Week 11: Lauren’s Birthday
The scenery!
Welcome back! The week started off with admittedly the most school work I’ve had to do since starting school abroad. Although I had no classes on Monday, I was up early and at a classmate’s apartment to start our midterm. We wrongly thought that it would be a short exam that we could grind out together, but instead it was 20 short answer questions and 2 essays and essentially nothing we could do together. Tail between my legs, I trudged over to La Cite, one of my favorite cafes, and remained there until the exam was finished… only to open up my second exam for my other class and see it was the same format, taking up the following 4 hours. After both exams were turned in and my upcoming exam was studied for, I got some sleep. I took my third exam in class on Tuesday and then spent the rest of the day prepping for Lauren’s birthday and our upcoming trip. On Wednesday, April 3rd we left for Dubrovnik, Croatia!
Swimming at the beach.
Although we missed our connecting train from the Rome station to the Rome airport, we eventually made it on our flight and landed safely in Croatia around 11:30 PM. After checking in to our airbnb, we all knocked out. We woke up on April 4th to the most gorgeous view outside of our airbnb that we didn’t get to see in the dark the night before. The rolling hills, distant ocean, and houses peppering the greenery made a perfect backdrop for our weekend ahead. The trip had a total of ten girls in the house: Liv, Lauren, Natalie, Maddy, Kate, Jules, Syd, Lily, Lexi and I. We rallied the troops and started the birthday celebrations at Dubravka 1836 for some brunch. To be honest, our late start to the day actually caused us to miss brunch so we ended up having pizza instead. You can take us out of Italy but can’t take the Italy out of us I guess. The food and drinks were great, and the sunshine was out, gearing up for a perfect beach day. We wandered over to the coast until we found the most perfect little beach: Beach Šulić. Even though there was just patch of rocks with concrete and cliffs surrounding the water, the sun made for perfect tanning water. We spent the next several hours laying in the sun and jumping in the FREEZING water to cool off. We ultimately decided that the rocks we were originally laying on were way too uncomfortable and moved our towels to the concrete wall to lay on. Every time I’m able to lay in the sun I feel myself defrosting and the winter in my soul begin to leave. After several hours at the beach, including falling asleep in the sun, we stopped at a grocery store to stock up the house and then went back home to shower and get ready for dinner. After everyone took turns in the shower, we all sat on the porch, sipped on Aperol Spritzes, listened to music, and all caught up. The group of girls staying in the house was immaculate and vibes were high. We finished out our first night with a sushi dinner at Bota Šare in old town, where we had some AMAZING sushi and spring rolls. We spied a gelato spot nearby so obviously we had to indulge… Even though I was accidentally given matcha flavored gelato instead of mocha, the gelato workers were so sweet and we discovered that one of them was actually moving to Wisconsin in a couple months to study abroad! As half of the group was from Wisconsin, we couldn’t believe what a small world it is.
The group!
Friday was the day everyone was really looking forward to because it was our boat day! Since we had such a large group, we were able to rent a private boat for the day. Getting to the dock at 10 AM, we all boarded with sandwiches, fruit salad, drinks, and other snacks. The skippers, dressed like it was winter, were super friendly and helped us have the most fun day ever. Boating around the Elaphiti Islands, our first stop was at the blue cave. Parking the boat near the cave, we all jumped into the freezing water. I thought I would be more ready for the ice cold temperature, but breathing was pretty hard for a couple seconds as my body was in absolute shock at how cold it was. In order to get to the blue cave, we had to swim into it, wearing our provided snorkel goggles :)
The best way I can describe the color of the water in the blue cave was that it looked like we were swimming in cool blue gatorade. The water was so clear but so vibrant, even though we were in a small little pool of water inside the dark cave. It freaked me out a little bt looking down because it was so deep yet so clear; I could see fish swimming underneath us. The Adriatic sea was also so salty that we were able to very easily float on our backs and give our legs a break from treading water. Eventually we made our way back to the boat to continue on with our day. The next 8 hours were spent boating around the islands, parking the boat to tan and swim, listening to the best playlist ever, eating, drinking, and enjoying the sun. At one point we pulled the boat over to stop for a spritz on one of the islands, where we walked around exploring and met the sweetest little wiener dog that was excitedly running around the boutique we stopped in.
Towards the end of the boat day.
The blue water contrasting the lush islands was so gorgeous that I couldn’t believe our lives were real. We swam to the shore of an island, messed around on the paddle board, and took naps in the sun. It really was a perfect day. The 8 hours honestly flew by way too fast and before we knew it we were headed back to the port, all sad to see the day go and the chill in the air begin to pick up. Deciding on having a big family dinner instead of going out, half of the group went to the grocery store once we docked and the other half headed home. If a day of sun makes us Americans crave anything, it’s a cookout with burgers and hotdogs. My wonderful chef friends somehow pulled it together with the burgers and dogs along with a delish salad on the side. At sat at our dining room table, we feasted while laughing and talking. There’s something about cooking on vacation with your girlfriends that is so special!! We all knew after we sat down to eat that there was no way we were sticking to our original plan of hitting the bars…
After Lily and I KA’ed (I worked a KA, kitchen assistant, job over winter break where I was essentially a dish washer), we cozied up in the living room to play games such as King’s Cup and Quiplash. Wine was definitely flowing as the night became funnier and funnier. We all knocked out around 2 AM. Staying in and just hanging out at our house was so refreshing and reminded me a lot of what it feels like back at USC. I love lounging and playing stupid games :)
Ew.
