This may seem like a familiar start to my last periodical, but I feel that I should once again apologize to anybody who’s been waiting for an update on my behalf. Just as I sat down to type this, I was reprimanded for ‘slacking on the periodicals.’ Sorry! Life of late has been party! party! party!

I boarded a train last week to Zagreb, the hip capital of Croatia. I met a Slovenian celebrity on the way there, a 32-year-old punk-rocker who now writes children’s books and studies to be a social worker. He showed me his portfolio, and his picture dotted Slovenian gossip magazines with all the big stars like Tom Cruise and J-Lo.

Once there I met with a good friend from back home, and his cousin who has been living in Berlin for the past year and a half. We laughed at our occupational paths for sounding like the beginning of a bad joke.. Ok, so an opera singer, a restaurateur and a politician walk into a bar… All that we were missing was a rocket scientist.

We spent our two days being about as selfish as travellers can get — gorging ourselves with cheap, delicious meals, and sipping caffe latte’s and G&T’s at cafes. The only sightseeing we did was on the way to the next cafe. But our time was short together, and our selfishness justified by great company and great conversation.

Should you go to Croatia? Darn right you should! Croatia’s coast is notoriously beautiful, and among most Croatians there is a seasonal migration that occurs. Summer at the sea, and then return to the city (Zagreb) for the winter. How beautiful is Croatia? The Italians leave their own coastline to see it. Some National parks and coastal regions are protected under UNESCO, and their Dalmatian Coast is lined with islands perfect for sleeping under stars and exploration by sailboats.

Anyways, we parted ways on our second night, as the guys were riding a night-bus to the coast. I expect they ate a lot of seafood when they got there. The following day i returned to Salzburg, just in time to go to work!

Things have stabilized ever so slightly here. A good friend of mine went to Italy and Croatia for an indefinate amount of time, and was kind enough to leave me with the keys to his flat. As much as I miss his company, I love his flat.

Since my return to Salzburg, I’ve been partying lots with an American firefighter and some great Austrian friends here. I’ve gone to the lake twice in the last week as well, but unfortuantely a good tan can’t quite cover up the five to ten I’ve put on with the beer, meat and potatoes-laden diet I’ve been consuming.