage you order in a bar, cafe, or restaurant is half the size as what we would get back home. Even some of the beers... go figure.

Yesterday we traveled on the ferry from Brac to Split in the pouring rain and thought we had lucked out when we finally arrived and it seemed to be clearing up. Not the case. By about late afternoon, Cari, Katie and Jill were caught in a tsunami of a storm and came back soaked. They said the streets had flooded so much so that some of the manhole covers had come off. I think it was probably the most rain this area has seen in a long time. Luckily today it is sunny although part of the sky does seem a bit threatening.

Today, the other four went to the beach while I stayed home and putzed around. Whatever rash I have I think would have gotten worse in the sun and heat so I've avoided that as much as possible today. Again, it figures that I'd be the one to develop some gross thing while on vacation. It seems to be going away now though so that's good.

We've spent the last few hours tooling around the city, visiting some tourist spots and shopping. We went back to the old palace and the Cathedral of St. Domnius. We went up into the old bell tower and the view was amazing. Katie and I also went into the actual cathedral as well as the adjacent crypt. It was incredible! In the crypt, we encountered these three ladies who told us we had to stand in this one particular spot and sing or talk and it would bounce back to us. But only in that one spot. Sure enough it did. Much like in the Capitol building in DC... must be the dome.

We just finished eating at a cafe here along the Riva which is a really well-known, and well-traveled area full of cafes, shops, and restaurants. Again, all of the outdoor places are so cool because they are more about the people watching than anything else.

Tonight, we plan on going to the Bacvice beach area to check out a few of the bars and clubs we've heard about. Not sure how happening they'll be on a Monday night and particularly because we're in a city now and not the islands. The islands here are much like Dewey to us in that a lot of the locals go there for long weekends.

We have really had an amazing time together and look forward to sharing more of our pictures and stories with all of you when we get back.