My first week

Warning: This post is incredibly long, but bear with me!

My first week at Shakespeare and Sons had been a drizzly, slow one. For a squirrely kid like myself who can't sit still for more than a few minutes without tapping her foot or wiggling around, sitting in a bookstore for 9 hours when there aren't many customers proved to be taxing on my sanity. By Wednesday I was feeling a bit lonely and questioning why I came to Europe at all. My memories of Europe included wondering in the Alps, galavanting with my study abroad program to places like Munich and Vienna, and miscellaneous trips to Malta and Romania. Instead, I was now stuck behind the desk at Shakes, held captive as the Travel Section glared at me from across the room with its titles of "Europe on a Budget," "The Baltic States," and "Top 10:France" calling my name. Although I was confined to my store in the daylight hours, I will admit bookstores are great for one thing: reading. By the middle of the week I had finished David Sedaris' "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" and had moved on to the EyeWitness Companion's guide to Beer. Reading about Stiegl and Spotted Cow made me both miss Madison and make me rue even more the fact that I was in Europe and not out exploring it (or drinking its beer.). To be fair, the customers are almost always entertaining, but for the first week they were few and far between and I needed some more interaction; badly. On Wednesday morning, my salvation arrives in the form of an email from my friend Jason from Madison. He informs me that he and Jake, another friend from college, will be arriving in Prague the next afternoon and that they were renting a car and driving down to pick me up for a weekend roadtrip. "Mountains," he said. "I want to see mountains, and lots of 'em." The boys are circling the globe this summer and have already made their way across Western Europe. They are now touring further East and knew I was in Krumlov, so swung by on their journey. I could not have been happier to have weekend plans with old friends rather than sitting around Krumlov by myself, which was forecasted to be rainy and cold. On Thursday evening they rolled into town bearing dinner and beer, and we set up our bottles and sandwiches in the main room of the bookstore, plotting out our path for the weekend's endeavors. Jake and Jason really know how to book it when it comes to traveling, and somehow convinced me that we could make it down through Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and back before Monday morning. Excited to have some company, I enthusiastically said "Sure!" and soon "Sarajevo or bust!" was our motto for the evening. In the early morning hours we decided we should probably go to sleep if we were going to complete the 2200 km trip we just plotted out. We pulled out the extra mattress that's in my room (anyone else want to come and visit? It's nice and cozy!!) which the J's cuddled on for the night, and at about 11am on Friday we were on our way. Well, almost.

I won't go into boring details here, but let's just say it took a little longer than we thought to get out of Krumlov due to the fact that our tire got clamped overnight. Note to future visitors: don't park in front of the Wax Museum. Apparently they don't like that. One hour and a 500 crown fine later, we were finally on our way.

That afternoon we drove to Salzburg so I could show them my beloved town, and of course it starts raining as soon as we get out of the car. We wander around in the drizzle, the boys take pictures of the castle, we buy lunch at the grocery store, then break into my old dorm so we can escape the rain. Eventually we decide to continue on our way, so through the Alps we go. Rain turned to snow as we ascended and the traffic got worse and worse. Little did we know it was an Austrian holiday weekend and everyone was trying to escape the rain just like we were. After hours of going nearly nowhere, (we entertained ourselves in traffic by listening to EuroHits radio... I laughed while the boys changed the words to songs like Shania Twain's “Man! I feel like a Woman” to “Man! I feel like a Man”... this went on for a while.) we eventually escaped the clouds and popped out of the Alps and into Slovenia right as the sun was setting.



We wanted to see Lake Bled, which is known for its emerald green lake and picturesque island, but the signs were poorly marked and we missed the exit. I guess I should mention at this point that we did the whole trip without a real map, just little one-page pictures of each country labeled with the major cities in our "Lonely Planet: Europe" guide. The boys put their faith in their trusty geographer, and I was designated navigator for the trip. Jason was unhappy we missed Bled, but rather than turning around, Jake and I promised him that we'd see it on the way back.

Our next stop was Ljubljana, Slovenia. No, I didn't just jam my fist onto the keyboard, Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and the best damn town no one's ever heard of. It has a huge university of 64,000 students so it has a great college-town feel and lots of nightlife. Not to mention it's completely beautiful with a great riverwalk and awesome architecture.



I could have stayed there all weekend, but after wandering the city for a few hours we decided to continue on, so back to the car we go. I pass out in the back seat as Jake and Jason drive through the night. I wake up at 5:45 in the morning to a brilliant blue sky and an even more brilliant blue sea in front of me. We've hit the Adriatic! We roll into Rijeka, Croatia just as a farmer's market is being set up right at the harbor and we pull into a parking spot, intending to sleep for a few hours. However, we're all awake at this point because Wow! We're in a beautiful place and the sun is shining! The boys then decide for some reason that now is a good time to teach me how to drive a manual transmission. "What? It's not even 7am!"



