Croatia Highlights #1

Hello! Well it has been almost a week since I returned from sunny southern Croatia to overcast Northern France. My vacation was lovely and super needed, and here are some petite vignettes. - Forgetting important things but still kicking ass I was halfway to Paris on the 7 AM train when suddenly I realized...I forgot my passport. That is the one document kind of necessary when traveling internationally. I freaked out for a moment, called Mia, and she told me the next couple train times back to Rouen and from Rouen back to Paris. I got off at the next stop and caught a train (without a ticket because the train station was actually closed that "early"). There were many desperate attempts to try and contact Mrs. S (the mom of the family I work for) to ask if she could bring my passport to the train station so I could catch the next train and get into Paris with enough time to get to the airport. I finally got a hold of her and she said she would try. However when I got back to Rouen, I called to see if she was here, and found out that she was not able to find my passport. With my roll-y suitcase I flew *woosh* down the stairs and through the closing doors of the metro. I proceeded to run (with a stop of two to catch my breath) from my stop to the house. I ran upstairs to find Mrs. S and Lu looking in my room. I opened the drawer, and right there was my passport (right where I said it was). I asked Mrs. S to drive me to the train station (metro or running would take too long) and I told her what time the next couple trains were leaving. There was one leaving in about 7 minutes when we left. Mrs. S was sure I would miss it, but I might be able to catch the second one and still probably make it in time. However I shocked them all! I am sure I looked like a crazy sweaty person but I ran through the train station and literally jumped on the train (which caused a couple issues for my suitcase) without a ticket. This all was done under 27 minutes. I usually allow myself 30 minutes to get from my house to the station. Mia was genuinely surprised with my giddy and endorphin-filled news and responded with a text that said I kicked ass. And I totally agreed. - Our arrival in Split started with a tense shuttle ride and a locked hostel, but with some common sense and good manners we were just fine. The location of our hostel could NOT have been any better. Within a 2 minute walk from these places:

and a 5-10 minute walk from these places:

We also had a lovely survey of some Croatian cuisine. They eat incredibly big lunches. Including the likes of this:

Which was a cuttlefish risotto. AKA black squid ink. And I ate it! (it even made my tongue black)

We also explored a little further, taking a nice multiple-hours long trek up Marjan Hill

And another long trek to visit the beautiful Ivan Mestrovik gallery

more to come!!