Day 6 - June 2

 

Today we are hiking the huge mountain overlooking our hotel. It is located in Biokovo Natural Forest. Of course, we got up early, showered, and went down for the hotel breakfast that we have had every day. I do not love these breakfasts. I do not love this coffee. But I am making the best of it. 

After eating breakfast, we boarded the bus and made our way towards where our hike would begin. It was a lot of driving on a very windy road. Our first stop was at one of those plexiglass walkways that goes out into the canyon. I loved it. The views are amazing. We had a few in our group that are not fond of heights and they would not go on the walkway.  But I loved it. Spent a few minutes here and got back into the bus and drove all the way to the top. Took a long time to get there and the road was brutal. When we got to the top, we walked a little loop and enjoyed the incredibly expansive 360 degree views. It was gorgeous. Back in the bus, we drove down to our trailhead. And so began our hike. It was about a 2 1/2 mile hike through the mountains with a lot of rocks. The trail was not particularly difficult, the terrain was very rocky. It was hot, but it was beautiful. Took us quite a long time because we had to travel slowly. We ended up at one of these rock houses that are scattered through the mountains and have been in families for generations. It was a local family that owned this house and they fed us lunch. We sat outside in a very idyllic setting and ate delicious food. It was impossible not to be filled with wonder at everything we were seeing. 

After lunch, we headed back down to our hotel. I am so exhausted. I barely know what to do with myself. I had some grappa and wine at lunch and I can’t keep my eyes open on the bus. When we got back to the hotel, I was so exhausted. I felt like I was in an altered state. Felt like it should be the middle of the night. We came up to the room and rested a little bit. And then kept moving of course. Matt and I grabbed our suits put them on and headed to the beach. It was a beautiful day but hot and made you want to be wet.  The water was cold but refreshing and we had our virgin swim in the Adriatic Sea. We swam a little bit and then walked back to the hotel. We had a little time to shower and clean up. 

It is time to eat again! It feels like we are eating constantly. We all met down in the lobby and went into the downtown area for dinner at one of the local restaurants. Fish again! But it was delicious and the food was good at this restaurant. I enjoyed it very much. And I did not drink any alcohol. I am still exhausted. After dinner, Matt decided to go to the observatory with our guide Daniel to see the stars and talk about astronomy for the night. I am too tired to even think about that. 

I have been so worried about my health and the challenges I’ve had going on here and my ongoing pain in my knee; it is definitely distracting. It is taking everything I have to stay in a positive place and just try to enjoy the moment. But I’m doing the best I can and I think overall, I'm doing well, especially for me. I did discover the cord that I brought for my service does not charge my laptop! This is quite frustrating being as I dragged it this whole way. I’ll probably try to buy something tomorrow in a electronic store and see if I can charge it that way.  I am talking this into my phone on a word document at the moment because my laptop died. 

Hopefully tonight will go better and I can sleep. My knee is hurts as soon as I stop moving so that’s always a challenge. Just one thing at a time I’m happy to be here. And I’m happy to be with Matt. It’s a very nice group of people and I’ve enjoyed all of them very much.

I did end up breaking down and sobbing on Matt when he got back. Just overcome with worry and fear. He is so kind and doesn't try to tell me everything is OK. He knows he can't tell me that. Nobody can. But he tells me he loves me no matter what. And it is reassuring to be close to him. He is such a good guy.