Day 16 Two weddings and a funeral Up early on our last full day in Italy. Caesare, our host, is up early as well to get us breakfast. He tricks us. First it looks like there is a small cereal, yogurt, juice and fruit fare ...then, when we have started that, out comes the good stuff. So, one hour, two croissants, and 2 cups of coffee, eggs, fruit and bread, yogurt and more fruit later we wiggle/waddle back to the room for a nap before we catch 4.2 to Font. Nuove and into the heart of the Venice canals. Rumor has it George Clooney is getting married today so we join at least 30,000 would-be paparazzi with cameras on sticks looking for the happy couple (I guess Brad and Angelina, Matt Damon and Bono are in the wedding party as well!!!!). Guess my invite to the bachelor party got lost in the mail. We had searched the entire city when at 11:30 the church bells went nuts. We were close by too. Well as close as you can get while winding in and over canals. We get there though and find a large group next to a bridge with a canal boat waiting in the water directly in front of them. We flank the group and … a funeral. I guess instead of a hearse there is a gray canal boat with casket on an hydraulic lift lowering it onto the boat. Actually very touching. So it’s noon and believe it or not we are hungry, thirsty, and tired. Time to sit and enjoy watching life on the canal. Then after quatro stagioni, water and wine the real wedding party shows up, well sans, Brad, Angelina, and George with what’s her name, oh, the bride. This has to be the only wedding going on today where it is not all about the bride.

Oh well, by 3 not even two scoops of gelato could revive our aching legs. Back to Murano and find those earrings Kathie saw yesterday in one of the 75 glass shops we were in. Took a while, then ... Success. Woke up in time to go find more earrings and lass gCherries. Glass cherries are our tree ornament for this year. Then off to find dinner because bodyguards are not letting us go to the “B” restaurant we have gone to the last 2 nights. We went to Duomo across the canal from our host’s church. My-Oh-My. Did we have the 3 hour 5 course great local restaurant or what? Bellini peach prosecco , bresaeola with arugola and parma, Sea bass with tomatoes, shrimp with skinny tagliatini, house wine, coffee gelato, tiramisu, and limoncello. Sorry, I can’t be expected to remember anything more. Be thankful we made it back to #77. Check on the M’s, read the mail, and shut ‘er down for the night, to rise at 3 a.m. to catch the water taxi and plane. See you all tomorrow (give or take a few time zones).

Love Mark and Kathie

Day 15 Turning for the home stretch, grazie. So time to pack and leave Croatia with our final 2 days in Italy. I was going to give you a big line about setting our iPhone alarm to get up early for the ferry to Venice and missing it because the internal clock on the iPhone was still on Oly time. Shauna and Majken, Kathie would not let me do it to you again. Up early and with the exception that it seems the bags have been eating at the same restaurants we have and weighing more, able to lug our bags to the ferry. Nice quick 3 hours without any crazy events. Easily through customs and pop out on a canal. Imagine that in Venice. Then somehow we figure 2 short water taxi rides and get to the island of Murano. Kathie figures the little island just a mile or so from Venice will be special at half the price. Now I am not sure about half the price put it is twice as special and we don’t have to share it with 30,000 other tourists. Staying at Murano Palace. Sort of like Harry Potter going to town and squeezing between two buildings #76 and #78, then apparating through a door into #77. After a 15 minute introduction to Murano and Venice complete with 4 generations of family history and 1000 years of church history we are up to our room, unburdened of 2 weeks of dirty stuff and off for lunch at what turns out to be one of the innkeeper's son's great restaurants. So as slowly as you can say tagliatelli with mixed fish, cheese olives and balsamic vinegar, proceeded by real Carpaccio on a bed of arugula smothered with shaved parmesan and rinsed with prosecco and we have been converted to Italian. Good thing we have all afternoon to walk this off before we have to go back and do it all over again. Suspect they will be out of prosecco (don’t know how that could have happened) but hope they have some other flavor☺ Does anyone need anything made of glass? I mean anything. Have never seen so many shops selling so much glass. If the earth shakes here they will be sweeping up broken glass through the entire 21st century. Wander up and down canals and over bridges complete with little old men playing accordion, take photos without people in the way, visit extraordinary churches, almost cry witnessing a little old lady dragging a class chandelier down the street shattering as she tried to pick up the pieces, pass numerous outdoor glass exhibits by local masters and even get sucked into a glass blowing demonstration.

Liesl, remember your little glass horses. We watched a guy make one in maybe 90 seconds tops. Orange hot (1300 degrees when he starts) I don’t remember if that is F. or C. As Kathie says, who cares at that temperature? When he is done it looks like a horse complete with colored mane and tail and he puts it on a stone table to be admired. Looks normal to us. A few minutes later, as a demonstration to the group gathered not to try to touch, he places a scrap of paper on top and it bursts into flame. I guess when they say it takes 2 days to cool they mean it. Oh well dinner just two hours left for sea food risotto, wine, panna cotta with forest fruit, and lemoncello. Early to bed as Venice is to be concurred tomorrow.

Day 14 - Nutella?

