Istanbul Day Three

Our final day in Istanbul and our final day of our vacation. We have had such a great time--we're really not ready for it to end. It rained very briefly early this morning and now we have another beautiful day.

We had breakfast again on the terrace, then headed out on a short walk to the Blue Mosque. This is an incredibly beautiful building. We removed our shoes before entering and put them into the plastic bag provided. We thought Brie and Kim would need to wear head scarves, but they just waved us in. The high domes are tiled in a variety of beautiful old tiles. The architecture is amazing and the floors were covered in a variety of beautiful carpets. The large floor area had no chairs, the men pray on the floors and there was a small area off to the side for women.

We then walked to the banks of the Bosphorus and wound our way around to the Spice Bazaar. Like the Grand Bazaar, this is a large covered market with lots of stands, most of them selling bulk spices, teas, nuts, candy, etc. In the streets just outside the Spice Bazaar are lots of stands with household products, party and wrapping supplies, kitchen supplies, green markets and even large plastic jugs containing live leeches and other (?!) medicinal products. We wandered around the streets looking in shops and observing people. Outside the Spice Bazaar, the people were more locals versus tourists.

We had a quick lunch at an outside cafe then went back to the area near the Bosphorus and bought tickets for the scenic ferry tour of the Bosphorus from the end of this river where it empties into the Adriatic Sea to the beginning at the mouth of the Black Sea (about 7 miles). From the ferry you could see the city, mosques, old castles, forts and palaces built on the banks of the river. There were also lots of "yalis", old wooden houses, some very ornate, built right at the edge of the water.

The ferry stopped in Anadolu Kavagi near the mouth of the Black Sea for about 2 hours. Up until now, we had stayed entirely in the European side of Istanbul -- this stop put us on the Asian side. We decided to walk up the hill to an old fortress. As we walked up the streets toward the fortress, there were signs saying keep out and forbidden zone and warning that taking photos was forbidden. The signs were posted on chain link fences with barbed wire at the top. There weren't any other people walking up at that point. We were trying to figure out what the deal was and whether we should keep walking up to the fort when we heard a voice over a loud speaker (in Turkish of course). We weren't sure if we were being warned to stop or what was going on then a truck came into view with the loudspeaker--it was a couple of guys selling potatoes and onions from their truck :).

We kept walking up to the fort, past all these fenced areas then came to a sign saying entrance to the fort (in English) . We walked up that path/stairs, and came across a bunch of cafes and shops obviously set up for tourists. The stairs kept climbing up, through the cafes, until finally we got to the top and the ruins of the old fort. There were amazing views of the Bosphorus, the Black sea and the little villages along the river.

When we got back to the hotel, Brie and Kim decided to go to a Turkish Bath while Joe carefully packed up the bottles of wine, olive oil and other breakables that we bought during our trip. The baths were a couple of blocks from our hotel and were originally built in 1584. There are separate areas for men and women. You go in and they give you a towel to wrap up in, then you go into a large room with a big marble circle. You lay on this heated marble and "relax". It is really hot in there. There were about 10-12 women in there of all ages and nationalities and no one seemed to have any idea what to do or what to expect and the women who worked in there spoke only Turkish and impatiently talked to you and gestured to get you to move around and do the bath. Everyone else had a good sense of humor and it was an interesting experience--When in Turkey...

We had a nice final dinner together in a restaurant down the block from our hotel then bought some baklava and other sweets to eat in our room as we took on the challenging task of packing up our treasures for the trip home. Wish we had more time to explore this city, there is so much to see.

Istanbul Day Two

We started the day with breakfast on the terrace of our hotel overlooking some of the major sites: the Blue Mosque, the Haghia Sophia Mosque, the Sea, the Bosphorus River, etc. We then walked to the huge and opulent Topkapi Palace and began our tour of it in the Harem area. The Harem housed up to 1,000 concubines guarded by black eunuchs. The women in the harem were selected when they were young for their beauty and intelligence. They were held captive. Those who were favorites of the sultan received some education, and trained in music, dancing and singing. Those who bore him a son achieved more status and better quarters and sometimes marriage. The sultan's male relatives had ornate comfortable quarters, but were kept captive also in "golden cages" so they would not overthrow him or have access to his harem. Interesting system! Their was incredible tile work all over the palace in beautiful colors and designs, most of it very old and in beautiful, well preserved condition.

