Boston, MA (Part 1)

It should be no surprise to any of you that spending an entire week with Parker and Evie was the highlight of my year.  Most of you have had to suffer through my gushy stories about them and how smart, beautiful, loving and exceptional they are.  Well, if you've made it this far in the blog, you can probably make it through one more story about them...

Nichole sent an owner's manual of sorts to help me prepare for the week we'd spend together.  She left nothing to chance and had each moment of their schedule documented.  It is amazing how many activities can fit into a single week for a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old.   We started our week at 6:20 am on Monday morning when I had to wake both kids up to start the process of getting ready for school.  I wouldn't say that any of us are "morning people", but Evie was definitely the most bright-eyed of the 3 of us.  The morning routine includes, dressing, making beds, eating breakfast, brushing hair and teeth, organizing backpacks (including a packed lunch) and getting in the car by 8:05.  I think I even amazed myself that we had time to spare on Monday.  We got to play for a few minutes before loading into the car.  Parker likes to be the first kid in his classroom so he showed me the way to the back door of the school where he can zip into the building at the first bell, load up his cubbie and get into Mrs. Thayer's classroom in less than 1 minute.  I was impressed.

Evie and I made our way to her school next, but had a bit of time to waste before it was time to go in.  We played in the foyer of the building and slowly her friends started to arrive.  At 8:55 am we made our way into the Rainbow Room where Ms. Laura and Ms. Jen were thrilled to see her.  I got lots of hugs and kisses before heading out.  She needed to be picked up at noon, so I had time to swim at the YMCA before going back to pick her up.

Rather than bore you with a breakdown of each day we spent together, I'll give you the highlights:

We had lunch at Bill's Pizza on Tuesday because that is Parker's half day of school.  When we walked in the restaurant we noticed a series of clocks on the wall and one of them was displaying London's time.  We spent our lunch talking about the fact that it was already dinner time where Mommy and Daddy were and they'd be asleep by the time were were having dinner in Boston.  This was a really fun idea to Parker and Evie.

Both kids had music class at Jammin' With You in Wellesley.  I had no idea what this was when I was driving there, but what a fantastic concept.  Two guys in a big open room teaching kids about music, playing piano and guitar while making up songs.  Evie beat a drum and made up lyrics.  Parker had an actual piano lesson, but it was mixed with marching and singing.  I have no idea if places like this exist in other cities, but what a C-O-O-L, cool place!

Evie had gymnastics one afternoon and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed watching her work the gym.  She had 1 hour of free play where she ran around with a bunch of other kids being crazy.  After that she had an organized class where she did stunts on the various equipment.  Check her out on the bars:

Evie on the bars at gymnastics

Building upper body strength and working on balance

We did FaceTime with Mommy and Daddy a few times which was great, as the kids were definitely missing them in the evenings.  And, to help Parker and Evie understand how soon they'd be back, we created a countdown calendar that they got to take turns marking off day-by-day:

The countdown calendar

We also made a welcome home sign for the front door, but I forgot to snap a photo.  Oh well!

Parker made the swim team this year and had practice twice during the week.  Evie and I tagged along to watch on Wednesday and it was thrilling to seem him swim so well with older kids.  We did the carpool on Wednesday night so I got to meet Riley who is a second grader on the team.  I think the backstroke is Parker's best stroke, but he did great in freestyle and breaststroke, too!

Parker approaching the far wall

Parker doing backstroke...



Grandma and Grandpa came to stay through the weekend because I had to leave on Saturday afternoon to get to Hartford for a 40th birthday party and Paul and Nichole weren't going to be back until later that night.  We had a big event on Saturday morning - Parker's Pumpkin Mini Meet at UMass Boston.  He was competing in 3 individual and 1 team event and while it was a long, long morning at the meet, watching Parker WIN his first event and come in SECOND in the next two was amazing.  I couldn't have been more proud.