Days 12-14

Day 14 Where have you been all my life? So today is all about me and all about food. Well, sort of. Several years ago we went with the family to Oaxaca, Mexico and had a great tour of the ruins and the town. As part of the tour we spent time in the local market where there were seemingly hundreds if not thousands of baskets full of what looked like small red/brown/orange peppers but were in reality grasshoppers. Then we had lunch. Then, you can believe it or not, my family let me eat some of those same grasshoppers washed down with margaritas. !5 years ago we had the pleasure of going to Scandinavia with Liesl’s soccer team and the girls loved Nutella. No one let me have any. Now, I have always been under the assumption Kathie took good care of me. She always seems to have done a nice job of feeding and clothing me. I have always trusted her. But, after breakfast today the light has been turned on. NUTELLA, where have you been all my life? Now I see. Feed me bugs and deny me Nutella. I think I have found the new meaning of life. So much for the ranting’s of a chocolate starved old man. Woke to a little rain so off to see the best-preserved Roman ruins this side of the Adriatic, in Pula.

Sort of eerie going under the sand floor of the arena where you know the gladiators could hear the crowds and the foe whether it was man or beast. Good place to have been for the mild rain we had. Came back to Rovinj, and a nice day at Casa Garzotta. They have been great to us. Bags packed and much needed showers taken. Off to last dinner in Istria. We saved the best, and believe me, the best for last. Nice dinner of fish special of the day with truffle sauce and filet with green pepper sauce. Oh and the bottle of Riesling and then we were sauced. Seems to be a theme here. Gelato, pay our last bill and get rid of all our left over Kuna (next time we come they will be on the Euro) get our packed lunch for the ferry and off to an early bed with the ferry for us at 6 am. Final stop, Venice, on a much too short trip to Istria.

Day 13 ½ Droning on in Area 51 So how spooky is this? To crazy to believe. Kathie and I are sitting at a window table in a very small restaurant on an even smaller winding hillside street in Old Town Rovinj. We are talking about the new US/allies air strikes and what place drones must also be playing. So Kathie tells me about the next phase in Drone technology. Seems that with the exception of a baseball bat which can take out low flying types like the ones sold at the mall, radar jamming makes them crazy and the military is now working on autonomous ones with face recognition software that are immune to jamming by enemy computer technology. Then the next step, to imbed sensing capabilities so they can team up like bees or ants to attack in swarms without having to be directed. Trying to comprehend the meaning of all of this when we hear this buzzing noise and figure a small motorcycle is about to climb up the narrow winding street outside the window. Turn to check on the passing scoter and look straight into the 2 flashing red LED lights of a Drone. It hovers outside the window for a short 1-2 seconds then flies on up the street. I swear to …..How spooky is that. Had not even gotten half way through my glass of wine. What rabbit hole have we fallen down? Day 12-13 Where are we and how did we get here? Dear diary. Please forgive me for not visiting you for 2 days. I have been confused - Sort of like living in 3 completely different worlds. Has this ever happened to you? You go away for vacation and then when you come home the trip seems almost like a dream. The last 3 days have sort of been like that for us. Kathie spent much of the drive 2 days ago summarizing, if that can be done, the complex relationship between geography, economics, religion, ethnicity and European history that is Croatia, and the rest of what we sort of understand as the former Yugoslavia. A shortcut from Plitvice National Park to Opatija was like slow motion through the lifting fog of war. Houses, barns or for that matter entire villages shot up and burned out with not a sign of life now or for that matter likely for 15 years. You know as you pass people, entire families, perished there. Didn’t just go away as some say but died a gruesome death. There is not a plow, a cow, not even a cat to be seen. How then could we drive out of these battle-scarred mountains into Opatija, the Victorian “Monte Carlo” of Croatia. I guess when the Rockefeller’s where going to San Moritz and Monte Carlo the Austrian royal family was going to Opatija. To stay at the Savoy, complete with spa, our own beach, our room over the water, and our own parking at the front door was sort of a trip back 100 years. One could get used to this sort of stuff. To sleep, perchance to … Yesterday we then had the pleasure of visiting Motovun. A14th century hill town pops out of a delightful river valley that services as a transportation and agricultural lifeline for central northwest Istrian peninsula in Croatia. Rick Steves tells us it is the birthplace of Mario Andretti. I can figure out how he learned to drive curves but not how he learned how to drive faster than 5 miles per hour. So after all this Disney sort of setting how could we expect more. Well, all it takes is to enter a 2-3 mile tunnel and when you pop out the other end, pump the break and the gas peddle 3 times and you get your wish. You arrive in Rovinj - What Dubrovnik used to be. No big wall to walk around but what it lacks in walls it more than makes up for in food, shinny marble squares, winding narrow shop lined streets, friendly locals, and great gelato. Doing the best we can to absorb it all.

