Split, Croatia... You're More My Style

We arrived in Split, Croatia a few weeks ago. I'm also currently on break from school for a couple of weeks. The university school schedule (in Italy), being different in Europe than from that in the US, is such that midterms happen at the end of the semester, almost on top of finals. It's like your warm up for finals. You get two weeks off after midterms, where they assign you a mass amount of homework (so, that's not really a break, is it?). Then you return to school for three weeks and have finals. Boom, you're done. I am done already. I can't wait to finish the semester. I'll split my time between Milan and Split for the rest of the semester, which is only a few weeks from ending.

My view as I zip across the Adriatic by plane. You won't find many direct flights from Milan to Split so you have to catch commuter flights, with multiple stops between Milan and further destinations. Typically, the first stop the plane makes is Split, a 45 minute to one hour jaunt across the sea. But if you don't know which flights to book, or who to ask to get on a commuter flight, you'll be forking over hefty fees to luxury airlines like Lufthansa to "fly direct." Alternately, you can book a flight out of another major city outside Milan because they'll have direct flights to Split on the cheap. (L. Galo)

So, how did I do in a university system totally unlike my own from back home? I supposed I did okay. I have three B's and one C right now. I still have a chance to pull out of the semester with a couple of A's. The thing is, getting an A is a tall order here... and I'm typically an A student. I walked out of two midterms where I thought I'd aced the exams. But, nope! Not so fast, American. I received B's on those exams. So, while the cultural richness of Europe was fantastic, my GPA suffered for it. It's off to summer school for me back home in the States, where I'll have to make up for those spring grades with a couple of A's this summer.

But, I digress. I was talking about Split, Croatia!

The excitement of seeing Split for the first time - from the ferry! (L. Galo)

I'm in the "old" part of Split, a sleepy little beach area where everything is walking distance. The grocery store is five minutes away, as is the basketball area, the barber shop, and the cafe. If I want to go to the beach, it's roughly a ten to fifteen minute walk away. If I want to go to the tourist area, it's a 45 minute bus ride from my present location. But I didn't come here to hang out in tourists spots or visit museums. I came here to decompress from three months of hanging out in tourists spots and visiting museums... I came here to do nothing and what better place to do nothing I cannot imagine.

There is nightlife in Split but I'm not looking for that. My idea of nightlife is watching Netflix with a glass of wine or baking some cookies. Sure, that's boring but after months of go-go-go, it's a welcome relief. I want nothing else but to write away all morning, take a walk on the beach in the afternoon, and watch some Netflix before I nod off to sleep.

There's nothing more relaxing than walking alongside nature. (L. Galo)

We came to Split as a family with the purpose of writing books, as well. So far, my daughters are half way through their books. My youngest, age eleven, is writing a picture book. She story boarded it first and then began creating her digital art for the book on the computer. My eldest daughter is writing a novel, a whopping 200 pager and she's just about half way done with the first draft. Good on her! My son has elected to hand write his book. He is on chapter four at the time of my writing this blog. So far, so good. That's why the sleepy little beach village is the perfect place to write a book. There are no distractions, no major attractions, no money suction locations... just a beautiful (if not slightly rocky) beach and a fantastic view of a fairly mild sea. The weather here is warming up daily. Most of the time it's what I call sweater weather but the young children in the neighborhood run around in short sleeves. Of course, they're not cold. They're not from Texas!

While I had hoped to write my own novel here in Split, alas I see I'll be spending more time than I expected on school assignments. That's okay. When our respite ends in Split, we are off to enjoy the sands of Barcelona. I hope to write the rest of the story there.

- Li Galo (mom to three fabulous and fantastic homeschoolers)


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