June 3, 2008

It's Luna's 21st birthday today - Sretan Rodendan Luna! The 21st birthday, however, does not hold much significance in Europe considering the legal age for pretty much everything (including driving) is 18 years of age.

Today has been a travel day from Pula back to the capital city of Zagreb. We were supposed to play the senior national team in Rijeka, but the match was canceled. Therefore, we had a productive practice instead. The Pula Hotel sent us off with boxed (more like bagged) lunches which included a ton of bread and whole tomatoes which we bit right into despite our spoiled American tendencies. This meant crumbs everywhere and a nice large water spill via Lauren - turns out we're not old enough to have food on the bus.

We almost didn't make it as a missing Ashley had to get a last trip in to the water closet. A quick trip turned into a test from our freshman year team bonding ropes course as Ash locked herself into the singular bathroom with a broken door handle. She barely made it out by crawling over the top of the stalls. Athleticism and improvisation - two things we've learned through the collegiate volleyball experience - came into major play. No worries; our good Samaritan Ashley reported the problem to the front desk as to prevent this from happening to less young, athletically-gifted persons, and hopped on the bus just in time.

The bus ride allowed some time to reflect on our extended stay in the beach town of Pula. I must say I am excited to get back to the Hotel I's larger rooms although I will miss the balcony that served as a venue for outdoor room-to-room conversation, passing things from one balcony to the next, and simply getting some fresh air (although most of the time we had to sit among clothes that were scattered about to dry). Nonetheless, if I had to be in a cramped space with anyone, I sure didn't mind it being my petite roommate Ashley (even though she did lose our key EVERY time it was in her possession). I will miss the view of the beach from just about anywhere in Pula, and being able to walk down to the shore from our hotel. Having grown up at the beach, it was a nice comfort especially on long days of volleyball that seemed like they'd never end.

Looking back, our stay went by a lot quicker than anticipated (or than it seemed at times) and our bus driver tried to keep us in high spirits despite the not-so-great volleyball record in the town of Pula. (Yes, he did give us what he thought was legitimate advice on what we were doing wrong coupled with his rendition of what were intended to be volleyball moves.) Richard - er, Darko - was pretty great.

On the way to Zagreb, we stopped in Opatija (close to Rijeka) for a quick exploration. Upon arriving, we stopped at the water closet where we got four people in all for the hefty price of 2 kuna (about forty cents). We wandered around the overpriced shops before stopping at a café to relax for the rest of our time. With the G-Unit CD playing in the background and "Full House" on TV, we were a little confused as we scoped out the middle-aged crowd. Our witty waiter served Lauren and Rachel their cappuccinos, and Ashley her hot chocolate which was more the equivalent of heated chocolate Jell-O pudding.

Upon arriving in Zagreb, it felt a bit like home as we returned to Hotel I (I got a balcony room this time). Then we made for a chill night and headed to the nearest restaurant for pizza. Aside from a bad experience with some soup-like ketchup (ketchup and sour cream being very common pizza dressings), everything was quite amazing. We brought it in and gave Luna one last birthday wish before exhaustedly heading to bed. Needless to say, we were all looking forward to our day off for another chance to explore the capital city.

Best regards,
Bridget

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