Beach Day and Final Dinner

May 28th, 2010

After a long couple weeks of company visits we were finally rewarded a free day to do what ever we wanted. For the most part, everyone enjoyed a beautiful day on the beach swimming and tanning. The beach was pearl white while the ocean was crystal blue surrounded by mountains on one side and two of the largest islands in Croatia on the other. The water had a chilling feeling to it but once in the water you wouldn’t want to get out.
Later in the day we ventured our way over to another side of the beach. There we found a practice course set up for a Jet Ski competition that started the actual racing on May 29th. The Jet Ski’s at the competition were like no others we have ever seen before. They had been customized with graphics and also increased with horsepower to make them go faster.

That night we went out to dinner, as our final dinner together in Europe. On our walk up to the dinner we visited a small cemetery where the captains from the sea were berried. And in honor on the gravestones they had the boat steering wheel engraved. We then proceeded to dinner and sampled a couple of Croatia’s different liquors. One of those was wal nut and the other was grass. Both of them had a very different taste from each other. For dinner we had pork, liver, chicken, and cevapcici with a side of potato fries. For desert we were treated with crepes (chocolate and marmalade).
Before and after dinner most of us got to play boche ball. This game was played with two teams of two players on each team. It started with one person tossing a ball down the court. From there each team had to try and place their ball closet to the ball that was thrown first. This quickly became a huge hit with us, with the competition getting quite heated.
Tomorrow we leave for Dubrovnik where we stay for two nights.

Final Day

For the final day in Croatia a large group of us went to the city center to explore the walled city. The city originated as a maritime center with a long period of prosperity and development in the 15th century. Within the city are many Churches from different periods, the place and the university Collegium Rhagusinum, which was created in the 1600’s. The city received much damage during the conflict in the 1990’s but has been preserved and fixed since then.


After our travels to the old city many of us chose to spend our last day on the coast at the beach. It was a wonderful day to lay on the beach and swim. Now as the night is coming to an end we are all packing up our things and getting ready for a very early morning tomorrow and a safe trip back to the states.

-Amber

another day in the life

The day began at the crack of dawn in a hot and crowded youth hostel. Everyone was ready to make the journey from Zagreb to Split and to reach our final destination, Baska Voda. The cargo area of the bus was packed to the limit with just enough room to fit the last bag. As we traveled out of the city of Zagreb I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to catch up on some sleep. Our first stop was at a roadside rest stop/gas station for breakfast. As I stepped off the bus it became clear that Croatia has a lot more to offer than Zagreb’s urban wonderland. Mountains stretched off into the distance and the ground cover was an interesting mix of cracked stone and lavender bushes. Under a clear blue sky we ate our breakfast and jumped back on the bus.

We arrived in Split, Croatia’s second largest city, about six hours after leaving Zagreb. Immediately, we set out to explore the ancient ruins of Roman Emperor Diocletian’s retirement fortress. The narrow streets and alleys were lined with vendors of all types selling a wide variety of goods. After exploring the fortress I decided to grab a beer and watch the promenading people as they enjoyed the beautiful seaside views.



After meeting at the bus for the last leg of our trip to Baska Voda, the landscape began to change rapidly. As we climbed the mountains out of Split we could see vast plots of terraced land. The people of the region used to plant a variety of crops from olives to vegetables but have since abandoned the labor intensive practice. The resulting green steps up the sides of the mountains are like a sceen from a movie. One hour later we arrived at a scenic vista which was the site of an ancient fortress and stepped out of the bus to take a few pictures. The view was incredible and it was clear that the location of the fortress was perfectly planned to prevent attack in all directions.

As we approached the city of Baska Voda Boris told a story about his grandfather who was from this region. In the 40’s and 50’s he was a bus driver on unpaved and unprotected mountain roads. The cliffs on the sides of the 1.5 lane roads drop about 100 meters to the sea. As Grandpa Jukic was rounding a corner, the steering column on his bus broke. The bus eventually came to a stop hanging over the edge of the cliff. He had to hold the foot brake while his passengers made an emergency evacuation. After the last person got off the bus Grandpa Jukic said a prayer, pulled the hand brake, and jumped for his life. Thankfully he made it out and no one was injured.

Upon arriving at our hotel in Baska Voda we were pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the rooms and the premium beachfront location. The lobby of the hotel has a very nice bar and restaurant with a nice beachside patio. We settled into our rooms and headed out for dinner. After dinner we took a stroll down the pier and watched the full moon from the sea wall. It was the perfect end to an amazing day.

Francis' Birthday

Everyone was excited to get the day started as this was the last day of company visits before we headed to the coast for the last leg of our trip. We began the day with a visit to a company called elektro kontrakt. The company specializes in producing the electrical components that regulate appliances and other automated processes. I believe the speaker was one of the most intelligent we have heard from thus far. It was interesting to learn the unique method in which the company was able to survive through the crisis in the 90’s and the economic recession of the last two years. The most important piece of information he was able to share was that in order to succeed one must always research methods to change and improve themselves. This can be applied to facets of life, business, personal, and extracurricular.

