It is amazing how much we managed to see and do in only 12 days. We travelled into the past and went inside the Euphrasius basilica from the 6th century, built on a previous temple, saw the blue-green waterfalls at Rastoke and strolled through the Trakošćan castle from the 14th century. We walked past the most famous roof in Croatia, at St. Mark's church in Zagreb. That still left us with enough time to travel back into the present where we (attempted) bargain shopping in Zagreb and got hooked on Jadro wafers.

Now that we had some decent sleep and got over the jet lag it's time to sort through pictures and great memories of our trip. We have accomplished everything we had set out to do - service, touring, learning and fun. In 12 days we've done an amazing amount of things:

-we rode in a WW2 van

-had a slow-food tasting with Istrian specialties

-made our own sausage lunch

-went up a mountain

-hiked downhill on ropes

-saw baby bears

-tried some hands-on physics at the Tesla playground

-saw a huge Easter egg

Here are the pictures of these adventures.

Today was a free day for the team to see Zagreb for themselves! The students traveled in about three groups. Lots of shopping was done and others got their first experience of a Croatian movie threater (the movie was in English with Croation subtitles). It was a sunny day and the team was rewarded for their hard mission work the past week with some free time. But at 7 o'clock, the "quiz dinner" with a few Croatian college freshman was held. Every American was paired up with a Croatian and were put in teams where questions about Croatian were announced. There were 5 categories of questions and Ashley Brooks and Brianna Trappe's team was victorious in the end! The students enjoyed interacting with each other and made some new friends!

Only a few days left...But the team will be taking full advantage of the last hours we are spending here in Croatia!

Here are some more pictures!

Playing with Children:
Today will be our last day in Opatija. We departed the hotel at 8:45am and set out for a center for disabled children in Kraljevica. The team interacted with the children and the goal was: a smile for the morning. It wasn’t hard to get many of the children to smile. Though for some it was a great challenge. Most of the children had mental disabilities and had to be in wheel chairs. We interacted by taking the kids on walks, blowing bubbles, painting with them, playing ball, and throwing rocks into the coast with them. We ended our time with the children singing “I’m Yours” with Jack Mitzell playing on guitar.

Nicola Tesla:
Afterwards, we visited Nicola Tesla’s house where we received a brief tour and explanation about Tesla. Right by his house was a little playground entirely based on physics. Lots and lots of spinning around!

New Hotel:
We drove up to our new hotel which was on top of a mountain. The hotel was filled with crosses and Jesus.

Tonight is daylight savings in Croatia so we’ll be losing another hour on this trip.


3/28/10

Bear Cub Shelter:
The team descended the mountain hotel at 9:30, and we drove to the Kuterevo bear cub shelter where we learned about the European brown bear. After observing the 2 wild motherless bears and 2 zoo bears, we were assigned to make brochures for future advertisement. We walked out of the shelter, and walked through the village, passing villagers walking to church for palm Sunday. Before boarding the bus, we ate at a local restaurant that served food made completely from local products.

Plitvice National Park:
The team walked around through the national park. There were many waterfalls, and it was a beautiful sight. We decided not to take the tour which was 4 hours long. Instead we walked around for around 30 minutes observing the gorgeous scenery.

Zagreb:
Our final destination was the Hotel Central in Zagreb, Croatia’s capital. After dinner, we took a tour through the old city of Zagreb. Of course we also ate ice cream!

After leaving the work site yesterday morning, the team recieved a tour of Opatija from a local English/History teacher. After the brief tour the students had free time to explore the city. The students went shopping, ate at local resturants and enjoyed the beautiful coast. It was a very relaxing afternoon. This morning is our last day at the Elementary school and we are finishing up our land with some planting of plants and flowers. We are about to perform the song "I'm Yours" to the school which will be played by our own Jack Mitzell on the guitar and the team as the chorus!

The weather is a bit cloudy today but should be clearing up!

Here are some more pictures!

After finishing our first day of working (on March 24th) at the elementary school, the students were taken to Rijeka - a large Croatian city near Opajita (where the team is staying). The team members were able to explore the city, which is on the coast, and get some shopping done. The team ended the day with a practice of "I'm Yours" which is the song that will be sung to the elementary school tomorrow night before we leave. This morning the team came back to the Elementary school and are trying to fill in the details to our landscaping project.

The project is located on a flat surface near the entrance of the school. The team designed and is creating a Culver "C" filled with pebbles into the ground. Along with the "C", the land will be decorated with flowers, plants, and birdfeeders made by the Croatian Spring Break Team. With hard work and determination, the appearence of the project is coming along beautifully. The school has a few recess periods a day and as the team is working the students will come out to talk, watch, and help the team. We are making new friends and playing classic "Croatia vs. USA" soccer and basketball games. The relationships being created by the students and the Croatian school children are developing every recess period. The weather is just right for hard work.

Life is good in Croatia.

Below are a few pictures collected from the trip the past few days....

Today was our last day at the Diamant Valamar hotel. With an early wakeup call at 7:30, we packed and headed out for a tough day of physical labor.

SWAMP

First we drove to a swamp and started our first day of real work. The swamp will be a nature reserve around this time next year. Many specific species of birds and fish live in the swamp because there’s an even percentage of salt water and fresh water. We split up into groups where students collected wood and littered trash, worked on making a level pathway, and built a stone wall.

By 2pm all of us left the swamp covered in mud, sweat, and a smoky fire smell.

TOWN ON A HILL

Next, we ventured to a town built on a hill where we enjoyed smoothies and gelatos! Reaching the top of the town, Motovun, we walked along a stone wall that bordered the edge of the hill. Some of us played on a playground at the top and others took fun pictures of each other.

The streets were so narrow in the town. When cars passed, everyone stood up against building walls or in doorways.

SMALLEST CITY

Continuing our day, we visited the smallest city in the world, Hum. We only walked through it briefly but just being there, we almost doubled the population! Hum only has a population of 21 people.

On our trip to the new hotel, we passed through the longest tunnel in Croatia which is about 4 miles long.

NEW HOTEL 

Finally, we arrived in Opatija. After dinner, students split up and enjoyed an hour and a half of free time in the town. Chocolate Bars, ice cream, shopping, eating and wandering. 

Things are falling into place and the Croatia team is ready to go. We met last week to discuss our landscaping project and other service work. Mr. Nowalk who chaperoned the 2007 team talked about the bear cub shelter in Kuterevo - the last natural habitat of the brown bear in Europe, where we will help carve wooden souvenirs to fund this unique project.

Spring seems to finally have arrived to southern Europe which should make our sightseeing great - ranging from the biggest tie in the world (Guiness book of records - 2007) to the smallest city in the world - 20 inhabitants, and munching on Pizza Cut (pizza by the slice). In 2 days we are on our way. We'll keep you updated on the events. For now we say bye or bok in Croatian.