Early days in croatia

Split: Night train yuck
Desperate for place to sleep
Obsessed with water
Met some local girls, amazing
Got dinner at fife, amazing
Met another local that was fond of Tomas
I got ice cream
Walked around
Went to bed
Woke up and caught jadrolinja to hvar




Hvar
No place to stay
Made Tomas.book the only room.
Decided to sleep on the beach.
Went to the beach and met pam and Kristen from Canada
Swam all day and got really colored
Set by stuff in the perfect spot to sleep
Started raining non stop.
Ran to pam and kristens, they weren't there, stood in a cafe outdoor area to escape the rain
Tomas ran by to get me.from the beach and found me on the way back at the cafe
Sneaking into the hostel Tomas is at and spending the night
More nervous to be sneaking in a hostel than sleeping outside
Im exhausted


Leaving hvar today
Snick out of hostel and watched the sun rise
Spend the morning at a cafe and then reading in a park by the water and listening to music
Bought a necklace at a store cause I felt bad
Went to Dubrovnik:
Traveled from hvar to split from split to Dubrovnik.
Had to take a later bus
Bus ride was fine, pretty along the coast
Arrived at the station, met some Aussie girls and took the wrong bus but just stayed on because it eventually went to where we needed.
Got to hostel and checked in
Guy drove us to the other hostel where we would stay.
Got here and we didn't have rooms for an hour and a half. They gave the other people in the room all the keys and didn't keep one for themselves.
Old grandpa got mad at me for signing the situation to my new deaf friends from Belgium
They finally just broke the door so we could go in.




New friends
I notices this couple.signing at the bus station and watched then for a while. Finally I asked them in sign where they were from. The girl was surprised and I had a whole conversation with then. They ended up staying at the same hostel as us so I acted like an interpreter which was really awesome. They went through the room garbage with us so I had to interpret what was going on. I was really rusty but they were patient and helped me out. Esther and Johnathan I believe. Very nice! It was fun to sign again. Esthers parents actually live in Seattle and I got her whole story which was cool.




Finally in Dubrovnik, have to buck it out in this stupid hostel and then I can see rebs and Ana!!!!



Hostel review.
Clean and looks very nice. The presentation of the beds were lovely
However
No toilet paper in any of the stalls. It took an hour and a half to get our too.s because they didn't keep a spare key to our room and gave all the keys to the others who were out partying. They were rude when I tried to explain in sign language to the deaf couple what was going on. They tried for a few minutes.to get the door open and then just stopped and we had to try to open the door with hair pins and check the window to see if it would budge open. Now we have a broken door, so no leaving anything of any sort of value I. This hostel what so ever
And my phone wont connect to the wifi so thats useless

First full day in Dubrovnik:
Took the wrong bus but got a nice drive and cheap breakfast out side of town.
Got to town and walked around a bit
Met a family from Renton, Debbie Kemper and they let me finish off their muscles they had for lunch! Free lunch yesssssss
Walked around a bit bit and then went swimming outside the wall
Laying out and now they have a big water polo match going with announcers, music and everything. I think ill stay longer than expected

Such a BUDAful place, had the PEST time!

Arrived in Budapest to gorgeous beautiful sunny weather. Got on the metro and headed towards my hostel. I met a lovely kiwi couple (couple from new Zealand) who will also be going to Croatia the same day as me, so we exchanged info and hopefully will get together once were all there.
1..

I got to my hostel finally and just from the 10 minutes I walked from metro to hostel it was awesome. Im in love with the Pest!
When I got to my hostel, I saw three gentlemen struggling with the door code to get in so, like a moth to a flame, I walked a little faster to stand with the Dutch boys to get in. Introduced myself and we all eventually got up the stairs.
2..

When we got up the stairs we were greeted by wonderful Monica who worked at the front desk and we set our bags down and mingled a bit.
And then Monica brought us out some shots....
Once we were all acquainted and checked in there was the faint whispers of people wanting to go out... I have not gone to a party party my whole trip so far, especially not after I just arrived that day. BUT I though, I need to hang out with these nice looking fellas and I should probably go out out at least once. So for some reason I chose this pool party event that everyone was going too...