After the Harem, we toured the rest of the Topaki Palace. which was built between 1459 and 1465 by Sultan Mehmet II. It was inhabited by a succession of sultans and their families and staff until 1853. It has been a museum since 1924. There were big groups of young school children there on field trips. They would wave and say hello ("koniche wa" to Asian tourists). Some were brave enough to try more of their English asking, us our name or how we were. They were very open and cute. We then walked to the Haghia Sophia Mosque, which is now a museum. It, too, is quite large. It was originally built as a Christian church, but was converted to a mosque with a variety of different architectural elements added through the centuries. It was undergoing renovation, so our view was obstructed a bit by scaffolding. The dome was immense. Five times during the day there is a call to prayer broadcast over loudspeakers at the mosques. You can hear it loudly all across the city. The song-like calls are beautiful. We didn't see anyone respond to the calls--perhaps they were already at the mosques.

We stopped for a quick lunch of kabobs and vegetarian stuff for Brie, then wandered through the Grand Bazaar looking in the stands. People would call out to you to look in their stands, some were very clever, but it was not as chaotic or aggressive as we expected.

We met Ilhami and his friend Saski at our hotel and walked back to the bazaar. Ilhami had arranged for Saski to take us to some rug stands since we thought it might be fun to buy a Turkish rug. We went into a shop. They have you sit down, pour you little cups of tea. Once they have an idea of what you are looking for, they have a few guys to run all over finding rugs that might fit your description and laying them out in front of you. We quickly realized we didn't know enough about rugs, style, quality, value, etc. and neither Saski nor Ilhami know about rugs. Saski knew people and friends who sold rugs. We looked at two places and decided to pass on the rugs this trip, but it was an interesting, and sometime amusing, experience.

Saski then took us to an nice silver shop and ceramic shop where we did some shopping. His connection to the merchants got us great services and probably better prices because of the friendship and respect for him and for Ilhami. Relationships. respect and hospitality are important factors in this culture and we have been treated so kindly.

Ilhami has taken time off from his important job to spend time with us and help us. He is so gracious and friendly with a great since of humor. He does not speak English so we communicate by he and Brie speaking French--they got along so well and Brie's french is amazing after only 5-6 months. We also got some help with communication from the staff at our hotel.

We wanted to take Ilhami for a drink and dinner before he needed to fly to the capital on business. He was very resistant, wanting to take us out again. A staff member at our hotel was helping us discuss this with him. He was saying being with us was a pleasure and he wanted to treat us and we were saying essentially the same thing. I asked the young man translating What do we do? and he looked kind of helpless and said I don't know then we all laughed. It's hard to reciprocate in any way while in Turkey. the custom of very kind hospitality is so strong.
We had a fun dinner together on our terrace before he had to leave. We are hoping he will come see us in Santa Barbara with his lovely wife Nurver.

Istanbul

We squeezed in a trip to the Arts & Crafts museum before heading off to the airport. It ıs a great museum showcasing the evolution of furniture and related items from Gothic times to the present. We were hoping that everything on display would have been made in Croatia, but it included pieces from all over Europe. There were special rooms with focus on clocks on bells, on tea cups, etc. İn each room, they showed typical dress of the period. What was amazing was that they made each of the dresses out of plastic (very realistic) so people could handle them and they could be replaced.


We had an emotional goodbye lunch with Davor, Miriana and Irena ın theır flat before leafvıng for the aırport. We had a wonderful tıme wıth them and Vedrena and feel we really formed a specıal bond. We look forward to seeıng them agaın soon--somewhere, somehow.


We left our 'daughter' Irena ın Zagreb and met up wıth our daughter, Brıe, ın Istanbul--ahh the wonder of travel. We were met at the aırport by Ilhamı and Burak, two wonderful Turkısh "instant frıends" who drove us to our hotel then took us out for a fabulous dınner at a Turkısh restaurant. Ilhami is the husband of a physician (Nurver) working for Joe's dad in Los Angeles & Burak is a colleague of Nurver's. Ilhami doesn't speak English. We don't speak Turkish. Ilhami taught himself to speak French by reading French architecture books. Brie started taking French lessons in the Fall and Joe took two years of French in junior high school. So we communicated with him in French :-) We mainly laughed a lot. Burak spoke English, fortunately.

We had a wonderful tıme tryıng new foods, talkıng to each other ın Englısh-Turkısh-French combınatıons. Ilhamı then took us on a drıve along the Bosphorus seeıng the dıfferent neıghborhoods and the brıdges, and gave us a view of the Asıan sıde from across the river. Thıs looks lıke an ıncredıble cıty and we are lookıng forward to explorıng ıt and spendıng tıme wıth Brie.

Micropayment Technology ın Croatia

We were impressed with Croatia's start implementing a system that let's you pay for small things with your cell phone.

When you park your car on the street in certain areas you can send a text message of your car license plate number to a four-digit number that is posted nearby. That puts the nominal one-hour parking charge onto your cell phone bill. When the hour is almost up you receive a text message asking if you would like to buy another hour of parking to which you can simply reply.

