Vacation Highlights # 4

Croatian Montenegrin highlights today! We went on a day trip into Montenegro with a mini-van of other travelers. After a nice view of Dubrovnik

We stopped first to see these lovelies: On the left ofs the man made island Our Lady of the Rock and on the right St George's Island. This is in the UNESCO protected Bay of Kotor (which was stunning)

We then continued on to visit and tour the town of Kotor. It was super hot!!!

There were these cool battlements up behind the city. People were walking them and that would have been great, if not for the heat and the time restraint. It was still a neat little city. We then moved on the Budva and Sveti Stefan. This is from sveti stephan

It was carnival in Budva, so the city was uncharacteristically busy (but I had to take our tour guide's word for it because I had never been there before so how would I know?)

Then we took a ferry ride back across the bay (which cut about 45 min off the scenic drive, but we had already done that part). This was one of the most beautiful places! It seemed kind of perfect. Here, you'll see:\

Croatian Highlights # 3

Today I write to you about the lovely isle of Korcula. We took a catamaran from Split to Korcula (unfortunately this girl got a little bit sea-sick or something...not the best 2 hours)

We arrived to the most adorable little town. (again. I know. There are a lot of adorable little towns). We walked for mayyyyybe 5 minutes to our sobe (its a privately owned house and people rent rooms there). We were met by Maria, who showed us to our room with an AMAZING VIEW. Seriously. We had a lovely balcony and could see the sea and the ENTIRE old town. We spent our two mornings in Korcula on that balcony soaking in the sun and that view!

Did you know that marco polo was from korcula? He was! We went through the Marco Polo "museum" and up the tower. A man at the top chatted with us for a while and waxed poetic about many things. But one thing he said particularly stuck with me. He said the Croatian people are strong - they are people made from the rock around them. And yet they are gentle. I found this to be very true. Almost all the Croats I spoke with were open and very kind. I really appreciated that. We had fun walking around the island. Not everything was open (it still isn't tourist season) but we dipped our feet in the Adriatic and there was plenty for us to see. Including the amazing water and breathtaking sunsets. And we also ate some seriously awesome food here. Highlights include the most delicious garlic foccacia-type bread (I actually wrapped the leftovers from our breadbasket in napkins and took them back to the room for later), freshly squeezed orangeslashgrapefruit juice, and succulent rosemary lamb kebabs. sigh.

(I was having fun with the pretzel sticks and thoroughly enjoying myself :) )

Croatia Highlights #2

Hey all! This will be about my day trip into Trogir. Trogir was this tiiiiny little city an hour outside of Split. The Lonely Planet guide book called it pocket sized. An accurate statement (if your walked directly from one end to the other you could probably do it in like 15 minutes). However, it is full of a legitimate MAZE of streets. This was maybe my favorite part - getting semi lost (but not really because its so small) and exploring the ins and outs. Also I had a great lunch. And ice cream. Have I mentioned how much they eat ice cream in Croatia? ALL THE TIME. I also really enjoyed my fantastic lunch. Mia got calamari and I got grilled turkey kebabs and we shared and enjoyed a 'kalovacko' beer. (We asked our hostel guy Ivan what drinks were from Croatia and which ones were the best. He listed 2 beers, Karlovacko and Ozujsko. We tried both and they were pretty similar, but both good). Mia and I by the water

Pictures of the main town square by the town hall and church:

Pictures from out lovely lunch!

and here is me thinking its a good idea to put my feet in the water. With my shoes on. Whatever, I was on an ice cream high.

Croatia Highlights #1

Hello! Well it has been almost a week since I returned from sunny southern Croatia to overcast Northern France. My vacation was lovely and super needed, and here are some petite vignettes. - Forgetting important things but still kicking ass I was halfway to Paris on the 7 AM train when suddenly I realized...I forgot my passport. That is the one document kind of necessary when traveling internationally. I freaked out for a moment, called Mia, and she told me the next couple train times back to Rouen and from Rouen back to Paris. I got off at the next stop and caught a train (without a ticket because the train station was actually closed that "early"). There were many desperate attempts to try and contact Mrs. S (the mom of the family I work for) to ask if she could bring my passport to the train station so I could catch the next train and get into Paris with enough time to get to the airport. I finally got a hold of her and she said she would try. However when I got back to Rouen, I called to see if she was here, and found out that she was not able to find my passport. With my roll-y suitcase I flew *woosh* down the stairs and through the closing doors of the metro. I proceeded to run (with a stop of two to catch my breath) from my stop to the house. I ran upstairs to find Mrs. S and Lu looking in my room. I opened the drawer, and right there was my passport (right where I said it was). I asked Mrs. S to drive me to the train station (metro or running would take too long) and I told her what time the next couple trains were leaving. There was one leaving in about 7 minutes when we left. Mrs. S was sure I would miss it, but I might be able to catch the second one and still probably make it in time. However I shocked them all! I am sure I looked like a crazy sweaty person but I ran through the train station and literally jumped on the train (which caused a couple issues for my suitcase) without a ticket. This all was done under 27 minutes. I usually allow myself 30 minutes to get from my house to the station. Mia was genuinely surprised with my giddy and endorphin-filled news and responded with a text that said I kicked ass. And I totally agreed. - Our arrival in Split started with a tense shuttle ride and a locked hostel, but with some common sense and good manners we were just fine. The location of our hostel could NOT have been any better. Within a 2 minute walk from these places:

and a 5-10 minute walk from these places:

We also had a lovely survey of some Croatian cuisine. They eat incredibly big lunches. Including the likes of this:

Which was a cuttlefish risotto. AKA black squid ink. And I ate it! (it even made my tongue black)

We also explored a little further, taking a nice multiple-hours long trek up Marjan Hill

And another long trek to visit the beautiful Ivan Mestrovik gallery

more to come!!