The Unexpected in Croatia

I thought I was the easygoing, go-with-the-flow, spontaneous girl who liked the unexpected. And truly, sometimes the unexpected can make the best experiences (like, for example, when our AirBnb was a little further from the city center than I expected but was actually closer to the only Italian restaurant I ever want to eat at again). But during the twists and turns of our trip to Croatia, I learned that I can always be a little more flexible. Not everything goes to plan. Like that time when…

…the weather had a mind of its own

In Zagreb

I thought we had the best traveler’s luck when I discovered that we were in Zagreb the exact week of their Courtyard Festival. My stubborn optimism allowed me to me ignore the darkening sky as we stopped off for a coffee beforehand. But I had barely stirred the sugar into my espresso before the skies opened into a torrential thunderstorm, washing our courtyard dreams away. All was not lost, though! Instead of getting drenched trekking across the city, we dodged puddles on the way to our favorite Italian restaurant around the corner and had dessert for dinner (One travel buddy bonus? Getting two desserts and sharing!).

In Zadar

It’s my fault, I didn’t do my research. I saw that tiny little sun icon on Google Weather and I trusted it with all my heart. But when we finally disembarked, the weather in Zadar was overcast instead of blazingly hot like the forecast said. At first I wanted to tear my hair out. I had passed those five long hours on a bus daydreaming of a sunny beach day that would make it all worth it. But once I let go of my expectations I realized the clouds were a blessing (I guess the whole cloud was a silver lining, heh heh). Not only was it more than warm enough to swim (although nothing could have gotten me to jump off of the high dive), I think that the clouds discouraged droves of tourists from descending on the beach and city. We still had to squeeze for space here and there, but a lot of Old Town was less crowded than I expected.

…the transportation did its own thing

It’s a good thing that Croatian scenery is so beautiful, because there’s a lot of time to look at it with all of the delays. By the end of our stay, I learned not to be so rigid about transportation schedules. Like when our (theoretically) straight through, 5-hour train ride from Budapest to Zagreb ended up having two transfers and took more like 6 hours.  Or when our bus got caught in traffic and turned our 3 1/2 hour ride to Zadar (see above) into 5 1/2 hours and the little girl behind us was screaming Frozen at the top of her lungs for half of it.Or when, during our daytrip to Rijeka, our Uber driver, Vlado, missed his turn. Instead of making a u-turn and getting back on course, he just pulled off to a shoulder, told us our ride was over, and encouraged us to walk down the street until we got to our destination. As the dust settled behind his car I was full of exasperation. But we stopped, took a deep breath, slathered ourselves in sunscreen, and headed in the most likely direction. Once we figured out where we were, the beach actually was only a 15 minute walk. And worth every step. So I guess Vlado helped us to our destination after all.

…I saved my clumsiness for the last minute

I knew while this moment was happening that I would look back on it and laugh…long after the blood stopped flowing, of course. There was lack of sleep, darkness, and a liiiitle bit of rakija (the Croatian specialty spirit) at play…although C said this probably would have happened even if none of those things were true. I’m inclined to agree. Anyways. With an hour to kill between our arrival from Zadar and our departure back to Budapest, we had the time to try one last part of Croatian tourism: raise a glass of rakija. So one Google search later we were in some crowded Croatian bar, listening to live music and sampling the fruity spirit and then running out the door again because before we knew it, our hour was up! And I kid you not, we did not make it one block before your girl snagged her toe on something sticking out of the sidewalk.

So with 15 minutes until our train left I was limping down the street and trying not to look down and trying not to think about why my sandal felt so slippery, but eventually, we made it!

My inner mom was validated when I finally got to use my mini first aid kit I’d been carrying around for ages (albeit, I had to use it on myself, but still). Anyways, I had the bandaids and wipes, C had the hand sanitizer and steady hands, and together we turned the train car into a mini hospital. And of course I winced and squirmed as C was doing triage, but y’all…it was actually the shallowest cut you’ve ever seen. I’m a little embarrassed.

And so, unexpectedly, this trip to Croatia I got a lesson on how to be even more flexible with my circumstances. And so much of that was helped by having a travel partner who could stay calm, put things in perspective, and be patient in the meantime. I’ll be working on those skills for the next time my plans crumble before my eyes. Until then…I guess I’ll just look back at things and laugh.