1.5 days at sea, .5 left

The past day and a half has been pandemonium. 5 classes, 3 papers, and one group assignment later…I’m still alive…barely. All I can say is that I’m overly excited for Dubrovnik, Croatia tomorrow for some much needed R&R

Yesterday everyone on the ship was exhausted from traveling all throughout Italy and getting back into the grove of school.  It’s a lot harder to start studying after you’ve just seen roman ruins 12 hours earlier, but, the crew and faculty decided to reward our hard work by playing Harry Potter Deathly Hallows prt1 over the TV system making schoolwork slightly more tolerable. The ship is also putting together multiple trips to a movie theater in Croatia for students interested in watching the new Harry Potter movie. I’ve decided to pass on the opportunity because I’d rather enjoy my time exploring Dubrovnik…but die-hard Harry Potter fans are overly excited.

Another exciting event yesterday: VOLCANOES! The ship passed right next to an active volcano, and the thing was still steaming. It was absolutely insane. The ship also passed through the iconic Straits of Messina in-between the main landmass of Italy and the island of Sicily.  This strait was made famous by Homer in the Illiad and the Odyssey and is the home of the two “monsters” Scylla and Charybdis. For those of you who know your Greek mythology…you know exactly what I’m talking about! And for those of you who don’t have the slightest idea what I am talking about, SHAME ON YOU. Google it!

Today in Global Studies I learned about the city of Dubrovnik and the multiple hardships it has been through in the past 10 years. The city still is enclosed by pristine walls from the Roman era and sits on the edge of the Adriatic Sea. Once a part of Yugoslavia, Croatia broke over after months of civil war and thousands of casualties. The city was bombarded with shells and artillery in the early 90s, before gaining it’s independence. Also, from civil war Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia were also created from Yugoslavian territory.

I was told that on my visit to the city I would still be able to see the effects of the civil war: bullet holes in buildings and brightly colored red roof tiles from rebuilding the city.

While in Dubrovnik I plan on walking on the iconic city walls and adventuring around the city. Hopefully I can find a sea kayaking and snorkeling tour Croatia is famous for. I also plan on taking a day trip to Lokrum. Lokrum is an island right next to Croatia that has an old monastery and overgrown gardens, wild peacocks, and a salt-water lake. Supposedly it is suppose to be absolutely gorgeous. If I have enough time I’m also thinking about taking a 15 minute bus ride to Montenegro (allowed by SAS) to check out the country.

I hope everyone back home had a great 4th of July!