We called this trip an eating vacation with a sailing problem! Here's Mike with a double dinner order of stuffed peppers and stuffed cabbages (just like his Croatian Mom used to make :) Lunch on the sailboat - we didn't do too badly rustling up the grub! Typical meal ANY time of the day was gelato (italian ice cream). P.S. Check out Mike's Croatian head shave, I mean haircut. The gal who cut his hair spoke NO English.

Labels: Croatia

The marsh frogs were in the mood for mating, and put on quite a show with their loud croaking. Do you know how a frog croaks? Much like humans, they fill up their lungs with air and then blow it across their larynx. The hollow chamber on the side that they fill up with air acts as a resonator, much like the hollow wood of the guitar amplifies the sound of the strings. That allows the frog to make the sound audible over long distances, sometimes a mile or more. This has got to be one of the coolest places for a frog to live, ever.

Labels: Croatia

Not too many national parks let you swim in their waterfalls - this one had designated areas where you were invited to take a dip. Lots of cascading waterfalls with lengthy boardwalk trails. Look at the trout holding their own against the current about to rush over the waterfall.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Croatia

The sun is back and all is forgiven...we saw a pod of dolphins who followed us for a while, some swans with their babies (cygnets?), and went hiking with some burros!

Labels: Croatia

We ran into a big storm with gale force winds that sidetracked us for a day on Vis, one of the outermost islands. We were docked in a harbor, but we had buckets inside the cabin to catch dripping rain sneaking it's way in. When we ventured out the next day, it was still nasty, with winds in the 35 to 45 knot range. Our fearless captain, Uncle Larry kept us safe on our (gulp) 6 hour sail. Mike was the official "naviguesser" in charge of the GPS to plot our course. I traded between staying up on top in the driving rain, swallowing ginger pills and watching the horizon or going below and staying dry in the rocking and rolling cabin. We were all glad when this one was over.

Labels: Croatia

Isn't it lovely? There are 1,185 islands in Croatia and about 47 of them are inhabited. We visited more of the southern islands: Hvar, Milna, Vis, Rogoznica, Skradin, Piskera, Telascica, Vodice. (I'm sure we butchered the pronunciation on a regular basis.)

Labels: Croatia

Here is our "yacht" so to speak, rented for 2 weeks from Sunsail. If you look closely, I'm hanging our laundry on the railing with clothespins. 47.3 ft. long, 6 people sleeping on board, galley, dinghy. Pretty cushy, but not much elbow room in the 3 tiny toilet/shower combos on board (bathrooms the size of a phone booth). We did a lot of stern tie-ups on this trip, which necessitated perfecting the art of walking-the-plank. Difficult at first, but it was a breeze after a couple of days.

Labels: Croatia

OK guys, did you know that you can thank 17th century Croats for popularizing the necktie? After the 30 years war in 1618-1648, Croatian mercinaries fought in the French Service. Voila, the Parisians liked that part of the uniform, and it became all the rage in Europe. The combination of the Croatia word for Croatia "Hrvati" and the French word for Croatia "Croates" linguistically evolved to become "cravat", which is the actual name of the knot that you guys tie with your dress ties. Huh!

Labels: Croatia

Zagreb is the capital, and by far the largest city we've seen at 800,000 in populations. It had an juxtaposition of old and new unlike anywhere else in Croatia. Note the red "Konzum" sign behind the bronze warrior. It's Croatian for "consume" and is the brand name of their largest grocery store chain.

Labels: Croatia

Postojnska Jama is the largest limestone cave in Europe - and the largest we've ever been in. 20 kilometers! It's so huge that they take you on a train ride through the first part of it - it felt very Disneyesque, like we were about to pitch downhill or have something jump out at us. The stalagtites and stalagmites were good, if not well preserved. Remember, the mites crawl up and the tites come down :)

Labels: Croatia

Hey, don't knock it unless you've tried it. Hot Chocolate so thick that the spoon stands up?! It was to die for...

Labels: Croatia

Where to start? The fish is outstanding, sometimes only a few hours out of the water. Restaurants bring you a platter with fish of the day, and you buy the whole fish that they grill or bake for you. Figs are beautiful, typically in rings separated with fig leaves. Fresh squeezed orange juice is the norm; there are orange, lemon and olive trees everywhere.

Labels: Croatia

Lest you be misled that we're eating healthy ALL the time, we do have a weakness for gelato, and gelato stands are as popular as coffee shops in Seattle. Would you believe dark chocolate gelato? Just look at these desserts - they are works of art! We'd better watch it so we don't end up looking like this guy...

Labels: Croatia

Trogir is another lovely walled city in Croatia. It's so odd to see a cobblestone street and stone buildings with modern day-to-day shopping and hubbub going on. The statue is beautiful, isn't it? Especially the hands. The old clock is actually a 24 hour clock if you look closely. Mike and I had to climb to the top of the bell tower, of course. That's him in the red shirt standing below the stairs.

Labels: Croatia

Built in the 4th century, this palace has withstood time well, very intact for the period, and carefully (minimally) restored. It's an odd story - apparently Diocletian built this huge palace, complete with an elaborate domed mausoleum for himself when he died. Trouble is he was a truly evil man - tortured and killed Christians. When he died, he was so hated by the populace that they ransacked the palace, taking all the valuables. They also removed his body from the mausoleum - no one knows where it is. Ironically, they turned the mausoleum into a Christian chapel. Touche, Dioclesian!!

Labels: Croatia

In Karlovac, near the border with Bosnia, there are remnants from the war in the early 90's, including United Nations barriers, decommissioned tanks and shrapnel marks on the buildings. Many hundreds of Croatians died before Molosovich was defeated.

Labels: Croatia

Plitvice Lakes are in the Lika region of Croatia (where Mike's family was from). Nestled in the mountains, there are 16 lakes lying at different altitudes separated by natural travertine barriers, linked by foamy cascading waterfalls and surrounded by a frame of lush greenery. Stunningly beautiful, and extremely well protected as a national treasure of Croatia. We hiked for hours and hours, exhausting ourselves and the battery on the camera as we tried to drink it all in.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Croatia

Bursting with fresh produce both from Croatia and Italy, the famer's markets are lively and packed with people shopping for their daily groceries. We saw many markets in different parts of Croatia - usually they open daily at 7am and shut down completely at 2pm.

Labels: Croatia

Holy guacamole, this Croatian is a mouthful. It's a Slavic based language, not a Latin based language, so it has different characters and not much familiar point of reference for those who speak English, Spanish or French. Fortunately a significant portion of the population, at least the ones dealing with tourism, speak English. Check out these signs...can you figure out what they mean?

Labels: Croatia

Croatian women are lovely, typically with dark hair and creamy skin. The top photo shows a Dubrovnik parade with historical costumes (and lively Croatian music!) The bottom shows the love that the older generation has here for lace, handmade in simple colors with intricate patterns.

Labels: Croatia

Dubrovnik, Croatia is a picturesque walled city by the Adriatic Sea. Although the city was damaged in the Serbo-Croatian war in the early 90's, it's now a UNESCO world heritage site. The buildings inside have beautiful tile roofs, from locally sourced clay. We climbed the wall and walked the perimeter of the old city for a couple of hours before having lunch in one of the many streetside cafes within the walls. Charming and steeped in rich history at the same time.

Labels: 2009 Highlights, Croatia