Fun Inside at Grandma & Grandpa’s...

The girls did occasionally get out of the pool and come inside for daily piano lessons with Grandpa. Neither girl had ever played, but made good progress in just a few weeks. Of course, they didn’t fully appreciate the luxury of learning on a grand or with such an experienced musician as their grandfather. They also enjoyed TV time in Grandpa’s office where they frequently camped out to watch the Olympics. It was a great visit! In fact, Ashlynn had such a great time with her grandparents that she threatened to move there permanently.

Favorites Times in California...

There’s no doubt that two of the girl’s favorite activities while in California were eating sushi and playing in the pool. Lucky for them, my parents are regulars at Naomi Sushi and always get top notch service from the owner. They were very spoiled by going there three times during their visit. Rarely did a day go by that the girls weren’t in the pool practicing their synchronized swimming routine. One day was more special than the others when Ashlynn’s best buddy in Holland came over. Iyala was in California visiting her uncle in San Jose and the timing worked out great for her to hang out with Ashlynn.

Happiness is Time with Grandma & Grandpa...

The girls had a great time visiting my parents in California for 2 1/2 weeks. They kept amazingly busy--eating sushi, playing in the pool, building sand castles on the beach, going to the movies, visiting the animals at the San Francisco Zoo, and shopping for school. While last year they starred together in a backyard Shakespeare play, this year they went to see Romeo & Juliet at an outdoor amphitheater at UC Santa Cruz, which the girls loved. They also were lucky enough to have a joint birthday party although their birthdays are actually three months apart.

Valuable Lessons Learned in Croatia...

* Be prepared for some drama on the high sea. Sadly, there were some disgruntled passengers on board our tin can cruise (we were pretty disgruntled with them as they woke us up in the middle of the night several times when they returned fumbling drunk) and besides peeing on the captain’s bed, they stole a bunch of passports (including ours). While the captain called the police, the passports mysteriously reappeared.

* Don’t drink from a water fountain while wearing a big floppy hat unless you want to get soaked.

Our Last Day in Croatia...

Once again we got to an early start so we could drive down to Croatia’s capital Zagreb to meet back up with Tom and Narcisa. They’d invited us to spend our final night at their place, but then decided there would be more room if we stayed with her parents, who speak no English but were amazingly hospitable. After snacks, Tom and Narcisa showed us around their hometown of 785,000 people. While there were some lovely parks and historic buildings, there were also a large number of ghastly Communist-designed apartment blocks. It was definitely interesting hearing an insider's take on the war and aftermath.

Getting Well in Slovenia...

Next, Jimmy wanted to head to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. I, however, thought it would prudent not to walk around again the day after Plitvice, but instead to head to a spa to recuperate. After much discussion about why a boy who grew up like Tom Sawyer would ever consider getting a massage, we headed to Lasko, Slovenia home of Wellness Park Lasko. The drive through the rolling hills of Slovenia was beautiful; uncharacteristically, we stayed focused on the spa and did no sightseeing. The hotel was brand new and we were the first American guests. The thermal center featured a retractable glass dome over a variety of different pools including this martini glass whirlpool. Jimmy wasn’t feeling much like Tom Sawyer after an hour in a private jacuzzi sipping champagne followed by an hour long sychronized Ayurveda Couples Massage (a 5000-year-old Indian healing technique) .

One of Europe’s Most Beautiful Natural Sights...

After a 6+ hour drive through the mountains of Bosnia, we made our way back into Croatia to visit the incredibly picturesque Plitvice Lakes National Park, our 4th UNESCO World Heritage stop on this trip. This park is made up of 16 lakes interconnected by cascades of varying sizes. We got an early start in an attempt to beat the crowds, but mostly we were separated from the masses because we chose the longest hiking route. The trails varied from paths high above the lakes (where I took these photos) to down to the water’s level to crossing the water on wooden walkways. We were so enthralled with the natural beauty and desire to see everything that we hiked for almost 8 hours with just a beer, apple strudel and ice cream bar for energy. Sadly, I could barely walk after I finally sat down for dinner, but it was worth it.

More Time in Mostar...