After getting back to the house I started packing things up.  I was really sad to leave, but I knew I would be coming back in less than a week and staying through Halloween so I didn't cry to hard!  Parker and Evie smothered me with hugs and kisses and I hit the road for Hartford.



New Jersey / New York (Part 1)

After about a 6-hour drive I made it to my childhood home in NJ.  As I pulled into the drive way I realized I'd had 3 bottles of water during the drive and hadn't stopped at a restroom once.  Ooops!  I couldn't even stop to hug my parents upon entering the house.  I had other business that needed to be handled first.  After a quick visit to the restroom I returned to the living room to properly give out hugs.  My parents' dog, Mitzi, is madly in love with me and has a habit of getting so excited whenever I come home that she pees on the spot.  We took the reunion outside so she would be free to take care of her own business.  It's probably important to tell you that I lived in this house from the time I was born until I left for college.  And, many of the neighbors have similar longevity on the block...  As my parents, Mitzi and I were standing in the front yard neighbors came pouring out of their houses. 

Tina Shark was the first to make her way over.  Tina and Greg moved onto Third Avenue when I was 8 years old.  When I was 9 years old they had their first child, Katie, and I am became their babysitter.  They went on to have 3 more children, Jackie, Zach and Anastasia before I left for college.  Proceeds from babysitting the Shark children undoubtedly paid for about 1/2 of the car I bought myself when I was 17.  We got fully caught up on the kids (3 are college graduates - Anastasia is a senior is high school) and just as we were finishing up our conversation, Gale and Frank Rivera made their way out of their house to do some yard work.  They caught a glimpse of me from across the street and the yard work was put on hold.  I got an update on their son, Adam, and the rest of the family (Gale's sister also lived on Third Avenue for many years and I babysat for her children before they moved to North Carolina in 1989.)  As we were chatting Janice Conklin pulled up in front of her house, returning from the grocery store.  She has 4 kids:  Eddie, Melissa, Jamie and Robbie.  Melissa and I are the same age, so we spent much of our childhood playing together.  We chatted for a moment and I promised to swing over and say hello again while I was in town.  It's amazing how much can change in the world, while other things stay exactly the same...

For those of you who don't know... the majority of people who grow up in Northern NJ stay pretty close by after they graduate from high school.  Nearly all of my childhood friends live within 15 miles of the homes they grew up in (where their parents still live, of course!).  I am the exception to the rule for sure - going to college in NC and moving to GA for my career was a real oddity amongst my group of friends.  The nicest thing about having them all in town is that I can easily get together with all of them when I am in the area.  I got plans in place to see Christine, Jenna and JB right away and decided to wait on everyone else until I'd be back in town on my way back down to Atlanta in November.

My parents and I had dinner, played a game of Quiddler and called it a night.  After a swim at the YMCA the next morning, Christine and I met for lunch.  We had so much to catch up on that I wasn't sure how we'd cover it all during a single meal.  As it turns out, we couldn't cover everything over lunch and we decided to have a good ole sleep over party at her house that night!  She moved to Chester, NY a few years ago and had to get home to pick up her son, Nate, from school.  I drove up later that afternoon and we enjoyed some playing in the yard, wine on the deck and Chinese food for dinner...

Nate having a Zen moment over Chinese food

June flashing me her pearly whites

Brent was able to stay home with the kids so Christine and I could go out and we decided to head to Jay and Barb's house.  The backstory won't add anything to this post, but I've know Jay for years and Barb is the love of his life whom I was meeting for the first time.  FABULOUS!  You know when you meet someone and like them instantaneously?  That's how I felt about Barb.  I knew she was a good match for Jay when she suggested we moon him on his way back from getting beers for us.  :)  There was also a whipped cream fight later in the evening.  Use your imagination...