Similarly when you want to ride the tram in Zagreb you simply send a short standard text message to 8585 and you have just bought a 90-mı,inute pass. You get a text message confirmation back that you show to the conductor when you are asked for your ticket.

Zagreb

We are having a wonderful time in the company of Davor, Miriana and Irena. Monday we got up, had a leisurely breakfast in their beautiful flat and then Miriana took us on a guided tour of Zagreb. We walked around the lower and upper towns seeing the cathedral, beautiful old buildings and parks, the national theater, archives and outside of galleries and museums (they are all closed on Mondays). As we walked, we learned more about the history of the town and personal stories from Miriana's life here. We paused for a little wine tasting in the shop of one of the family's friends. Afterward, we met Davor for some wonderful gelato at Millennium (our favorite in all of Croatia), then wandered around some more as he went back to work.

We walked back to the flat to meet Davor at the end of the afternoon. We got in the car, picked Irena up at work, and drove out of town 30-45 minutes through lush forestland to a huge antenna on top of the mountain, but more amazingly, we found out this is actually a ski area with several runs including a slalom run used in international competitions. I never would have guessed such a place would be so close to the city. They told us about a champion woman skier from Croatia and how 25,000 people from the town went up there a couple of years ago to watch her compete.

We then went down the other side of the mountain to a restaurant in a valley. It was in a large peasant's house with a thatched roof, low beamed ceilings a cozy dining areas. We had another meal of regional specialities, roast duck with a special flat pasta, turkey with a mushroom stuffing and stuffed chicken breast with a paprika-flavored polenta. We drank regional white wine and for dessert, one of their favorite dishes, štruklj, a kind of cheese filled crepe baked in the oven with cream (sort of like a soft cheese blintz). We were so stuffed we didn't get through much of the dessert, but it was delicious-and the whole meal very relaxing and fun.

We're sad to be leaving Croatia in a couple of hours. We have had a fantastic time here. All of the people have been so warm and friendly. The sea, parks and towns are great. The history is amazing. We highly recommend a vacation to this wonderful place!

It is with some mixed feelings that we head for a city with more than three times the number of inhabitants of the country where we have spent a little more than two weeks: Istanbul.

Pletvička Lakes National Park

Pronounced PLEET-veet-chkuh, the lakes are unique. Rick Steeves says: Imagine Niagara Falls diced and sprinkled over a heavily forested Grand Canyon.

We drove for a couple of hours from Krk to get to this national park, saying goodbye to our good friend, the Adriatic Sea. What makes the park unique is a process similar to that the creates stalagtites and stalagmites in caves. In this case, the river water flows over limestone, causing it to become supersatured with calcium carbonate. This causes the still lakes to have a beautiful turquoise color that we've never seen in a lake before. As the water flows out of the lakes over a fall, some of the calcium carbonate drops out of solution and is deposited on the rocks (actually on calcium carbonate previously deposited on the rocks). This leaves smooth rounded features, over which the water flows. The topography is constantly evolving as the calcium carbonate is absorbed and redeposited.

As in most places we have visited in Croatia, we were struck by the lack of hand rails. We saw one kid fall off the trail, but he wasn't hurt. Two days earlier, an elderly couple fell over a ledge to their death. We were careful. The paths of dirt and stone or wood wove around and over the lakes. It was a beautiful hike, about 2-3 hours.

At the end of our hike, we stopped for a beer at the concession stand. It was one of the very best dark beers we have ever tasted. It is called Velebitsko, and is made by a local microbrewery in such small quantities that it can only be purchased at the national park and in one store in Zagreb. We took one of the small electric boats back to our starting spot and hiked up to the cars. Everything is lush and green with lots of wildflowers. Our lunch at a restaurant just outside the park was excellent: mixed meats cooked on a rotisserie and under a peke. We are learning about and trying lots of traditional Croatian foods--being with locals is such a rich experience and we spend lots of time at the table talking and exchanging stories.

We then drove to Zagreb, going through the area most affected by the war. We saw many buildings that we still partially or completely destroyed by bombs, bullets or fire. There are a variety of social and legal reasons for the slow rebuilding.

Finally we got to Zagreb a little after dark and settled in for a little sleep before exploring our last sights in Croatia.

Otok Krk

Otok means "island". We couldn't imagine how to pronounce Krk before our trip, but now it's simple: just pretend that the r is a vowel (as it sometimes is in Croatian). If that doesn't help, try pronouncing it like Kirk.

We drove from Rovinj to Krk to meet Irena's parents and spend some time with them, starting at their beach house on Krk. The roads are great and well-signed, so we had no trouble finding it. Irena's parents (Davor and Miriana) are so friendly and welcoming. We felt like part of their family from the first few minutes. They had prepared a wonderful breakfast of local meats, cheese and breads. Miriana's parents built the house 30+years ago and they use it every season (approx May-Sept) Our room had a terrace overlooking the sea and a private bath. We walked around their neighborhood and along the sea.

