I’ve started (finally) to go back through photos from our Big Summer Trip. I doubt I’ll ever get through them all, to be honest. But here are a couple of colorful images from Porto:
I’m going to attempt posting an image after using image compactor … but I’m not sure this works! I reduced this just a bit: I need to figure out what the right reduction should be to be close to what Lightroom is set to.
So far I THINK this works, though.
This is a very rough map of our trip. It isn’t perfect, as I know we went through Montenegro and Bosnia on our way to Croatia, but it gives the general idea.
So here goes … posting now!
Since some have asked where we went, here is a quick list (I’ll have Dan check this as my jet lagged brain might miss something):
Overnight Stays:
Frankfurt (airport hotel only)
Paris
Donostia/San Sebastian
Valdes (Asturias)
Porto
Lisbon
Sevilla
Córdoba
Madrid
Barcelona
Milan
Florence
Arezzo
Orvieto
Siena
Bologna
Venice
Kacskemét (Hungary)
Drenoc (Kosovo)
Dubrovnik
Zedno (Croatia)
Paris (airport hotel only)
Day Trips:
Toledo
Valbonë (Albania)
Border Crossings (no stops):
Austria
Serbia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
We woke bright and early today to get to the airport. We added extra time because of the issue with my boarding pass. Turned out getting the pass printed was as quick as can be, simply done at a kiosk. Then we went to the lounge to hang out for a rather lengthy amount of time, but it was quiet most of the time (eventually more people showed up, including some guys talking loudly about basketball. I haven’t a clue what they were saying, really, but I think one might have been someone who manages players or something and he was telling the other guy — not someone he was traveling with — about players. Exciting news, I know. That’s why I’m sharing it with you!).
We headed to security (I actually like it better when the lounge is after the security area because then I don’t worry about that line, but oh well). When I got through the machine that makes sure I’m not a dangerous person I was pulled aside and a guy checked the front and back of my hands, dragging some sort of thing across them. Then he put that in a machine. Thankfully I was considered okay, so we moved on.
After sitting for a short bit, it was time to board. A security person checked boarding passes and looked at mine and said I had to have my bags checked. Eek! I did NOT want to check my luggage. But what she meant was I had to walk over to a different location and have my bags checked for security reasons. Ah-hah! THAT was why my ticket was the way it was: it was a random security check. They made me open my bags up, pull out my computer, and then shoes came off. A woman ran the same thing the earlier person did over my shoes, my socks, my hands … and by this time I was just so tired of it all. They looked a bit at my luggage and then said I was fine. I had to pack everything up and race back to the line, which had moved quite a bit. Dan had already gotten through, but waited for me to be sure all was well. Then into the plane we went.
I tried to tell myself it was San Jose time already (thanks for the suggestion, Jan!), but I sure wish airlines would do the same and serve meals on the new time rather than the old. The breakfast they served sometime around 9:00 AM Paris time was huge! After eating I went to sleep. I actually did okay sleeping, and did so several times. More food was served later. I think they have decided to fatten us all up.
My diet begins tomorrow.
We landed a bit ahead of schedule, and went through customs via Global Entry. Getting that was so worth it — we sped through customs, met Carolyn (thanks!) outside, and came home.
So here we are. A bit discombobulated, but alive and kicking. I’ve done laundry, played English horn, put away clothes … and attempted to keep my eyes open.
I plan on writing a bit about where we went in one post for those interested. But that may take a while: first I have to get a few things done. (I would have at least posted a photo or two from today, but they are taking a long time to download since I’m doing the full trip on my computer … I’ll post them tomorrow, I hope.)
Ciao for now!
What a trip this has been … and I could easily continue it! But responsibility calls, and we must obey, I suppose.
There are very few [jptps fro, today … or, in English, “very few photos from today” … heh … left hand was on the wrong spot on the keyboard!