When I got back to my parents the next day I had plans to attend Jenna's youngest sister's 30th birthday party.  I was so excited because I'd be able to see Jenna's entire extended family at the party.  I hadn't seen some of her cousins in ~5 years.  I got to Jenna's house just as her Aunt Nancy was walking to the front door and I surprised her with a beep of my horn.  We walked into the house together where we found Jenna, her Mom and her Grandma in the kitchen.  Jenna popped a bottle of champagne and we all got caught up on life.  So fun!  We headed to the party a few hours later and it was absolutely amazing to see Jenna's sisters, Elisa and Christina as well as the rest of her extended family.  We laughed, danced, ate, drank.  It was just like old times!

On Saturday I went for a long walk in the park with my parents and Mitzi and had dinner with my friend JB and his wife, Sarah.  They have two little girls now, Sadie and Novi and Sadie had me cracking up all night.  I bet she can even make you laugh via this blog.  Here she is doing Thai Chi:

Seriously?  How many 3 year olds do you know who do Thai Chi?



I had to be in Boston on Sunday to relieve my sister-in-law's parents of their babysitting duties for the coming week.  Paul and Nichole had a trip to London pop up and asked if I could watch the kids for a week.  Uh... YES!  I was so excited about having a whole week with Parker and Evie that I didn't know what to do with myself.  I hit the road at 2:00 and arrive in Boston shortly before dinner...

Richmond, VA

After a quick stop at the Elon Campus Shop for a new T-shirt I headed for Richmond.  I wanted to be there by noon to meet Wendy and Suzanne for lunch.  After a few hours of catching up over lunch, Wendy and I headed to their house and Suzanne continued on for an afternoon of shopping.  The weather took a turn for the worse somewhere between Elon and Richmond and it was chilly and rainy for the duration of my stay, but that didn't stop us from having a great time.  Wendy and Suzanne have 2 fabulous boys, Logan and Gavin.  Logan is a legitimate athletic prodigy and Gavin is sure to be an A-list Hollywood player before too long.  On our first afternoon we met the boys at the corner as they got off the school bus and I couldn't believe how big they had gotten since my last visit 2 years ago.  Time really does fly...

Logan and Gavin are boys in the truest sense of the word.  They love to be outside, wrestle each other to the ground and talk smack to each other whenever possible.  I was honored to actually get a hug from each of them as they existed the bus --- they are both dangerously close to the age where PDAs are cause for embarrassment of epic proportion.  First things first - we did some homework.  I got schooled in "new" math by Wendy.  She explained it very well which gave me a whole new perspective on why high school kids can't ever calculate my change correctly without the help of a computer or cash register.  What was wrong with "old" math?  It seemed to serve us well, right?

Football practice was cancelled due to the rain, so we ate dinner in, watched Monday Night Football and had a mini dance party in the living room.  Wendy and I also realized we both play Words with Friends and started a game which has since turned into an obsessive competition.  She beats me every game?  I am not used to such agony, as I nearly always beat my Mom.  :)  Practice makes perfect, right?

Logan has an obsession with Under Armour and one of our good friends from Elon works for the company at their offices in Maryland.  So, I sent the following text to him in an effort to guilt him into some freebies!  We'll see if it worked when I see him on my way back down to Atlanta next month.  Knowing Rob, we'll both be donning an entire new wardrobe just to prove a point.

Text to prove Rob promised Under Armour freebies

During my visit I snuck in some quality conversation time with Suzanne which always leaves me feeling inspired.  She is one of those people who makes you feel good to be alive when you spend time with her.  She won't blow smoke up your butt - she'll tell you how it is.  Of all of my friends' spouses, she's the one I look forward to discussing my professional life with the most.  We talked about my decision to take a break from work and she analyzed and broke things down for me in a way that only she could.  Thank you for that, Suzanne. 

After a delightful 2 days in Richmond I got back in the car to head further North.  It was a great visit that could have lasted much longer and I look forward to another visit in the Spring so we can go boating on Smith Mountain Lake...

