Croatia: Cats and Cruises (and 15 hour night buses and waterfalls!)

I am now a week into my twenty day Italy, Croatia, and Switzerland trip. It has gone by fast, probably aided by the fact that over thirty of those hours have been spent on fifteen hour coach rides between Rome and Croatia. The ride realy wasn't so bad; the scenery was gorgeous and since I hopped off the bus at the Croatia-Slovenia border on the way back, I can say I've been to both places now, right? I slept on the bus more than I thought I would, meaning I actually fell asleep. Granted, it was probably less than four hours total. The day we arrived I managed to nearly break my thumb in the hostel door. I blame sleep deprivation as well as my need to do something stupid in each country.

So I left Rome and guess what I end up seeing lots of? Roman ruins! It's actually amazing how Roman ruins are everywhere in Europe, even as far north as England.

I always appreciate meeting the area's cats. On my first night in Croatia, I met up with Lily who was also travelling around Switzerland, Italy, and Croatia. I was randomly meandering through Roman ruins (as I often do these days) and suddenly I turned a corner and there was Lily at the ATM! We went to dinner where we made some cat friends (or more accurately, they wanted Lily's chicken!) We hiked up Marjan Hill right as the sun was setting, which was gorgeous. Suddenly three more cat friends appeared and followed us down the hill!

The next day, I took a ferry from Split, Croatia to the island of Brac. The island had lots of shoreline. I love places where you can see the mountains from the beach! I was also really impressed with the level of English spoken by the island's residents, even the kids. The small Croatian children on the island watched us and when our boat pulled away they ran after yelling "good bye!" and "see you later!" It was adorable.

The next day, I went to Krka National Park. Before this trip, I had no idea that Croatia was known for waterfalls. Well, they are and they're amazing!

Croatia was also the most inexpensive country I've visited on this trip, which was certainly nice! It was 8 kuna to a Euro, so the conversion rate was a bit weird. However, most meals ended up around $4 and I got a pair of shorts for around $8. I heard that Croatia is the up and coming destination for European holidays and I believe it!