Cape Cod - Summer 2014

Note that this is a bit out of chronological order on the blog. This actually was pre-Croatia in summer, 2014. For whatever reason, we took very few pictures on this trip. 

Day One; arrival day

This family summer trip came about because my husband was able to attend a conference and not use vacation time to do it. Every year, conferences are held on the Cape related to his line of work, so we are hoping to make it a tradition. For the past three years, we have rented a cottage along the Connecticut shore to share with his parents for a week, so this would be instead of that trip. We had not been to the Cape in more than ten years and neither of us really knew much about what to expect or do while there.

We rented a cottage by using the website homeaway.com.  Renting this way, and sending someone you’ve never met a fairly large check, feels a bit nerve-wracking. It’s hard to know exactly what to expect at the cottage and, therefore, to know what to pack. Given that this was our fourth year doing this type of arrangement, we had some idea of what we needed and didn’t need, though as it turned out, this year’s cottage was far better stocked than our previous three rentals.

One thing we learned before we left is that getting to Cape Cod can be very challenging due to traffic. It turns out that the Cape is actually an island separated from the mainland by the Cape Cod Canal. There are exactly two bridges, with two lanes of traffic each direction, crossing said canal. This is a huge bottleneck as traffic coming from several different directions converges in one small area. On a typical Friday night or Saturday morning, traffic can be backed up for ten miles. Given that we were traveling on a Saturday, the worst day to get onto the Cape, we decided to wait until later in the day. Basically, we had read that you need to either get there early or late to avoid the worst of it. Knowing that for us, getting up early and leaving our house at some ungodly hour just wasn’t happening, we opted to have a more leisurely Saturday. Plus, we were not allowed to check in to the cottage until 2pm, so we knew that if we got there early, we’d have to find something to do. Normally, that would not be an issue, but for this trip, we borrowed my mom’s pickup truck, which meant that all of our stuff would be out in the open for anyone to take.

We also researched the best route to take from where we live in Central Connecticut, and opted for a slightly less direct, but far less trafficked route that would take us through Rhode Island and past the very southern tip of Massachusetts, through New Bedford and Fall River. This allowed us to avoid the horrendous interchange on the Mass Pike and Route 495 that we have frequently driven past and praised heaven that we were not trying to go to the Cape. It also avoided all tolls.

Along the way, we decided to stop for lunch. We were on the Connecticut – Rhode Island border, and it was, frankly, a no man’s land. We Yelped a few spots, and finally decided on a place that sounded much like the others. Just a bar and grill kinda spot. I had to go back and review my check ins just to recall the name. It’s Granite Farm Restaurant located just off of Route 6 in North Scituate, RI. The food was like what you’d expect at Friendly’s. It was completely empty as we had missed the lunch “crowd.” It was really not bad at all, but nothing fancy. They did have good beer on tap and lots of interesting mixed drinks, but given the long drive ahead of us, we did not indulge.

We did not stop again until we got to our destination. We listened to traffic updates along the way, and we did manage to miss the worst of it, though once we got close to the bridges, things did slow way down. It really was not too bad, and our Easter weekend drive to DC made this look very tame. We arrived at the cottage after about 4.5 hours on the road, including our stop for lunch. Given that Google Maps says 3.75 hours with no traffic or stops, 4.5 was not bad at all.

The cottage was located in Eastham, MA, a little ways off the main road. Eastham is considered “outer Cape” as it is just a few towns away from the very tip. It is home to many beaches on both the ocean and bay side, as well as a healthy selection of seafood shacks and mini golf spots. It was not hard to find our cottage, once I figured out the address which I had somehow lost. Luckily I remembered the landlord’s name and looked it up because I knew that he lived at the same address. We did drive by the driveway once, as it was quite a narrow little opening, though we eventually figured out a whole parking pattern that made getting into and out of the driveway pretty easy. The cottage sits on the same piece of land and the landlord’s (huge and beautiful) home, but it felt very private because it was surrounded by trees and shrubbery.

