Say Me YES!

We've come back from many a European trip and thought, we need a vacation from our vacation. Home has sometimes been a welcome respite from the cities, the hustle. Croatia, however, was just the right blend of relaxed beach time, strolls and cappuccinos mixed in with some driving tours (say me Montenegro), and short visits into the 'big' cities like Dubrovnik & Split. The country really impressed us. We found we were constantly trying to compare it to other places we'd been; sometimes reminiscent of Costa Rica, then Norway, Greece, but ultimately, a feeling all it's own. We were never more than a few kilometers from the Adriatic and every hotel we stayed either provided a view of it, or a short walk to see it. There are over a thousand islands off the coast of Croatia so each view feels more beautiful & scenic than the last. As Joe said of our first hotel / apt in Cavtat (20k outside of Dubrovnik), 'it's a million dollar view.' Then, we drove around a bit and quickly realized, damn near the entire country is chock full of million dollar views.
Dubrovnik is aptly called 'the jewel of the Adriatic' and it certainly was the highlight of the trip. The entire city is built directly on the Adriatic and is completely walled. Walking the old city walls was definitely the highlight of the trip. We arrived right after opening time (one of the perks to keeping baby hours) and for the first half of the walk had the walls nearly to ourselves. The morning sun rising over the city and the sea was spectacular.

We drove into Montenegro for a day and had plenty of fjord like views. I snapped endless crappy photos out of the moving car, just like we did in Norway, as we commented repeatedly on how pretty it was. We stopped into Kotor (walled city), where we saw a woman wearing a t-shirt which stated 'Say Me Yes,' and visited Sveti Stefan which is an island connected to the mainland by a thin, pedestrian bridge.
A few afternoons were spent at the 'beach.' In Cavtat this meant cement pad next to the Adriatic with beach chairs & the occasional umbrella. In Orebic the beach was all large pebbles, a big stack of beach chairs and some jenky hotel umbrellas. In all locations the water was stunning and 'see-to-the-bottom' clear, rich hues of blue, turquoise and emerald green as far as the eye could see.

We took the car ferry over to the island of Korcula, all the while locating the life-jackets and contingency planning. As Joe still claims, all these years later, those things 'sink all the time.' We visited another walled city and had a delicious lunch in a small town looking out over the sea. Joe ordered mussels. Yes, you read this right. Not only did Joe eat squid, octopus & mussels but he also was ordering up the bubbly water and downing the cappuccinos (many of these things have been occuring on a regular basis for a while now, but seeing them all written out together is still striking for me to see how much he & his palate have expanded and changed over the years). Back to Joe's mussels. They were listed on the menu for 50kuna (roughly $8) so Joe assumed it might not be enough food for him so he asked our server about the portion size. Response: it's one kilo of mussels. To which Joe proceeded to take down the entire kilo without the slightest hint of hesitation, and love it.

Split's most interesting attraction is Diocletian's Palace which isn't so much a palace anymore as it is an organic city infastructure/wall/tourist hell. The city has basically grown around & incorporated the old palace; restaurants, cafes, shops etc are all housed in this former retirement palace. We were much happier to be staying in Trogir, a smaller, quieter town outside of Split with a relaxed promenade to stroll and admire the yatches, charming white stone facades, and, most importantly to Joe, an UNESCO world heritage site (read: sarcasm, he wonders why places shouldn't be someday named JoeDuchek awesomest sites).

Liam seemed to love the additional attention of both doting parents on a daily basis, and certainly impressed plenty of older travelers (of which there were many, we estimated 50+% of the people visiting were pushing 60) and brought up many a conversation about grandchildren. Although our travel style had to take a complete downshift, we found so many positives in it. I read 2 whole books and half of another, we slowed down, drank more coffee, and far less beer, we found charm in the smaller towns rather than the over-crowded bustling 'larger' cities. We came home feeling almost rested (we still have an infant so can't expect miracles), and are already looking around for the fast-forward button so we can be with you all over the holidays.