Winston-Salem, NC / Elon, NC

I lived in Winston-Salem, NC for nearly 3 years after graduating from Elon, but I still had to rely on my GPS to get to Dan and Ellyn's house on the evening I arrived.  How sad is that?  I guess it really has been 13 years since I lived there and things do change in that many years.  I had several people to see while I was in Winston-Salem and was lucky enough to stay with my good friends the Quesnels the first two nights I was in town.  Dan and Ellyn (and their kids, Emily and Nate) are so much fun to be around that I was thrilled when they said they would be in town on the dates I was passing through.  There are 3 things you should know about the Quesnels:

1. Dan once took me to the ER and waited with me for hours after I accidentally stabbed myself in the leg with a steak knife.  This automatically makes him one of my favorite people in the world.
2. Ellyn sends hand written thank you notes.  To top that, when her children were younger (and couldn't write themselves) she would include a photo of the child wearing the clothes or playing with the toy I sent just to show how much she appreciated the gesture!  How fabulous is that?
3. Emily and Nate are 2 of the brightest, sweetest, cutest, fun-loving kids ever.  Emily is very creative and an amazing seamstress (she made me a change purse while I was visiting) and Nate is a huge Star Wars fan who gives the best hugs in the world!

Our visit was filled with activity, including baseball practice for Emily.  She is the only girl on the team and her coach told me "the team would be in good shape if some of the boys were as good as Emily!"  The night I was there the team decided to use a pitching machine during practice.  Emily was doing great, practicing her swing and actually hitting the ball...  Dan rolls in from the sidelines to help reposition her stance closer to homeplate and whomp the next pitch out of the machine hit her right in mouth.  OUCH!  Like a trooper, Emily wiped away the blood and got right back on the field to continue playing.  I was so proud of her.  Dan, of course, got nothing but sh!t for the rest of the night for causing his only daughter to get hit in the face with a baseball.  Emily wore her fat lip like a badge of honor:

Emily pointing out her fat lip at dinner

After baseball and dinner we went back home to watch the 1st of the Presidential debates with Mark, another friend who was in town teaching a class at Wake Forrest for the night.  He showed up with a box of wine and declared, "I heard you were in town.  Here's a box of wine.  Nothing but the best for my girl!"  You have to love old friends.  We enjoyed our box of wine (for real) and decided to take a sip every time a reference was made about the flag during the debate.  Needless to say, we were feeling good by 10:30 pm.

I was so thrilled to grab lunch with another dear friend, Lisa Stowe, while in Winston-Salem.  Lisa was my very first co-worker at Wachovia when I graduated from college.  She was instrumental in showing me the ropes of the working world and we've remained friends since I moved to Atlanta in 1999.  I had heard through mutual friends that she'd made the choice to adopt a healthy lifestyle about a year ago and lost a significant amount of weight.  I nearly burst into tears when I saw her.  She had lost over 100 pounds in the past year and she looked phenomenal.  We went to one of our old haunts, the West End Cafe and lingered over good conversation for longer than her boss would have probably like!  :) 

My third and fourth nights in Winston-Salem were spent with the Adams.  My college roommate, Rachel and her husband Phil who have 2 precious children: Lawson and Claire.  Unfortunately, Claire caught a bug the week I arrived and wasn't quite herself during my stay.  Even though she had a fever and had been in-and-out of the doctor's office numerous times (including at least one visit where she was stuck with needles) she was all smiles and very playful. 

Claire giving me her "I'm sick, Aunt Robin" face



My visit was timed to coincide with Lawson's 5th birthday and birthday party which was so great to share with him.  He is such a smart little boy and I think he may have a future in Washington - I've never seen a child negotiate so well.  He was kind enough to let me share his bedroom both nights I was there and we shared an early morning snuggle and chat on his birthday.  He was quick to point out that earlier in the week when his Mom had taken away his Halloween paraphernalia as punishment for something she forgot one item and he was thrilled to have it hiding out in his room.  Little did he know that the baby monitor was on and Rachel and Phil heard the entire conversation.  Hmmm... a tough life lesson to learn on your 5th birthday!

