Hvala, Croatia!

After an 8.5 hour ferry ride without service or WiFi, I finally crossed the Adriatic sea and found myself in the medieval city of Dubrovnik. Arriving late at night, with taxi drivers hounding me from the moment I stepped off the ferry, it was difficult to figure out how exactly to get to my hostel in the old town. It didn't help that the normally-reliable Google Maps wasn't showing public transport bus lines in the city. Luckily, I befriended a Japanese couple on their honeymoon and together we figured out which app to get to show us the bus routes, and finally made it to the old town. Chatting with them, I found out they were heading to Paris next, and they asked me for some recommendations. I obliged, and for the first time it was me giving someone ELSE a recommendation; it made me feel like quite a well-traveled guy.

Now, If you've watched Game of Thrones then Dubrovnik is going to seem very familiar. The city of King's Landing was filmed here. Still, even if you haven't seen the show, it is incredibly picturesque so it's definitely worth visiting. 

I'm not normally a fan of guided walking tours; I prefer to explore on my own and see a city for myself. However, this time I caved and got a Game of Thrones walking tour. The tour guide Jelena was a massive Game of Thrones fan (I guess you have to be, if it's your job), and she carried a large booklet of screenshots from scenes filmed across the city. She spent a couple hours showing us around the surprisingly-small city, and each time we got to a viewpoint I instantly recognized it from the show. This was way more fun for me than I care to admit, geeking out with a bunch of strangers who were all united over the love of this show (aside from the last 2 seasons).

My favorite spot was the view from Lovrjenac Fortress, looking out over the whole old town. Apparently, there are only 40,000 people that live in Dubrovnik, and less than 1,000 in the actual old town, yet King's Landing supposedly held 1 million people! An example of the powers of CGI, which apparently varied from shot to shot, meaning King's Landing was constantly changing the locations and orientations of buildings, leaving residents of Dubrovnik quite confused.

The tour also included a free picture on an Iron Throne replica. There's an island outside of Dubrovnik where you can sit on a real Iron Throne used by HBO, but I unfortunately didn't have enough time in the city to make my way over there. Still, a gift store replica got the message across, I think.

Oh, and it was Halloween while we were here. The holiday is not as big here as it is in America, but some places were still celebrating! That was definitely my favorite night in the city, but all 3 nights were great, with their own stories that will have to remain ambiguous.

The day after Halloween - which I later learned was a different holiday called All Saint's Day - we booked a tour of the nearby Krka National Park, a popular day trip from Split with some famous waterfalls.

The tour basically just meant bus tickets, because once we arrived we were free to explore the park on our own time. According to the very talkative tour guide, in the middle of his constant bus stories about the history of Split that kept us all from falling asleep, he mentioned that this time of year was the best time to visit. The fall colors made the blue of the lakes and waterfalls even more striking, and it wasn't very touristy (aside from the main bridge with the most scenic viewpoint). We also took a boat to the nearby town of Skradin, and went swimming in November. Because why not?

Overall, Split will forever hold a spot in my heart, and experiencing it with her was a huge highlight of my entire trip so far. I'll miss her, but that's the nature of solo travel. You always say goodbye, and move on.

Anyways, on my first day in Zagreb the smells and colors of autumn hit me all at once, as did a wave of inspiration. Since leaving Rome, I haven't really found myself drawn to street photography at all. Even at my earlier stops in Croatia, my camera practically stayed in my bag the whole time. Lulls in inspiration are normal, I know, but it felt so good to have that passion sparked again. I spent almost all of my time in this wonderful city out on the streets, completely in the zone and focused on taking photos, including many that I am very proud of. 

Unfortunately for this blog, there's only so much to be said when you spend 3 days walking around the same streets. However, there are some tidbits worth mentioning. Firstly, I explored an abandoned house that was sitting just across the street from the train station, open to the public. This would definitely be classified as an "urbex" spot, and yet it was here in the open, with nobody trying to hide it or stop people from entering. A bit of a culture shock, I suppose. I also learned about something called St. Hubert's day from a photography subject on the street, as well as having the worst boba tea of my life. Oh, and I lived exclusively off of Mlinar baked goods. Food is so much cheaper here than Italy and the other countries I've visited so far, and it made me feel rich!

I also paid a visit to the Museum of Broken Relationships, apparently a Zagreb staple. Unlike any other museum I've been to, it exhibits different random items with stories associated with them. They all represent relationships going wrong. It got me kind of emotional, reading sad story after sad story, especially having just had a similar goodbye in Split. My favorite items were the "Bollocks to Brexit" pin about a Europe trip breakup, and the old WWII love letters between grandparents who split when they were elderly.