Dubrovnik, Croatia

I decided to take it very easy today and I woke up after 10:00. I then showered, dressed, had a cup of coffee, and talked to a German guy staying at the hostel. After 13:20, I grabbed my backpack (loaded with my towel, sunscreen, and pants – for when the temperature dropped in the evening (I was currently wearing shorts)) and walked to the Old Port, where I took the 14:00 ferry to Lokrum Island. Once docked at the pier on the island, I walked to the “beach” on the south side and found a nice flat chunk of rock to lay out on. I then stripped down, slathered myself with sunscreen, and enjoyed the sun’s rays and the slight breeze on my skin. After laying out in the sun for a while, I decided to dip inside the Adriatic Sea, which was pretty cold, albeit tolerable once my body got used to it. I then let the sun dry me off and I laid out on my towel for a while longer. Finally, at 18:00, I dressed (in my pants, but I wished I had remembered to bring my belt), packed my bag, and walked back to the pier, where I took the 18:15 ferry back to the Old Port in Dubrovnik.

Once docked, I walked back to the hostel. Near the hostel, I stopped at the supermarket nearby and I bought a one-liter bottle of Croatian white wine (I’ve noticed most Croatian wine is sold in one-liter bottles, so I didn’t have much of a choice) and a couple of Powerade bottles. I then returned to the hostel, drank the Powerade, showered, dressed, and then hung out in the common area, where I drank the bottle of Croatian white wine I had purchased. The wine was made of Malvasia grapes and it tasted of limes, peaches, and pears; it was also crisp and quite delectable. While drinking the wine, I ate the bag of nuts and dried fruit, as well as the remaining chocolate bar I had bought yesterday. I also talked with some of the other guests and the German man and his Israeli girlfriend invited me to join them, as well as six others (a Missouri girl, two cute Aussie girls, and three Aussie boys – there are a lot of Australians in this area; of course, there are also a lot of Brits, Americans, and Asians – no doubt due to the popularity of ‘Game of Thrones’ . . . I wish I could’ve traveled the world a century ago, before everything was made geared towards tourists) to a club located in Fort Revelin. After 23:00, we departed the hostel and walked to the old fort; once there, we entered inside, paid the entrance fee, and walked up the steps to a large vaulted room with many flashing lights, disco balls, and thumping electronic music. At first the club was nearly empty, but it soon filled up. I had one beer, but that was it since I was still fired up from the liter of wine earlier (amazingly, I showed restraint and discipline, instead of pushing myself as near to the edge as I usually do). We all danced to the music for the next few hours and later in the night the club brought out two scantily-clad go-go girls gyrating to the music; in addition, the bartenders – who were juggling bottles and mixers all night – played with fire and juggled flaming bottles and spit fire out of their mouths (during this spectacle, all eyes swayed away from the go-go girls and were on the bartenders). Around 03:30, we decided we had had enough and the majority of us left the club and walked back to the hostel – none of us knew where the German guy and the Israeli gal were, so we left them behind. We eventually reached the hostel and I went up to the door as the others walked to a nearby bakery for food; I tried to get inside the hostel (increasing the intensity of my knocks), but no one came to the door to unlock it. I decided to temporarily give up and I walked to the bakery to join the rest of the group, where I had a baked sausage wrapped in dough. Once ready, we all walked back to the hostel and knocked on the glass doors; this time, the receptionist on duty heard us, woke up, and opened the doors. We then got ready for bed and I managed to fall asleep around 05:00. It was a long, although enjoyable night.