The interior was pleasantly surprising. It was very clean, furniture was in very good condition, with a new TV and stove. All flooring was in good shape. It was very well-stocked with kitchen supplies, and they even provided us with paper towels, a brand new sponge, a couple of dish towels, and soap, amenities that were definitely lacking in previous rentals.  It was only a two bedroom, with one room holding a queen bed, and the other a double and twin. Though it was objectively small, it felt fairly spacious for the four of us. While we were unpacking the truck, the landlords turned up to say hello. Both husband and wife were very welcoming, friendly, and knowledgeable about the area.

After settling in a bit, we decided to go check out the beach. We knew going into this that the cottage was not right on the beach, but what we didn’t know what the roads to get there were entirely not friendly to pedestrians. It was not a crazy walk by any means, but too far to bring all of our beach gear. That was fine for tonight because all that we really wanted to do was go check things out. Following the directions from the landlords, we headed on down. This is on the Bay side, where the water is warmer and generally calmer. When we got that, tide was WAY out. It was kind of shocking how far away the water was, and it was really beautiful as the sun was just getting low in the sky. We found all kind of little wildlife in the tidal pools left behind. We ended up walking a ways on the beach and taking a different route back to the cottage. Mostly what we did on the walk back was drool over the beautiful homes with amazing views and even check real estate priced on our phone. Of the three guesses – mine, my husband’s, and my nine year old son’s – my son came the closest with his price guess for a property that was for sale.

We were all ready to go get dinner. I had heard about a spot called Arnold’s from multiple regular Cape goers, and given that it was extremely close to our cottage, it was an obvious choice for our first night’s dinner. What we were not prepared for was the extremely long line and that they took cash and check only. (Technically, I had been warned about both of those things but had hoped we’d be too late for the former, and I’d forgotten the latter.) Given the long line, I decided that rather than spend an extra $8 in ATM fees, I would simply run back to the cottage with DH and kids waited in line to get our cash. I made it there and back in plenty of time, as there was still quite a bit of waiting left to go.

Dinner at Arnolds 

We finally got our chance and both adults went with the lobster roll - the hot butter version. The kids did a burger and hot dog. We also shared an order of onion rings. It was all incredibly good, though I was sad that our cash got used up on food and had none left to try any of the delicious and refreshing looking adult beverages. Although it was incredibly late, our kids were not going to leave without the promised ice cream. Our kids typically will hear “no” and let something go pretty quickly – but if we say we can get ice cream, then try to back out, we risk going into a code red meltdown.

We were all ready for bed once we got back to the cottage well past 10pm.

Day 2:

Our second day was really going to be our only full day together as a family due to the conference and then departure day. We started off having breakfast in the cottage. The kids were very eager to mini golf, so we decided to do that first thing in the morning. We went the Red Barn on Rt 6. I found an online coupon for it, but wasn’t able to use it because I couldn’t print it! Boo. The golf course itself was mediocre, and my kids both get crazily competitive while mini golfing, so it was a bit of an exercise in patience for us. The Red Barn also helpfully dumps you directly into a (fairly crappy) arcade. Knowing my kids, I didn’t even wait for them to ask – I gave them each $5 to spend on games. My six year old somehow managed to hit a “jackpot” on a machine and it ended up pumping out something like 100 tickets. While this was kind of crazy and funny, it meant picking out a bunch of junk to buy with the tickets. The options at all arcades are usually bad, but this was definitely some of the worst that I have ever seen for prizes. We ended up, unsurprisingly if you know my kids, with a whoopi cushion and a fake beard.

Ticket Jackpot!

After mini golfing, we headed back to our cottage for lunch and decided to head back out to Sunken Meadow beach. The easiest way of doing that was to drive the whole family out there and drop them off, drive back to the cottage, and then bike down. We would have otherwise needed to buy a parking permit, and it was not clear if it would even be available to purchase on a Sunday. It very well might be, so if you are too far to do the drop off option, look into it. The police were definitely out there checking.