Last night, eager for more water fun, and not quite sure if we are contacting the local Croatian mafia or the real thing, we make arrangements to Kayak today, Wednesday . Dealing with Darko over the interne and this morning we get picked up by Bo Bo. As it turns out Bo Bo is the Croatian world cup mountain climbing champion biker; he doesn’t ride professionally now but was proud to tell me that 3 years ago when Contador won the Tour de Italy he did the toughest mountain stage climb in a record 47 minutes and Bo Bo did it the same year in 52. I pointed out to him that it looked like for a professional biker he looked like he had come through it all with all his arms and legs in one piece. He then pulled back his shorts to reveal a 6-8 inch ugly scar on his thigh and signs of knee surgery. Not a sport for the faint of heart. Sadly according to him the only sports you can make a living at in Croatia are soccer or basketball so he now also leads kayak tours as well as doing 40-60 miles a day in the mountains. So Bo Bo puts us in our kayaks along with a couple from Ireland and we get instantly transported back to the 14th century for a 4 mile paddle around the Rovinj archipelago, 5 small islands and a light house in the harbor that protects Rovinj. So we spent the day Island hopping complete with walking tours of 14th Benedictine monasteries and 19th century villas. Lunch and swimming. Hard to figure out if you are dreaming or in some sort of strange time warp. You know when you are dreaming and maybe you are flying or running? For some reason when I run in my dreams it is in slow motion. I know I am dreaming but it still seems real. So we are paddling in a pristine harbor. We put in on a small island where 14th century Benedictine monks built a monastery. We climb to the top of the remaining tower and look out over a crystal clear blue Adriatic that almost melds indistinctly with the sky, interrupted only by 15 or so white sails at the horizon. A dream, or is it. Then you again get shocked back to reality when you realize the clouds overhead are not clouds at all but contrails. Not the 1 or 2 you might see over Olympia on a perfect summer day but 20 or more, all starting in one place and heading the same direction. Then you recall the morning news that the US and its allies are going to Syria from the US base in Italy. Again the signs of mans’ inability to get along with man. The last 3 days have sort of been like a long dream. Drifting in and out of the fog of wars past and present, gliding in our personal boat from the 21st back to the 14st century and back again. Sort of disorienting. So back in our 16th century room in the old town of Rovinj. Another great meal and to early bed. Have tomorrow all planned. Off to the best preserved Roman amphitheater from 100 AD. That should help us figure out where the H… we are.

Day 11

Day 11 So, we woke up today to a wonderful breakfast and took off for Opatija. Today, we saw the real Croatia. Not the tourist towns on the coast selling Chinese trinkets, but the country struggling to adapt after a horrific war. A bit of history first…when we came to Yugoslavia in 1973, it was a mix of countries pasted together after WWII. Tito had been a partisan fighting the Nazis. He was socialist, but outside of the Russian controlling parties. He had a vision of uniting the southern (Jugo) Slavic countries into one country – Yugoslavia. He was brutal in putting down the opposition and consolidating power after the war, but after the initial years of power, Yugoslavia worked. The US didn’t like him because he wasn’t in the NATO camp, but the Russians didn’t like him either. He and a number of other leaders from around the world kept their countries non-aligned…they played the big countries against each other quite well. Now, Tito had married together the cultural, ethnic and religious groups that lived on that coastline we drove. In 73, the coast was rich, the interior poor, but eating. The cultural backgrounds were extensive There were the Roman Catholics first brought to the area by Charlemagne, from France, which were later supported by the Austrian Habsburgs. The byzantine empire brought Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and the Ottomans brought in the Islamic community. When the Roman Empire split in the 4th century, you got a catholic west and orthodox east. The Ottomans invaded in the 14th century and further divided the Christian North from the Muslim south. The Croats, Slovenes, Serbs and Bosniaks are all Slavian, but of many different religions. It gets even more confusing as you add in the various languages, cultures, and non-slavic peoples. Add into that, though, history and the battles that have raged for centuries and it gets worse. Then Tito died…oops. No wonder it exploded in 91. First Slovenia seceded, in a relatively peaceful election process in 1990. They wanted the communists out and to be a peaceful independent nation. The Yugoslovian Army, young and inexperienced, lost a ten day battle and Slovenia was free. Then came Croatia…not so simple. A former Nazi took control of Croatia; the Croat nazi group (Ustase) had badly mistreated the Serbs in WWII. The Serbs in Croatia would not stand for this new threat and fought for their own freedom – they joined the Yugoslavian Army in droves. In fighting back, they utilized the same techniques of massive slaughter the Nazi based Ustase Croats had used in WWII. And so the battle for blood, vengeance and ”getting even” was off and running. There is lots of information out there about the Dubrovnik siege and the battles the various groups fought for years. 20 years out from the last peace treaties (some of which are still tenuous), driving the small (one lane) back country roads tells another story.

Isolated houses and small hamlets are destroyed and still empty of people. Bullet pock marks dot the buildings that still stand. Everywhere on road sides are large black marble plaques listing the numerous dead from the area in small print. Fields lay overgrown and unused. Through it all, you know people died here, some of them forgotten and un-mourned. This was chilling. Perhaps the most memorable hours so far for this trip. This is truly why we like to travel, to try to get the more real story of what different people are experiencing, not the local news bite. As stated in Day 3, when looking at the past, there are no good or bad guys here, just a toxic mix of political, religious, cultural, economic, ethnic and multi-generational stew…stirred with fear. One good point, the younger generation seems to have moved past this, at least in Croatia. We have noticed Croatia seems to have little left of Croatia in it, American styles, music, food and so on. We hope the peace is not at the expense of losing their culture…altogether an interesting day. Kathie

Day 10

Day 10 The Wild Wild West So after fretting about the threat of rain and the closure of Plitvicka National Park, we decide to stick to our best laid plans and head into the mountains for a day of trekking. Lovely drive up into those limestone mountains we have been looking at the whole trip.

Park is an aberration of nature, topography and chemistry. Seems moving water over limestone allows for the formation of calcium carbonate while still water remains supersaturated. As a result you get the Yellowstone effect at waterfalls where it precipitates out to form white coverings on rocks. In this case we didn’t see anything like Yellowstone except what seemed to have deposited on the bottom of the electric boats used to ferry you around and the painting of what looks curiously like an American Native American in the Hotel lobby.

