Thursday, November 17, 2011
more from the Palace
Beccis mom got to come out here for about 2 weeks (yay!) and it was great having her here. Of course it made me miss my mom but it was nice to have a few meals cooked for us and a mom around. While she was here we took her down to the center of the city where the palace is. We have gone down there a few times but theres always more to look at and new things to see. So we went down there one afternoon and it was beautiful day. The weather had been raining off and on recently so we were happy to have a sunny day. We walked around the palace, looked at the shop stands and then got some pizza and sat out by the water. It was nice relaxing day!
Femme Fatale
Britney Spears! 
Where can you go and see a Britney Spears concert with floor seats for only $60 dollars(300 kuna)? Croatia of course!! Becci and Reese are huge Britney fans so one weekend all four of us piled into Kikis car and drove the 4 hours to Zagreb for the concert and then drove the 4 hours back from Zagreb right after the concert. 
We werent the only ones who werent from Croatia to see Britney there, we bumped into alot of people from Italy, there were people from Austria and Slovenia and Im sure many other nearby countries. We found this out as we were waiting in line to get in. I am now a little more thankful for the security and organization in America. We got to the arena about 2 hours before the concert and we walked right up and there were a couple of lines already formed but we walked up to some other doors that were gonna be opened and then all of a sudden we were swarmed with European people crowding us to get to the front. It was not worth being so close to close with the Europeans smoking and singing their national anthem (Italians) so we decided to head to the back of the line and wait. 
We had general admission tickets for the floor so we knew once we headed in that it was a free for all. So as soon as we got in we hurried to the floor seats and it wasnt even that full. So we got good seats right behind the VIP section. We were surprised that the arena was not full. But these Europeans are really agressive at trying to get to the front or if someone tries to get in front of them. Craziness. They love their Britney.
The opening act were 2 American girls, Paris and Destinee, who did a good job. Britney did most of her classics and all of her new stuff. One of my favorites of the night was "I Wanna Go", the crowd all had balloons and she pulled people up onstage with her and the place was going crazy. The last song she sang was "Till the World Ends" and even when she left after the encore pople were still singing the song for a good 10 minuts. She put on a pretty entertaining performance and even brought her 2 boys out on stage with her at the very end. 
Where can you go and see a Britney Spears concert with floor seats for only $60 dollars(300 kuna)? Croatia of course!! Becci and Reese are huge Britney fans so one weekend all four of us piled into Kikis car and drove the 4 hours to Zagreb for the concert and then drove the 4 hours back from Zagreb right after the concert. 
We werent the only ones who werent from Croatia to see Britney there, we bumped into alot of people from Italy, there were people from Austria and Slovenia and Im sure many other nearby countries. We found this out as we were waiting in line to get in. I am now a little more thankful for the security and organization in America. We got to the arena about 2 hours before the concert and we walked right up and there were a couple of lines already formed but we walked up to some other doors that were gonna be opened and then all of a sudden we were swarmed with European people crowding us to get to the front. It was not worth being so close to close with the Europeans smoking and singing their national anthem (Italians) so we decided to head to the back of the line and wait. 
We had general admission tickets for the floor so we knew once we headed in that it was a free for all. So as soon as we got in we hurried to the floor seats and it wasnt even that full. So we got good seats right behind the VIP section. We were surprised that the arena was not full. But these Europeans are really agressive at trying to get to the front or if someone tries to get in front of them. Craziness. They love their Britney.
The opening act were 2 American girls, Paris and Destinee, who did a good job. Britney did most of her classics and all of her new stuff. One of my favorites of the night was "I Wanna Go", the crowd all had balloons and she pulled people up onstage with her and the place was going crazy. The last song she sang was "Till the World Ends" and even when she left after the encore pople were still singing the song for a good 10 minuts. She put on a pretty entertaining performance and even brought her 2 boys out on stage with her at the very end. 