A 10:00 breakfast also meant an attempt to finish up some food. Of course those with cars can also bring things home with them: we don’t want to add a bit to our luggage, as there are stricter weight limits on our first, short flight. So far we’ve never had anything weighed, and while we had checked luggage on one flight we later saw that people were bringing on more or larger luggage than allowed according to the website. Go figure! For tomorrow’s flight we are working to distribute things so that no piece is heavier that 8kg, even while knowing they probably won’t check: I just don’t want to be charged more to check a bag, and we really like to have everything with us when we have an airport hotel night before our final flight. (Having checked my backpack I know it’ll be easy for me to carry on my allowed two bags plus a personal item, even while I will do my best to squish the backpack so it doesn’t look too large.) Last days are nearly always lazy days. This one was no exception. The younger family set off to the beach — this location was absolutely perfect for the kids who adore being in the water! They could do the beach and then come home and hop right in the pool. They’ve had a blast!
I did start my packing on the early side. I always set aside my travel clothes, and pack everything but the clothes I’m wearing for the day, my pajamas, and toiletries … oh, and devices since I use those during the day. At bedtime I then pack up today’s clothes and in the morning I merely have to pack the pajamas, toiletries, and devices, all of which go into the smaller carryon luggage.
After some time the younger set took off for the beach and, a bit later, Jan, Greg, Dan, and I took a drive on this island. It’s a crazy spot: twisty, narrow roads and people might be walking along as well. I doubt I could ever feel comfortable driving here. We saw more of the incredibly blue and turquoise water, and lots of boats. It really is a lovely place and I’m so glad we came here.
We spotted Vanessa and Avni’s car at the beach, so we found parking and wandered the area to find them. They were close to leaving, but Greg bought the kids ice cream cones and then us four slightly older (hah!) people went and had beers. I’m rather amazed at the number of people out in the sun — but then I have a horrible reaction to it so I suppose I’m overly cautious. Still, I saw plenty of sunburned bodies.
Eventually we went to the store for just a few things for tonight’s meal, and then we were back at the house, where Greg began preparing dinner while others enjoyed pool time.
Later pool time included Greg, since he promised Levin he’d get in there! (Bravo, Greg!)
Later Avni took the two older children to the beach (again, one final time) and the rest of us enjoyed snacks and drinks on the lower deck.
Nearing dinner time:
The view at night:
Then it was dinner time. Greg had prepared fish, and we had leftovers from last night as well. Anything not eaten gets tossed or taken home by those with cars. Obviously the fish, leftover chicken, and the salad will have to go into the trash.
Now it’s just go to bed, post this (yeah, I do all this from bed if the internet is working), wake, finish packing (I’m already packed aside from my toiletries, devices, and pajamas), call an Uber, and head into Trogir, most likely. The rest of the gang will leave around 8 AM, and we must be out by 10 AM if we don’t want to pay €130 every half hour we over stay!
And that’s that. Vacation over. Two travel days and we say hello to the house, work (well, for me, anyway), and real life.
I like pretend life an awful lot!
Not a ton to write about today, but here goes …
Breakfast. As always, after Greg took a ride and after the kids get up.
Then we decided to take a drive to Krka National Park.
The drive was fun: Greg’s car was programmed to skip toll roads, and so we ended up taking longer but seeing more.
Greg knew, in fact, that we’d be stopping on the way back to get a few things that he saw on our way to the park.
The park itself was crazy! SO crowded. It felt a bit like Disneyland, with the line of people we followed along a boarded walkway. The waterfalls were pretty.
Then it was time to head home. Greg stopped at one place for garlic because he also saw the “Vino” sign. When he asked the man about that he was taken to the house and downstairs where the wine was and we all took a little taste (one small glass that we shared). Then Greg said he’d buy two liters. The man took the wine from whatever he had it stored in (I couldn’t see that far into the room) and put it in a plastic Fanta bottle! Greg bought a few other things as well, and then it was back to our house.
I was making dinner, and of course Dan helped quite a lot. I was making chicken cacciatore, but not in my usual way, where I bake the chicken with the sauce. I wanted to be sure the kids had their choice of how they would eat it. So I made the sauce (onions, garlic, celery, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, and lot so tomatoes along with herbs, salt and pepper), and Avni grilled the chicken. Meanwhile Greg made a “Greek-ish” salad. Dan boiled the pasta. All in all I thought it was a pretty good dinner.
I love that Levin doesn’t yet think cleaning up is a woman’s job, so he helps a lot. May he continue to be that way when he grows up!
After dinner some of us sat around and yakked for a while.
Now, back in our room, I can barely keep my eyes open, so off to bed I go!