Mini Golfing

At the time we arrived, the tide was WAY in. Like there was almost no beach. There was a steep but short hill leading to the edge of the water. We sat at the top of the hill. We played and relaxed at the beach for a long time, playing in the sand, checking out the incredibly warm water, and snacking. It was very windy, so we had to keep our umbrella closed, but the air temperature was perfect. A little shade would have been nice, but it was not a big deal not to have it.

While at the beach, I decided to call the restaurant where we had reservations for that night because I started to wonder if it would really be kid-friendly. The host was definitely skeptical, but helpfully mentioned that Harry Connick, Jr had been in there a couple of week ago with his kids. Oh, um, ok. We canceled.

After we packed up at the beach, we decided to drive out to Provincetown even though we no longer had reservations. It’s a beautiful drive, especially when you hit Truro, and we took the scenic route around the tip of the cape. It was last afternoon and the light was getting a bit long, and it was perfect. We found a parking spot without too much trouble.

We started walking around we immediately realized that it was bear week. http://www.ptownbears.org/  While I am more than fine with my kids seeing large, often scantily clad men with beards, the problem for us was finding a place to eat. Everywhere had a wait. We settled on one spot, told it would be 20 minutes, but after half an hour, were told it would be another half an hour. The host was very rude, so we decided to leave. We ended up in this little food court area where all of us got different things. My son branched out and tried Brazilian food – braised beef sliders with cheddar bread and a Brazilian soda. My daughter got a quesadilla, my husband a lobster roll (least favorite of our trip – very small, though not bad tasting), and I got fish tacos. Those were excellent though also small. We next headed for ice cream at Abbott’s. My husband and I tried their liquor infused flavor, I think it was mudslide, and that was amazing! The kids got their favorites and everyone enjoyed. We walked around a bit more before heading back to the cottage.

On the drive home, we noticed that there was the largest full moon that we have ever seen, sitting very low in the sky and orange. It was the night after the so-called super moon, but this seemed even closer to us. We ended up driving out to Marconi beach to get a better view.  By the time we got there, it had risen a bit, but was still incredible. Lots of people were there to see it. Sadly, my iPhone camera did a simply awful job. The pictures would make you ask why would someone even take this, but in real life it was overwhelmingly beautiful.

Day 3:

This day was the first conference day, and my son’s first day doing a summer baseball clinic with the Orleans Firebirds. He found this himself in a tourist magazine and begged to do it. I was impressed by his initiative. After dropping my husband off at the conference, we brought my son to the field. It was $25 for a 2.5 hour drop off clinic with Firebirds players, at least some of whom will be in the majors at some point in the near future. The coach organized it, and though he did not run the drills, he was definitely a presence there.

While my son did that, my daughter and I treated ourselves to some bakery treats and hot chocolate at Hot Chocolate Sparrow. We then killed some time browsing at the Christmas Tree Shop before going to first pick up my son, then husband. The timing worked perfectly.

We wanted to make the most of our afternoon, and explore a bit around the Cape, so we took off for a lunch spot that I had identified on Yelp in Chatham. We took the long way around – I believe it is Route 28. The lunch spot, Ollie’s, was great. I tried the crab BLT, which was very tasty, though small. Everyone enjoyed their food, though I don’t remember exactly what everyone ordered. I had a nice large unsweetened iced tea that hit the spot.

After lunch, we kept going in the same direction, out of Chatham, past Dennis, to Yarmouthport. There we went to a big recreation area called Bass River Sports. They had everything from a driving range (the big draw), batting cages, go-karts, kickball cages (a first for us and really fun), to an arcade with more crappy prizes.

We did all of the above and enjoyed it a lot. The go-karts involved a fairly long wait, but it was not a big deal and the kids ended up loving it. They both had to ride with us due to height restrictions.

After spending a lot of money and a few hours here, we started the journey back. We stopped in Dennis for a well-known ice cream shop called Sundae School. Very tasty, very much worth a stop. Our kids, however, decided to start bickering and making ungrateful comments and complaints. So for much of the trip back, my husband and I list off all of the ways that we are bad parents and how we promised to be better. For example, I would say, “Oh, right, Ben, like the time we took them to the batting cages and on go-karts, that was really not cool, we need to be better.” And so on and so forth.

