Re: Split, Croatia

I spent two glorious days in Mostar, Bosnia.  If you are ever at a loss for where to travel to get away from it all and spend time with some lovely, hospitable, charming people, Bosnia is your place.  I hope to write more about Mostar later, as it was perhaps my favorite place in Eastern Europe.

After 26 hours of traveling and waiting in train/bus stations I am finally in Florence.  I left Bosnia early yesterday to get to Split to catch the fast ferry.  It was like a space shuttle, flying across the water.  It was incredible.  There was a casino and an extraordinary array of movies that were dubbed in Croatian and subtitled in Italian.  I read my book the entire time, with frequent breaks to the top of the boat to observe and get blown around by the 60 mph winds. 

I arrived in Ancona at midnight to find that everything in town was closed.  There was a very loud concert in the town square, so there were plenty of people awake.  I didn't have any Euros yet (Croatia isn't in the EU yet, so they use Kunas) so I could not take the bus to the train station where all the hotels were.  I also did not have a guide book for Italy yet so I had to rely on the English speaking Anconans for assistance.  I asked a police woman how to walk to the train station and she stopped the next bus and put me on for free!  Instead of spending the night there I decided to go on to Florence, but there weren't any schedules listed for it.  As it turns out I had to make a connecting train in Bologna at 5 AM.  I bought a ticket, waited half an hour and, to my dismay, had to sit in the joint between trains with 5 smoking Italian men for the entire 3 hour journey.  One of them spoke a bit of English and I still had my book, and there was a reasonably clean restroom close by, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Upon arrival in Bologna I tried to buy a ticket for the 5 AM train only to find it was totally booked.  I don't really know what that means, since the train prior had standing room only, but I couldn't even purchase a ticket and had to wait until 6:45 for the next train.  Surprisingly, I wasn't feeling tired or impatient.  I am glad to be moving westward, although incrementally, toward home.  I am splurging on a hotel tonight and tomorrow night for 40 Euros each.  The hostels I have stayed in have been averaging 24 Euros, so the hotel is still fairly reasonable and I will have my own big bed, shower and space. 

I just went on a mini-shopping spree and can't wait for a shower so I can wear some clean, new clothes.  Laundry is difficult and expensive, so it will be refreshing to wear something hot off the presses. 

I hope all is well on the homefront.  I bought a USA Today this morning so I can see what's happening there, at least on a surface level. 

Ciao!