Friday, November 11, 2011
Dubrovnik
There is a city about a 3 hour drive from my town of Split called Dubrovnnik. It is one of the many tourist cities here in Croatia. One of our last free weekends before our season started us "foreigners" decided to make the trip to Dubrovnik. The drive was definitly amazing. We took the scenic route and drove along the coast for awhile and then we went through hills and some countryside and also on the highway, so it was quite the journey but worth it. We also had to drive through Bosnia for about 15 minutes. They even stopped us and asked for our passports!
Alot of cruise ships port there for a day so people can walk through the "Old City". The Old City is surrounded by fortress walls and inside the walls are old churches and buildings, tons of little shops and cafes and even some apartments.When we got there we had to find a place to park, which took us forever to find which is typical here in Croatia. Once we parked we had to go find where our apartment was for the night. We were carrying all our luggage and backpacks and ice chests for what seemed like forever. We had to go meet the lady from the apartment but we got lost with her directions so she sent her 8 year old daughter to come find us. Finally we found out apartment right outside the Old City walls. Here is a view of the Old City from out apartment.
As soon as we unpacked we headed straight for the beach. Here the beaches dont have sand, they have rocks and pebbles but if you want you can buy a chair and umbrella for 70 kuna, which is almost 15 dollars, so we settled on the rocky beach. But the day was still beautiful and so nice to relax on the beach.
After the beach we headed back to our apartment to get ready to go out for dinner and then walk around the inside of the Old City. We all love Mexican food so we saw this cute Mexican restaraunt, Chihuahua, and had to try it. It was definitely the spicest Mexican food I have ever had! But it was still good and the people there were very friendly even giving us a shot of some Croatian honey alcohol.
After dinner we walked around the inside of the City Walls admiring the old buildings and churches promising to come back tomorrow to get some souviegners.
We went back to the apartment for a little rest before we checked out the night life inside the fortress. How many people can say they went to a club inside a fortress?! We played a few rounds of catch phrase and then headed out. We had a great night dancing and meeting new people!
The next day we woke up and headed straight for the beach. While we were laying out we saw a big group of people settle down near us. We at first just thought it was some tourist group but it turns out a man was proposing to his girl. He got down on one knee and she said yes. Then out comes a man with a Bible and they get married right there on the beach. After their ceremony they all hung out at the beach and then a little while later we saw them have a reception at a local restaraunt. It was cute.
After the beach we headed back into the Old City walls to do some shopping and lunch. It was awesome to see in the daytime too. It really is incredible and beautiful seeing the old bulidings. After walking around for an hour or so and when everyone had bought their souveigners we headed to one of the little cafes in the narrow ally ways.
The weekend in Dubrovnik was by far one of the best places I have been to and it was an awesome weekend trip. I had a great time relaxing at the beach, seeing some old architexture and embracing some more of the Croatian culture!
Alot of cruise ships port there for a day so people can walk through the "Old City". The Old City is surrounded by fortress walls and inside the walls are old churches and buildings, tons of little shops and cafes and even some apartments.When we got there we had to find a place to park, which took us forever to find which is typical here in Croatia. Once we parked we had to go find where our apartment was for the night. We were carrying all our luggage and backpacks and ice chests for what seemed like forever. We had to go meet the lady from the apartment but we got lost with her directions so she sent her 8 year old daughter to come find us. Finally we found out apartment right outside the Old City walls. Here is a view of the Old City from out apartment.
As soon as we unpacked we headed straight for the beach. Here the beaches dont have sand, they have rocks and pebbles but if you want you can buy a chair and umbrella for 70 kuna, which is almost 15 dollars, so we settled on the rocky beach. But the day was still beautiful and so nice to relax on the beach.
After the beach we headed back to our apartment to get ready to go out for dinner and then walk around the inside of the Old City. We all love Mexican food so we saw this cute Mexican restaraunt, Chihuahua, and had to try it. It was definitely the spicest Mexican food I have ever had! But it was still good and the people there were very friendly even giving us a shot of some Croatian honey alcohol.
After dinner we walked around the inside of the City Walls admiring the old buildings and churches promising to come back tomorrow to get some souviegners.
We went back to the apartment for a little rest before we checked out the night life inside the fortress. How many people can say they went to a club inside a fortress?! We played a few rounds of catch phrase and then headed out. We had a great night dancing and meeting new people!
