Croatia, the former Yugoslavia!

Just another beautiful country that I know I will come back and visit!We arrived here on Tuesday and are getting ready to leave tonight at 2200, minus one student who cracked her 12th vertebrae jumping into the sea off of some cliffs~we're up to 11 or 12 now...amazes me, being we did not lose 1 student on Fall 2000!

On a brighter note, Dubrovnik is charming and quaint and we hit Croatia on the best 5 days of this time of the year~raining right before we got here and is suppose to start up again tonight! There is no way to describe all of the great stories of our 4 day adventure in Croatia, so here are just a few highlights...
As soon as the ship cleared, Steve and I were off the ship, riding the local bus to downtown to catch Dubrovnik before all 600 others invaded it! We also spent some time tracking down a rental car, which we secured by days end...the city was absolutely stunning...the pictures just do not do it justice in terms of the clarity and natural beauty...we wandered on the city wall, which surrounds the entire old town~one side is the city and the other the ocean...I found the spot where I had met the little old lady sewing

her cross stitch 18 years ago and even the little hole in the wall where I have a picture of me from then (a pic of the spot is attached)...we had lunch at a local eatery in the town and then decided to walk back to the ship on the way home...
We packed the "extra" suitcase Steve took home for me and hung out and watched a movie, as we planned to be up and out early the next day to get a head start up the coast. There were also a couple sets of backgammon games, which I will not mention what the win/loss count was, but suffice to say that I let Steve win!

Sure enough, we got the car and were on the road by 0915 and heading up the most beautiful coastline I think I have ever experienced...Steve would say that it is more spectacular than the great California coast! We stopped along the way to try and capture it, but again, I think some of these sights will be pictures in our minds that we will hold forever! We made it up to the Medjugore cut off, and at that moment I decided to go with Steve, instead of being dropped off...part of the problem is that we are not allowed to go "out of the country" we are in and Medjugore is officially in Bosnia...but off we went, about 30 minutes into Bosnia with our rental car...this is a very spiritual place for Christians, as Mary has spoken to some visionaries here for the past 15 or so years and we were so close that it felt ok and safe to go...we had no problems, but I must say, I was happy to cross back over to Croatia on our way back.

We made it to Split by around 4pm, but decided after driving through the big city, to keep going to Trogir that Steve had read about~this is where we put our head down the first night-a very charming and quaint little island, right up the coast from Split. We stayed in a cute little hotel right on the water...we ended up running into the doctor and his wife Margaret there, which was odd as it literally was in the middle of no where. They suggested a great little 3 table restaurant that they fell upon the night before...we turned out to be their first "official " customers, as their opening night was that evening! I enjoyed an amazing grilled fish with greens while Steve had a great Steak with some interesting potatoes~never mix jicama with potatoes though-strange combination!

We awoke to a great sight across the water from town and had a great breakfast there in the hotel~many places in Croatia include breakfast with your stay. With our tummies full, we headed back up the coast. It was a long day of driving with a couple of stops for lunch and coffee! But the coastline was absolutley stunning-we would be driving along and come around a bend and boom this almost sureal town off in the distance that was perfect and beautiful would be in full sight...We then headed inland to these waterfalls that are very famous here in Croatia. Being off-season, it was amazing to be anywhere at this time of the year, with no other tourists in sight! We ended up at these falls and again, other than 2 other human beings, we had the hike to the falls all by ourselves and it was so peaceful and beautiful, it was breathtaking...imagine being up in Yosemite with only 2 others-honestly what it was like! We hiked back up all the way to the car and silly me left my wallet WITH YES my passport in that little pouch...luckily with no one else around, Steve was kind enough to run back down to the spot where we took pictures at the bottom of the falls and it was still there hanging on the pole...scared the bajegees out of me and fortunately for me, Steve was calm and collected and handled it with ease and grace! Such a great companion to have with me~phew!!!! But then the driving was a bit long and windy and there were a couple of times when the going got too tough for Steve and my crazying BMW driving in a little Fiat Punto...here is some of his reactions on film!

With that, our appetites were ready for lunch and we stopped along the road at the next little town...ended up having a great little lunch and kept on driving until we hit Zagreb. We found the hotel, which of course was right in the heart of downtown, within walking distance of the entire city plaza and we got our room and settled in.

We walked around town the next day, which happened to be Steve's birthday and had a nice dinner to celebrate his 48 years on this planet. We also spent, as many do in Croatia several times a day in cafe's having milk coffee and watching the world go by~one such cafe had my life motto that Steve saw that I got a kick out of~"carpe diem". The other amazing part was each town we stopped in had its own version of an open market-flowers, vegetables, fish and wares were to be had everyday~so charming and great to see the locals come into town to pick up their goods for the week. I had to leave last night to fly back to the ship around 8pm...I was able to hook up with an SAS tour that was in Zagreb and ended up on the same flight that they were on, which of course saved me lots of taxi fares and being in an airport all alone at 2300 in Croatia!

It was so fun to share at least 12 days of this journey with Steve and I know this will be a fond memory for us to talk about for years to come...he headed off to Vienna for a couple of days this morning from Zagreb and heading home in time for Thanksgiving with his family in Santa Barbara! We had some great laughs and good talks and got to share a little of the world together-I am surely greatful to have had him here with me! Here we are "sharing the world" in our shadow...
Today, I just spent the day hanging out again in the old town, had a second serving of this wonderful ice cream we had the first day here and then headed back to the ship and now here for the night. We leave in about 4 hours and head towards Spain in 4 days for 5 days and then homeward bound in 10 days across the Atlantic Ocean!

The trip is surely winding down now...people are starting to talk about Florida and how they are going to get everything home, papers and finals are around the corner and there is surely this feeling of good-byes and a bit of sadness in the air about the last 2 weeks or so of this amazing adventure! Having been in this place of the end of the journey twice before, it still is an amazing feeling to realize the friendships and bonds that have formed for life, the special relationships with the crew and officers I have been fortunate to develop and the amazing and wonderful memories I will take with me from this time that are special and lasting!

I hope that all is well in your neck of this beautiful world and times of gratitude and love are close by as you gather with family and friends for Thanksgiving...from my neck of the world to yours, lots of love for today!
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