Geology has created 16 lakes cascading off the Eastern side of the mountains and an amazing set of waterfalls connecting them. Because of the recent heavy rains many of the trails were closed so instead of 6 we got 3 hours and an electric boat ride on our little friend Slap here and didn’t even need to have CaCo3 scrapped off our bottoms. With all the time we saved we went back to the hotel and took strategic advantage of this great little corner shower with small tub enclosure to do a very much-needed “load” of wash. The Italians will not be able to smell us coming now.

Rain holds off for the day but boy what a lighting storm after midnight. Windows flashed all night. Kept waking me up so of course I would have to check on the progress of the Hawks with each flash and somewhere around 3:30, way to go Hawks. Now if the M’s could just close the deal. Oh, and it seems the curse is broken. Internet still up and running. Maybe I better not push my luck and just post this. According to Wikipedia: Calcium carbonate is a common substance found in rocks in all parts of the world, and is the main component of shells of marine organisms, snails, coal balls, pearls, and eggshells. We didn’t’ see any coal balls either but we are keeping our eyes open just incase.

Day 9

Day 9 No sunscreen needed☹ We have been so fortunate. Even the first few days we were here it rained but didn’t disrupt anything. Well we wake to the clouds rolling in and they were not alone. Packed and went into Hvar to shop and have breakfast. Ended up at a street side café having a great 2-hour breakfast watching the boats in the harbor bob and jive around and listening to the thunder roll. Thought we caught a little break. Definitive word there being thought. Quick to the bank for Kuna, the local market for a chocolate croissant for me and almonds for Kathie, the market for a Coke and we have lunch on the ferry covered. We have only been in Croatia twice now, ’73 and 2014, and both times witness two amazing lightening and thunderstorms. It would be OK if it stops before we board the ferry to Split. Writing while waiting in the car for the ferry. So much for waiting for the ferry ride to eat the croissant. Hope you get your swim in today Sarah. We sort of got ours in while shopping and didn’t even need to step off the dock to do it. Starting to get a little concerned. Seems a little bit coincidental that two Internet systems I have been on have gone down. Sort of 3-on-a–match kind of stuff. Hope no one is tracking me. I guess we will find out if the system goes down while I am checking on the Oregon game. For the weekend: go Ducks, M’s, and Seahawks. Wish me luck as well. Going out to buy an umbrella if there is one left in Split. Majken just tells me she is following the weather channel and I guess we are having the worst rain in the last 50 years. Great. We did have a great 5 days on the boat.

Hvar is Dubrovnik without the 20,000 tourists, bad wine, mediocre food, ??? waiters, and unfortunately with rain. Made it on the ferry surrounded by trucks, big trucks with trailers this long. Oh that is another bad worn out joke. Made it on the ferry and had a very peaceful crossing to Split. Actually even got a little sleep. Good thing. Needed all our wits about us to do battle with Nuvi over where Villa Diana was. Now Nuvi says go 6.2 K on bla-bla-bla. And we think we are there. So we go round and round the same oval looking to the inside all the time passing the Villa Diana over and over again on the ouside. Sort of Pink Panther-ish. Oh well, all is well that ends well and it did end well. Place is very nice. Would you expect any place Kathie found to be anything but? The rain has continued to hold off so we head out to see the Diocletian Palace. That Diocletian would turn over in his grave if he could see it now. Filled with little stands selling made in China stuff to thousands of tourists form China. Did get a kick out of one souvenir saleswomen telling off a Chinese tourist who was trying to bargain with her. Crappy souvenirs yes. Pushy tourists even more. Put it all together, better in ’73. Back to a nice B&B. Quiet dinner and a good night’s sleep. Worried about the rain and going to Plitvicka National Park. Part of it is closed because of the rain but we will go anyway. Correct decision, but more on that tomorrow. New mantra: if you continue to worry about yesterday, tomorrow will never come. Where the H…. did that come from? Maybe the 1/2liter of house red w

Day 8

Day 8 “Under the bell” You can tell when I post by the size of the type. If it is large, then I am writing in the morning when the room is dark, my eyes are blurry and I don’t have my glasses on. Well actually haven’t had them on all vacation. Makes it hard to read the menu but fortunately Croatia has English everywhere so usually I can figure it out. That sort of crystalizes something we have noticed but not figured out until maybe day 8. In 1973 when two naive bright eyed kids came down a rugged Dalmatian coast they discovered an amazing stone city on the Adriatic. Now of course we were not the first to discover Dubrovnik but there were not 20,000 others carrying iPhones on sticks discovering it at the same time. Not quite the same this time. The city was lovely and the water was just as blue but the crowds and just the Croatian-ness of it was missing. So Americanized. Sort of like you find a great foreign restaurant and then Rick Steves finds it, puts it in his book, the rest of the world descends on it, and before you know it, it is overrun and ruined. We wonder if the 1991 war just blew the ethnicity out of Dubrovnik and when the toxic fog of war lifted the 21st century swooped in and took its place complete with American music around every corner. Got up early and crammed all our getting dirtier stuff in a bag (some socks will never be white again). The start of a new day has to begin with a visit to Dolce Vita where we get the house specialty of Swedish pancakes wrapped around vanilla ice cream covered with fresh fruit, whipped cream, and fruit syrup - all washed down with coffee latte. Have grown to like breakfast. Then it is off we go. Sarah, you are a true friend. You could have been sleeping in or swimming but instead you make yourself come with us for breakfast and then help schlep our stuff up out of the Old Town to the car rental place. Hope a day at the beach is time enough to heal your tired feet. We get our little white Audi 3 TDI wagon and we zip north on an adventure to rediscover that hidden jewel on the Adriatic.