These hats later caused a fight, but Sundae School was still tasty!

We cooked dinner at the cottage that night. The kitchen was tiny, but we made it work.

Day 4:

Tuesday was going to be a more mellow day for us as we were planning to have my step sister and her family over for an afternoon bbq. Though it had been threatening rain all day, it held off for us and were able to grill and hang out outside. In the morning, I ran errands and cleaned up the house with the kids, so no much to report. I got steaks at a really great spot called Sam’s Deli. That turned out to be one of my favorite places as they had great breakfast pastries, tons of snacks, awesome sandwiches, and a spot to get beer right next door.

After our get-together, we decided it was time to check out the bike trail. When I booked our cottage, I thought it was close to the bike trail. But “close” is relative. There was no way to safely ride there. Even putting aside the fact that our kids are beginners on their bikes and not “road tested” at all, I would not have even wanted to make the ride alone. So that meant we needed to find a place to park along the bike trail to access it. Well, we chose the worst possible spot – the hotel where the conference was being held. There was plenty of parking, so that was a point in its favor, but we did not realize how far it was from the trail. The access path was basically sand. It was not ideal for any of us, but especially for the kids. Once we got to the trail, it was very nice. It was, however, getting dark and we did not want to try navigating our way up that crazy access trail in darkness. We did about three miles total, and that was also about the max our daughter could handle as she was getting very tired.

For dinner later on we went to a spot called the Friendly Fisherman for – guess what – more lobster rolls! This was a fun little spot with a play area for the kids. It was not crowded at all, and the lobster meat was very generous. Lots of claw meat. Rachel Ray had eaten here not long ago and given a nice review!

Day 5:

This turned out to be most rainy day we had. It really poured. Like some parts of the upper Cape had flooding it was so torrential. It was also the day that my mother in law was planning to visit, which was really bad luck for her! She arrived sometime around the end of the conference for the day, and we all hung around a bit deciding on a plan of action. We ended up going to check out another seafood shack that had apparently been featured on some other Food Network show. It was called PJs. PJs was also good, nothing spectacular in the way of lobster rolls. My son kept branching out and trying new things and decided here that he really liked deep fried clam strips.

Next – more ice cream. Are you noticing a theme?? We found a place in Wellfleet via Yelp, but did not realize that it was just a counter without any type of covered seating. There was a brief break in the rain as soon as we had our ice cream, but then it poured again so we had to huddle on the covered porch of a nearby candy store. Once we’d all finished and the rain slowed, we walked around the little downtown Wellfleet area for a bit. There is not a whole lot there for kids, as it’s largely fancy shops and art galleries, but there was one really fun spot where we got a few items to keep us busy on the rest of that rainy afternoon. We headed back to the cottage to rest, and decided to check out the nearby drive-in that night.

Now, I had never been to a drive-in, so going on a rainy night and seeing (the only movie playing that week) a movie that I had already seen was far from ideal. But it was still really fun and something I would love to try again on a night when we could sit outside for it. The problem with rain at the drive in is that you can’t even open the windows to cool down, and you need to turn the vehicle on to use the AC, which doesn’t work well. Plus, sitting in the car with the windows up resulted in a lot of fogging up, also necessitating the AC. Dinner also was something of a fail that night. We were running late, so felt that we had to do something quick before the show. We went to the Dairy Bar that is part of the drive in complex. Ew. The décor was super dated, and kind of a fun retro vibe, but the food was awful. All fried food nastiness.

Day 6:

Thursday we luckily woke up to a beautiful day of sunshine. The heavy wet air that had been hanging around appeared to have cleared up nicely. While my husband was at the conference, the kids and my MIL and I ventured back to the drive in – this time for the flea market. The Thursday market was small, and according to the folks there only a fraction of the size of the weekend market, but it was pretty empty. The kids each got a little money to spend. I found a really fun print in a very old frame, and my MIL bought us both really comfy bohemian-looking shirts.

We then headed to get sandwiches and get packed up for the beach. We did the same drop off trick again, but both my MIL rode our bike back out. It was a fun and relaxing afternoon, and though MIL had to leave early, we all stayed at the beach for quite awhile.