Lawson with some of his pre-party birthday loot

Rachel lighting Lawson's birthday cake candles



Rachel and I were able to escape for an adult-only dinner on Friday night to a great little restaurant downtown.  It was so nice to catch-up over a delicious meal.  It's amazing how hard it is to find time to do that over the phone with all the distractions life puts in the way.

I had to head out of Winston-Salem about an hour into Lawson's birthday party to get to Elon in time for dinner with John, Lisa and Kylie Keegan.  I wanted to get there before dark so John could give me a tour of campus.  I haven't been on campus since my 10 year reunion and it has changed so much that it blew my mind.  Elon has always been the idyllic picture-perfect setting for a college experience, but what Leo Lambert has accomplished in the past 15 years as President is truly astounding.  The campus has at least doubled in size, but maintains it's small/community feel.  There are entire sections of campus dedicated to specific areas of study and the co-ed dorm that John and I lived in our freshmen year was recently knocked down so it could be replaced by a state-of-the-art facility that will include residential, dining and academic space.  It brought a tear to my eye to see a pile of dirt in the place where I met so many of my closest friends.  I guess we'll have to rely on our memories and photos of that time in our lives going forward.

To cap off the campus tour, John ordered take-out from a Thai restaurant that the 2 of us brought back to the house for dinner.  The mere idea that Elon would have a Thai restaurant is hilarious.  When we were students a chicken Philly from Sandy's Sub (which would leave a stench on you for days) and pizza from The Back Door was the extent of our options when eating off campus.  The best part - the Thai food was EXCELLENT.  Who knew?  It was wonderful to see John and Lisa and meet their precious daughter, Kylie.  It's hard to believe she surpassed her first birthday without me having met her.  That was another "ah ha" moment to remind me of how thankful I should be for this sabbatical.  Connecting with good friends face-to-face is a luxury that had gotten lost in my busy schedule over the years.  It was really nice to get back to the simple things like a good laugh over Thai food with old friends.

Not quite ready for Thai - Kylie enjoying some spaghetti

I was sad to only have 1 night with the Keegans, but I had to hit the road for Richmond to see Wendy and Suzanne.  More on that in the next post.

Back in the Homeland

It would usually be appropriate to say "back to reality" the first day at home after a trip like that, but it doesn't seem to fit the bill this year.  My new reality involves lunching with girlfriends, completing errands in the middle of the day, swimming at the YMCA and preparing for a 7-week road trip up/down the east coast.  Who knew I could have this much control over my own destiny?  It's awesome...

While in Europe I started a list of things I needed to do when I got back to the States.  The list ended up having ~32 items on it.  Some were simple, some were not.  The list including things like:

1. Get the iPhone 5 and upgrade my personal cell phone plan to include texting
2. Map out the route for my road trip and confirm dates with friends/family
3. Remove old grout and re-grout the shower in my master bathroom
4. Strip, spackle and repaint the wood beam separating the french doors leading to my back deck
5. Forward mail to my parents address with the US Postal Service
6. Buy birthday cards for everyone who has a birthday while I am on the road and ensure their mailing addresses are in my iPhone
7. Buy a turquoise shirt and make a sign to cheer Nora on at her first soccer game
8. Verify reciprocity rules for the YMCA facilities in each city on my route North
9. Schedule lunch with Carole Vandenberg

You get the idea...

I was going to be in Atlanta for exactly 1 week before hitting the road.  A normal person would look at the week ahead, figure out which items could be combined easily and knock them out a few a day over the week ahead.  Not me.  Apparently I reverted to "work mode" immediately upon setting foot in America.  I completed 30 of the items on the list on my first day back from Europe.  Adopting a more relaxed, laid back lifestyle wasn't going to be a simple as I thought.  :)  I decided to take a different approach for the rest of the week by scheduling lunch with girlfriends everyday to guarantee that I'd have a reason to take a break and enjoy some down time in the middle of the day.  Having a cocktail over a 2-hour lunch on a Tuesday is totally under-rated.  Everyone should do it once in a while.  It was the first of many "ah ha" moments that helped me realize just how much I was going to enjoy my self-imposed sabbatical. 

