"You've got all these people buying you drinks and laughing with you, and you start to wonder.. "why are these people being so nice to me?""
- Dylan, on the walk home from Dubrovnik
I left the club at about 4:00am, and started walking back to the hostel. From the Old Town to Lapad, it's about 35 minutes by foot, and it's an eerie walk. On the road near the Pile Gate, there's this stretch that passes by the sea. You can hear the waves pounding on the cliff below, and the hotels twinkling in the distance. The road's lit up but completely deserted.
Around that spot, I started thinking about Britt Lapthrone.
She's the Aussie backpacker who died in Dubrovnik a few months ago. I've been thinking about how her story for a while, actually. There's something really disturbing about it. It's something to do with the mystery surrounding the decomposed body, the ham-fisted investigation and all those urban legends about travellers meeting bad ends.
I met Dylan about ten minutes out of the Old Town. He's a guy I'm sharing the dorm with. He'd left the club a while earlier, and had got himself completely lost. He was about to curl up in the corner of a garden somewhere when I bumped into him. We headed back to the hostel together.
So much of what makes travelling worthwhile depends on openness and trust. You meet strangers in the street and you start talking. You've got to believe that they're nice, friendly people and they're not a threat. Most of the time, they are.
The people at the club were really, really cool. Bought us drinks, taught us Croatian drinking songs, made sure we had a good time. Most of the time, you switch off and relax. But sometimes, like Dylan said, you start to wonder - why are they being so nice?
Saturday, November 29, 2008
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2 comments:
Hope you are having a good time in Dubrovnik. I hear it is a very beautiful city.
S-I-L here: my husband wrote the above. Gooner, you can't spell - "scenary" - not enough English being practised.
Anyway, I'm sorry to hear about the phone call Mum got that she told you about. I'm sure that the caller will cover it. I'm also sure you are being careful in Dubrovnik in the light of recent troubles.
S-I-L: had dinner tonight with your parents at the place with the supehero name. Skinny manager asked after you.
WE voted in the poll about Christmas. Do you have the time to get to say, Heidelberg, if you are in Croatia for a week and then are off the Bari? Anyway, I sure you will have a good time anywhere you spend Christmas.
By the way, Pete's wedding is on Sunday. Do you want either us or Mum and Dad to give them someting on your behalf?
Catch up soon
Your Brother
It's a lovely city. But it's a bit small. The ferry to Bari doesn't leave until Tuesday, so I'm either here for a ocuple of days, or a go to Split tomorrow and catch the ferry to Ancona.
But really, the people here are really nice. Went through the Balkans, and a lot of those people are really arrogant. But the Croats are lovely.
Thank you for voting, by the way. I've been thinking that Heidelburg may be th eway to go. RyanAir flies out from Milan for 10 pound one way, so it's definitely doable. If I hurry, it's definitel doable.
How do you spell "scenary"?
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