I am still in Rijeka. We've been here for nearly a month, and have just over a week before heading back to Canada. I have mixed feelings about my vacation coming to an end. I can't wait to get back home, see my family and friends agian, move into my new place, start working, and basically just resume where I left things off. Strangely enough, I've really missed having responsibilities and committments, I'm ready for a holiday from my vacation! I miss going to work every morning and stressing about this paper or that that exam. And yet at the same time I've had the most amazing summer here, and know that I may never get to do anything like this again. I almost feel that by going home I'll be saying goodbye to a way of life that I've enjoyed for so long. I'll go back and focus on my education- exams and papers and lectures, and then work- the daily tedium of 9-5 life, or more school. Who knows what direction my life will take. I don't know why it should be like this- but I feel instinctively that when I go back many things will be different. I just wish I knew indefinitely whether or when I will be able to do some more travelling like this again. Life just seems so bland without travel...

Sorry for babbling. Back to Rijeka: we have been staying with Danijela's aunt and unlce in their tiny apartment, which is located on the 11th floor of an apartment building with a balcony that overlooks the harbour. A balcony that presents temptations- like dropping a bouncy ball from it to see how high it will bounce. Its just so high-- I don't know if I can resist!! Her aunt and uncle speak no English at all, and every day I wish I spoke Croatian so I could talk to them. Her cousins, Josipa and Mladen, are around our age and speak English fluently, thank heavens, so we spend most of our time with them. Our days are spent in various ways, we really haven't done much since I've been here. We watch movies, waste time on the internet, read, play video or computer games, but mostly stay indoors and out of the oprressive heat and humidity. If it sounds boring- it is, but only a little. I'm good at finding ways to amuse myself, and have done a lot of reading while I've been here. I wish we had got out of the house more in the beginning of our stay just because I feel like it was a bit of a waste of time, that I missed out on a lot of experiences, but I have no huge complaints. I could have gone out on my own I know, so if I feel like time was wasted it was partly my fault too.

Recently we have actually been going out and doing things. We've spent several days at the beach. And I think I've found my new calling in life. If my school plans somehow fail or I can't find a job after I graduate, I'll just move to the coast and become a beach bum! Its sooo relaxing to just lay in the sun. The water is perfect- cool enough to be refreshing but not so cold that you freeze. Its clear so that you can see all the little fishies swimming below your feet, all the way down to tht rocks and sand. And further out where the water is much deeper it is the most amazing shade of bright blue- it looks unreal. The beach we frequent is lined with little cafes, and has a grocery store on one end, so refreshment is always close at hand. Its a rocky beach, no sand. The rocks are small, no larger than my fist, rounded, smooth, and contain all the warmth of the sun. You have to bring a pad to lay on to sunbathe comfortably, and I still have to walk gingerly down to the water, but the absence of sand everywhere is worth it! The rocks are actually rather pleasant.

On the days this winter when the temperature reaches -30 or -40 on a regular basis, and I have to stand outside wearing three or four layers just to stay warm while waiting for my bus to school or work, I will close my eyes and remember laying on the beach in Croatia. I'll remember the warmth of the sun- how it made the sweat bead on my forehead and on whatever parts of by body came in contact with anything else. I'll remember how I turned slightly pinkish the day I didn't put sunscreen on until it was too late. I'll remember how it reflected off the water and made my eyes dazzle. But mostly I'll close my eyes and remember how the sun felt on my body- how it felt like it was seeping through the layers of skin and muscle down to my bones and all the way into my marrow, being soaked up like a sponge soaks up spilled milk. I'll remember exactly how the warmth felt as I absorbed as much of it as I could for just such an occasion. And then on that -30 degree day, I'll wrap my arms around myself and squeeze, letting the warmth that is stored in my bones escape and warm me from the inside out. That is the power of memory.

Aside from going to he beach we've also been out a few nights to some cafe or other. Josipa will go and meet a friend, and Dani and I will tag along. People don't go to cafes to eat or drink here, they go to talk. Its not unusual for people to sit around for 3 hours and only order a few drinks, but to spend the entire time just sitting around, talking and laughing, and just generally enjoying each others company. And its great for people watching, especially when most of the conversation happens in Croatian! I wish this idea would take hold in Canada. We go, we eat, and we get our check and leave asap. Its depressing.

We go see movies occasionally too. The theater is nice- most of the films are in English and then dubbed in Croatian- yay for me! They have assigned and numbered seats when you buy your ticket. And love seats with no armrests for couples! We've been out shopping a few times too. The old downtown area is blocked off from traffic, and is lined with cafes and various stores. And yes, there is even a Lush- which I smelled before I saw!! The streets are stone, and the buildings look neo-classical, like they were built in the early 1900s. Of course, some of the architecture goes much further back than that. Like Trsat- which is a medeival castle/fortress on a hill with magnificent views of Rijeka. We went at night, I'm hoping we have a chance to go again during the day. We attended a concert held at a cafe in the old fortress. It was of 3 different bands. A pop trio of women who sang in 6 different languages, a electronic group with a girl on an electric violin, and an jazz group with a guy whose dance moves were more entertaining the the music. It was a fun night, and the atmosphere of being surrounded by an old fortress, looking out to the sea, hearing the laughter and murmers of everyone else, was something I'll never forget.

We are headed back to Germany on Wed, coming full circle before catching our flight back home next Sunday. Hope you all are well and safe, and haven't forgotten about me!