Not sure but I think we may have found it. 3 hours north of Dubrovnik is the Island of Hvar. After a short 30 min ferry ride, (we were just about the last car on, but more later on that one) we land at the south-eastern end. Our destination, Hvar City, is on the northwestern end, 90K away. Hvar is an ancient, long, skinny, rocky island. You can put the emphasis on any of those adjectives. Amazing net like web of huge rock walls covers the entire island. In the past (back to Greek ownership times) they served as property boundaries, and now serving mainly to boggle the tourist mind. Where there aren’t walls, there are piles, all meant to scrape a few square feet of soil to plant. Several years ago Kathie gave me an Audi driving school weekend for Christmas. The weekend consisted of mainly a 2nd gear racing experience. That’s not to say you went slow, just tore it up in second gear. Remember all those who got on, and therefore off, the ferry ahead of us? I sort of took that as a personal challenge. What if someone got to the gelato stand in Hvar City ahead of me? Sort of like the 24 hours of Le Mons only this was the 90 minutes of Hvar complete with 2 lane road (and I use the words 2 lane and road loosely) the occasional garbage truck, bus, bicyclists, lots of potholes, and an amazing long tunnel that likely cost me a win. I think if I only had that last mountain leg I could have caught and passed those last 2 motorcycles ahead of us. Oh well, handicapped as we were, starting in the last row and finishing 3rd isn’t bad and the gelato stand had lots to spare. Sort of found our apartment by Ouija board as Nuvi was on a break. Must have been too many j’s and z’s in the street name. Off for a quick explore of the old port town (now this is Dubrovnik 41 years ago) and then to dinner. Our host at the apartment recommended a restaurant at the top of the mountain overlooking the Adriatic with an amazing sunset view of the collection of small islands splattered like pancake batter in front of you. Makes for a natural protected harbor and great water taxi beach exploring. We will spend all tomorrow haunting the old town but for the rest of the evening we need to refuel. Our host has made reservations for us at dinner and preordered the traditional Croatian mixed vegetable and meat dish “under the bell”. For three hours an iron pot filled, and I do mean filled, with lamb, veal, potatoes, onions, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and of course enough salt and garlic to make you eat the entire dish (serving for 6-7 people) is covered with a metal bell and glowing coals and simmers in a wood fired open oven. Talk about super-size me. But given 3 hours, a great sunset, superb wine and the best of traveling companion ever we made a gallant effort. Sort of like the road race to get to Hvar City. Almost finished the entire pot but left a little for the restaurant dog mournfully howling in the distance. Wound our way off the mountain in the pitch black dark and in bed at 8:30. This Croatian road racing/eating thing is exhausting. But, we could get used to it.

Day 7

Day 7 Last day in big D Slow day but learned so much. Kathie lost her eye patch somewhere on main street last night. But her pink eye seems to have resolved and the cat lab tests returned showing he didn’t have rabies. Had a mild case of bird flu but no rabies.

First ones on the wall at 8 this morning. Beautiful. Almost entirely repaired wall and roofs after the 1991 war. Went to Defenders Museum dedicated to the 200 or so mainly 17-30 year old men who lost their lives defending the city from the Serbs/Montenegrins/and Bosnians who were trying to take over Dubrovnik. Have heard both sides and still can’t figure out who may have been more in the right. Will have to study more. I realize I keep referring to 19a, our apartment in the Old Town of Dubrovnik, so thought we would put a photo in. We are sitting on the steps outside with the apartment on Kathie’s right. Off to a vegetarian restaurant for lunch – Nishta. Hate to say it but very good. Kathie says her Ratatouille was the best meal she has had in Croatia all week and that is saying something. We are all satiated and couldn’t even muster enough energy to stop at the gelato stand on the way back to 19a. Short power naps then off to Buza 2 bar to meat the Luetkehans for a sunset glass of wine. Lovely setting for a rendezvous. Very fortunate as they loaned us their Garmin for the rest of the trip. How good is that? Now I have someone else to blame when I get lost next week. Trip is half over. Pack and leave Dubrovnik tomorrow heading north up the coast. Sarah gets three more days on the beaches and at the gelato stand here. Hope we can find a way to get all those souvenirs in the suitcases and up the hill to the car rental place. So, now I, Kathie finally have to say something for all those who are concerned about me. Please don’t worry. Mark has a touch of early dementia and is confabulating mightily. I and the cat are both fine!