Hanging out with my MIL at the beach - it got sunny!

Bay Side Beach

We headed back to Arnold’s for dinner that night, then headed to Orleans for the Firebirds game. The games are all free, just asking for a donation, and super fun. We ended up running into not one, but two, families from our home town, which was so weird. After the game, the kids went out of the field and met the players. They got pictures and autographs and chatted with the players, a few of whom remembered by son from the clinic. 

Watching the game

Sunset at the ballpark

Getting a ball signed by the players

Day 7:

We did the clinic again on Friday morning. This time, my daughter and I stayed to watch most of it, after a quick stop at the store for snacks. As soon as my son was done, we headed back to Eastham to get ready for our super busy afternoon. We had to pack up some drinks and snacks and all of our beach stuff, stop to buy sandwiches, and then pick up my husband (a few minutes late) from his conference. We then headed straight out to the Oceanside beach in Provincetown, Race Point. The ocean side is very different than the bay side. The beaches are far bigger, the water is colder, and sometimes the waves get pretty big. We happened to be there on a day when the waves were on the puny side, though it didn’t matter because it was too cold to go in the water.

Playing at the Ocean Side

Running around Race Point

We ate our lunch and played around there for a few hours before heading to Provincetown for our Whale Watch. Unfortunately, we were super hungry by this point but didn’t have time to grab more food (parking was a bit of hassle that night). We had to make due with what they had on board the boat, which was not much. This was the last boat, known as the sunset cruise. It left at 5 and returned around 8. On the negative side, it was cold and we only saw a few whales. On the plus side, the whales we saw were awesome and the sunset was spectacular. If we do a whale watch again, we’d probably try for an earlier boat which we had heard had seen a lot more action. Everyone got the sea legs, though my son was a bit overly dramatic at first and claimed to need Dramamine – which they gave away by the handful on board.

Heading out on the Whale Watch

A Whale!

Silly kiddos on the whale watch

Sunset from the boat

Dinner turned out to be another debacle. We decided to forgo PTown, where we could not get in to any of the spots that we wanted to try, and stop at spot on Route 6 on the way back to the cottage. I called to ask what time they closed and was told 10pm. When we showed up at 9pm, however, the kitchen was closed and we were turned away. It was very disappointing, and they were also very unfriendly and did not seem to care that we had been given incorrect information. In fact, they acted like we were bothering them to even be there.

After much Yelping around, I found a spot near us called The Local Break. It was open and still serving food, though it was essentially a bar. We unapologetically sat down with our kids and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. While the mac and cheese side that I had was gummy and lacked flavor, the avocado soup was to die for. The beer was cold and cheap. The kids had stuff they liked. And the folks were very friendly.

Day 8:

Time to go home. I completely screwed this up because I believed our check out time to be noon, whereas it really was 10am. So we had a very leisurely morning, involving some pastries and playing outside, then around 11am got serious about packing. It was about then that we got a call from the landlord asking what was going on. Oops. Profuse apologies from me. We were out of there finally by 12:10 or so. We decided on another round of mini golf, followed by lunch on the way off the Cape, and another ice cream stop for good measure.

We did the mini golf at Arnold’s, and this time just the kids played. That was cheaper and quicker and lead to less competitiveness overall. We then headed back up the Cape, but took one of the more scenic routes along the bay instead of the main highway. We stopped a cute lunch spot that even had a Yelp check in special (but horrible internet service). We ate on the deck and had some tasty, high-quality food. Next, of course, was the ice cream spot. Another win.

By the time we got to the bridge, any traffic that had been was pretty much gone – it as probably about 4:30pm on Saturday. We were home by 7, which was not bad as we at least had all day Sunday to recover. 

Croatia Day 8: Trogir and Departure Day

Vanjaka B&B

Our plane did not leave until early afternoon, so we had plenty of time (ok, maybe not plenty, as there is always more to see – but sufficient) to explore Trogir. We started with the breakfast served by our host, which was one of my favorite breakfasts of the trip, perhaps tied with the farm omelet. This was a very European style breakfast – a basket of breads with butter and jams, a small meat and cheese plate, an unsweetened, tart, liquid yogurt (I think it was an Icelandic style), fruit, and coffee with milk. Ben also opted for the eggs, but I was very content with the other fixings.

