Croatia

Hello from off the coast of the Greek Islands! We left Croatia almost two days ago and have been drifting towards Athens. Dubrovnik was beautiful and amazing. I enjoyed it so much more than Italy. The scenery was gorgeous and the city was so lively. The weather was perfect (a bit hot during the day but nothing like Italy).

We arrived during preparations for their summer festival, which kicked off the night before we left. There was a huge fireworks show as well as a partial performance of Carmina Burana in the Old Town area. Torches lined the streets of the Old City. It was magical. Large stone walls enclose the Old City of Dubrovnik. There is a path along the top of the walls that you can walk and get a great view of the city. People still live in the Old City. It is very quaint.
I managed to SCUBA dive with some of the other faculty/staff members one of the days. Three of us were certified and 5 went for a discovery dive. There isn't much tropical wildlife in this part of the Adriatic, but we went into a couple of caves and saw several Octopus. We dove along one wall that was littered with starfish. It looked like starfish wallpaper! The water was quite chilly, we wore 5mm wetsuits with booties, gloves and a hood. But I didn't get cold, so it was very nice.
Another day I traveled on a ferry to one of the closer islands, Lopud. It has two large beach areas and is sparsely inhabited. We hiked from one side of the island to the other, grabbed some beach chairs, sipped on umbrella drinks for the afternoon and did some serious people watching.
It has been quite a whirlwind in the ports and between. Because we only have two days and sometimes only one between our destinations, it is quite busy aboard the ship for everyone.
Many viruses have been traveling amongst the passengers, mostly just upper respiratory stuff. I am just now getting over some upper
respiratory infection that has been spreading around. Nothing serious, just a sore throat, cough and fatigue. But I have been sleeping a lot the last few days :( .The other major problems have included blisters, jellyfish stings, mysterious rashes and allergies.
Once we arrive in Piraeus, I plan on taking an SAS trip in the
afternoon of all the major sights. The next day I am heading to
Santorini with one of the graduate students aboard for the remainder of the time. Her name is Shannon, she is very nice. It is a 5-hour ferry ride to the island. The temp here is supposed to be 100+ all the days we are here, so the islands will be a nice change!
On a sad note, while in Dubrovnik I received news that one of my
fellow staff members from SAS Spring 2007 was killed in a car accident on his way to work. He has a son just over a year old. Devastating news to those of us who knew him. The time in Croatia was clouded with a bit of sadness.
Well I am off to lunch now. MMMM, rice, pasta and fish....mmmmm! Lots of Greek food to be had in the near future, YAY! I hope this finds you all well and enjoying summer.
Will write more soon. Only one day between Greece and Turkey, but I will do my best to post some more info for you.
~Emily