Day 6

Day 6 Mexican stand off Up early, we have a lot to accomplish. Sailed back to the mainland and a good day of paddling. Out around light houses, yes they have them way over here as well, and along the coast to a lovely beach for swimming. Even thermophobic (I think I made that one up) I must admit it was a great swim and the water is so warm. Much warmer than Crete last year. Oh and even I can float here! A couple of hours in the kayak and the sea salt bath were all it took to heal my aching back side. All packed up, and boy do I use that term loosely, using every plastic bag and dirty shirt we can find and we all stuff into a later model VW van. Have you ever wondered where all the used VW vans go. After they have been recycled from the US through Mexico, really, where do they go. Well at least one got to Croatia. Hardly a plastic part in one piece. I fixed 2 door handles on the trip. Bill, remember the oil light in Cabo that flashed the entire time we were there. Well, they have that same feature over here. Dropped Carl, Peg, Chris, Amy and Jack off at Zatun Bay where they will stay the last night and off to Dubrovnik. Adventure not over however. Almost became a speck on the windshield of a huge tourist bus as we pulled onto the main highway. Not sure I am looking forward to the next week of driving north. Into Dubrovnik to be dropped off. Now there are thousands of tourists in Dubrovnik and most of them get dropped off outside the city so you would think they would have an easy place to accomplish this task. We wind through back alleys outside the city walls complete with not one but 2 Mexican standoffs. Our driver seems to be pretty good at those. He then stops in the middle of an alley. We seize the chance and make a run for it, plastic bags waving in the wind, as he is having a full throated nose-to-nose discussion with a taxi driver about who is going to back up. I am so not looking forward to driving next week. For those who are concerned, Kathie’s eye is starting to look a little better. Only had double vision for the first day and the headache is almost gone. Got back too late to find out about the rabies test on the cat. Maybe can find out before we leave tomorrow. Through the Pele gate and into the Old Town of Dubrovnik complete with wide main street polished by the feet of thousands of tourists before us, and back to our home away from home, 19a, and the first shower in 5 days. AHHHH Up for recommended Asian-Croatian fusion at Azur which was all it was said to be, especially Kathie’s spicy seared tuna and Sarah’s curry. Not a dry eye or a stuffy nose here. Back out on the streets to enjoy a few street performers and of course evening would not be complete without a trip to our favorite gelato stand. Boy I love that stuff. Let me see. Hang up all the wet clothes, clean out the luggage, no scorpions here, and get a good night sleep. Nice the boat is still rocking under us at least in our minds (or ears). One last hill tomorrow, the old wall around Dubrovnik. Have to get at it early to beat all of those tour busses. My beard is starting to itch!

Day 5

Day 5 Kram Reuab lives It seems the rumors of my being fired have been greatly exaggerated. Others have said I was responsible for using up all the internet data on the boat and shutting down the system. Can’t see how downloading the entire Seahawks game could have done that, can you? However others now have the address of this little story so may have to change the names a little to make it HIPPA compliant or something like that. I left you with the drama of Carl and Peg. Boy are they resourceful. Seems they just put on their walking shoes, well they already had them on actually, and walked across the peninsula to the next town and when we came around the corner, there they were. Actually beat us there. Off we went again to. Mljet Island is our next to last day and will be a multisport adventure day. Biking, swimming and last but not least eating. Good thing we got the big hills out of the way yesterday. Off the boat, turn right and straight up 8 degrees for half a mile. Actually seems you can walk or ride in first gear at about the same speed. Rewarded by a long gentle downhill that leads into National Sea Coast Park. Great pine forest surrounding a series of seawater lakes with lovely swimming areas and the small town of Soline where we had lunch. We took a very short water taxi ride across the lake while others biked around. Hoped we could take another water taxi to the monastery out in the middle but it seems they were closed. Oh well a swim then and we are refreshed for the back side (and I am starting to use that phrase very gently) of the hill. Seems what comes down must go up. 30 km of biking (or walking up hills for some of that) is a good day.

Could not have enjoyed our visit to the park more. We tend to think the US must be the only place where the natural beauty of lakes and forest have been enhanced and protected for all to enjoy. Well here is a news flash. Croatia has figured it out too. Where we are closing trails and cutting back on the National Park Service amazing places like this are thriving. I am up for spaghetti tonight, my favorite pre and post race meal of spaghetti carbonara, and our work is done on Mljet.

Day 4

Day 4 Black is the new white Woke to the news the Seahawks are not as good as we all thought. Well that takes the pressure off an undefeated season. Today is to be an all skate. Bike, hike, swim, eat, sail. All got interrupted with too much sun. The bike starts with about a 1k straight up bike ride with 6-15% grade which was not too bad until the bus wanted the same half of the road in addition to its own half. Situation made worse since there was only half a road to start with. The effort was rewarded with a tour of an old church abbey built in 1500 where you could see both sides of the island of Sipan and from the roof you can keep watch for any invaders. Ring the bells and all the islands inhabitants come up and live in the church. After lunch and swim off to the town of Ston by boat with a great swim on the way. Kathie got up on the paddleboard and I even did a little yoga on the board. “Little’’ and “on” would be the definitive words but Kathie told me it was a nice try and that made my pulled groin feel better. Motored off up the coast to the small town of Ston, noted for its wall over the city to protect the evaporation ponds where they make famous sea salt. Jake, they run a marathon on the wall in a week. Check it out on the net. Nice hour to roam before dinner. All day without wine has led to a very bad decision. We made the decision that a town famous for it’s wall and sea salt would have equally good local wine. Not so much. Two out of three is not bad. The tasting room looked inviting and the white was “OK.” So off to the red. The bouquet? Turpentine? The taste? Wow, Sarah had to turn away from the counter to hide the twisted face. But we are not sure what to do with the color. It seems the famous taste of Ston includes not only the flavor it imparts to the salt and wine but there is a problem with the acid effect on new dental inlays. So much for the new crown material done last fall. Black seems to be the new white. When I smile. Ouch. Remember the Bond villain with the steel grin. 24 hours now without any improvement. Sure hope Chris Merchant DDS has some magic up his sleeve. If you see any photos and I am not smiling you will know why. Reading Rick Steves later he says you should sample a few local wines here. That would be one he missed. Slept through the night. It is so easy on the rocking boat. May have slept too much. More on that later. Motoring and breakfast to the Isle of Mljet where there are caves that Ulysses reportedly slept in. I think it is sort of like George Washington slept here. We will see. Have not seen a Cyclops yet. Oops, we have been underway for about one hour. Having a great breakfast and wondering if there is enough prosciutto for the couple from Boston. Figured they must just be “sleeping in”, or! Seems they may have gotten up early and gone for a stroll. Meanwhile we all got up, dressed, had Turkish coffee and shoved off, sans Carl and Peg. Can only imagine their surprise as they gazed at the picturesque view of the town and harbor from the top of the wall only to watch the boat push off and motor over the horizon. The Internet and iPhone are amazing. Found them. Taxi and ferry ride later and we will be reunited. Nika, the guide just brought out wine and beer to celebrate. All is well. Off to find a Cyclops. Sarah crawls thru our cabin and into her berth.