Realizing I was going to a swim party.... I ran to shave my legs, as it had been a couple weeks and I was looking very European... Gonna fully try to rock the ice cream gut I accumulated the past month and a half as well....

So lets see if I can remember all the guys names I was now hanging out with at this point:
Laurence
Dan
Ivan
Andre
Nick
Tomas (American)
Steven
 and then later came Fiachra and his sister D

First stop was food.
After that, I was trying to decide if I was really excited, or super grossed out that I was about to be in a kind of giant hot tub full of way too many people. Soaking like a stew, a mixture of people, mostly men anyway, drunk and I'm sure peeing in the pool, drinks spilled and limes floating around....

was fun.. However. It made me realize how much of a big party person I am NOT!
I don't like to drink to get smashed cause I like to be productive the next day, so rest assured family that I did not drink a lot, my mind was sound and the group of men knew I was a strong feisty spit fire who would throw a punch if i needed too. I made sure they knew this. But it also made me realize how being with a group of people who are so fun and amazing will make a situations a billion times better.

All in all, it was a fantastic night, fun and safe, but now I'm excited to have some days to see the city and enjoy Budapest even more!!

THE NEXT DAY!
Spent touring myself around and having a great time. Met back up with my fellas and lady to do it all again!
that night we all went to the club Instint and had a fantastic time. I told everyone I was going running the next morning, and they didn't believe me. Till I did!

Next day!
Went on a fabulous run around Budapest, saw all sorts of stuff and felt so great afterwards. To make the day even better we all went to the hot baths for the rest of the day! Just relaxin all cool, shootin some bball outside of the school.. Just kidding, got carried away. Laid around all day so we were ready to go out again that night!!

I'm just going to give some bullet points now because I want this blog post to be done and my thumbs hurt from typing!

Last night in the pest.
Whole day at the baths
Saw Layla from Vienna randomly
Saw couple from Brussels randomly
Walked for hours trying to find a bar
Found a different bar and went to club
Suppose to be home by 230.. Home by 6:45...

Leaving the Bud
I've never felt so upset leaving a group of people. I wanted to cry, but tough girl said hold your shit together Katie! Today was the day that Tomas and I took our night train excursion to Slit and had to leave our amazing friends behind. Not only did I absolutely adore Budapest, but the fact that I made a group of friends that really made me cry when I had to say goodbye made it that much harder to move on. Every person was at the hostel to say good bye to me.. Partially because I told them they HAD to be back so I could see them and I'm hoping also because they will equally miss me as well. Even sitting on the train when I'm thinking about D, Figs, Layla, Nnick, Laurence, Ivan, Andre, and Daan, I keep tearing up!

I'm ridiculous.

I could not have had a more amazing time in Budapest and would never trade it for the world.
Inside jokes, constant laughing, drinking games, walking around for hours, being the best wing woman ever (they will back me up on this), making breakfast together after staying out till the sun came up, family dinners, selfies galore,ogling over attractive people, dancing, and so many more experiences that make this trip worth while.

These people became my family in a matter of hours and for the next 4 days we just became as close as ever, blows my mind.
I could make this post longer than anyone would care to even begin to read, filling it with how I first got to the hostel seeing these three attractive men struggle at opening the door and me scurrying to get there to make conversation and then inviting myself out with them, to my last day when I laid on top of Ivan to wake him up from his nap so we could say our good byes and scaring him half to death to the point where he screamed and did this weird flailing motion with his hands. I miss them, and I will continue to  miss them all until I see each and every one of them again!
I truly believe that the people you come in contact with have something to share with you to enrich your life beyond your realization sometimes. Telling you things about yourself that raises your confidence in every way that you never thought people would think about you. Being able to be yourself around strangers with out a care and having them adore you just the way you are as you adore them in the same way. I've learned so much from these people and without them my trip would not have been the same. There are people who you are just meant to meet in your life, and I was meant to meet these amazing, funny, spectacular people.

