More of Croatia!

After two days of hiking and staying in a bungalow at a campground at the national park, we made our way by bus to southern Croatia and the coastal city of Split. The bus ride took about six hours and stopped at just about every little city and town, but the scenery on the way down was great--mountains and sea. When we got off the bus and arrived in Split we had to dodge dozens of people trying to get us to stay in their "hostels" since we already had one booked. After some careful navigation through tiny alleyways, we found our hostel and were luckily given a newly renovated room which was pretty nice.

We then quickly unpacked and got settled and of course headed to the beach. The beaches were just a short walk from where we were staying, but they were different from most beaches that we have been to. All of the beaches in Croatia are rocky, not sandy. The same goes for Split, with the exception of one beach which imported a thin layer of sand. After scoping out a few of the beaches we found a nice spot to lay down our towels and finally escape the heat by diving into the sea. This beach was pretty cool because there were a couple of big rocks you could swim to and relax on or jump off of. You could also see a couple of Croatian islands in the distance. After the beach we went to a nicer restaurant for Grant's birthday and then made some new friends from Holland and Finland to go out with.

The next day, we spent the whole time people watching, swimming, and laying around the beach. That night, we headed to bed after the Euro Cup game.

The next afternoon, we took a fast ferry to the Croatian island of Hvar, which is rated one of the most beautiful islands in the world. The trip took only an hour and our hostel wasn't difficult to find as the city of Hvar is not big at all. Our hostel was filled with friendly beach bum Aussies and British and had a great atmosphere. The island itself is kind of desert-like and is pretty rocky. There are also hundreds of sailboats and yachts docked and anchored at the island daily. That night we actually made dinner for the first time and hung out with our British roommates.

The next morning we got an early start and did what you're supposed to do when in Croatia, go to the beach! We walked a little ways and found a nice spot on the rocky beach to rent some lounge chairs for the day (unlike the states, you have to pay for your lounge chair!). After spending too much time in the sun and becoming lobsters, we decided to head in and make dinner again. After, we hung out at a pub with our British friends to watch the Spain/France match.

The next day we had a relaxed morning and eventually said goodbye to our island life and caught a ferry back to the mainland and Split where we took yet another overnight ferry to Ancona, Italy.