While we’d only intended to spend 1 night in Mostar, it was so interesting and incredibly cheap (other than when the waiter tried overcharging for the house wine) that we stayed for 3 nights. We spent many hours sitting at a bar in the shadow of the bridge working on writing a novel about women fighting terrorism, the idea of which came to Jimmy in a dream. We also wandered around the Islamic section of town shown above to go into a few mosques. I climbed a minaret for the first time, but somehow I was still nervous despite knowing that the small spiral staircase had been renovated since opening in 1552.

The Old Bridge...

After driving around and seeing the destruction, when we arrived in Mostar’s city center it felt surreal, like we’d been transported to Disney’s Epcot Center. With just a few remnants of shelling left, the central area was very charming with the highlight being the Old Bridge, a historically symbolic point where East meets West. The original Turkish bridge was built in 1566, but was sadly completely destroyed in 1993. Under UNESCO’s guidance, the bridge was rebuilt in 2004 utilizing the original techniques and as much salvaged material as possible. Following an old tradition (the first diver was recorder in 1664), several tourists jumped the 69 feet into the river below. Needless to say, it never crossed my mind to jump, but Jimmy was tempted until we saw a fellow hit the water at the wrong angle and need rescuing.

Mostar Instead of 5-Star...

After Darlene and Mike left, I was all set to find a posh beachfront hotel for a few days, but Jimmy had other plans after reading Rick Steve’s advice that to have a truly memorable visit to Croatia it was necessary to cross the border into war-ravaged Bosnia. So, farewell 5-star and hello Mostar. And there’s no doubt that it was a memorable visit. I’d never seen war damage before and it was quite shocking and heartbreaking when we pulled into town and saw how much damage still existed 13 years after the war. Thanks to foreign contributions, much of the city center has been rebuilt, but you can still see remnants such as the below building next to our hotel.

Life in a Roman Palace...

Our final stop on the cruise was the historic city of Split, which is the 2nd biggest city in the country. The city center is within the grounds of Diocletian’s Palace built in 305AD for the emperor when he abdicated, perhaps the world’s first successful retirement plan. We took a guided walking tour of the palace, which was fascinating. After we departed the ship for the final time, we checked into the hotel above for an extra night in town. We visited the cathedral and some museums including one underground, then wandered through the neighborhoods to make our way up the hill for the view shown above. A great end to our week of travel with Darlene and Mike. We’re so glad that they joined us.

Night Life in Croatia...

Since we often didn’t arrive into port until late afternoon, we often ended up staying out rather late. On the island of Korcula, home of Marco Polo, we met back up with Tom and Narcisa for a nice dinner, then went to a bar in a castle turret that was accessed by a ladder. On the island of Hvar, we hiked up to the fort on the hill, had dinner, then sat in the square drinking local wine and watching the world go by. In Makarska, we took a nice hike into the hills in search of ripe figs and ruins, watched the lunar eclipse during dinner, then found a disco in a cave. I felt very old and quite claustrophobic with the huge crowds and crappy music, so we mostly hung outside on the cliffs.

Walking the Wall in Dubrovnik...

The most southern point of our journey and our longest stop was the immensely popular town of Dubrovnik. The old city was heavily damaged in the war in 1991, but was rebuilt by 2005 in the old style as is required of an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is surrounded by an immense 1.25 mile medieval wall that is 20 feet thick in places and has many turrets. After lunch we met up with Hrvoje (aka Tom), whom James met at a conference, and his wife Narcisa. It was great having Croatians give us a tour of the old city with several stops for drinks at beautiful viewpoints. To avoid the crowds and the heat of the day, we got up early the next morning to walk the city wall. Not only were the views of the city wonderful, but it was fascinating to see all the old homes attached to the wall.

Cruising in Croatia...

We chose this particular cruise because of its size (only 18 rooms) and its backwards schedule--sailing each morning, doing breakfast and lunch on board, a swim stop or two, then going to a different port each afternoon. It was amazingly relaxing being on the water all morning, then exploring a different city each afternoon and evening. Our itinerary was a good mix of bigger cities and quaint villages on islands and the mainland. Jimmy felt a little guilty that the girls weren’t along when we found out there were 10 kids on board, so he took it upon himself to help teach the kids how to dive off the boat. Here he’s merely jumping off the main deck, but by the end of the week he was diving off the roof. Sadly, the water wasn’t overly warm and the snorkeling wasn’t great, but the water looked very inviting so I went in most days for a short time using the old-fashioned ladder instead of jumping.