Vacation

Well, I'm getting bored with posting the activities day by day. So, instead I'll provide you with some of the best shots from the rest of the trip and be done with it all.




That took me a good hour to figure out how to do it. But it's so easy now that I know!

Now I'm happy to move on and tell you about other things that have happened since I've been back. Stay tuned for triathlons, man weekend in Utah, and our 2 year dating anniversary.

Day 3 - Split

On Day 3 we drove the rental car to Split and dropped it off. Rental car services are very different in Croatia. We just dropped the car off where we could and called up the owner and he had a friend come pick it up. Easy peasy.

In Split we visited Diocletian's palace (Roman Emperor from 284 to 305). He established the largest and most bureaucratic government in the history of the empire. He also lead the last, largest, and bloodiest official persecution of Christianity. All this information however was not found there at the site of the palace. In fact, the place is extremely beautiful but it is not well exhibited or explained. This is partly because they have so many visitors from all over they have to at least present the information in Croatian, Italian, German, and English.

We heard wonderful Klappa singers....



... and ate wonderful octopus salad, caprese salad, and proscuitto. Yum! And then explored the town a bit more.

Then we were off for our ferry to Hvar. It was extremely hot and crowded and there were too many people who hadn't showered on the thing. So, a bit of a headache. When we arrived in Hvar and got off the ferry we were immediately hounded by over 20 sobe owners who needed a last minute place to sleep. "Ne hvala" was our motto, meaning "no thanks".

When we arrived to our sobe, Anna was there to greet us. She loved that Pete was Croatian and told us all the local things to do. We fell in love witht the beach that she described- The Hula, Hula Beach. There were large padded chairs, a full bar and restaurant near by, beautiful sites, and beautiful people. Most Croatian beaches did not have sand though but painful pebbles but the beauty was worth it.





We stopped by a grocery store for supplies and then we nibbled as we watched the sunset from our sobe. Then we dined at a local restaurant for pizza and tried local liquor. I fell in love with Kruskovac, pear liquor, it tasted like banana laffy taffy. Pete tried Travarica, herb liquor, he didn't like it as well. Then we walked into town and had ice cream and saw the sites.

WE LOVE HVAR!

Day 2

Woke up and had a cappucino at a coffee bar. It seemed no one ate any food at the restaurants but smoked a ton of cigarettes with their coffee and chatted with friends. Needless to say Pete and I were raring to get out of there.

We had our blue VW rental car dropped off to us during the peak of traffic in Trogir. Pete and I hadn't driven a stick shift in 10 years or so. Neither of us were eager to get behind the wheel. I won- Pete drove (he drives everywhere for me in the States so why would I change in Croatia?). We stopped at a gas station and neither of us could figure out how to open the gas tank. So Pete drove forward to go and park and get water and he stalled. Then he stalled again, and again. We had a nice crowd watching us stupid Americans try to operate the car. Funny to us now.

So we got moving on our way to Plivitce Lakes. (At one point we were driving up a windy hill and the truck in front of us came to a complete stop. Needless to say we stalled again.) The toll highway cost us $9 on the way up and nearly $17 on the way back. Yowza!

When we arrived at Plivitce Lakes we had some crappy sausages and fries which we continued to burp up all day. Then we hiked into the protected lake park. It was very hot and very crowded. There are all these funny little wooden paths with no handrails, lots of people, and you are not allowed to step into the water. I was amazed that we didn't see anyone fall off the path all day. But let me tell you, it was jaw droppingly beautiful! And totally worth it. If you are ever considering going to Plivitce I would recommend that you go in late September or later. But if you have to go in August like we did, it's worth the trip. And you might possibly get the best apple strudel of your life.

We drove back, showered, had a decent dinner but it certainly wasn't great. Again more smoking everywhere. The first thing they do when you arrive to your table is place an ashtray. Walked around the secret passageways of the city, had some ice cream (daily ritual), and finally had a wonderful good night's sleep.

Day 1 - Travel

This is me peaking behind our divider sitting in business class via British Airways on our way to London. We flew direct from LAX to LHR and it was quite lovely. We did one thing foolish on our way in. We ate at an airport restaurant before we went into the business class lounge. When we got into the business class lounge there was a ton of free food and drinks for all to enjoy. Rookie move on my part. How was I supposed to know?

Good start to flight. Pete asked me if I would be okay sitting backwards to which I replied, "Yeah, I have a strong stomach. No sweat." Throughout the flight I had one glass of champagne and two glasses of red and then napped out. The dinner was pretty good - four course meal, not bad, not bad. When I woke up it was hot, I was dehydrated due to the air and alcohol consumption, and then when we taxid into LHR I threw up. You were expecting that right? I totally had to eat my words.

In LHR we had to go through customs, get our bags, get on the subway, go to terminal 1, check in, go back through security, and then sit around for 4 more hours before our Croatian Airways flight. Flew to Zagreb to connect to Split. We were picked up promptly from the airport thanks to JayWay Travel hosts and dropped off in Trogir where our sobe* owner was coming out to greet us. The taxi guy dropped us off in nearly the middle of town and we had no clue which random person would be coming out to greet us. Sure enough a girl with a cute yellow dress, an oddly cool looking fanny pack, and a half shaved head introduced herself and led us to the center of town.

It was hot. So we pumped up the air conditioning, took a short shower, walked around town for a bit, got kunas out of the atm, and had some sladoled (ice cream). When we got back I couldn't sleep- I was too cold with the air conditioning (and it rattled), time difference bothered me, and there was an older woman yelling at her family all night in the courtyard below.

I was tired but very excited to begin my Croatian adventure.

*Sobe- Room in a local house (sometimes standalone apartments).

(Our Sobe) Kitchen & Balcony are behind the bed wall. Bathroom is to the left.

Trip Teaser

I saw London.

Not quite France.

But I did see lots of underpants!

Yes, that's right I am 4. :)