Euro rewind

A lot of the next portion of my trip was planned on the fly, and it involved going back to places I had already visited. But the reason for these trips wasnt necessarily to explore new places, but rather spend time with friends and family. Here is the Cliff Notes summary:

• Visited MLL again in Zurich, and had some good days where I was able to communicate fully in German without reverting to English.


• Scratched Oktoberfest off of my bucketlist. MLL has great connections and managed to get a table reserved at the Lowenbrau tent, so I donned a dirndl and grabbed my beer to dance on the tables and sing German songs.

 

• Fabian, a guy I met in Slovenia earlier and struggled to keep in touch with in Africa (for no other reason than terrible Wifi) was just finishing up the Adidas Sickline extreme white water world championships in Austria and met me in Munich where we had a more sober Day 2 of Oktoberfest which was really an excuse to wear my dirndl again and ride the scariest rides I have ever seen.

• Fabian and I then went to the 13th centure, 5 star Hotel Danieli right on the Grand Canal in Venice, which was like a fairy tale. I used my starwood points, and we got an upgraded room that overlooked the Grand Canal. We ended up just staring out the window, sipping wine for most of our stay. 
 

 

• Then we drove to Bovec, Slovenia where I ran into 4 people that rememembered me from earlier in the summer. Most notably was running into Rolli at the Doner Kebab shop (and yes of course the Doner man remembered me). So Rolli is a good story, but requires you to pay attention to the back story. 

• One of my best friends in the US, Kimberly Burdorf, had been to Slovenia a few years ago and had an unfortunate accident canyoning where she broke her leg or something similarily drastic. It was odd because Kimberly is probably the fittest person I know. So she was out of commission for awhile. At the time, I didnt know the difference between Slovakia, Slovenia, or Slavenia. But when I went to Slovenia, I asked her if Slovenia was, in fact, the land she had been to. She sent me a long detailed email with a recap of where she went with herprivate guide for the 2 week long trip. I admittedly didnt read it that closely. 
• Fast forward a few weeks, when Kimberly is in Arusha, Tanzania with me. I skype with Fabian for a bit and she gets to meet him over skype quickly. Later that night, at dinner, I mention that it would be funny if she had met Fabian during her time in Slovenia but she responded that she had only one guide the entire time, and she thinks his name was Rolli. I gasp, because that was the name of MY guide when I was in Slovenia. I immediately skype Fabian (I am clearly up for the Miss Manners title, skyping at the dinner table and all). I explain to Fabian that Rolli was her guide, and he gets a bit excited too. When I mention that she broke her leg, Fabian gasps. He remembered Kimberly!! So here we are, at some African lodge with sketchy internet, video skyping with Fabian in Slovenia, watching him pick up his cell phone to Rolli. We hear him on speakerphone telling Rolli that me and Kimberly are together right now, and he guided both of us, and we only discovered it really because of Fabian. CRAZY SMALL world. 
• So when I went back to Bovec a couple months later, naturally Rolli was the first person I ran into.

• Then Fabian and I drove to Omiš (about 25k outside of Split, pronounced Amish) where he was teaching some kayaking courses. Omiš is a spectacular town, where the Cetina river flows into the ocean. It has huge limestone walls a short distance back from the water, allowing for a tiny old town with narrow alleys. It is a breathtaking and (thankfully) underrated town on the backpacker circuit.
• A couple days later my sister Liz arrived into Split to be part of my adventure. While Fabian worked, my sister and I made day trips to Split and a bit of kayaking and hiking around Omiš . We hiked up to this old Pirate fort at the top of a very steep mountain. It only took 40 minutes to climb, but was so impressive from the ground and the views at the top were spectacular (and windy!)

• In Omiš one afternoon, we went aboard Fabian's friend Luca's boat for some fishing. We had 4 fishing lines in the water hoping for a big tuna catch. The only thing we caught was Luca himself who got a ginormous fishhook stuck in his hand (useful advice if this ever happens to you: cut the hook in order to push the hook through your skin then order a tequila shot, half as anestetic for your hand and the othet half for your liver.) Luca is this really tough Croat who didnt even cry or act like it was a big deal. And I definitely want to plug Luca´s restaurant, Bisto Babilo in Omiš http://www.gastronaut.hr/restoran.asp?id=4446. If you ever find yourself in Split or Makarska Riviera, I highly recommend a drive out to his restuarant. It is right on the water, and the Chicken Babilo was probably the best meal I have had on this whole entire trip. Possibly even the best meal I have had this year. 

• Liz and I did a two night trip to Dubrovnik, where we packed while intoxicated so forgot a lot of necessities, like towels, flip flops for showers, toothpaste. BUT we did bring the hairdryer! In the beautiful town of Dubrovnik, we putzed around the old walled city, including walking around the walls. 
• Liz and I visiting the island of Korcula, claimed to be Marco Polo's birthplace. We had a lazy day enjoying the sunshine.

• My sister and I visiting the vibrant city of Zagreb, including unintentionally completing a trifecta of Irish Pubs in Croatia. We had a very hard time finding the hotel, but learned that Zagreb is full of very helpful, yet highly uninformed Croatians. We had a laid back but very lovely time in Zagreb. It was a nice bonding experience and a great way to end our trip together!)