During the week I was in Atlanta some former colleagues thew a going away party for me and 2 other long-term employees who left Intuit around the same time.  It was so thoughtful of them and it was such fun to get caught up with everyone who came, including those who flew in from far away just to be there.  What a great group of people I had the privilege of working with for all those years.

Before hitting the road, I promised sweet Nora that I would be at her first soccer game to cheer her (and the rest of the Turtles) onto victory.  She was very committed to winning - I think she gets that from her Mom!  The game was on Saturday morning and while Mother Nature threatened to cause a rain out, she held off the storm until after the game so we could enjoy such scenes as:

Nora showing her soccer skills

 

Annika cheering on her sister

 

Coach/Daddy/Jonas showing Nora about sportsmanship

 

Part of the reason behind my decision to leave Intuit was to get healthy and put some time/energy/focus on exercising, eating better and learning to manage stress.  I joined the YMCA in August and started swimming everyday right before I left for Europe.  When I got back to Atlanta I continued the practice and committed myself to keeping it up throughout my road trip.  I confirmed the reciprocity rules for the YMCA facilities in each city I would be staying as I made my way North and packed a few bathing suites.  I love to swim and because I enjoy doing it, it doesn't even feel like working out.  It is now part of my daily routine and I am up to 64 lengths (32 Olympic laps) a day.  I am able to do this in just over an hour.  I have no idea if this is good, but I feel great and I have lost 15 pounds since August 31. 

 

I hit the road to head North on October 3 and made my way to Winston-Salem, NC.  Details forthcoming in the next post.

Lisbon, Portugal

After an amazing stay in Croatia, it was time to move to our final destination - Lisbon, Portugal.  We only had a short time in Lisbon, but were bound and determined to absorb as much of the culture as possible so we planned our time carefully.  We arrived at our hotel late in the evening and the only room they had left was a suite.  Of course, we were only staying at this particular hotel for one night, so we got to enjoy the unexpected luxury for about 8 hours.

The next morning we got up to start the speed-tour of Lisbon.  We walked from our hotel to Rua Augusta to catch the tram to Belem.  The tram was completely packed and for a few minutes I though Sue was going to pass out.  Luckily, she didn't and we exited the tram in Belem to see one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever laid my eyes on: Jeronimo's Monastery:

Jeronimo's Monastery

 

Towers on Jeronimo's Monastery

 

Ceiling inside Jeronimo's Monastery

 

View of Jeronimo's Monastery from across the street

 

We also took in Belem Tower and the surrounding grounds before heading by train to Cascais:

 

 

Belem Tower

 

Belem Tower turret

 

Mosaic map of the world (hard to see with people standing on it)

 

Port in Cascais

 

Back in Lisbon we took the #28 tram up and down the steep hills to see the palace and the view from the top of the city.  It was pretty herky-jerky on the way up, but it sure did beat walking!  We encountered a local who was intent on discussing US politics with us very loudly.  We heard all about his views on Romney/Obama and how the US was in a bad place with no choices.  He wished us good luck with the election in November and got off the tram at his stop.  We'd clearly been identified as Americans at that point, so we embraced the stares and smiled!

 

View from the top of the city

 

View from the top of the city

 

Back in the city center we went to Commerce Square to see the statue of King Jose and the arch that connects Rua Augusta to the square.  Of course, we treated ourselves to ice cream cones along the walk and snapped some great shots like all the other tourists!

 

Statue of King Jose

 

The arch to enter Commerce Square at Rua Augusta

 

I was sad to see the trip come to an end, but it was time to head back to the States, get some things done in Atlanta and start my roadtrip North.  Details on that in future posts.