After the meeting at elektro kontrakt we had a short break before we headed to our final business meeting of the year, Atlantic Grupa. Atlantic Grupa is a company that produces healthcare products and who’s ultimate goal is the promotion of a healthy lifestyle. Their most recent product, Cedevita GO, is a vitamin drink that can be taken on the go. In addition to vitamin drinks, the company also produces other healthcare products.

After finishing up our last company visit, we were free to do what we wanted the rest of the night. Some of the group went with Marta on a bar crawl with some other university students. Others went out to celebrate Francis’ birthday at a nightclub called Galleria.

Long day of three companies

Today was the only day on the trip that we visited three separate companies in one day. We knew that it was going to be a long day but also knew that free time was right around the corner. The first company on the list was Oglasnik, a subsidiary of Trader Classified Media. The focus of Oglasnik is internet advertising similar to that of Craig’s List. Due to the current economic situation, they have had to make some cut backs and employ a new strategy of cost management. The speaker seemed confident that since costs are so low, once revenues raise again the profit will be better than before. If all works out, the company can start to grow again within the next few years.

After stopping at the mall for a brief break, we continued on to the local hospital. We all got the grand tour of the facilities. This included different machines like the MRI and standard x-ray machine. However, they did not have a complex surgical wing because they only perform small and minimally invasive surgeries. Also, for some reason I kept seeing doctors that were well above six feet tall. From the tour we continued on to the presentation that included a part about the specific hospital and a second part about the health care system of the country. Two things said that I feel were interesting was that Croatia has a public health care system and that doctors are paid considerably less than in the U.S.

The last stop of the day was a cell phone service provider called VIP. VIP is one of the top cell phone providers in the area, which is evident by the amount of advertising found throughout Croatia. It runs through a GSM network, which is through SIM cards. The company spends a lot of time on marketing and image branding. It was interesting that the top marketing professional was previously an engineer. The current focus of VIP is upgrading their products to allow more amounts of data, since the demand for data is on the exponential rise.

Beginning of another week in Europe

Today we went on our first company visit in Croatia, to The World Bank and Erste Bank. The World Bank is an international organization that provides “financial support, technical assistance, policy advice, and analytical services” to Croatia. We were given a short presentation about what the bank has loaned to Croatia and current projects they were working on. One thing we found that was interesting is that one of their main goals was to fund projects to ease Croatia’s acceptance into the EU.

After the company visit, we all went our separate ways for lunch, the group that I was with, continued our sampling of kebabs from local establishments in the countries that we were traveling to. The restaurant of choice today was King Kebab. While there was only a choice of beef, there were a few different sauces as well as a new ingredient, cheese that gave this kebab a distinct flavor. Here is a picture of the Kebab store.

Following lunch, we visited our second business of the day, Erste Bank in Zagreb Croatia, Like most of the banks around the world, the recession has hit them hard, but their corporate leadership has vowed that no one section of the company would specifically suffer, that each section would have to bear some of the burden of the companies downfall. To counteract this, the company has created a unique rewards system for employees who can brainstorm innovative ideas that will help the company move forward. After the visit, we got to go to the top floor of their building and here is a picture of the view of the city.

Finally, after a long day of company visits, Marta a student from the University of Zagreb took some of us went out for a traditional Croatian dinner that included chevachichi and several other local meats of the area. They also, had a unique way of serving beer called a giraffe and here is a picture of that. Tomorrow we have 2 more company visits and then a few days to enjoy ourselves on the beach.

Kevin and Zack

National Park-国家公园

On May 23, 2010, we decide to go to the national park. In the morning, there may be ten more people that want to go to the national park. The bus drives us to the national park that use two more hours. It is a long trip. Everyone just sleep on the bus, the time goes so fast. When we wake up, we already stay in front of the national park. The stuff takes our student card to change the ticket. When we get the ticket, we just start our two more hours’ trip.

This picture is that the national park’s map. The map shows all of the national park's way to our tourists. Let the tourists know their way, and let us easy to understand about the national park.

This picture is our first part in the national park that is a huge waterfall. I take the picture on the top of the hill, and we can see all of the views about this waterfall. We also go near to watch this waterfall, and we walk on the bridge, and we watch the little fish in the water, and we talk about the view together. When you go near the waterfall, you can feel the water split on your body.

This picture is that another little waterfall in the middle of the national park. This waterfall is smaller than first one. But the view also is good for the tourists. Moreover, the time is going so fast, after three hours we done for the national parks’ view.

When we finish viewing the national park in Croatia, we cross the bridge together. Even though you see our back, you also can feel our enjoyable. Today we have a good time, and we view a good place in the Croatia.

the largest waterfall "最大的瀑布" in the national park.