Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Second Stop: Dubrovnik , Croatia-Part Two

After visiting with the Sapro family, we headed back to a little town right outside of Dubrovnik. I cannot remember the name of the town, but that won't matter for the story that I am going to tell you.

When Count Dracula our tour guide let us all off of the bus in this little town, he told us that we would have some free time. He said that we all needed to meet him at 11:30 near a little booth where paintings were sold.

Melissa and I neither one had a watch with us, so imagine our relief when we saw this huge clock in the middle of the town. Notice that the clock says that it is about 10:47; we figured that we had about 45 minutes to look around the little town, and to find a bathroom. (Finding a bathroom in Europe is not as easy as it might sound, but I will save that topic for another day.)



Melissa took my picture at a little quaint outdoor cafe.



I took Melissa's picture in front of this interesting little palm tree. We both thought that it looked like a large pineapple.



We had a perfect stranger (although I don't always recommend this) take our picture standing in front of the Adriatic Sea.....It was so beautiful!



We spent a few minutes watching these little boys trying to catch some "fish."



I wonder how many of these "fish" they would have to catch to make a full meal?



You can see in this picture how striking the orange roofs are against all of the green trees, light blue sky, and the deep blue water. Needless to say, my pictures do not do this place justice.



We saw so many churches everywhere we went. Most of them were so old and had so much character and history in them. This particular one obviously survived the war. Notice the orange roof.



You can see in this photo that a chunk of the bell tower is missing. I don't know for sure, but I imagined as I saw it, that it probably happened during the war.....A piece or two may be missing, but God's house still stands, amen?



Everywhere that we went on this European adventure we saw the most unbelievably ornate buildings. I loved this one in Croatia. Look at the cross and the hands carved into the marble. This was just above a door; I don't know what the building was, but it was so pretty. I loved that it survived the war too.



Well, after finding a bathroom and taking in all of the sights, we looked up at that big clock in the center of town and saw that it was 11:28....We had two minutes to get to the designated meeting spot, which was plenty of time.........

We thought.

As we arrived at the "spot," we noticed that no one from our group was there. Not even Count Dracula the tour guide. We looked around in all directions, and we did not see one soul that we recognized. I looked at Melissa and I said, "I don't have a good feeling about this." Neither did she. We could not imagine that every body on the tour would be late.....but the clock said it was 11:32 by this time.

We decided that we would start walking toward where the tour bus was parked....And sure enough as we were making our way around the corner.....there was Count Dracula our tour guide......And he was mad! He started to yell at us! He said that he and every one else has been waiting on us for fifteen minutes! He also informed us that he was getting ready just to leave us behind!

In a foreign country.

All. By. Our. Selves.

(Can you imagine?)

We told him that we did not understand, because the clock in the middle of town said it was just now 11:30. He looked at us very aggravated and yelled said, "That clock is not right!" (This is good information to know....now!)

So we followed him back to the bus (full of tired and cranky people), where he proceeded to insult us and make a wise crack about us being late. He said, "Youths! They don't care what time it is!" (We were the youngest people on the tour that day.)
He made a few other wise cracks, but due to his very thick Count Dracula accent, I couldn't understand everything he said.

It's probably just as well.

As we were driving back to Dubrovnik, he did apologize to us in front of everyone. He told every one that we were going by the time on the town clock, but it did not work. He said he realized that we would not have had a way to know that, since he did not tell us.

The moral of this entire story is, "Wear a watch and never ever trust an old town clock."

I'm just saying is all.

Here is a picture I took of Dubrovnik (The Walled City) from the bus. It is truly an amazing sight to see.



This is a picture of a portion of the wall that surrounds the city. If I am remembering correctly, we were told that this wall was constructed between the 12th and 17th century. It is unbelievable!



And last but not least, here is a picture of two girls who are both very happy that they did not get left in Croatia! (And please just ignore my big sunburned forehead...Thanks!)




Kenny, if you are still awake, I want to apologize to you for the length of this blog post today. I know that you don't like when I ramble on for so long, so I am truly sorry. I hope that the sleeping you did while trying to read this blog post does not interfere with your ability to sleep tonight. Maybe, if this continues to be a problem for you, you should try reading my blog at night.....You know, you could treat it like a good bedtime story. :)

13 comments:

sa061545@bellsouth.net said...

Amy, those pictures are awesome!!! I'm picturing "Count Dracula" in my mind! Remember the character in Home Alone in the hotel? Tim somebody? I could see him playing Count Dracula in your upcoming movie!
Those pictures are just awesome! I would never have known about Croatia or even searched it - BEAUTIFUL!
Love you - hope you feel better today! :)
Mom

Tracey said...

These pictures were amazing too. When you say "Count Dracula" I am seeing Count Chocula...from the cereal. Anyway...this is a fun trip. The water pictures are great! Can't wait to hear more.

Aleisha said...

Those "pineapple" trees are everywhere in Europe. I have a few in my front yard. =o) Very Beautiful pictures. Although, it's hard not to get a really good picture over here.

Mia said...

THAT'S IT!! A movie about your adventures and misadventures! Now that would be something I would buy a ticket to see!!
Beautiful pics and narration Amy. By the way why do you think most of my blog posts are so short? Because I have to keep my brothers attention down there in Georgia : )

Paula V said...

Great pics. The sea is so blue, especially in one of the pics. That palm tree is so cute. We saw a lot of unique palm trees in Vegas but none so short like this to look like a pineapple.

I'm VERY puzzled over the Count Dracula guy...why did he say you were to go by the clock, which he knew was wrong, which he didn't tell anyone it was wrong, and then to proceed to yell at you? Kind of weird to tell people to go by the clock and then know it's wrong.

Hope you are feeling better today. I'm sure you are just busting as you wait for Friday...I am too as I await your report.
Love ya, chic!
Paula

Jenny said...

I love the pictures! That would have been really bad if they had left you! Surely he was just jesting!
Jen

Kellan said...

Great pictures and funny story - never trust an old town clock - ACK!

Have a good day - Kellan

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

Do we need to take up a collection for a watch?

peace~elaine

Anonymous said...

These pictures are simply amazing! I can't believe he yelled at you?!?! You're a good one because I think I would have gotten a tad bit smart with him..

Oh yeah, and the fish??? Totally laughing at that one - I think it would take quite a few to make a meal. tee-hee-hee!

Laura said...

Amy,
Once again, these pictures are awesome! I am amazed at everything you saw and did on your trip. I'll be praying for you on Friday!

Tina said...

But, but, but...maybe Melissa WOULD like to be stranded in Croatia...there WAS a Cutie there, after all!! ha!!

Glad that didn't happen...that guys SO should've mentioned that the old clock didn't work!

Jamie said...

More beautiful pictures! I thought that tree looked like a big pineapple too...I've never seen one like that before.

Tricia said...

OK I sooo want to go to Croatia!!You are soo incredible lucky! Looks like what I am hoping heaven looks like!!
And how awful to be so belittled by the Count!!! What a creep!! Glad you had fun thought : )