A sick little Robbie, but managed to soldier on

It was a long bus trip up to Split and for some reason we messed up the times for the bus so we would not be catching the ferry to Hvar that night...

But all worked out well, Australia was playing Croatia that night and we managed to get some wicked accommodation (thanks Ems parents for the hook up) at this Croatia couples Place... I love Pensions.

That night we found a square right in the middle of the old city that had a projector screen set up and about 200 CroatÂSs... Flares went off when the Croatian national anthem started and they all sang but Jamie, Em, Nic and I stood proud in defiance in our Australian Socceroos guernseys...Ohh yes, and we sang loud and proud.

I remember the bartender telling me to not shout out abuse for dodgy calls that went Croatia´s way, he was fearing for my life. When half time came, and after several anI i mean, several, dirty looks from some very scary looking Croats, we decided it might be best to go find a bar with some more Aussies. After all, it is their national sport and they are quite patriotic.

WE found a place down on the water, it was like a pokie venue, (won some Kuna later on which was nice), it was easy to spot the Green And Gold out from the distance...

The game although not a win, a draw was enough to take us to the next round... why am i telling you this, of course you already know it, but to see the joy on my fellow AUstralians faces, was magical. I can only imagine, what it wouldve been like at the game, or even back home. Did Johnny announce a public holiday?

A slight amount of fear struck us, when some rowdy Croatians, obviously unhappy with the result started throwing bottles into the crowd. hmmm nice. time to move inside. After chaos had settled we ventured out to find a bar, to celebrate the win. I should not have done this. after feeling ill for a couple of days, the drinking session, although small, was the straw that broke the camels back...

I got bear sick (bear is a term i picked up a couple of days ago from some English guys, you will hear more about them in time, the term means "very", or "extremely"), and for the next week, i didnt drink... Thank you so much to Ems Dad, who is a chemist, and had some antibiotics on him... LEGEND! Caught the ferry to Hvar and spent the next 3 nights there... just amazing... I was told to go check out a place called Campe Dium, i did, and it was pretty much like one of those toffee sydney bars... well thats the impression i got. but it was very glamorous and maybe i wouldve liked it better if i could talk, and didnt have a fever. The magna doodle was a great help.

In Hvar, which is an island off croatia, you can take either hire your own boat or get a ferry to one of the islands for real cheap, and go exploring... such a beautiful place. I had the best steak of my life (sorry Corey, the pepper steak at the Leveson is a very close 2nd) on one of the islands. I made good use of the lilos, we had purchased for a bed for the ferry to Italy the next day, and lay out in this little cove, trying to escape the massive wasps that were there. I may have a slight phobia of wasps, its something about there unpredictability and their irratic movement, and their sting. They just freak me a little.

Unfortunately my camera went bung for a little while so have no photos of Hvar or much of Croatia but for some reason it just started working again we got into Rome... I tell you what, that was some serious trravelling that day... From Hvar to Split, to Ancona, then the long train ride to Roma (Rome, but i like it as Roma)... I think it was like 20hours all up... massive.

Gotta run..

Speak soon

Wah