They shared lots of stories of the neighbors, adventures on their boat and experiences they have had over the years. It gave so much more life to the neighborhood and a look into Croatian lifestyle and history. The old hill town of Omisalij had several medieval buildings still in use, in addition there is evidence of a town from around 900 BC.

We had refreshments at a little cafe in a small harbor. Kim and Joe had Croatian iced coffee. We learned that this is an ice cream sundae with some coffee at the bottom and lots of whipped cream on top. Kim got too excited pushing down a big chunk of ice cream, which caused a slight eruption of coffee and whipped cream. The coffee spilled all over her khaki pants. The man who owned the shop was a friend of Irena and her parents. He took Kim into the back kitchen and scrubbed the front legs of her pants with a cloth and dishwashing soap. Kim kept trying to tell him she could scrub the pants herself, but he didn't understand and just scrubbed harder! We eventually got the stains out back at the house. So now we refer to spilling on our clothes as an iced coffee experience :-)

We also learned that lunch is the main meal of the day, which is eaten any time between 11:30am - 5:00 or so. Later in the day, people eat a snack that is called dinner. So we ate a very late lunch that they prepared for us of a very special grilled mussels and fresh fish. It was izvrsno (excellent). We are going to try to replicate the grilled mussel recipe when we get home. Anyone interested in coming over to be guinea pigs?

After a leisurely lunch on the terrace, we drove to the the main town Krk, and walked around. It is a medieval town on the beach with beautiful old stone buildings from the twelfth century, lots of shops and cafes and a very active night life. The blue of the sky, as it got dark, was incredible. We'd never seen those shades of blue before. We stopped a a small cafe for sweets (in this case cakes) and drove home to bed--stuffed once again :)

Exploring Istria, part 2

Joe did his (only) second run of the vacation. He found a great running path from our apartment through a huge park to the coast, then along the coast to town. Most of the run was on hard packed dirt. The views were great and the sea was calm: 0" swells--literally. We had another great breakfast on our terrace then headed out for the day.

Then we drove down to Pula to see the Roman amphitheater. It is one of the best preserved in the world--much more so than the one in Rome that is in everyone's vacation photos. It is a bit smaller and sits on the sea. Construction was started in the first century BC and finished early in the first century AD. It is remarkable to see something so old so well preserved, but the history of the battles there and the violent, bloody entertainment are a bit disturbing. We walked around Pula's old town which was much more commercial and less charming than many of the others to which we have been.

We headed into the inland area again to visit wineries. This time, armed with our new maps, we were much more successful. At the fist one, a young man came out to greet us as we drove up. He took us into the tasting room and we sampled some of their wines while he answered our questions on grape growing and wine making in Istria. We bought a couple of bottles then headed out to explore a nearby hill town. It has some newer looking homes and several of the old stone buildings were vacant and falling apart. The church was at the top with beautiful sweeping views of the valleys--we could see forever. We ate a picnic lunch up there and headed out visiting a couple of other wineries and olive oil mills. The countryside is truly beautiful and the people are so welcoming and happy to talk. It feels like it is early in the development of this area, not as slick and sophisticated as Tuscany or Napa.

We are now back in Rovinj for our last evening here. It's been a fun and relaxing part of our trip and we are sad to be leaving the area and our great apartment. We are going out on the town tonight. We plan to hit the new hip hot spot, Kčlvščlx. Kim is fond of the local drink Mcvžđxš and Joe is quite the wqhklžćmvxr !!! :). As you can see, Kim has mastered the local language ;-)

Tomorrow off the Krk to See Irena and meet her parents.

For one of you faithful readers who have made it this far, we have a contest in which you can win a bottle of Croatian wine. Simply be the first to post a comment to this blog posting identifying the most typical Istrian grape/wine variety of the color of your wine preference. That is, if you want a bottle of red wine, identify the most typical red grape/wine. Similarly for white. Only one bottle will be awarded.

Rivinj, part 3

After walking around the old town (Stari Grad means old town), we went back to our apartment and packed a picnic lunch. We walked down to the beach nearby and rented a kayak. The business transaction was so typical of our experiences here and so foreign to what we encounter at home.
"How much to rent the kayak?
"35 kunas per hour.
"OK
"Here are the paddles, I'll put the kayak into the water for you.
"Thanks. See you later.
"Ciao"

No names, no deposits, no release of liability, just "have fun".

We spent a couple of hours paddling around: first out to an island where we had our picnic, then back toward shore and along the coast. The weather was beautiful, but there was a bit of wind so the sea was rougher than in Dubrovnik. The swells were about 2 feet and there was a lot of chop. The coves and pebble beaches along the shore were beautiful.

