99. The Suite Life

"I have a question. What is the exact height and width of the stairs we are going to be climbing. And how many are there?"

"Are all the men done with the bathroom so I can sneak in?"

The trip dynamics show more change each day. This was the day I learned about the pace of travel with this group. With my family, we would take it easy in the mornings, but when we stepped out the door, we were on a mission. The only mission we have now is making sure no one breaks. Instead of the family questions like "When is lunch?" or "what's next?" We get ones like I wrote above. It's weird to think that someday those types of questions will be at the forefront of my mind.

Our group spent the day on a bus to Split where we were to board the boat, Athena. Along the way we visited Plitvice again! This time there was barely any rain, only some mist, and it was so pretty we didn't even care we were seeing it again. Today was nothing like the 4 hour hike we took last week with the family, we had limited time, and were not going to walk at any type of rigorous pace. There were about 10 times more tour groups which gave us an ample amount of time to snap some pictures while waiting for people to get a move on. 

Sorry, no handrails. 8 people opted out of this one

Somehow Grandma, Grandpa, Scarlet and I all ended up being the last people at the ending checkpoint, but we believe this is because we went further and saw more. After a climb of exactly 300 stairs at a moderate height and width, we made it back to the bus and headed for lunch.

Lunch time couldn't have been more exciting. We had left the hotel at 8 and it was around 3 when we pulled into the restaurant. Good thing I had a few handfuls of hotel candy stuffed in my purse to tide me over. For the next two weeks we are going to be served 3 course meals sitting around a fancy table with folded napkins and 17 utensils. This change at lunch was too much for Scarlet. Deeming it too perfect, she quickly spilled her water all over and broke her crystal glass. I pulled out the camera for a quick picture, but it was considered "mean" so I refrained. I'll leave the scene to your imagination.

Another 4 hours, a couple rest stops, and a nice long talk about Croatian culture later, we saw the coast and the city of Split. As soon as we stepped off of the bus, the crew of the Athena was there to great us in all smiles. Scarlet lead the group in pretending like she owned the place and everyone was lead one by one by a personal escort to their rooms. 

Once we were alone, Scarlet and I rearranged every piece of furniture in the room so it would be to our liking. We finished just in time for "port talk." This is a time before dinner when we all meet in the lobby and are told what to do and when to do it. Due to the late time, we had a very short port talk and soon after the dinner bell rang and we all filed in. 

I'm going to have to learn more self control during meals. For the past three months Mom has been making the exact amount of food to last us the few days we stayed at each city. This way we wouldn't be stuck throwing out leftovers or lugging them around. Now we get a salad, soup, main course, and desert. I've tried sticking to my habit of eating everything on my plate. But it just can't happen.

I had something new for desert today that I wouldn't mind eating for every single meal for the rest of my life. It was some type of sugar, marshmallow, melt in your mouth cotton candy style stick, with a caramelized bottom. Our waiter has our names memorized so I think I'm on his good side. Scarlet and I are going to use our charm to see if we can make a deal with him about this whole desert thing.