** this blog was written while waiting in line for the Eiffel Tower.
Arrived at Gatwick, bought some food from Marks & Spencer (the only thing open) and “checked in” for the evening. i had 4 lovely benches to myself – oh, the luxury. i ate my food, then went to sleep (if u can call it that) but between the bright lights and constant arrivals of more people, i finally gave up at 4:30 and just got up. I’m amazed at how busy that airport is at 3am!! I brushed teeth and hair, attempting to look less homeless, and then checked in for my flight. After going through security, I found s new bench and slept until 6:45, when they posted by departure gate.
It was nice to be on real plane again (as opposed to Ryanair & Easyjet). I felt civilized again.
Touched down in Dubrovnik and caught a shuttle bus for 35 kn. when anyone asked how much, the guy said with a straight face “1000Euros” no one even batted an eye! Hahaha
Arrived at Pile Gate (pronounced pea-leh) which is the main gate for Old Town. Wow! It was amazing. I can see why it’s called the Pearl of the Adriatic. It’s opulent past was obvious from the marble streets! I almost felt bad walking on them in my dusty shoes.
I walked down Stradun, the main street, and turned onto one of several side streets that head up the hill. Still marble. Found my hostel, which had been kept I the traditional style of the building, with MORE marble and travertine on the inside, and exposed rock walls as well.
Met a couple of girls from Ireland who were on their way out to sit in the sun and invited me along. We walked around the outside of the city wall, found some flat rocks and soaked up the sun for a few hours. After having so many go-go-go days, it was fabulous. We then walked a “short distance” to a beach Denise had heard about (and turned out to be 45min each way) and sat at that beach for another hour. Walked back to Old Town, had dinner, hung out and went to bed.
Tag Archives: Gatwick Airport
Wrap it up!
April 18th saw the end of Edinburgh for me. Sad, because not only did I fall in love with the city, I met some awesome people there who I had spent every day with! Woke up and packed up and checked out, leaving my backpack in left luggage. I finished off the food I had left, and gave away the rest (apparently I was VERY hungry when I went grocery shopping…) Margaret is in search of a job (good luck Margaret!!) so she was heading to New Town to shop, and I stalked followed went along with her there. I had thought about taking a day trip out to St. Andrew‘s but I decided against it for something more relaxing.
I then struck out on my own (the first time in three days!) and headed back to Old Town to visit the museum. I didn’t have my map, but figured I could find it. When I did, I thought, hmmm, this is not the grand exterior I was expecting. I entered, walked through quickly and then realised I had entered the Museum of Edinburgh, not the National Museum (I know, big difference). I exited and set out to find the real museum, er, National Museum. Finally, I found it and what a museum it was! I highly recommend it, and the price of £0 makes it even better! I saw Dolly, the cloned sheep, and a robot who spelled my name for me. Reading this back to myself, I realised I’m not doing the place justice; just know that I would have paid money for this even (and THAT’S saying a lot).
After that, I wandered the street of Old Town, looking for my postcards and souvenirs. I stumbled upon a place that makes tartan and where you can get a pic taken of you in traditional Scottish costume! Yes. I’m THAT touristy. Don’t judge. So, obviously I had my photo taken. While waiting for my time slot (yes, other suckers fell for it too), this little Chinese girl of about 3 years old carried on a conversation with me for 10 min. I have no idea what she was saying, but my well-placed yeses and noes seemed to appease her and keep her going 🙂
I was scheduled to meet Margaret and her cousin (from PEI!!!) for dinner at 6pm, so I still had time to kill. I headed to the Starbucks because I could drink a coffee and scam internet. I managed to scam 1.5 hrs out of my one drip coffee, and during that time, I got a surprise facetime call from Madelyn! It was great to see faces from home!
Met up with my friends, went to dinner and then rushed to catch my bus to the airport. Turns out that Ana had the same flight as me! We sat near each other, but not beside. Instead, Ana had the pleasure of being seated next to a lovely little boy whose parents did not appear to believe in discipline. He’s lucky he was sitting beside her and not me. She just sporadically gave the evil eye when he jumped up and down, screamed, yelled, poked her, etc. I would not have been so passive. I’m very happy that the flight was only 1 hr as even that felt like several!
Arrived at Gatwick Airport about 11:30pm, where Ana and I parted ways; she to her awaiting taxi, me to my search for the softest bench, until my flight early the next morning.
riakaruda 