After breakfast, we went to explore the city, enjoying more views and architecture, briefly watching a kids’ soccer match, and peeking inside the fort – my quote there was “no way am I doing anymore fucking stairs.” 

Look, another old church

View of Trogir from afar

Amazing door in the walls of Trogir

The fort that I was not going to climb up

Fort details

Another amazing view, in the distance from Trogir

 We got our last gelato, bought a few more souvenirs, and headed to the airport. We had to rearrange our bags before we left, which was a hassle in the parking lot, but was made so much easier by packing cubes, which are my new favorite packing implement. I also was super glad to have a luggage scale with me, because it let me know one of our bags was a bit over the weight limit, so we shifted things around before getting to the airport. We stopped for gas, then arrived at the rental car return – which was much quicker and smoother than the pick-up. This time, the staff was even friendly. When I kept trying to fix the trunk insert that attached to the hatchback but which had come unmoored, the rental car agent suggested that I might be “OCD.” Ben and I got a real laugh out of that, not what we expected from him. He must be a fan of US TV shows to pick up on that vocabulary.

The Split airport is tiny, a fact made much more clear during our wait for our departure. It is smaller event than Bradley, even though it serves a city twice the size of Hartford. Also, weirdly, the airlines don’t have their own check in desks – just airport employees who check everyone in regardless of airline. There is only one terminal with like 5 gates, and it was completely packed. We spent a bit of time in the duty free shop, using up the last of our Croatian currency. We also grabbed beer to share as a last toast to our vacation – at least until I discovered the free beer on the flight to Boston.

The flight to Zurich was uneventful. This time, we had a much longer layover, so we meandered our way to our gate. This time, we were prepared and took out all of our electronic devices, so we got through the bag check without issue. I, however, completely forgot to take off my fitbit, which I think is what resulted in my getting a very intimate pat down from a nice Swiss lady, who did not even buy me dinner after. No pillow talk, nothing.

Since we had time to kill, we first shopped, spending our last Euros and then some, then we walked. We paced the terminal, which was quite large, stopping once at a gourmet candy counter to get me marzipan, which is enough reason alone to go to Europe. We don’t quite do it as well here. Actually, the view from the airport of the alps, as well as the very well-done tourism campaign put on by Zurich, really made me want to return to Switzerland. I think it’s definitely worth checking out, especially as part of a longer tour of the continent, which I do hope to do with the kids when they are older.

The trip back to Boston was fairly uneventful, though while waiting to board I had to threated a lady who kept bumping into me on purpose. The line to board was not a queue – it was a mass of people all converging on the gate. Rather than go to the back of this giant amoeba of people, I merged. The woman who I merged in front of apparently did not like it, and she kept bumping me. I finally turned to Ben and said something along the lines of “if the lady behind me hits me again, I am either going to slap her or report her to police for assault. I haven’t decided which yet.” It did not happen again.

On the plane, we were once again in my carefully selected seats on the bulkhead with tons of legroom. This time, it was a two-seater, so no issues of sharing my space – only problem was that it was near the bathroom, and for some unknown reason, people kept leaving the door open. Which is just gross. Even in the best of times, no airplane bathroom smells good – the chemicals alone are nasty.

I managed to not sleep all the way to Boston. I watched an awful movie, a parody of westerns with a great cast that I cannot recall the name of. Nor do I really want to.

In Boston, immigrations and customs are a PITA. By far longer and more involved that any of the four countries that I had just visited. And I have a US passport! All travelers now have their pictures taken and scan their passports themselves. They also complete the customs information electronically and get a printout of their answers (the card is apparently obsolete, which was annoying because I stopped along the way to complete it, losing ground to the crowds in the process. For non-US citizens, the process looked even more involved, though the lines were separate. While slow and time consuming, we did not hit any snags. We grabbed our bags, and a shuttle to the parking lot arrived just as we were walking out.