After kayaking, we went back to the apartment and relaxed for a bit, doing laundry and reading out on our terrace. We drank some of our wine, then decided to eat dinner at a restaurant right on the beach we had noticed earlier. After walking down to the restaurant, we found it was closed--maybe not even in business despite several signs along the path. We went back to the car and found a nearby pizza restaurant. It was pretty good, the cuisine is more Italian here as we are quite near the Italian border. The other diners appeared to all be locals.

Joe, Irena, Vedrana & Kim at Trogir

Exploring Istria

Today was dedicated to driving all over Istria in search of medieval towns, wineries, olive oils & truffles. The following quote from the a brochure on the wine country sums it up appropriately:

"We are convinced that you are about to get lost trying to figure a way to move across our wine roads, but it can happen to us local people as well. Istria is a country of numberless trails and small hamlets you set out for one hamlet and turn out in another but you needn't worry, there is good wine in there, too."

The signs were in Croatian and in Italian. The brochures added German, but rarely English. We never saw any other Americans all day. Another interesting quote from a local:

"My ancestors lived in Venice. My great-grandfather lived in Austria. My father lived in Italy. I live in Croatia. My son will live in the EU. And, we all lived in the same city."

The countryside is beautiful: very green, rolling hills, lots of vineyards, olive groves, hill towns and very narrow, windy roads. We explored the small hill towns of Groznjan and Motovun. Beautiful old stone buildings and sweeping vistas of the land below and out to the sea. The towns were very quiet--just right for wandering. Not much in the way of shops or cultural sights.

We then set off in search of vineyards, following signs on little roads that wound up and up, very sparsely populated with a deserted village or closed shop at the top--probably because it is too early in the season for these to be open. We saw beautiful areas, had our little adventure then got a bit frustrated. We stopped at a roadside cafe for espresso and asked the waitress how to find the wineries. She went and got an old man who spoke some English. We asked about wineries and he gave us the reply we hear most often here "It's simple". This time it was, 800m up the hill from the cafe we found a winery!!! It looked closed, but there were about 6-8 people who looked like workers gathered on a stone patio and lots of cats and dogs.

One man motioned inside a building when we asked about wine. It was a rustic tasting room with a small bar, tables and benches. There was a woman in a small kitchen making platters of small fried fish, sliced tomatoes, hardboiled eggs and olives for the people on the patio. She served them the food and came back in to pour us some wine. She spoke very little English, but was very good natured and welcoming. We tried the white wine that is a local specialty, Malvajia, it was very refreshing. She then served us another version of it, not as good. When we asked the difference, she took us back to the storage area with many big oak casks of wine and some stainless steel vats, we liked the one from the vat. We bought a few bottles, when we drove away everyone waved.

We found another we had seen in a pamphlet, when we drove up to what we thought was the front door, a man came out of a big sliding door. Speaking very little English he led us inside a big storage area. When we showed him the pic we had of the big tasting area-he said it was in another town, Ummag, several kilometers away. He poured us some wines from some bottled on a desk. He was the guy pictured in most of the pics in the pamphlet. We bought a Merlot and headed out.

We decided to stop in a small hill town Brtonigla for dinner. We went to Konoba Astarea, recommended in a guidebook. We were greeted by a man who looked a bit like a thinner Archie Bunker (in a good way). He didn't speak much English. The menu was in Croatian, Italian and German. The restaurant had a terrace and an inside room with a hearth with glowing coals, a grill and a peka. The peka is a domed cast iron top you put over the food on the hearth and pile hot coals on top. He was cooking apple strudel in the peka (most often used for meat or fish).
We sat on the terrace. He came, pulled up a chair and told us the menu and what the thought we should get, even thought language was a problem, we understood all. We asked if he took credit cards because we were running low on kunas. He said no, but we shouldn't worry--"its not very expensive". We decided that if he wasn't worried, then we shouldn't. We felt like we were guests in his home and he was a most pleasant, gracious host. Kim ordered her favorite-scampi on the grill (they look like little lobsters 6-10 inches long. You break the tail off, shell it and eat it and the claws-so sweet) and the local white wine. Joe ordered mixed meat grill. He got a steak, pork chop, lamb chop and sausage. Also green salads and pommes frite (our host did not like this idea, he felt Joe should have boiled potatoes and spinach-but he complied with potatoes cut into rounds and fried "like a doughnut"). We finished with apple strudel and Joe had an espresso. We had exactly enough cash for dinner and tip-we were worried since he did not take cards and there was no ATM, but our host kept saying not to worry.