Oh my, Oh my. Have to sign off here. Sarah is downloading her photos to our computer on Air Drop and…OH MY. OH…MY! Those are personal files Sarah. STOP THE DOWNLOAD! OH MY. Hope I can keep this from getting back to the Sisters of Providence

Day 3 - Put to Sea

Day 3 Put to sea

Our home away from home for the next 4 days. We have the triple cabin in the forward starboard hull. Well, actually a nice double with a single bunk in front that you get to if you channel your inner chipmunk. Can’t have one shred of claustrophobia to live up there. Hope you worked on your yoga Sarah. To get in and out you either crawl over us in our bunk and through a hidden trap door or if you want to maintain peace you shimmy up through the Plexiglas hatch cover onto the deck. Sarah, you are a true good sport. Hope it is not cold tonight and you get your wish to sleep on the net between the hulls on the bow. Really lazy day. Up and out of 19a to meet with the rest of our group. Retired Boston real estate developer, his psychotherapist wife and their retired 3rd grade teacher-traveling companion. How about this for a small world? His name is Carl and he is Carl Lindgren’s cousin. A retired government employee and his younger partner from Juno Alaska round out the passengers along with Sarah and of course Kathie and me. For your interest Bill it is a Nautitech 44.2, 44ft catamaran. North out of Dubrovnik to Kolocep Island where we had a two hour lunch followed by a much needed long walk across the island and a short 45 minute kayak. Well, kayak trip is sort of stretching it. More like paddling a concrete tub up stream. I am so spoiled by my white carbon-light Eddyline rocket. Oh well it got us out on the water. Walk back across island, and back aboard for a short one hour Sunset cruise to the island of Sipan where we will have an amazing two-hour dinner and dock for the night. If I can recall, wine, smoked salmon Carpaccio, skate appetizer drizzled with balsamic vinegar, octopus cakes (sort of like crab cakes but with octopus), and seafood risotto. Not bad☺. Vinnie and Sophia waddle back to the boat and Sarah channels her very best Alice and pops down the in deck rabbit hole to her bunk for the night. We rock to sleep dreamming of swimming hiking, biking, oh and of course eating tomorrow. Oh, almost forgot, for those of you who are concerned about Kathie, or as we like to refer to her as, Sophia, the one eyed sailor. So far she is doing just fine. Bill, thanks for all your advice. It was a good thing it was not her good eye. Looks sort of funny because they only had a right eye patch and she looks sort of funny wearing it on the left. Keeps falling off when she brushes her teeth. And she keeps bumping into things. What’s with that? Had to be careful eating gelato standing on her left. And for those of you concerned about the cat, it had to be euthanized. They are having it tested for rabies and we will hear about the results when we get back to Dubrovnik later this week.

Day 2 fantasy cat action Gatto's revenge -

Day 2 See-Saw Day Gatto’s revenge Wow, the apartment we call 19a is right in the center of old town and amazingly dark so we all got a great long first night sleep. Rallied though and made our selves go to the recommended coffee shop for crepes over vanilla ice cream and smothered in fresh fruit. Follow this with a latte and we are off to a great day. Of course how fast can you move after such a breakfast so we decided to stroll. Tourist ship has not belched 10,000 passengers yet so we sort of have the old town to ourselves as it wakes up. Unfortunately the sunny Mediterranean climate has not arrived yet and we do much of our walking in the rain. Back to get coats and purchase of the smallest umbrella in Croatia and we are off again. In one of our attempts to avoid the rain we decide we might be able to stay dry for an extended period of time if we combine food and wine at the same time. After several attempts to sit we finally get a table at what turns out to be a great Bosnian restaurant. Wine, some sort of sausage, salad, and baclava later and we have been revitalized. We are refreshed, we seem to have beaten jet lag and the sun is starting to come out. We had decided to put off the walk around the wall until our return from the kayak trip but feeling so good after lunch we decide to go for it. So up the hill we go to the top of the town to get the tough part of the wall out of the way first. Little did we know the expedition we were about to undertake.

