Monday, September 24, 2007

Croatia



This past weekend, a few of us international students decided to go south of Budapest to Zagreb, Croatia. Although I am not sick of Budapest yet, it was a nice break from the life here. We jumped on a train departing at 8:05 AM. Six hours later we arrived in a city I have much wanted to see for a long time. We had nine in our group--Me, Roldan, Kevin, Anais, Isa, Gianluca, Giovanni, Laura, and Balmeet. Once we arrived to Zagreb, we walked around the really small, clean, quaint city of one million.




After eating cevap, an oily fried bread with fried sausages and onions, we began the hostel hunt. Three hostels and an hour later, we arrived at Hostel Lika. We all threw our things down and headed out to explore the city. The main church was being reconstructed, but was beautiful nonetheless. City Centre appeared to be the main hotspot amongst both tourists and locals. A big fountain and statue lie in the middle of the centre. We all went to a restaurant close by where I devoured a delicious risotto frutti de mare. Following dinner, we all headed towards the bar area for a few drinks. The night ended at around midnight.





The next day, Gialucca, Giovanni, Balmeet, and I decided to head to Petrcane, a city near Zadar. The bus was a four hour ride. From Zadar to Petrcane, a thirty minute ride. As I stepped off the bus to Petrcane, the deep crystal blue waters took my breath away. The Adriatic Sea was the name of the sea which we would later all swim in. This sea was much different than the waters of Vietnam, and many other types of beaches around the world. It lacked sand and in place were rocks, some of which cut up our feet. Despite this particularity, the swim and view was amazing.

At Petrcane, the four of us met up with some other Corvinus students--Nora, Rafael, Michilaus, and Mafalda. According to their friend Cleveland, a guy from Wales, there was going to be a huge music festival at this beach side bar. Unfortunately, it was really not a music festival, but rather just one DJ spinning some electronica jams. But with good company, it made the night very enjoyable. I also met a really cool Croatian girl at the party. I've noticed that during my time here, the Croatian people are much more friendly than that of Budapest. According to a few, English is much more common in schools, and therefore their relations towards foreigners is much easier than that of the Hungarians. We ended the night on the outdoor beds of the bar.




The next morning was somewhat crazy as there was not one bus from Petrcane to Zadar. Luckily, Balmeet and Giovanni with an hours worth of putting up their thumbs, we hitched a ride with a really cool couple from Holland. I was pretty much sleeping on the ride so did not get to really get to know them. As we arrived in Zadar, we caught a bus to Zagreb. Four and a half hours--perfect time for sleeping. The four of us arrived back in Zagreb at around two in the afternoon. We grabbed some food at the same cevap restaurant as before and ate some gelato for dessert. The train back to Budapest, we believed, was scheduled at 5 PM. We arrived early at 4:10, and learned that the train actually left at 5 AM, and not 5 PM, and that we have also just missed the last train back to Budapest that day, ten minutes prior. Unfortunate for us and for the other five, we all had to stay in Zagreb for another twelve hours.



I had a brilliant idea as I was consumed with semi-anger of missing the bus. I thought about a nice way to suppress these ill-feelings as I remembered the "Free Hug" campaign. The four of us found some white cardboard box in the trash can, ripped it into a square and wrote "FREE HUGS" with black permanant marker. We left the train station with this sign hovering over our heads and with us shouting "free hugs!!!" It was brilliant.



We met the others across the street from the train station. While in the nice little park, mainly Balmeet was holding up the sign as locals and visitors passed by. We got a few hugs at first, but as the night went on, we reached around 200; I had hug 100. Overall, even though we missed our train back to Budapest, I felt that we used the time wisely--getting to know the locals through the mini "Free Hugs" campaign, understanding the life in Zagreb, and pushing our own limits by sleeping at the train station over night.



Zagreb is a city of one million, and is relatively small in size. In two days, I cannot fully judge what type of city it is, whether or not it is boring or fun, but the time I did spend here, I could say I extremely enjoyed the experience, especially getting to know the locals. Most of those we spoke to and even those who glanced at us, I felt were very curious about where we were all from and what we were all doing in their city. To meet someone just once and understand each other despite all the cultural differences is a really beautiful thing to see. Traveling allows such wonders to happen.



tran.quy.hac

2 comments:

Hảo said...

nice. seems you are making the best of your time over there in eastern europe.

vanson said...

Dear Quy Hac:
It seems you and your friends are gaining some experience in the trip of understanding different settings in this world corner. Try to moderate your emotion and your study to gain useful enriching knowledge that will help your next engagements in your education road. Family is fine and always hopes you are fine and healthy. Take care & love.
Bo Son