We finished dinner watching a beautiful sunset into the sea then drove back to our apartment (paying the toll in Euro's), getting lost multiple times but recognizing enough landmarks, we eventually found our way-relaxed, content and feeling very at home in Istria.

Rovinj, part 2

The photo at left shows the town of Rovinj when we arrived. The light rain was just ending, but the sea was calm.

By evening, the bora wind was blowing, making the sea rough (by local standards), causing 2-3 foot swells. We ate dinner at an outdoor restaurant directly next to the sea wall. The tables closest to the sea were getting sprayed by the crashing waves. We sat about 3 meters back, and only got our feet wet :-)

Going back to our apartment at 8pm, we realized that there were no stores open where we could buy some wine. We met our landlord later, a very nice young man who spoke excellent english he learned "from school and television". He owns 2 of the apts in the building, his sister 3 and his father 2. The apts are 2 years old and now booked solid through the season-although they cost more than twice as much per night in August. We asked him about stores that stay open later. He said that there were none, but he had a wine at home that he bought at a wine festival last year. He insisted on going home to get it for us. He came back about 30 minutes later with a very nice red wine. A very nice, helpful guy. There is a buzzer to ring if we need help that actually rings his mobile.
This is really such a great time to travel here.

Rovinj

We're starting to learn to pronounce this unusual language. The title city is pronounced Row'veeyn. It is another (yes, another!) medieval city. This is going to be our base for the next four days as we take day trips into Istria: vineyards, olive groves, hill towns--oh my!

We drove from Opatija without incident, taking about 90 minutes, including a 5 km-long tunnel. We got our first rain this morning during the drive, but it has cleared now and it's perfect weather.

We arrived in the late morning and went in search of accommodations. After talking with a few agencies, we scored a large luxurious apartment about 15-minute walk from the old town (we now need to have a parking place. It's new with a living room, bedroom,bath (with tub and shower)and kitchen It has almost every amenity we could imagine, including a dishwasher, ice-maker, etc. We have an ocean view, breeze and a lovely terrace, where we ate our lunch. There is a washing machine and the clothes dry really quickly

The town of Rovinj was built on a little island just barely offshore. It has houses going right down to the sea-like Venice. It has a lot of Italian influence since is close to Italy. At its peak in medieval times, it housed 10,000 people. Its great to be able to walk all over without any cars and to see the quaint architecture of 600 years ago. There is a church on top of the hill in the center of the island with great 360 degree views.

We had coffee in a swing chair overlooking the fishing boats. It was so relaxing that Joe fell asleep while drinking a double espresso!

It's almost dinner time, so bye for now.

Pag and Opatija

On Monday we picked up our rental car at the Split airport and began our driving adventure. Typical of our experiences in Croatia so far, picking up the car was a breeze. The car rental agent walked us out to our car and oriented us. We're driving an Open Astra estate -- a free upgrade from the tiny car we reserved. It has plenty of room for us, but very little power.

We were able to navigate well enough that we never got lost. We headed for the island of Pag, which is famous for special sheep cheese, hand-made lace, rotisserie lamb and its generally barren landscape. Our first impression, as we got onto Pag, was that Croatia's premiere natural resource must be rock! You could hardly see any vegetation growing anywhere. In fact, there were valleys that were quite green, but overall the island is well-suited to raising sheep. **Did you know that the limestone to build the White House came from Croatia?**

We walked around Pag town. It didn't really have any touristy stuff and very little English was spoken--we used the Croatian the girls taught us. We're pretty bad, but people are very patient with us. This is the first place where we've encountered many people who didn't speak English.

We had lunch at a recommended restaurant. They had lamb roasted over a spit in a big BBQ by the road (sorry, Brie and Mark). We had that with salad and pomme frites-it was really good. We then drove through more landscape that looked like the moon, following the directions to the ferry port. It was in the middle of nowhere.

We caught the ferry to the mainland and drove north along the coast toward our next destination--Istria. The road was beautiful and in great condition with lots of cute little villages, but slow. We drove through Rijeka, a big port town with oil refineries. We ended up going through the town instead of on the highway-very stressful, especially after all our time in time little medieval towns. We encountered our first traffic light since starting our drive over 200km ago. We made it through without problems and decided to spend the night in Opatija. We found a room with a terrace and sea view in the hills above the town. The guy at the agency said it was a 10 minute walk to town. We made our way down the hill to the riva and walked around-the town didn't look anything like we expected and a lot of the big mansions were in very poor repair. We finally figured out, we were on the outskirts of the main town so we decided to just have dinner at a restaurant overlooking the sea and go to bed. Back at our room (this was a room with a bath in some peoples' house), Kim asked the landlord for some more toilet paper. He went into another room and came out with the bag of cheese we bought in Pag and asked them to store in the fridge. Kim asked again for toilet paper and he went back in the room and came out with a bowl. Kim asked again and tried to explain, he smiled and came back with a spoon :). Kim went back to the room and brought out the roll of TP--he cracked up, went into a different room and finally got what we needed. It was really funny.

