Hello again everyone. Hmm well anyway I have decided to trial a new format of my blog (aka actually short posts) on my current trip. I am at the moment sitting in the very comfortable youth hostel in Zadar, Croatia. Today I got the plane from Stansted to Zadar airport (we were the ONLY plane - it seemed like the airport hadn't changed since communism...). I managed this despite the best efforts of both my train to stansted this morning... And just to describe what I am doing in this neck of the woods, I am on my way to Mostar in Bosnia, where I will be taking part in a short course (one week) on peace and conflict resolution organised by the UWC there, with other UWC students and local high school students. After that I will briefly stop off at Nikolina's house (my co year) in Sarajevo, and then Marko(my second year) in Belgrade before spending five days with my co year Egzon in Kosovo, and then come home...
Today after arriving I wondered through the surprisingly beautiful old town of Zadar and then found myself confusedly following Google maps' instructions to the youth hostel (with a bit of help from the good old lonely planet as well ;) ) and on the your's walk I found many a relaxed person bathing in the (much clearer than trieste) waters of the adriatic, to the backdrop of the Croatian islands. After finding my rudimentary but blissfully empty hostel dorm, I enquired about local eateries, and ended up eating at 'Nana Rima' a local pizzeria. Although I ordered a takeaway I in the end stayed talking to two of the waiters for over an hour. One of them the older one, Kruna, knew an astonishing amount about British history and was able to tell me more about the history of Elizabethan England than most average British people (including myself) would know. In my first day, although at times stressful (travelling with ryanair is never not...) I have found a really friendly place and people.
Tomorrow I get up early and I will try to see the famous sea organ of Zadar, however if not I will simply get the bus to Split (further down the Croatian coast) and from there to Mostar. Over and out.
P.s. apologies for the lack of nice, readable formatting, however since I do not have my laptop I am writing this on my phone (actually quite useful - with the hostel's WiFi I can access everything on my phone, meaning I don't have to lug (or worry about) a laptop...)