Bye Bye Hvar, HELLOOO DUBROVNIK! OH AND GAY MARRIAGE.

Thankfully, we got to sleep in somewhat today.

Somewhat.

Nina and I awoke in our comfortable hotel beds with this as our view:

UGhhhhhh why do we have to leave!?

And I had no hang over! We wished we could stay longer in Hvar, but I was also looking forward to getting to our next destination. So we started packing our things and prepared ourselves to say goodbye to our luxurious hotel room.

Even after all the horrible things we did to you, room, you still smell like a million bucks.

As I was getting my things together, Nina was having difficulty. While she was in the shower, I heard a loud bang and crash coming from the bathroom. It was followed shortly by her cursing like a sailor. Once she emerged, I asked with wide eyes if everything was all right. Apparently the shower head fell from its holder and hit her on the noggin. Ouch.

She went back into the bathroom, where I heard once again some strange noises. It sounded like someone was forcing her to walk on hot coals. I asked, again, cautiously, if everything was all right. She said that she had just shaved her underarms and her deodorant, which had salt in it, was BURNING her skin. Oof.

We finally got our luggage together and lumbered downstairs for the included breakfast. I got myself some meats, cheeses, and eggs, with a side of toast and nutella. Nina got a coffee, and mistakenly put YOGURT in it instead of milk. Yikes. Then she couldn't seem to figure out how to put nutella on her plate, so she instead opted for putting a huge mound of it on her coffee cup saucer. Oh boy.

Girl was having a rough day. It wasn't 10 am yet.

After breakfast, we all walked to the far side of the harbor to get on the ferry. On the way we saw a single potato on the boardwalk. Just sitting there. Being a potato. As one would do if they were a potato. I'm not sure why it was fascinating to us. But it was. It was a captivating potato. Where did it come from? Who dropped it? Could it have gotten there on its own? Was it a magical potato??

I wondered if I needed more sleep.

But no time for that now, we were off to Dubrovnik by ferry! How exciting to see the Adriatic by boat, right?? The color of the sea! The salt in the air! The view of the coast!

I fell asleep on the ferry. I don't remember any of it. I slept hard on that ferry ride, guys. Real hard.

I woke up when we arrived at the port in Dubrovnik. We all got into taxis which shuttled us to our hostel. Our afternoon was free until our meet-up time for dinner. Tonight was our last dinner with this group. Though it wasn't MY last night on the tour, Dubrovnik was the last stop for most of the others. They were either heading home or moving on to another place in Europe. Tomorrow we would be joined by a new group who would travel with us from Dubrovnik to Athens, Greece.

We debated what we should do for our free time. We could have headed directly into the famous Old City of Dubrovnik that afternoon, but Pat, Alison, Alex, Nina, and I opted for something simpler. And it was just down the street. It was food.

I know, I know, it looks like a worm pile, but it's just delicious homemade pasta with scramps and mushrooms in a light cream sauce.

After lunch, we headed back to the hostel for a small nap. We were all exhausted. The past week we'd been traveling to a new city every other day, and we were running on very little sleep. We needed a little break.

It was during our nap time that I found out on Facebook that marriage equality had passed in the U.S. I was floored. After my recent run-in with homophobia in Split, this felt surreal, almost like universal justice. All the Australians were mad that the U.S. beat them to it! Heh heh. It turned out that everyone, the whole group, was supportive of this landmark decision. It was very powerful to know that once I returned home to the states, I was equal. I could marry (if I chose to marry) anywhere in the Union. It blew my mind. I was ecstatic. *add every synonym possible here!*

I felt so proud, that I downloaded and went on Grindr! Hahaha I can't believe I just wrote that sentence. But ...there were some pretty good looking people around here, lemme tell ya. I wasn't looking to meet anyone, but I felt compelled to talk to someone, a gay someone, about what just happened. Lemme tell ya something else, there were some pretty friendly people in these parts, as well.

After a rest and a quick shower, it was time to meet up with the group for our last supper. We gathered in the lobby of the hostel, and made our way down the street to the restaurant. It was called Taj Mahal, and despite its name, it served traditional Bosnian food.

And Tabasco sauce?

I ordered a DELICIOUS homemade baked meat... thing. Basically, it was a really fancy hot pocket. AND IT WAS AMAZING.

Hands down one of the best meals I've had so far.

Then I took a sneaky picture of the table.

Man, I'm gonna miss these guys.

After dinner we said our goodbyes. I gotta say, this was an amazing group of people. We all came from different backgrounds, countries, and professions, yet we all felt united in our common love for traveling. Everyone was so kind, funny, and charming. I couldn't have asked for better. I missed them already.

Here's a picture of most of our group, courtesy of Kristin! Damn, we ain't bad looking neither...

After our goodbyes, a few of us went down the street and had a farewell cocktail. Then we went back to the hostel to sleep. We needed rest for tomorrow would be a very big day! Again!