HRVATA

Hrvata is what Croatians call Croatia. I am still not sure how to pronounce all those consanants at the beginning. Fortunately they are very kind to clueless foreigners. I returned about 11:30 last night and went promptly to sleep. My bag did not make it from Vienna, but as I will explain later that was no problem. By that point I was just happy to not have to carry anything extra.
I have so much to tell about my trip, that I will do it over a few postings.

24 April 2007...

started with an early morning, so early that even James was asleep. It was a long morning taking trains and waiting in lines at the airport— I got tired quickly, but I learned a lot about how I will be feeling later this summer when I go with James. Despite overwhelming past evidence, I WILL pack lightly. I must. Carrying my laptop was a major hassle and I know things will be more complex when I have James with me. It was really nice to have a sort of an airport practice run before this summer.

It was tough explaining to people that I wanted to go through security with my water bottle (denied) or to avoid metal detectors (allowed for the most part with much discussion). My midwife said I should try to avoid metal detectors if possible. This was new to me, but she sent me with a note of explanation. One attendant in Vienna told me there was more radiation inside the plane than in the metal detector anyway... as I said, in all my reading about pregnancy rules I never heard something about metal detectors. Would appreciate the comments of anyone who knows what this is about. Anyway, I didn’t realize you could buy water again (for a hefty fee) once you got past the security check. So, I felt pretty stupid about asking everyone if I could keep my bottle. I do not know why they didn't just tell me, because I would not have worried about it so much if I'd known I could immediately purchase a new bottle. As I metnioned in an earlier post I am a chronic water drinker even when not pregnant... but regardless it all worked out. By the end of the trip I had a water bottle confiscated at each airport I visited, though they let me drink one full bottle in line in Vienna and keep the bottle for refilling later.

I flew through Vienna as there are no direct flights from AMS to Dubrovnik. The Dubrovnik airport is like the Valdosta airport, which was a welcome relief. I went via Austrian airlines. They were good—nice staff, they actually fed you on eevery flight even though they could have pretended it wasn’t quite mealtime. The flight between Vienna and Dubrov was not full—what a luxury to have empty seats nearby. We usually fly with KLM and they are often fully booked at any time of year. Good for them, bad for your knees. I arrived in Dubrovnik and got some kuna out of the ATM then caught a taxi to the hotel. The route is about ½ hour and all windy roads on the edges of hills overlooking the sea. It was really what I think of when I think "Mediterranean". It looks as if a vineyard or olive grove is around every corner, and as I understand most people have their own small vineyards. The landscape just made my heart sing. The Netherlands is very consistent and flat, so a hilly ocean scene was really thrilling to me. The taxi driver Niko offered to stop so I could take a photo of the old city from above, but I was too tired. I told him we’d do it on the way back (we did it on Saturday... photos to follow). There are several overlook points along the way with other taxis and their occupants getting the requisite Dubrovnik postcard shot.

My hotel was called Splendid and it was fine. I switched from the closet size "room overlooking the parking lot" to a room with a double bed overlooking the restaurant and ocean. That put my price up from 35 euros to a whopping 60 euros a night, but it was worth it. The hotel was safe and clean, the staff was outgoing and kind, and the view was indeed splendid. Here is a shot from the ocean side of the hotel.

Here is a shot of the beach in front of Spendid. It was quite small, and only a few bold die-hard swimmers/sunbathers were giving it a go. I imagine it is literally packed in summer. My driver told me repeatedly that April and September were the times to come. In the peak season the prices more than double, there are thousands upon thousands of overnight visitors, and Cruise ships drop off their loads for a day in the old city or in other areas-- so it sounds truly overwhelming.

I am staying near the conference site on the Lapad peninsula, across from the old city (which does not allow cars, has only 1 guest house, and hundreds of years ago the gates were “locked up” every night at dusk with a giant key).

