Trieste, Italy to Zagreb, Croatia via Sleeper Car!

Wow! It has been quite a couple very interesting days! We woke up in Grado, Italy and bought bus tickets to Monfacone. We ended up missing the bus by a few minutes because we were on the wrong side of the street. So we put our backpacks up against a small wood post and sat on the ground by the side of the road for almost 2 hours. We were eaten alive my mosquitos. We got the funniest looks from people driving by. We finally made it to our destination only to find out there is only one train to Croatia and it leaves at 11 pm. We decided to get as close to the Italy, Croatia border as we could and then see what we could do. So we got on a train and headed to Trieste. Once there, we spent a few more hours trying to figure out what to do. We decided to book a hotel room for the day in order to get some rest. We try and book hotels that are close to train stations so that we can walk if we need to. We have been really struggling because we are low on cash since we were pick-pocketed. So my dad said, “Let’s see how far the hotel is. 1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9..10..11..12..13..14..15..16..17 blocks.” With each block he counted, my body hurt a little bit more. It was quite the walk! What made it seem so much longer was that we were exhausted, frustrated, and it was super hot outside! I can’t even explain how good it felt to lay down on a bed and take a nap for a few hours in that hotel. I take so many things for granted! From then on the day flew by. We walked back to the train station and boarded a train back to Monfacone. From Monfacone we boarded a train to Zagreb. Luckily, we got tickets in a sleeper car. Or so we thought... :) The man opened the door to our sleeper car, turned on the lights, and 4 heads popped up. We were the 5th and 6th addition to a little room about the size of a walk-in closet. The beds were tiny! I felt almost as if I were in a concentration camp. I’m not sure why, but I did. I felt even more like that when dozens of police came around pounding on the doors saying, “Police, passports.” It could’ve been a lot worse and I was definitely grateful to sleep! It was an adventure I’ll never forget! We then made it to Zagreb at about 4:30 am and our next train to Split, Croatia didn’t leave until 8:00. People lined the hallways dead asleep. A few people who had sleeping bags were sprawled out on the grass. We killed the time by traveling to the bus station looking for better options, getting some breakfast, and walking around the area. We are now on a 6 hour train ride to Split, Croatia. Following that, we’ll get on a 3 or 4 hour bus ride to Dubrovnik, Croatia! Wish me luck because it’s going to be a long haul!