Trogir -- day two

We slept in--Joe made it until 8:30. We all went to Trogir and explored the green market, the old cathedral and the fort. We had a picnic lunch in the town park: burek--meat, cheese and spinach, and cheese inside flaky pastry. The meat was the best. We drove back to our apartment and spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach across from our apartment. Vedrena, Irena and Kim swam in the Adriatic. The top 1-2 feet were a very comfortable temperature, any deeper was pretty chilly. We laid in the sun. Joe fell asleep on the pebble beach and had indentations from the stone on his knees for several hours after! The girls packed up their things and we went to dinner in Trogir--they had us order a traditional dish of beef with pieces of carrots in it and a plum sauce. It was good. Irena drove us back to the apartment and they took off for Zagreb. We walked along the shore near our apartment in a different direction and discovered several bars and cafes on the beach. Tomorrow we get our rental car and head north.

Split & Trogir

We caught a early (6 am ) ferry to Split, arriving around 8:30am. We checked our suitcases at the bus station and headed for the old town. We entered through the entrance to Diocletian's (unsure of the spelling) palace. He was emperor and this palace was built from 305-316AD-it was huge and now the most intact part is the cellars which, in his time, held water. It was excavated in the 60s and in the 70s part of it was actually used as a disco! until UNESCO took over. The remainder of the walls and columns are scattered around the old town, the medieval village was built inside the walls then later populations built around that. It was a very interesting mix of buildings and styles.

We went to the green market and the fish market and toured the museum and cathedral. We met Irena and Vedrana (Irena was our exchange student 10 years ago) on the Riva (promenade) at 4-it was great to see Irena again and meet Vedrana. We had a drink in a cafe and caught up on things then drove to our apartment in Trogir.

The apartment is new, is n the beach and has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a kitchen, living room and washing machine (only 55 EU per night). We settled in, bought some food at the market 100m down the road then went to dinner in Trogir, another beautiful little medieval town on the beach. With Irena and Vedrana ordering, we had a great grilled seafood platter and a fun, lively dinner.

This morning we got up and drove to Sibenik and walked around the old town. After the first gelato of the day, we drove to Skradin and took a boat up the river to some beautiful waterfalls in Krka National Park. The waterfalls consist of hundred of interconnected falls surrounded by lush greenery. It was the site of one of Tesla's first hydroelectric plants in the world--the same time as the Niagra Falls plant opened. We also saw demonstrations of water-powered grain mills in use and water-powered woolen fabric softeners (giant hammers beating the cloth for half a day).

We hiked around for a couple of hours enjoying the park, then took the boat back to town where we set a person record for longest lunch: 3.5 hours! It was another amazing meal consisting of a variety of fresh "seashells". Again Irena ordered-clams, scallops, scampi (prawns from the Adriatic which are incredible) and salads and wine and grilled veggies and small whole fried fish and shrimp. This post is starting to sound like one of Chris'! We also had an adorable, friendly waiter. Irena and Vedrana and he were teaching us Croatian words but we think it is hopeless for us-good thing Croats all speak English.

We are now back in Trogir to do this post before going home to watch Eurovision :-) It's time to go find the girls and maybe squeeze in a second gelato of the day.

Korcula -- part 2

We went to see sunset at Korcula. We found a bar that is built in one of the towers of the wall. They punched a hole in the ceiling and you climb up a wooden ladder to the roof of the tower to have drinks and watch sunset. We ordered our Croatian cocktails and they sent the order down to the bar. When the drinks were ready the waiter pulled them up the outside of the tower in a basket on a rope-it was very entertaining. We limited ourselves to one cocktail--we didn't want to make the front page of the Korcula daily press by falling off the ladder-or over the side of the tower!
We then had a great dinner of traditional cuisine-Kim a pasta typical of Korcula with shrimp and Joe a meat dish with beef wrapped around bacon and cheese in a gravy. We watched the rest of sunset from the restaurant patio. We haven't had a single meal inside. Our weather has been perfect and Korcula has beautiful views of the sea.

We drank wine with dinner (too much :) ) but still managed to find our way back to our apartment through the maze of the medieval town.

Hope you are all well

Korcula

This place is incredible. We caught a ferry this morning to Korcula, a walled town on an island. The ferry ride was beautiful: so many islands in the adriatic and the sea was very smooth. We had fun talking to a couple from Salt Lake City celebrating their 10th anniversary.