There are lots of cats in Dubrovnik. If you are a cat lover like Sarah then you spend a lot of your time working on the purrfect, pardon the pun, photo to send back to the neighbors who are cat sitting for her. I got to the top of the stairs above 19a first and there was a lone cat sitting on the stonewall. Photo of cat with stairs and town below framing Kathie and Sarah climbing up the stairs seemed purrfect. There I go again, sorry, couldn’t resist. I guess the click of the camera shutter startled the feral cat because he leapt off the wall directly onto Kathie. The nurse at the small emergency clinic said I was probably not to blame but I still feel terrible. The superficial scratches and any concern about cat scratch fever and ring worm we actually have covered with our medical kit we have with us, diflucan, mupurricin (there I go again I just can’t seem to resist) and cipro. However all are much more concerned about the corneal laceration. Fortunately not a grade 3, whatever that means. I guess that is not completely thru but bad enough that they wanted us to go to the specialty ophthalmology hospital in Reuab about 50 kilometers down the coast. Recall I said the rain had washed out the road from the airport and sure enough that is the same road. So what should have been a 30 min cab ride became a 2 ½ hour thrill ride. Of course we did not prepare for that winding trip along the rouged coastline cow path/highway and Kathie’s codeine wore off long before we got there. Lucky thing. The only ophthalmologist in central Croatia happened to be at the clinic. Of course it is a national holiday and they are off at a convention or something.. No stiches. Believe it or not, just superglue, an eye patch, a big bottle of codeine, and she should be OK in a week or so. They don’t want her to do any snorkeling and she is supposed to avoid alcohol but they didn’t think going on the boat was contraindicated so we should be able to go on the catamaran tomorrow. Back in Dubrovnik in 30 minutes this time. Kathie’s eye and the road are fixed and the sun scheduled to come out tomorrow. Nice dinner of risotto and fresh sea bass with citrus and capers. Kathie can’t have the wine but according to Sarah her part of the bottle was excellent. All in all it was an up and down day. Look on the bright side, even if only with one eye. We found some very loud and obnoxious scraping toys for the grandkids at the market, we ate well and if the weather improves as they say it is supposed to we get to go on a sailboat trip tomorrow. Miss you all. Kathie says hi and she will see you in two weeks. Sorry couldn’t resist.

Day 1 Croatia

Day 1, Thursday-Friday Sept. 11

Up early. I have been in trouble for the last 2 weeks because I have not packed. Kathie just has not seen that I have been putting those things that would be needed on the spare bed so the actual putting of underwear into the suitcase was just a formality. Anyway, up at usual 4:30-5 am so had plenty of time to get in a good workout and watch the news before even the dogs stirred. We must have been better about hiding the trip from them this time because they haven’t been moping around as much as they usually do when they smell a trip is up. Leaving at 1 in the afternoon is a good deal. Gave me time to get that packing thing done with time to spare. Drive to the airport easy without traffic. Nice long lunch at the Anthony’s. I sort of like this new having to get to the airport so early. Allows for a little more down time before the flight. We were so smart 6 months ago. We went in and signed up for the GO system. We would no longer have to take off our shoes and be humiliated if there was a hole in our sock. We would no longer have to take our old fat heavy computer out of its backpack. We figured this card would solve it all. We strolled past all those long lines to the already approved line and presented our freshly minted plastic TSA issued Go cards to the agent who very nicely said, so what. However he must have taken pity on the two old farts because he still let us go by. Computer still had to come out and luckily I had my good socks on. We have a little more to figure out about the Go card thing. Good flight. Or as well as 9 hours spent sitting 12 inches from a 10 inch TV screen can go. Lufthansa is a great way to fly. Hours of programming and the food and wine all lull you into the vacation mood much faster. In fact, I have a little confession to make. I took several Derm journals along and even got them out of the carry on with the intention of knocking off one of them on the flight over. I must admit, however, I binged on the entire 4th season of The Big Bang Theory instead, while Kathie watched “The Other Woman” and “Maleficent.” She has not commented on those. Watched a great special on BB King, watched the highlights of the 2014 World Cup, marveled at how stupid some people can be flying in a nylon flying suit at 140 mph, and before you can say pityriasis lichenoides et varioliformis acutta, we were landing in Frankfort. Didn’t have to wait long before finding Sarah Lux. Found her about 10 people ahead of us in the customs line. Another hurry up and wait thing. 6 hour layover before flight to Dubrovnik. Oops. What happened to the 75 and sunny we left in Olympia. 75 still there but it has rained so had in Dubrovnik that some walls have fallen and blocked the road from the airport to town. Oh well Huck Finn finally finds us and the other members of our traveling group and we are off . How crazy, one couple is from Boston and the guy is the cousin of one of the pediatricians is Oly. They let us off at the gates to the old city with a cryptic treasure map to find our “room”. Down 4 long flights of wet stone steps into the old town. Hey, a few other tourists have discovered Dubrovnik since we were here last in the summer of 73. Oh well, a quick visit to the cash machine for some Kuna and with Kathie and Sarah’s good sense of directions we find 19a. 2 ½ single beds and a bathroom. Home away from home for the next 2 days. Now for what we find we have all been waiting for for the last 3 months. A nice glass of wine in a quite little back street Croatian restaurant. Kathie got her marinated anchovies and all is right with the world. Sarah likes them as well and we have created another monster. A lovely stroll home to 19a is complete with lemon, cherry, and chocolate gelato. So 2 ½ days and half a world away I am lying in bed in the dark with my computer drifting into peaceful vacation mode. We have all had a good night sleep and we didn’t need to use the bag of pink earplugs Sarah brought. Or at least I didn’t. I am going to sneak out to find Dolce Vita, the gelato shop that also seems to make a great crepe. I wonder if I can get it filled with Fruit of de Bosco this time? The wall around the old town will be our workout today. The rain is scheduled to stop tomorrow. Now, if I can just find a Starbucks. I wonder if there is an app for that? Thanks, or as the Croatians say Hvalla (sounds like walla to me) to all who are holding down the fort for us. Giving a shout out to the Ducks today and the Seahawks tomorrow.