All in all, it was an amazing trip. The good thing about missing our kids was that it made leaving the vacation much less painful than it normally would be. Although there are so many places in the world that I want to see that I have not yet seen, I really want to go back to Croatia soon! I also think that the kids would enjoy many aspects of it – gelato everywhere, for a start! And real castles. I don’t know if or when it will happen, but I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Croatia Day 7: Longest Day Ever - Bosnia, Krka, Sibenik, Trogir, Split

Who knew that donkeys were SO loud

We woke early the next morning to the sounds of the farm – the braying of the donkeys to be precise. After quickly getting all of our stuff together, we set out to explore in daylight. Given the winding, uphill drive that we had taken the night before, we fully expected a spectacular mountain view, and that’s exactly what we had. Rolling hills in all directions, a wild, untamed countryside with no civilization in sight. It was great! Even more isolated that the dirt roads we both grew up on in Vermont.

The addition where we stayed

Random Tortoise 

The farm was full of interesting characters, from the escaped rabbits who ran all over the yard, to the three donkeys, to the completely random tortoise. 

Mara ran around, brought us a ball for fetch, and was unrelenting in her energy. After a long look around, we sat down for breakfast, which was huge omelets made with freshly laid eggs and more of the same sheep cheese, along with the strongest coffee I have ever had. The grounds were still in the bottom. We drank it black, and while I can’t say I loved it, it worked. The omelet was delicious and filling. After some more brief conversation with Davor, including learning that the tortoise was found nearby by his friend. Davor adopted it and researched its origins, learning that it was not native to the area. He suspects that tourists brought it here illegally and let it go, though why someone would travel with a tortoise is beyond me. I asked about the rabbits, and he said that he didn’t really care if they escaped, as he did not plan to use them for food.

We finally got on our way, though we somehow managed to take a wrong turn and drive much deeper into the countryside. It was actually a blessing in disguise because it was truly beautiful in a totally different way than the coastal areas. Eventually, we stopped near a school where we asked directions from a kindly looking woman who was the only person we met on this trip who spoke absolutely no English. We got past this when she finally understood my badly pronounced version of “Neum”, the town we needed to get to. Gestures got us going the right direction, and we basically just backtracked the way we came. It was easy from there.

The day started out beautifully sunny, and remained so for our entire drive north to a national park called Krka. Krka was the small, and closer, of two national parks in Croatia that are known for a series of lakes and waterfalls over limestone cliffs. Once we arrived, it got cloudy and rainy, but that did not stop Ben from putting on his swimming trunks! It took us awhile to get our tickets, map, and get on the bus that takes you from the entrance to the lakes, but when we got there, the wait was worth it! Despite the gloomy weather, the beauty was again overwhelming. I know I sound like a broken record, but I can’t help it.

The park is enormous, but the part we visited had a manageable walking path over the steams and around the lakes and falls. It’s hard to describe, so the pictures will have to speak for me. The whole time we walked, we smiled. Except when we were annoyed by the other tourists, who we thought might push us right over. I would not enjoy this place during a more busy time – remember, this was the “off season” on a cold rainy day! I can’t even imagine what it would be like on a sunny summer day. 

After many pictures, many oohs and ahs, and rolled eyes at the tourists, we made our way back to the bus stop. Along the way, there were many vendors hawking Croatian food products, all of which looked tempting, but which we had already bought several of, like figs, jam, and candied orange peels. Now, I regret not buying more – like tons more, especially of the orange peel. The bus took forever to arrive, and a large crowd had built up at the bus stop. We were a bit concerned that, without a queue, having been one of the first to arrive would not make much of a difference. It ended up not being an issue, but we were pretty quick to jump up and get on once the bus stopped. The ride to the parking area is basically one hairpin turn after another, which was interesting in this enormous bus – great turning radius! The views along the way were also great, as you could see the lakes from above.