 

 



Road from Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

On our way back to Split we decided to make a few stops in small towns/villages that might have a different vibe than the other places we'd been.  First stop - Sibenik!  This small town on the coast is where the Krka river flows into the Adriatic Sea.  We parked and found our way to a cafe for lunch and a cocktail.  The waterfront was booming with activity for a Sunday afternoon and the weather was absolutely spectacular.  We read that St. James Cathedral was the main attraction in Sibenik and after lunch we walked the town to find it.  It was huge, ornate and made completely of stone.  The cathedral dates to the 16th century and became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000. 

St. James Cathedral

 

Sibenik from the port

 



After lunch and a walk through the town, we got in the car to head further down the coast to Trogir.  Trogir is an "island" that was made by flooding a channel to separate it from mainland Croatia.  We took a footbridge across the channel and walked directly to Kamerlengo Fortress which is another UNESCO World Heritage site.  I braved the rickety ladder leaning up against the side of the inner walls, as it was the only way to get to the top of the structure.  SCARY!!!

 

Kamerlengo Fortress

 

View from the top of the Kamerlengo Fortress

 

Fisherman returning to town

 

 

Again we walked the town and decided to make our way back to Split for dinner.  It was truly a great way to spend a day on the road.

Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

Our hotel claimed it had been fully remodeled in 2001.  Sue and I would beg to differ - it might have been remodeled in 1971, but that is about as current as we are willing to concede.  It was clean and in a great location just outside the park, but it was back to basics for 2 days.  As I mentioned earlier, Sue read about the Plitvice Lakes region online and thought it was worth a look-see and it sure was.  It was one of the most spectacular National Parks I have been to (and that is saying A LOT considering I have been to so many!)  We had the disappointment of a light rain on our first morning in the park, but in hindsight it was perfect because we had no crowds, cool temperatures and the rain stopped mid-morning giving us the chance to see the greenery with a light glimmer of dew.  The National Park is comprised of a series of wooden plank walkways that connect natural pools, ponds, creeks and lakes.  Seemingly, each body of water had a waterfall emptying into it which was surreal.  We decided to use our two days walking as much of the park as possible and I can honestly say that none of the pictures do it justice.  If heading to Croatia, the Plitvice Lakes region is a must see destination. 

We checked into the hotel shortly before dinner on our first night and thought we might actually be the only guests in the 35-room establishment.  Ha ha ha, we were wrong.  At some point after we checked-in a bus load of Japanese tourists also checked-in.  Since we had opted for full board (breakfast, lunch and dinner provided by the hotel) we shared a dining room with this hearty group for 2 meals.  It was quite an experience.  At dinner our first night we witnessed people stealing armloads of bottles off the drink cart and loading them into purses - presumably to save them for later?!?  There was also a ruckus rendition of Happy Birthday sung for one of the women in the group.  We were encouraged to sing along, which (of course) we did.  We ordered a few glasses of wine and took in the free entertainment.  After an hour or so we decided to retire to our room which luckily had 1 TV channel in English.  Who knew that McGyver is so popular in Croatia? 

The next morning we reconnected with our new friends over breakfast and decided it was imperative we get in the car and to the National Park before their bus departed the hotel to avoid the possible chaos that might ensue if they arrived before us to the ticket counter.  Since it was raining, I decided to run to the mini mart for a poncho while Sue finished getting ready in the room.  Somehow our lines got crossed and I was waiting for her in the car while she was waiting for me in the room and the damn bus got out of the parking lot before us.  We quickly rectified the issue by speeding to the park and running to the ticket counter while their bus was still parking.  PHEW!

Day 1 in the park started out a bit grey and foggy:

There is a huge waterfall behind me...

 

...that looked like this!

 



But it cleared up quickly and afforded us the opportunity to see sights like this:

Mossy formations dripping water into a pond

 

The main waterfall inside the National Park

 

One of the crystal clear lakes

(check out the people walking on the far side for scale)

 

My favorite view inside the National Park

 

We walked miles & miles of wooden plank walkways like this through the National Park

 

The waterfalls were endless...