"Exactly," replies Jake. "No one's around!" He made a good point, so I jump in the driver's seat and get my first lesson in driving stick around the harbor of Rijeka. No one got killed, run over, or even whiplashed, so I considered the lesson to be a success. After I while I decided I was done doing donuts around the parking lot, but didn't have the guts to drive on the real roads yet, so Jason takes over and drives a bit further down the coast before realizing he's exhausted and so we pull into a grocery store parking lot and sleep for several hours. Well, the boys slept.. I wondered around the little town. After a morning napping in the car, we look at the map to see where we are. Initially we wanted to drive all the way down the coast of Croatia to Split, but after an hour driving along the coast and getting nearly nowhere, we decided it would be a looong way to Split, and Bosnia for that matter, so we gave up on "Sarajevo or Bust!" and turned our sights to Pula, an old Roman town north of Rijeka, still in Croatia, which sits at the very tip of a peninsula jutting into the Adriatic. According to guide books and travel experts, the Istrian peninsula is the new Tuscany, and I can see why they label it as such; the rolling hills and old villages popping up here and there were sickeningly beautiful. Pula was equally as beautiful, complete with a huge Colosseum and other random Roman ruins. We spent the afternoon eating seafood and pretending to be gladiators. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.



Eventually we decided to move on, and head back inland. About this time the boys decided I needed another driving lesson (I think they were just tired and wanted another driver so they could nap...) so for my second stick shift lesson I zoomed around the Croatian countryside for a while. Jake proclaimed me the fastest person he's ever taught, and Jason agreed I really had the hang out it. Excellent, I thought. I can do this! In a moment of weakness, I was convinced it was safe for me to drive on the main freeway out of the country, so off I go toward Slovenia.

Are you ready for ridiculousness? Because here it comes:

So we cruise through Croatia faster than I thought, and before I knew it we were already at a toll, marking the end of the Croatian freeway. Uh-oh, I thought. I have to stop? And then start again? Without stalling or jerking? I take a few deep breaths as I pull up to the tollbooth and the boys reassure me that I'd be fine; I had been driving fine all day. I pay the toll, ease my foot off the clutch, and.... VRROOOOOMMMMMMM goes the car as I peeeeel back onto the freeway. Jason nearly explodes from laughter at my less-than-graceful exit. I only have a few moments to regain composure before Oh SHIT! Croatian customs. I pull nicely to a stop again, try to maintain a straight face as I tell the customers officer, no sir, I have nothing to declare. Jake quietly coaches me from the passenger seat.... “easy with the clutch, steady with the acceleration.” I take another deep breath, try to concentrate and... VRRROOOOOMMMMMM I go again, jerking out of the customs station with such velocity that I'm surprised the Croatians didn't come after me intent on gunning down our car. I must quickly slow down again, because there is still one more obstacle between me and the open road... Slovenian border control. I pull to a stop once again as silent tears of laughter stream down all three of our faces. After peeking in our trunk and deciding we don't have anything illegal, the guard stamps our passports and tells me I'm free to go. I take a minute, intent on not repeating my last two episodes, and..... stall. Words of encouragement come from my coaches as I try again.... stall. The Slovenian passport officer mumbles to me that “Ma'am, it is not an automatic.” I laugh, shrug my shoulders, and try again.... stall. By this time 6 or 10 guards have gathered around to send me off, all smiling and cheering me on. I stall once more before VRROOOOOMMMMMMM goes the car and off I go. I glance at my rear-view mirror to see the guards clapping and waving. I'm sure I made their day, maybe their whole month.



After that little bout of fun and excitement, I decide I'm done driving for a while, and pull over to get gas and switch seats. That night we pull into Lake Bled in the pouring rain. We drive through the town, trying to follow signs in the dark and in the rain. For all we knew, we could have been anywhere, but found a parking spot and settled in for the night. Yes, we did the whole weekend without staying in hostels, or showering for that matter. Yes, the car DID smell by Sunday. We brushed our teeth, so that counts, right?



Anyway, we wake up at 7am Sunday morning to discover we were RIGHT at the lake and had a magnificient view of the island and castle. We had a nice early morning stroll around the lake and hike up to the castle. The morning mist slowly lifted to expose the most picturesque scene I think I've ever seen. Two thumbs up to Lake Bled.






In the afternoon we head back through the Alps, this time rain- and traffic-free. We stop at St. Gilgen am Wolfgangsee for a nap in the park and a hike in the mountains. We entertained ourselves for entirely too long by throwing stones at a large rock face and generally acting like 8 year olds. Eventually we decided to head back to Krumlov, so home again, home again, jiggidy jig, our adventure came to an end.






Oh, and it was still raining when we got back. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.