Right now I'm sitting at a computer (obviously) in Dani's family's apartment in Rijeka, Croatia. And I'm finally getting around to adding a new post. I know, its been a really long time! Things have been kind of weird ever since Rome and I haven't felt much like blogging, but I think I'm back now! If I've been sending you postcards, the last ones I sent were from Rome, I haven't sent any new ones from Croatia yet. I'm hoping to get on that today or tomorrow, we'll see.

Anywho, we are in Croatia now and have been for about 3 weeks. I absolutely love it here. When we were in Germany I was sure it would be my favourite place, until we got to Italy and I fell in love with all things Italian. But now that we are in Croatia which has the best of both places, and I am sure this is the most beautiful place I've ever been. Its a beauty that seems so pure and untouched. I know I can't even begin to describe what its like here, so I won't even try. I encourage you to look up pictures- but no, even pictures could not do justice to its beauty. Its depressing knowing that even as I take snapshots when I look at them a year from now it won't hold the same charm as the reality. You would actually have to be here to appreciate how wonderful Croatia is to the fullest extent. So to all my readers: plan a trip to Croatia in your near future. You will thank me for it!

We spent a few days up in some little mountain village that I can't remember the name of and probably couldn't spell or pronounce even if I could remember it. Its about an hour east of Rijeka, I think. We stayed with Danijela's friend Milan and his family. She lived with them for a little bit when she was younger, and has kept in touch with Milan ever since. His family lives in a house with an unusual floorplan where his parents keep sheep on the side of being a doctor and a nurse. The entire village he lives in in tiny, quaint, and picturesque. There is only like one tiny convenient store, and one cafe. The first night we went out to the cafe with Milan and his girlfriend and I wasn't surprised when it turned out that they knew everyone else there, and when Dani ran into one of her cousins! The entire mountain scenery is absolutely breathtaking beyond words. And it is ever so much cooler up there than it is down here by the coast. For the first time since we arrived in Germany I slept all the way through the night without waking up once in a sweat! It was glorious!

The reason we stayed with Milan is because we had been invited to go with him and a group of other people to see Iron Maiden in concert. I know- not exactly the thing I would have expected to do while we are here! We went with a group of about 10 other people. The concert was in Split, a city about 200 km away from the village. It took us about 6 hours to get there though because we stopped about every 45 mins on the way and because we took the scenic, windy mountain roads instead of the boring highway. It loved the drive, I got to see a bit more of Croatia. We would drive through valleys with a scattering of little houses nestled in amongst feilds below us, and the ruins of some medieval castle up on a hill. One time I looked out the window and down into a valley at the perfect time to see a shepherd herding his sheep home at the end of the night. Most of it didn't even look real, it looked like something you would see out of a storybook of old fairy tales. I sat in the middle of backseat all the way there in between two guys who were both taking history and geography in school. Lucky for me, they both spoke English very well and were eager and willing to fill me in on as much Croatian history as I would listen to. I was glad- I didn't know anything before this!

The town of Split itself was amazing. The Adriatic Sea on one side, mountains on the other, lots of old architecture, a boardwalk. We stayed at a campsite right on the beach. By the time we got there it was getting dark, so the first two tents were put up hastily and without incedent. The last tent however, took all 10 of us 2 hours and someone's car strategically parked to give us light from his headlights to figure out! And of course, nobody had thought to bring a flasthlight. I just thought it was funny, and couldn't stop from giggling under my breath the whole 2 hours! That night a few of us went swimming after all the tents were finally put up. I didn't go, I forgot my suit, so just sat on the beach and listened to the other talk, joining in when the conversations switched from Croatian to English. Mostly though I just enjoyed staring out at the black expanse of ocean and across to the lights on one of the islands in the distance. It was so peaceful.

The concert itself was... interesting. We spent a few hours in Split walking around and stopping at various cafes for refreshment before the concert started. We ate some Croatian food, I learned how to say a few things in Croatia, and we stroked the lucky toe of one of Split's famous statues of some saint or other. The streets were filled with Iron Maiden fans. They were easy to distinguish because ALL of them wore black at the very least, but most had band t-shirts, and most of them had long hair. Some of them had prettier hair than I do!! I guess the long hair must have something to do with the whole heavy metal image thing, but I really don't understand how long hair can be seen as 'tough' at all! Someone should tell all these hard-core fans that their hair is too pretty for their image. It was sooo crowded, and the closer to the stage we got the more tightly packed the people were. Our group started out close, but moved back a ways to have more room for all the jumping and head-banging that would ensue. The band finally came on and the crowds erupteds in screaming, and jumping! Iron Maiden was really good, they were funny, put on a great concert, and are amazing at what they do! Most of the songs started to sound the same to me about half through, but I still can't deny that these guys have amazing talent. They are really good at what they do! Even though its not really the type of music I would usually just pop into my CD player (unless I was really really angry) I still had a lot of fun and Iron Maiden is still a really good band.

Of all the 3 live musical performances we have seen- Rihanna in Milan, Aida in Verona, and Iron Maiden in Split- Iron Maiden was by far the most impressive. Rihanna was the funnest, simply because it took us by complete surprise and we couldn't beleive our good luck. Aida is my personal favourite, just because I am a fan of opera and I still think its the coolest thing ever that we got to see it in an old Roman arena. But Iron Maiden took me by complete surprise because of the sheer size of it, and by how good they were. I don't know what I was expecting, I don't know anything about that kind of music, but I left impressed. The concert was great. They put on an amazing show. Like the t-shirts said, "I survived Iron Maiden and I will live to dream about it!" Ditto to that!

PS: I have every intention of writing another post in the next few days about what we have been up to in Rijeka. I just didn't think anyone would want to sit through that much of my rambling. So until next time...