Last night in Dubrovnik

Sigh, one can hope for things and then there's reality, yes? We took it easy on our last day here. Since we hadn't hit the beach since arriving, today was the day. We drove with Pero up to Veliki Žali or Big Beach. We were lazy and didn't bring the camera but believe me when I say it's a beautiful spot to enjoy to water and beach. Croatian beaches are mainly large stones and pebbles so bringing surf walkers on your trip can be pretty critical to walking comfortably on the shore. The major upside to pebbles is that there's no sand in your suit or anything else for that matter.

We met up again with a few of the guys Pero knew as well as a few new ones. They were also American from the Bay Area and relaying their evening at the bars and clubs the night before was entertaining. Croatian women are known for being very cold to male strangers. They dress to kill, spending their month's paycheck on high end clothes, shoes, or bags. Not the most sensible but when many are almost 6 feet tall and legs for days, it pays off as eye candy. However, it's a giant tease. They'll usually only talk with the men they know. So for these poor guys who only wanted to chat with them or maybe have a dance, these girls brushed them off before they could take a step in their direction.

After a nice, long dunk in the mellow waters, we got pizza up on the shore, hung out for a bit, and then headed home to clean up. In the evening, we went to a restaurant called Konoba Canossa in Trsteno. Pero was craving black risotto. This restaurant just has outdoor seating I believe, so you many want to cover yourself in mosquito repellant before dining, just in case. Turns out this place has an outstanding octopus salad, delicious fish soup and fried squid. If you're not a seafood eater, don't worry, there are still the classic meat dishes like the cevapcici. Pero particularly enjoyed his risotto. I don't know the address but the easiest landmark is across the street. It's a gigantic tree, ages old, with a fence around it.

Once we finished with dinner we went back to Zaton and joined in a party by the water. There was a band and all kinds of people were enjoying the music, the candy station, food and drink. We finally met a family my in-laws told us to meet up with while we were here. The husband, Peter, is in construction here in the Bay Area and his three sons attended my high school alma mater. We met him and his wife Kris, as well as their beautiful boys, Johnny, Christopher, and Peter. The family was so friendly and funny. The three boys could not be more different than one another and they were incredibly sweet. Everyone was having a great time, especially the boys since they were all allowed to drink legally this trip.

The boys also had a group of friends with them so it was a mix of these young girls and boys loving the night out in Europe. I thought, how incredibly lucky they are, to have this before their life really starts. Peter, the youngest, is normally shy apparently but with liquid courage he tried to talk to a girl at the party. But like typical Croatian girls, she essentially blew him off. He was discouraged but the group urged him to go find her and talk to her again. His father even teased he could show him how it's done.

Possibly embarrassed and maybe with a bruised ego combined with alcohol, Peter suddenly got very emotional. What started as a fun night with everyone laughing suddenly turned a little sober. Peter decided to take a walk with a friend chaperoning. Unfortunately, the friend didn't stick with him from the start and somehow lost him in the crowd. He returned and went back out with a bigger search party. Now poor mom was worried about her baby. We couldn't believe this last night in Dubrovnik couldn't just be a mellow, fun evening. Kris turned and said sarcastically, "Aren't you glad you met us?"

Fortunately, the group located Peter, still upset and not interested in going home just yet. However, dad was now tired and ready to go. That was our cue to all start heading to our cars. We took a few of the kids back to the house they were staying at and after Pero dropped us back at the house, he went back out to see if anyone else would need a ride back. Exhausted, as it was 2AM again, we fell right to sleep.