Chance or Fate ??

Since you are reading this post, then I obviously made it somewhere safe at the end of my adventurous bus trip. But it turns out the bus ride was only the beginning of this story.
I am not sure if I believe in the concept of fate, or the philosophy that life is a collection of random acts. But I don't think it really matters. Either things happen merely by chance, or each roadbump is an elaborate scheme to place you where you are supposed to be at the right time. Either way I look at it, I have been unbelievably lucky each step of this trip, regardless of whether I realize it at the time or not.
The bus trip finally ended when we got to a stop in Croatia at 11pm (not 7 pm, when we were scheduled to arrive in Pula, Croatia). The bus driver and assistant were absolutely of no help. They only spoke in Italian, and were very unwilling to take the time to talk with anyone that was not Italian. We had made stops at several small bus stops along the way, and one time I almost got off because they impatiently shouted back 'Bola', which sounds just like 'Pula' when said in such a heavy accent. But since it looked like the middle of nowhere, and only 3 people got off, I decided to ride it out. Finally when we got to the main bus stop, everyone got up to get off; so I followed the crowd.
Immediately off the bus I walked up to three young ladies that also had backpacks. You always have better luck with other such travelers. They were from Holland and spoke english. They said they were staying at a campsite just a short cab ride away; I was all for that. We shared a cab and I had no problems getting a site. And it was cheap, only about $10 per day. But it wasn't until the next morning that I found out it was just across the street from the Mediterranean coast. But it got even better. Upon my first walk down their rocky beaches, I found a scuba diving center just a few hundred meters from the campsite. They had availability, and I will have completed all 4 of my required Open Water Dives by tomorrow. Even more, there are some nice rock climbing cliffs at the end of the peninsula, places for sea kayak and bike rentals, I saw a sign for sky diving, the Old Town is traditional and beautiful, the food is great, and there is tons of street music and activities during the evenings. And to top it all off; it is by far the cheapest place I have been in Europe.
Needless to say, I am loving my choice to come to Croatia. The fateful joke of it is....I am not in the city I thought I was or planned to be. It took me over a day to finally realize I did not get off the bus in Pula, where my ticket was purchased for. I got off a stop early in Rovinja. Just goes to show, sometimes you get to the best things in life by accident(or fate).