 

After a fabulous 2 days in the National Park, we made our way back to Split.  We made a few more scenic stops on our return and I'll list them in the next post.

Road to Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

Once we decided that Croatia was one of the destinations we'd visit this year, Sue uncovered a gem she wanted to see - the Plitvice Lakes region.  It was a fairly easy drive from Split and since we had a few days to kill, we figured we'd stay in the region instead of driving back/forth.  What a great idea!

On the drive from Split to Plitvice Lakes we made several scenic stops, including a smaller National Park and a series of caves.  We attempted to take in a fortress in a small town called Knin, but the entire town was under construction and all roads to the fortress were blocked.  It was really comical as the town was so small it didn't even have a stoplight, but that didn't prevent it from having more construction projects in progress than any major metropolitan area I've ever been to in my life.

Our first scenic stop was a smaller National Park that required us to leave our car and take a bus through the winding roads of the park to a wooden plank walkway that led to a series of ponds, lakes and waterfalls.  It was a bit overcast, but it made for a cool walk which was lovely.

One of the many creeks that emptied into a pond

A mini waterfall emptying into a emerald green lake

A little trickle on the side of the path

The main attraction: Big Waterfall

After this smaller National Park we headed onto a series of caves that sounded interesting.  We were the first 2 people to arrive for the 1:00 pm guided tour, but after hiking up to the entrance to the cave were asked to wait for several other people who had just parked and were beginning the hike up.  We weren't in any sort of hurry, so we obliged. 

A portion of the path on our hike (That black dot at the top is Sue)

Entrance to the cave - we felt like Hobbits! 

Interior shot of the cave (It was really cool!)

As mentioned earlier, we didn't make it to the fortress, so no photos to share of that.  The next post will cover our 2 days at Plitvice Lakes.  It was a true highlight of the trip and I will be sure to include some of my favorite pictures! 

Split, Croatia

Neither Sue or I knew much about Split before arriving other than it was a good stopping point on our way to the Plitvice Lakes region and that we had to fly out of the airport there to get to Lisbon.  We had booked a nice hotel that was centrally located so we'd have no trouble figuring out what to do on our short visit to Split.  It was pouring rain when we arrive, but since we only had a day and a half we decided to map out the points of interest and get started right away.  The main thing we wanted to see what Diocletian's Palace.  We had a met a nice couple from New York when we were in Dubrovnik and they (along with all the guide books) said this was a must.  We set out on the roads of Split with a map and our confidence.  As luck would have it, we'd need both!  Similar to other parts of Croatia, road signs were not abundant in Split.  I am confident we traveled at least 1 one-way street the wrong way, but no one stopped us and it got us where we needed to be, so...

After some use of the map we arrived at a parking lot directly in front of the main entrance to the palace.  For those of you who know me well, you know that I am one of the luckiest people on Earth.  It's a distinction I have carried with me since childhood and it includes bits of good future befalling me when least expected.  One of those nuggets of good fortune came in the form of a parking space immediately upon pulling into the lot, directly in front of the palace.  This may not seem like much, but if you had been driving the manual Fiat in the rain on the streets of Split, you'd understand!  It was just what we needed - along with an ice cream cone to kick-off our tour of the palace.

Now... to say that it's a palace is really not accurate.  It's the ruins of a palace that an entire new city has been built in over time.  Much of Split itself is built within the original walls of the palace, so you don't really walk in, take a tour and call it a day.  You walk around the city and pieces of the palace sort of pop up at each turn.  It was interesting, but since it was pouring rain and I forgot to charge my camera at the hotel, I have only a couple of photos to share.  Sorry!

Palace bell tower

Singers offering free song and the option to buy a CD

 

View through one of the open air vestibules

After a few hours we both decided that Split was our least favorite of all the stops on the trip and perhaps an afternoon at the pool/spa would be ideal so off we went...