Bad Travel Experience: Rain in Croatia

Running on little sleep is enough to make anyone completely miserable. Add long hours of traveling and lots of rain, and the trifecta of lousy travel is complete. In the beginning, the trip to Croatia seemed like it was going to be the least favorite of everyone in the group. Starting off the trip was an overnight train, which meant that a night of uncomfortable sleep was ahead. Not only are the train beds hard as a rock, but also the particular bed I was sleeping in was angled toward the wall and forced me to lay against the cold, hard, fake wooden wall. Arriving in Zagreb, Croatia, at five in the morning, was anything but pleasant. The weather was cold, dark, and damp when we stepped off the train. The tracks and cars of the train station seemed outdated compared to those that our group had previously traveled on, and the surrounding area was dark. Immediately, everything I had stereotyped of Eastern Europe during communist regimes flashed into my mind. Having no plan for the day other than a walk around the rainy city, I found myself sleeping on the couch of a coffee bar inside an empty shopping centre. As we got some sleep and the rain began to lift, so did our spirits. In the late afternoon and evening our group enjoyed an eight-course meal as well as a local band up in the hillside of Croatia. The night ended up being one of the most memorable parts of the trip, and we were all able to fully appreciate the cool and finally dry weather. Although the weather patterns of Croatia were not under anyone’s control, we learned to accept it and control the way we reacted to it. For future travelers, I would advise packing for the weather, and being prepared to face adversary weather conditions.