Nat and I hunted down some pastries and a birthday cake bright and early on Saturday morning before the house woke up and got active. In an effort to do more than be beach bums, we decided to explore Old Town Dubrovnik. Wandering through the shops, hunting for the perfect postcard, and admiring the small town led us to a small market in the center. The streets are SO clean and it was so interesting to see the old city walls surrounding the town. Surrounded by mountains and the sea, the medieval town was so charming, plus a filming spot for Lord of the Rings, if any of you are fans! By this point it was reaching noon and Kate told us that every day the pigeons were fed in the square. I’m not sure who would ever want to feed those tiny beasts, but our interest was piqued so we stuck around to watch the show. Pigeons began to line the tops of buildings, landing on umbrellas, window sills, and basically any surface surrounding the square. Just as Kate said, when noon struck a man poured what I assume to be bird food in the center of the square and the pigeons SWARMED the area. I didn’t know whether to be amazed or absolutely disgusted by the way there was a huge pack of pigeons flying over each other, stepping on each other, and ferociously pecking the ground. I decided I was a little disgusted and ran for cover when they started to desert the area once the food was gone.
Fulfilled by what we saw in town, we walked over to Buza Bar, which is a super cute bar and cafe right on the sea and hidden in the old city walls. However, we weren’t going to get any refreshments but were more interested in the famous cliff jumping spot that was attached to the bar. When we saw the rocky cliff, I became a little less confident in making the jump. You had to actually scale the cliff in order to get to the spot and from there the only way down was jumping into the ocean. Luckily, a young couple that was backpacking through Europe reassured us that the water was super deep in this area and they even climbed up and jumped first to calm our nerves. Don’t worry everyone, this was actually a safe situation and done by a lot of people everyday (I wouldn’t jump off a cliff if I wasn’t sure.) Lauren, Maddy and I decided that we had to make the jump, seeing we walked all the way over and all. Shakily climbing up the rock, I mean seriously my legs were shaking, I made it to the top and suddenly felt I was a lot higher up than I thought I would be. Peering over the edge, I really started to doubt myself. It didn’t help that my friends were yelling from below, “Madeline don’t jump from there, get closer to the edge, jump far out into the water,” etc. etc. Volunteering to go first out of us three, I took a deep breath and jumped!
The free fall was only a couple seconds long before I hit the water, and besides the copious amounts of saltwater that shot up nose, I was buzzing with adrenaline and excitement! Plus, I think I was experiencing shock from how freezing the water was. Watching Maddy and Lauren jump completed the fun and we were all so happy we did it. I think I grinned the entire walk to the beach :)
View from the gondola ride.
Returning to Beach Šulić, we spent our last day in Dubrovnik doing what we do best: tanning, swimming, listening to music, and laughing. The teal, sparkling water was so hard to part from. Even though we were laying on actual concrete, it really was a feeling of pure bliss. A couple solid hours of tanning, several dips in the water, many complaints about leaving tomorrow, and a stop at the gelato shop lead us right up to dinner time. In order to celebrate Lauren’s birthday, though a day early, we dressed up a little nicer and took a gondola ride up to our dinner destination! The gondola takes you up the mountain where you have a panoramic view of the islands, sea, old town, and mountains. Obviously the view was gorgeous, but I was most shocked to see Old Town from a bird’s eye view because it looked so small, especially enclosed by the old walls. The restaurant at the top, Restaurant Panorama, had the most perfect table ready for our group and the most delicious menu!! The service was incredible and the food was divine. I mean I think that the burrata and bread appetizers might have been better than the Italian versions I’ve tried. As the sunset started, the couple next to us got engaged! That’s how perfect the moment was. Complete with crisp Prosecco, the dinner ended as the sun went down and we steered Lauren away from the dessert menu.
The dinner set up!
As we scampered into the airbnb after dinner, half of the group tried to distract Lauren by keeping her out of the kitchen while the other half tried to get the candles in the cake. We successfully pulled off the cake surprise and continued the birthday celebrations with a pregame at the house. Gifting her the shot book and dancing around the house was so much fun and the best way to honor our best friend! Lauren really is the best, and also my other half, so it was easy to celebrate her and so fun to see everyone loving her as much as I do. In an attempt to relive our glory days from Ireland, we hit up some Irish pubs as her 21st officially started. Even though turning 21 means absolutely nothing in Europe, we still honored it ;)
I have to say that I was really sad to leave Dubrovnik, as it truly felt like a summer weekend. Our flight and travel home was seamless, arriving home with enough time to make dinner and then head off to a sports bar to watch South Carolina’s women’s basketball team beat Iowa in the national championship game! Go cocks! The whole bar was energetic, jumping up and cheering when we won. Although I felt bad for Caitlin Clark, as she’s done so much for women’s sports, there’s nothing like watching your team win!
See you next week!