The Lapad is hilly with winding roads and a string of hotels. The group that owns Splendid owns 6 other places on the same street—you just choose your level of cost and sign up. I chose Splendid because it was closest to Dubrovnik Palace, the 5 star, 140Euro a night (and that is the cheapest room at conference discount) place that is the conference site. It is within easy walking distance up the hill from Splendid.

I registered for the conference, received my dorky nametag and messenger bag, and found out when my presentation would happen. Then I headed back to Splendid for dinner. The restaurant here reminds me of a Morrison’s cafeteria—but with a pink décor. The servers are very nice and helpful—I call them the lunch ladies, because they all wear white shirts, black skirts, panty hose, and white socks with sneakers. When you say thank you, they also say thank you-- so there is a lot of thanking at every meal.

This is what I have learned: the portions are HUGE in Croatia and ‘shrimp cocktail’ means different things in different places. For example sometimes it can mean a mayo-based shrimp salad (swimming in mayo and paprika for color) served with an orange slice. Despite trying to figure out the menu, the hot meal hit the spot and I nearly fell asleep before the check came. Then off to bed

View from the 5-star Dubrovnik Palace

25 April 2007

Up early and downstairs for the breakfast portion of the ‘bed and breakfast’. It was pretty good—a big buffet and the option to sit outside on the terrace. I spent the time before my talk practicing. I am a stickler about having presentations that actually meet the time requirements. I do not like to “read from the power point” which takes running through it several times to be so comfortable that when you are more nervous (as I inevitably am when I stand up in front of a group) it still comes out clearly. There is also the non native audience to consider. I try to go slowly (hard when nervous) and enunciate because I was one of a handful of native English speakers at the event. After a few practices I headed up the hill to the fancy hotel. As I got close I immediately noticed a slew of police cars, and it was very intimidating. As fate would have it, I had been cheating the previous night at the last few questions in the International Herald Tribune crossword I brought from the flight. I didn’t know the answer to a clue “Syrian/Lebanese political group” so I had been google-ing variations of this. As I approached the hotel my split-second reaction was “Oh no, they are here to ask me questions”. Of course reality set in immediately and I knew that couldn’t be it. Nobody tracks such things, or at least if they do they probably discount it if you google for the “US Open 1984 golf champion” right after.

It is such a fancy hotel that my next thought was there must be a Croatian pop star staying there. I went into the conference and began to notice a LOT of guys in very dark suits with earpieces with little curly wires hanging down. There was even a guy checking nametags as you enter the “welcome” event. Then I realized there must be a politician coming for the water conference, but I was still clueless.

Long story short it was the President of Croatia. Yes, Stjepan Mesic—that President of Croatia. Surrounded by many other less-notable politicians (local mayor, county and regional officials) and his own mini-papparazzi crew that hovered around him like bees. He gave the welcoming address but I did not take his photo-- he was literally surrounded by photographers and such. Unfortunately (for me) the address was in Croatian, but I assume it was very friendly and welcoming. He is an enigmatic guy, not tall, compact and fit, short hair, no nonsense and very much looks like the leader of something. They did provide simultaneous translation of his speech (and the speeches of the other dignitaries) but I thought the headsets were for the Croatian people, because the conference papers said it would be in English with simultaneous Croatian translation.

I did borrow a headset later to hear a Croatian presentation eventually. It felt very UN to wear them. There are two little ladies in the booth—and they (clearly fluent in both) translate from English to Croatian for the most part, but the moment things change they switch and translate from Croatian to English. The funny thing is that they pass off to each other, I assume when they get tired. So you have been listening to one voice for the whole time and all of the sudden it is passed off to this ‘stranger’ -who you don’t even know- with a completely different voice. The politicians spoke and left, then there were keynote addresses for the rest of the day. I was exhausted by the end of the day and headed back to Splendid for dinner (cheese plate featuring Pag a famous local cheese, which is kind of pecorino-romano-ish) and more practicing then crashing out.