I love to go a'wandering...

The view from our balcony, again, what I refer to as the sun peeling back from Old Town.. my morning ritual as I drink my coffee :)

Friday was our field trip to Mljet (me-yet... the J is pronounced like a Y) National Park (the scenic view pictured here). We began early, 7a, taking the steps down to the farthest Old Town gate. We hailed a cab (such a treat for a country gal like me.. lol) and a black Mercedes station wagon pulled up to give us a ride to the port of Gruz (rhymes with "cruise"; please note, I am not putting in accent marks on a lot of the Croatian words... some are pronounced just like they sound.. others.. well, we massacre the word best as we can and the locals nod and smile politely. Quite honestly its difficult to get an inkling from most words what it means, but the Croatian alphabet is actually very easy to understand, each letter only making one sound).

We took a 1 1/2 hour ferry ride to get to Mljet and our first stop was the site of ancient Roman ruins, a palace and church that had been built there hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years ago. It's so strange as you stand on these spots to imagine life back then. We were in the kitchen area and there was no signs whatsoever of rusted out dishwashers and fridges or Mr. Coffee machines. I mean, just how uncivilized were these people?!?

From the ruins we took a quick jaunt up a little mountain. Ok... I'm lying. It was not quick, jaunty or a little mountain by any stretch of the imagination. It was uphill (yes, both ways) with rocks and soft dirt and slippery places and flies that were the size of ping pong balls and an odd metallic green color. We climbed and climbed and climbed, until Cathy and I could climb no more. The students and teachers continued on, as we rested casually on rocks along the path. Ok, I'm lying again. We propped ourselves against rocks, gasping for air, squeezing every last drop from our water bottles. What happened to all that training we were getting doing 400+ stairs every day? Obviously, the air must be thinner on Croatian Islands, it's the only thing I can guess... at least that's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Taking pity on us, some of the party came down early and pushed us back down the mountain. We waited for the rest of the group then took a paved road to a boat launch site (why we couldn't have just walked the paved road all around... I'll never know!). A three-minute boat ride took us from one island in the park to another, where we were served an amazing, authentic Croatian lunch (oh geez, here she goes again talking about food!). It was a noodle soup (yes, in 80 degree weather, but it tasted damned good!), then an entree of small pieces of the world's most tender beef with gravy and homemade noodles. The noodles were shaped in long tubes; Vincent pulled one up from his bowl that I swear was 8" long. The environmental professor told us that it was a real treat to have this meal, as it is usually reserved for weddings and special celebrations. Below is a website that shows a great pic of St. Mary's Island.. the church is to the left; the restaurant to the right.

http://www.mljet.hr/

[The view of St. Mary's altar.]

The professor regaled us with stories at lunch about the work he used to do. He used to be the director of natural resources at the park before he went into teaching. At that time, he also had a company that planned and organized VIP trips/tours/stays for people on the islands. He told us tales of Tom Cruise, Bill Gates and Steven Spielberg coming to the islands. Way Cool! After lunch the students went in for a swim, as this little island was nestled inside of other islands. The water was cool, deep and I waded to my waist before wandering off to see the monastery/church that also shared the island with the restaurant. You could walk the whole island in ten minutes, but it held treasures and history that were amazing.

We finally bid farewell to our host and headed back to the bigger island to catch our ferry back to Dubrovnik. This time I spent part of the trip up on deck, hanging onto the railing and feeling the breeze in my face. The scenery, all the surrounding islands, was breathtaking. I didn't want to go below and get my camera, so I don't have pics to send, but I don't know that I could have captured the immense hills and shorelines of the Dalmation Coast and surrounding islands.

We took public transportation (a bus) to get back to the base of upper hell, knowing there were 170 steps to climb before personal hell (another 58 steps). Mr. Vincent went on ahead, as we reassured him we always panted and huffed and puffed and stopped every 30 stairs to gulp air. When we arrived back at the apartment, Mr. Vincent had two tall glasses of water with fresh lemon in them waiting for us. There is a special place in heaven for Mr. Vincent :)

Today was a morning trek to the grocery store... we bought fresh bread, still warm... that was lunch, with a few slices of cheese and some olives and fresh vegetables. How very European! Tomorrow evening we've (Vincent, Cathy and myself) been invited to the Dean's house for dinner. At noon we're going to attend church at Saint Blais in Old Town; I know we won't understand a word, but God will know we're there... we may even get extra credit :)

When we first arrived in Dubrovnik, there was scaffolding and tarps in front of the church... they've just been removed in the past day or so, so we can see the beauty of Saint Blais'.

Well... that's it for today... this upcoming week will be very busy... Wednesday is a holiday for Croatia, so Cathy and I are taking an overnight cruise to Italy Tuesday night, arriving in Bari Wednesday morning, sailing back to Dubrovnik that evening to arrive back "home" Thursday morning. A few hours later, we hop another boat to sail to some of the local islands for a class field trip. Friday we drive to Split (spleet) for still another class trip. Saturday, we collapse. I wish I would have done this when I was younger :)

mir...a