One. More. Day.
That makes me sad, but of course all good things much come to an end.
When I woke up Greg was out on his bike ride and only a few people were awake, so I took a few photos of our place. (We are on the top floor of this building.)
Then it was time to start on breakfast. Dan was the cook of the day (thanks, Dan!). After a slow morning Greg, Jan, Dan, and I headed down to Trogir.
I’d been there earlier with Franka and Dan, of course, but it was fun to see it in the light. Parking isn’t easy, but we managed to ace a spot. Then we walked a bit, enjoyed a very light lunch, and walked some more.
We also went to the outdoor market in Trogir and picked up things for tonight’s dinner as well as tomorrow’s. Dan is so good at conversing with the sellers and it was fun to be taught how to say various things — not that I’ll remember any of them! (But I’ll try.) We needed things the outdoor market didn’t have, though, and also went to the grocery store for the things the market didn’t have. (Sorry, I neglected to take photos of the market. Rats!)
When we got back to the house it was time to start preparing the soup I had planned (Greg was doing fish). Dan and I were chopping things, but who knew I’d mange to chop (okay, “slice” is a better word) my left thumb in the process? Turns out I became the executive chef and Jan and Dan did all the hard work. Still, it was “my” soup — go figure! (It was a carrot ginger cream soup, in case you are wondering.)
Greg had purchased some wonderful fish earlier in the day (while he was on his bike ride) and Avni grilled the fish. Add to that the tomato dish Greg prepared, and the bread we bought, and we dined very well!
Then it was a bit of conversation, but none of us lasted for long. So now I’m typing this up, hoping the photos load. and hitting the hay.
Sadly only two more full days for us and then it’s time to start our journey home. How hard to believe!
G’night!
By the time I woke up (close to 8:00), Dan was off on a photography adventure with our friend Franka. I’m not any good at street photography and I’m very lazy, so sleeping in sounded like a great plan to me. Greg was also out on his morning bike ride. I didn’t see anyone else up, so I just enjoyed sitting out on the patio area where we eat our dinners. It was cloudy and windy and soon I could see that it was raining in the distance. That rain eventually reached us, and at that point Jan and I were outside together. She had made coffee and was about to heat milk, so we went inside to get ourselves a cup.
As we sat outside on the balcony of their level (we are the level above) weather continued to change. Dan sent me a photo — he and Franka were getting coffee as well. I said it started to rain here and he said it was raining there as well. When Greg got back he had been rained on as well. It’s going to be that kind of day, I think.
Avni fixed a lovely breakfast (boy do we owe Greg and Avni for all their work!), and we set the table to eat outside. As we ate it was clear the rain was coming again. This time the wind was wild and it blew in to the terrae area, but not enough to hit us. After eating too much we cleared the tables and washed dishes, and again some of us sat outside. Eventually it began to pour.
(One thing you might notice: when we have a siesta, or when the weather means we can’t be out and about, I write more: I actually write during the day and add to what I’ve written before I head to bed. It does mean I put more info in! If I blog only at night it’s likely to be short because I’m tired.)
Eventually we did manage to get out. I wasn’t sure that would happen, so it was nice that Avni had suggested an olive oil tasting spot, Stella Croatica, and then a cave we could check out. So off we went!
After driving through some rather flooded areas, and getting through the long line of cars (there is only one road for us to head out on), we headed toward the Stella Croatica. It was a short tour, and the olive oil production isn’t carried out there so we didn’t see that, we got to taste olive oil and other tasty treats. We ended up purchasing some sweet things that we planned on sharing later in the evening. We can’t buy anything to take home: we can’t add any weight to our luggage if we want to continue with carryon only!
Just a few photos of the garden outside:
From Stella Croatica we went to a castle that was include din our ticket price, the Fortress of Klis. We explored it a bit, splitting up into two groups eventually, because some of us weren’t comfortable going further: the wind was pretty wild, and it looked like it might rain. As those in the group I was in were waiting for the rest (Dan, Avni, and young Hannah) it began to sprinkle a little bit so we finally opted to go down to our car. We got there and took shelter in the car as the rain began. I finally got a text from Dan asking where we were so I went out to connect with him. Then the rain REALLY came down and I was getting soaked! I met up with him, we took shelter under a building, and eventually saw the remainder of the group coming so we went back to the cars. (This isn’t the complete story but you don’t need all that!)