The next day we woke up and headed straight for the beach. While we were laying out we saw a big group of people settle down near us. We at first just thought it was some tourist group but it turns out a man was proposing to his girl. He got down on one knee and she said yes. Then out comes a man with a Bible and they get married right there on the beach. After their ceremony they all hung out at the beach and then a little while later we saw them have a reception at a local restaraunt. It was cute.
After the beach we headed back into the Old City walls to do some shopping and lunch. It was awesome to see in the daytime too. It really is incredible and beautiful seeing the old bulidings. After walking around for an hour or so and when everyone had bought their souveigners we headed to one of the little cafes in the narrow ally ways.
The weekend in Dubrovnik was by far one of the best places I have been to and it was an awesome weekend trip. I had a great time relaxing at the beach, seeing some old architexture and embracing some more of the Croatian culture!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Hajduk (Hi-Duke)
It will come as no surprise that the biggest sport here in Croatia is futbol(soccer). And the town of Split loves loves their soccer team, Hajduk. Everywhere you go you can see their symbol from the team or the team name written across a wall, a buliding, in the stores and plenty of Hajduk jerseys around town. So our president got us tickets to the big game coming up. Hajduk would be playing their rivals, Dinamo from Zagreb, who is the best in Croatia. 
This would be my first ever professional soccer game. I knew soccer games in Europe had crazy fans and the fans here in Split did not dissapoint! Our president made sure to get us seats in the safe section. The fan section in the stadium is crazy. People come the night before and morning of the game to store all there flares and signs. There is no parking near the stadium so we had a taxi drop us off and the place was packed with people drinking and hanging out outside since there is no alcohol permitted in the stadium. To kind of give you an idea how big this game was there were over 900 policemen at the game to keep in under control. 
Reese, Kiki, Becci and I went out that morning and got our Hajduk shirts, had to be in white the teams color and the donkey which is the teams mascot, to make sure we were prepared for the game. 
The beginning of the game was a big production with alot of the fans participating from their seats. The fans in certain sections had signs to hold up at cetain times and there was confetti everywhere. 
Right from the start of the game the crazy fan section was loud and didnt stop till the end of the game. We were in the "safe" section but near the small section for the visiting team as they were pretty loud themselves with their synchronized cheers and moves. Throughout the game the crazy fan section would throw out flares onto the field. At a certian point in the second half they all threw their flares out onto the field at once. They had to stop the game for about 5 minutes to get all the flares off the field. 
The place went crazy when Hajduk scored the first goal but then seconds before the 1st half ended Dinamo scored to tie the game and that would be the final result of the game. It was a fun game and Im glad I got to experience my first professional soccer game!
This would be my first ever professional soccer game. I knew soccer games in Europe had crazy fans and the fans here in Split did not dissapoint! Our president made sure to get us seats in the safe section. The fan section in the stadium is crazy. People come the night before and morning of the game to store all there flares and signs. There is no parking near the stadium so we had a taxi drop us off and the place was packed with people drinking and hanging out outside since there is no alcohol permitted in the stadium. To kind of give you an idea how big this game was there were over 900 policemen at the game to keep in under control. 
Reese, Kiki, Becci and I went out that morning and got our Hajduk shirts, had to be in white the teams color and the donkey which is the teams mascot, to make sure we were prepared for the game. 
The beginning of the game was a big production with alot of the fans participating from their seats. The fans in certain sections had signs to hold up at cetain times and there was confetti everywhere. 
Right from the start of the game the crazy fan section was loud and didnt stop till the end of the game. We were in the "safe" section but near the small section for the visiting team as they were pretty loud themselves with their synchronized cheers and moves. Throughout the game the crazy fan section would throw out flares onto the field. At a certian point in the second half they all threw their flares out onto the field at once. They had to stop the game for about 5 minutes to get all the flares off the field. 
The place went crazy when Hajduk scored the first goal but then seconds before the 1st half ended Dinamo scored to tie the game and that would be the final result of the game. It was a fun game and Im glad I got to experience my first professional soccer game!
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