People are very relaxed and friendly. This town is like Dubrovnic with narrow lanes and beautiful architecture. We found a great apartment right away. It was remodeled a year ago with a kitchen, bath, living room and bedroom plus air conditioning and ocean views for $40. We had a picnic on the beach and wandered around. Lots of stores with pretty jewelry made by local artisans. Very relaxing day.

We are going down for cocktails and sunset then another fish dinner :). We catch another ferry for Split tomorrow morning and will be meeting Irena and her sister Vedrena in the afternoon. We will spend the weekend with them and get the real scoop on Croatia, food, wine etc. Actually we're doing really well figuring it out ourselves. We are doing daily gelato, wine, espresso and of course fish tasting. Some stuff is very inexpensive: gelato is $1.00, espress is is $1.40, groceries are a bargain, but restaurants tend to be about the same prices as at home.

We're eager to read more comments from you all.

Hope you are all well, check out our pic of Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik overview

Montenegro

After yesterday's adventures climbing a thousand stairs and dodging cruise ships in our kayak we decided on a bus tour to Montenegro.

It was really interesting. Montenegro declared their independence from Serbia just last year. Before the war in the 90s it had a lot of manufacturing, but because of an embargo the factories shut down and haven't reopened. There is 45% unemployment and the average monthly salary is only 200 Euro. Some areas were pretty run down.

We went to the Bay of Kotor-a beautiful area, then toured the walled medieval town of Kotor. We had an hour there to walk around- we found a path leading up to the fortress at the top of the hill and decided to try to make it up. It was a narrow path, half rudimentary stone steps and along side a rock and stone pathway. It was steep up the side of the hill and we were going as fast as we could--Kim in sandals. We made it to what we thought was the top in 15-20 minutes only to find it was just a church and we were only half way up. We didn't have time so we walked back down and arrived at the bus hot and sweaty and in serious need of a Montenegran masseuse. Our bus-mates were relaxed with their bags of souvenirs and foam mustaches from their cappuccinos!

We then went up the mountain in a series of incredibly steep tight switchbacks on a road built in the 1800-s (really not designed for a bus). It was a pretty hairy ride but the views were spectacular. At the top we stopped in an old village and had lunch of homemade bread and locally produced ham and cheese and wine. After we drove down another impressive set of switchbacks to the old capital and toured the palace of the first, and only, king of Montenegro.

We finished up in a beach resort, Budva. It is being developed with money primarily from rich Russians and Serbs-beautiful coastline but the town felt kind of tacky and sleazy.

We are now back in Dubrovnik. This town feels so nice and the people are so nice and welcoming. We are leaving tomorrow on the ferry to the island of Korcula-really looking forward to exploring more of the Dalmation coast.

Hope you are all doing well.

Greetings from Dubrovnik!

Our flights were uneventful.

The old town of Dubrovnik is beautiful. We're staying in an apartment in the car-free medieval old town. It is surrounded by walls up to 10 feet thick and 30 feet high built as early as the 1200's. The town is made up of lots of charming little lanes, about 7 feet wide- a size one man could defend during an attack in medieval times. Many lanes have outdoor tables of restaurants and cafes taking up half the space. The people are so friendly, happy, relaxed and helpful and speak English

For breakfast, we bought dried figs and candied orange peel at the farmers' market and ate them with espresso and pastries. For lunches and dinners, fresh seafood is typical.

We walked on the top of the wall that surrounds the town. It climbs up and down lots of stairs and took about one and one-half hours, but it wasn't too hot or too crowded with tourists. This is a great time to come here. The views of the Adriatic Sea are spectacular.

After lunch we rented kayaks and paddled along the city walls and then out to a nearby island, Lokrum, and paddled around it. It had rock cliffs with caves and areas of rocky beaches. We paddled along the shore around Dubrovnik then back.

We just had Croatian beer at a bar on the side of the cliffs overlooking the Adriatic. The weather is perfect, sunny and warm, but not too hot.

Tomorrow we are taking a bus tour to Montenegro--after all the climbing and paddling today-sitting on a bus may be the most we are able to do :)

We're off!

We're packed and heading out the door for the airport. Our friend, Kristin, is taking us (and house sitting while we're gone). We've turned off the oven and the bath water :-)

Our next posting will be from Croatia!

Getting ready

Five days left until we leave for our trip to Croatia, with side trips to neighboring countries and a stop in Istanbul on the way home. Weather is forecast to be similar to Santa Barbara, maybe a little warmer and wetter.

Joe got his international driver's permit today; Kim still needs to get hers. We expect to rent a car for part of the trip -- and maybe Vespas :-)

The flight over has four legs: Santa Barbara to LAX to Dallas-Fort Worth to London to Dubrovnek. Free tickets are only free with respect to $$...

Thanks for reading! We'll keep you posted.

--Joe