Croatia Update #1

August 31, 2008-

hey there all....well, i have now been in croatia for two full weeks...today is a beautiful day and

i am prepping for my first full week of school...no labor day here....below you will find my update from yahoo...with some added info and pictures...so if you get the updates, most of this will be the same....but in places there will be more...

for instance...the first shot below was taken this past summer in seattle, by my friend steven...we were on the way to whitby island to have dinner with his wife and daughter at our good friend gordon's restaurant...and per normal gordon did NOT disappoint....wowowowow....i did realize on that trip how much i miss living on the water....and although i am closer this time, next place i go i need to be on water i think...we'll see....

while i was in the states this summer my mom and i went to longwood gardens near where we live...it was stunning and definitely not crowded...we saw fountains and trees and amazing lily pad with dragon flies...this is shot is of the main greenhouse, beautiful....

during one of my first days in croatia we took a walking tour with one of the croatian teachers from school...jasna (pronounced "yaz-na" - the j in croatia sounds like a y)...it was great and that is where i got my first glipse of what a cafe town this truly is...although, unlike in many places, here you can only get drinks...no food....its wild...and people sit outside for long periods of time watching people and the day go by....talk about mellow....the "outfits" here are not as 80s as in romania...but its fun to watch folks none-the-less...and someday soon i will know what to ask for if i am looking for a latte...as they are not called that here.... below is one of the main cafe streets in zagreb....

here are some of the pictures from the update i sent out...the first two are of the school....we rent space from a seminary....and i guess they charge a lot of money from the school...the first shot is of the school from the front...

this next shot is of the courtyard of the school....its a mostly vertical school...which means lots of steps...and in order to get to school i hop a tram (2-5 min) and then walk up a HUGE hill...its good exercise and really beats sitting in traffic like in bucharest...although i am buying a car this week...so i can get out of town easier than relying on a bus or train....

the shot below was taken at the main square in zagreb...trg bana jelacica...i have not really figured out how to speak and read croatian thus far...its crazy...trg - no vowels...and its a real word...crazy...but i will start taking croatian classe son wednesdays after school with the other teachers who are interested, we'll see if it goes better than my romanian...although in the end i was doing okay...sort of :)

the next few shots come from the old part of town in zagreb...the first is what is left from the burning of a bridge that connected the old part of town to the new town...the only thing left was the madonna which is still seen here...

then there's st. marks church....isn't it pretty...i love the tiled roof...i guess they have renovating the building for the better part of two years....i'll keep my eyes peeled to see if they finish anytime soon :)

the next shot is a tower where a cannon is set off every day at noon...called the burglar's tower...we were actually on it when the cannon went off...freaked out this guy that was there and didn't know it was going to go off...it was waaaaaaay loud and made the building shake...but it was cool :)

this is the view from the top portion...and this is actually facing the school...you can see the silver domed building and then to the right, farther in the distance, you can see a greenish dome...that's the school...on a different hill....
i have already traveled outside of the country...to slovenia, its capital ljublijana...what a cute town...has a river running thru it where we had 

lunch...the reason i had to go was because i applied for my visa outside of the country...in romania....and it was approved...but i left the country before it was ready...it was not allowed to be sent to croatia...talk about crazy.... however...slovenia is an hour and a half away...and it was easy...and i am glad i went...i will go back for a weekend of fun...that much is true :) the next three shots are some of the pretty views of ljublijana...(lube-bli-anna)...love the water down the middle :)

i think this building was quite pretty with the river running in front of it...plus, if you look closely you can see a fountain going in front of it

this building was amazing...look at the tiles it is made from....so colorful and striking... definitely made the other buildings pale in comparison....i loved it :)

back in croatia...the next shot shows you how there are some amazing looking bldgs right next door to ones that are following apart...everyone in bldg has to agree to fix it up...and in many places there could be upwards of 40 different owners in the bldg...hard to make everyone agree

then the next shot shows a woman i bought some veggies from...check out her scale..
old timer...love it :) there is an amazing market just off of the main square called the dolac....i hope to get there more frequently, but its not really near where i live or where i have to go for school...there is a fresh fruit and veggie market around the corner from where i live, which i am excited about :)

the next two bldgs are to show you the graffiti and what my apartment bldg looks like...i am on the first floor...not the ground floor, but the first...more pictures of the place next time...

the last shot is of me...there was a beer festival here in croatia last 
weekend...piva means beer...and notice...my name is on the poster...just
too perfect i think...i didn't make it to the festival...but i have had 
some of the beer here...and like it so far....

okay...enough rambling....but i guess it has been a while since i updated the blog...per normal...feel free to send pictures and get in touch....please note....my parents have moved...so you cannot mail things to them and have them get to me from the paoli address in pennsylvania....please mail things for me to the school

the address is as follows:

The American International School of Zagreb
Dani DiPietro
Vocarska 106
10000 Zagreb
Croatia

you can also call my skype name danid769 if you have skype
and if you don't, you can call the following number of skype from
any style phone - 610-624-3727

there is a voicemail set up....so you can leave me a message and if my 
computer is on, i might even pick up :) that's from any phone....i am 
six hours ahead of anyone on the east coast of the states...

okay...hope all is well and good luck to those starting a school year...
drop a line when you can and keep me posted on your life :)