I now have friends that I WILL visit in Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, and the states. I can hardly wait to plane my trip to see them all. Life long friends.

As for Budapest itself, its amazing, gorgeous and had everything I needed. Relaxed or exciting nightlife, amazing people, out door activities, great food, amazing architecture, charming shops, and lovely weather!

The hot baths were so nice to just go relax with everyone. Taking a whole day just being in the water and laying in the sun. Taking pictures in the water, thanks to my lovely purchase of a waterproof phone case. Then hiking up to get a gorgeous panoramic view of Budapest. Nothing better!

(I'm still having a hard time keeping it together while I write this post reminiscing on everything that I was blessed to have happen, the people I met and the memories ill have forever, along with friends on this 14 hour train ride.)

The Pest first impression

Arrived in Budapest to gorgeous beautiful sunny weather. Got on the metro and headed towards my hostel. I met a lovely kiwi couple (couple from new Zealand) who will also be going to Croatia the same day as me, so we exchanged info and hopefully will get together once were all there.


I got to my hostel finally and just from the 10 minutes I walked from metro to hostel it was awesome. I'm in love with the Pest!
When I got to my hostel, I saw three gentlemen struggling with the door code to get in so, like a moth to a flame, I walked a little faster to stand with the Dutch boys to get in. Introduced myself and we all eventually got up the stairs.


When we got up the stairs we were greeted by wonderful Monica who worked at the front desk and we set our bags down and mingled a bit.

And then Monica brought us out some shots....
Once we were all acquainted and checked in there was the faint whispers of people wanting to go out... I have not gone to a party party my whole trip so far, especially not after I just arrived that day. BUT I thought, I need to hang out with these nice looking fellas and I should probably go out out at least once. So for some reason I chose this pool party event that everyone was going too...


Realizing I was going to a swim party.... I ran to shave my legs, as it had been a couple weeks and i was looking very European... Gonna fully try to rock the ice cream gut I accumulated the past month and a half as well....


So lets see if I can remember all the guys names I was now hanging out with at this point:
Laurence
Dan
Ivan
Andre
Nick
Tomas (American)
Steven
 and then later came Fiachra and his sister D (because I forgot her full name so we all called her D)


First stop was food.

After that, I was trying to decide if I was really excited, or super grossed out that I was about to be in a kind of giant hot tub full of way too many people. Soaking like a stew, a mixture of people, mostly men anyway, drunk and I'm sure peeing in the pool, drinks spilled and limes floating around....


It was fun.. However. It made me realize how much of a big party person I am NOT!
I don't like to drink to get smashed cause I like to be productive the next day, so rest assured family that I did not drink a lot, my mind was sound and the group of men knew I was a strong feisty spit fire who would throw a punch if i needed too. I made sure they knew this.
All in all, it was a fantastic night, fun and safe, but now I'm excited to have some days to see the city and enjoy Budapest even more!!

To Laugh or Gag

For those who don't know our dog jack. He's a scrappy grey little mutt who always gets mats... Everywhere... Literally, if he isn't shaved he's a giant mat.




Mats remind me of dreadlocks...




Jack has a particular dread lock (the infamous dreadcock) that hangs from his dog penis...




One time, I even very, tediously cut the dreadcock off, and it was about an inch off...




Dreadlocks are very popular in Europe (along with half shaved heads... Weirdos)




Lets bring this string of thoughts full circle, shall we:

Every time I see a person with dreadlocks it reminds me, very vividly of Jacks dreadcock...the girl in front of me on the bus is really grossing me out. She's a dirty blonde noggin full of mats that reminds me of a golden retriever. I would love nothing more than to take some clippers and clean er up a bit, nice and fresh. I imagine it would feel nice for the summer. At least that's how the dogs feel when they have their mats shaved.




Enjoy the visuals of my scaring thoughts about dreadlocks (thumbs ups *wink*)