The cave was just not possible at this point, so we went back to the villa, hung out, enjoyed a glass of wine, and then had a fabulous dinner made by Avni. Much time was spent around the table telling stories from our past and more.
Now I’m in our room, and I’ll post this and perhaps post photos but the internet connection is wonky again so those may or may not appear tonight.
Hm … what DID we do today? Funny how I tend to lose track!
But okay … we ate breakfast. I know that. Avni made our yummy meal and I’d love to tell you what it was but I only remember it because with “kaiser” … so much for me, my memory, and German! It was, as usual, a late breakfast, and by the time we finished and cleaned up it was later in the morning.
While the younger family decided to go back to the water, Jan, Greg, Dan, and I went off to Split. First we had to find parking which was quite the challenge and that’s when I realized it was a tourist spot. Once we found that we walked a bit to get to the part of the city everyone visits. It reminded me of other small older towns we’ve seen, and I’m wondering if maybe I’ve run out of energy for them, since it didn’t make me “ooh and ahhh” like I have in other places. Or perhaps it’s just all the cruise ship people that block a lot of the walkways. In any case, we walked around, had a snack, and eventually headed back.
On the way “home” we went to the grocery store. I’d been before with Greg and Jan, but this time Dan came along as well. Going to grocery stores in other countries can be confusing! We picked up a few things, and then headed back to the villa.
Then it was food prep time. Greg and bought fresh fish this morning, so Avni got the fire going and we prepared all the other things. Dinner was just fabulous! Fish (prepared by Greg, cooked by Avni), potatoes (by Dan), tomato salad (by Vanessa) … and of course Jan and I helped do some chopping or whatever. But WHAT a dinner! While going out can be fun, a dinner like this makes me think we should always eat at our place!
Oh … and about weather … we had thunder, lightning, and rain today. I even was a bit cold nearing the end of our dinner. We are in for more of this weather, I think, so I’ve no clue what we will do. Time will tell! (But shame on me for not taking photos of the weather we had!)
The kids are such fun, by the way … and extremely entertaining. Just had to mention that!
Now it’s to bed with me. I have no clue what we’ll do tomorrow. Depends upon the weather, I know.
What a lazy day! Breakfast was around 10, so that wasn’t any different than usual (and actually earlier than sometimes). Greg had already taken a bike ride down to the fish market (but while it was open, there is no fish on Sunday). Jan had taken a swim. But Dan and I only managed to get up and get dressed.
Our bacony view:
Then it was mostly “hang out and relax” for Dan and me. Eventually Vanessa, Avni, Jan, and the kids went to a beach, but we, being non-bathing suit sorts, stayed home. Greg was already on a second bike ride of the day at that point.
I did do a bit of work though: I did my laundry (last load before we get home!), and wrote to my oboe students and parents to see what their plans are regarding lessons. It was strange to think about how soon I’m back to work!
I didn’t bring a swimsuit, so I went down to the pool rolled my pants up, and just swished my feet in the pool a bit. Note to self: get over body image problems and buy a suit!
Eventually it was lunch time. Or was it? Those that went to the beach hadn’t returned and it was a bit after 3:00, so Dan brought out bread and a pepper spread and three of us enjoyed a slice of bread with the spread (plus beer). It’ll do. For now. (The spread was a purchase from yesterday while we were on the road and it was quite yummy!)
We heard from our friend Franka, and agreed to meet this evening, so knowing that, I took a bit of a short nap.
Then we hung out with the family (when everyone was back here), enjoyed fun times, and watched the sun set (photo of Dan and me is by Greg).
Later Dan called an Uber so we could get to Trogir. (We are actually in Zedno, I’ve learned … or at least I think we are!)
Meeting up with Franka was a treat … she took us around a bit and filled us in on the area. As we began there were some singers singing opera selections. We also walked out to the water — tons of yachts were parked there (I didn’t take any photos: I like the smaller boats more). I didn’t even realize there was an area like this — the stones remind me very much of Dubrovnik.
After walking around we sat down for some beer, and her sister and brother-in-law met up with us as well. It is now after midnight … time has flown by!
Thank you, Franka, for sharing your country with us!