After Krka, we headed towards the coast to an ancient port town (and another GoT filming site for season 5) called Sibenik. Sibenik was lovely, with a small concentrated historic area on the waterfront. We found parking, which took a few loops around. When we did finally park, we noticed that several of the cars were adorned with white bows, and that the car next to us was a man with a very large and complicated looking video camera. At first, we were like “Game of Thrones!!” but then realized that it was for a wedding. We saw the wedding party gathered outside a small, ancient-looking chapel, drinking and relaxing, and we assumed that it was the reception.

Church in Sibenik - we easily recognized this as part of Braavos in Season 5 with Arya

Another angle of the church

The wedding!

A small square off the main square - no idea who the statue is of

 We wandered for a bit, but hunger got the best of us so we stopped at a well-reviewed restaurant with another amazing view. This time, we had the water, as well as the main cathedral, ornate and ancient, to stare at. The food at this spot, called Pellegrini, was excellent. I ordered an antipasti platter – each item was delicious, especially the prosciutto – it was finely sliced, unlike most places where it had clearly been sliced by hand. It had capers, preserved peppers, and different delicious spreads. They did have a weird “cover charge” that they did not tell us about in advance (though I had read about it in the reviews), which including a bread and spread plate that was worth the money for the cover charge easily. 

Super tasty food, despite weird service at Pellegrini

The service was very odd – slow, and not especially friendly. And then the waiter’s baby mama and their infant showed up, sitting down at the table right next to us and garnering all of his attention. She was about 19 years old, not classy, and proved that point by smoking while holding the baby. Then, just when I was getting distracted by the baby mama drama happening at the next table, we realized that the wedding party we had seen as we walked over was heading towards the cathedral we were watching. It was what appeared to be a traditional ceremony, and we watched as the wedding party and guests proceeded into the cathedral to live music and pageantry.

After eating, I was eager to get on the road again because I wanted to avoid the difficulty of arriving in a new place in the dark. Our next destination was Trogir, a small island just off the coast – like ten feet, it’s divided only by a narrow canal – and very close to the airport. Trogir in another ancient city surrounded by water and full of ornate buildings with historic value. It is also a walled city, with a large fort just outside the walls. Despite my best hopes, we did arrive in the dark again, though it was much different than the previous night – it was very well-lit, and after turning around only once, we found a parking spot and walked to our last night’s lodging, a bed and breakfast called Vanjaka B&B.

We met our host, who welcomed us warmly. She had worried that we were lost but did not seem put out at all by our arrival time, and happily gave us plenty of information about Trogir and nearby Split, which we were debating whether to try and visit that night. 

We went to our room to decide on a plan for the evening. The room was small but very nice, warmly decorated in a traditional style but with all the modern amenities, in a 450 year old building with small reminders of the age, like a wooden window with shutters, and spots where the original stone still showed. I loved this room, and would gladly have stayed there a couple more nights. It was a perfect, romantic spot.

The Riva

After taking showers, we felt ready for more adventure, so we did drive to Split. Split is a large city, and it’s the most urban of all the places that we went. In terms of size, it’s neither large nor small. The population is around 200,000, similar to Akron, OH or Salt Lake City, UT. Some tourists don’t like it because it is too “real” – unlike somewhere like Trogir or Dubrovnik that seem to be straight out of a fairy tale. I did not hold its realness against it, especially since the place that we were visiting, Diocletian’s Palace and the waterfront pedestrian zone known as the Riva, were pretty unreal. It was easy to find from the highway, I did not take a single wrong turn, and parking was similarly easy and not crazily expensive. We wandered the Riva, popping into a couple of shops but mostly window shopping. It is a mix of an outdoor mall, with international brands and local boutiques, along with touristy souvenir shops. Eventually, we left the main drag and were really in for a treat with the Roman ruins. After being wowed and in awe all week, I thought that I would not be quite so shocked, but these were so totally different than anything we had seen yet. Far older than most of the cities we had visited, the ancient palace ruins were in surprisingly good shape. The network of streets and alleys running throughout and under the palace were full of activity – shops, restaurants, live music, and art vendors, even as late as 10pm. It was an interesting mix of people – trendy, local urbanites, older tourists, and teenagers out on the town.

We walked and walked, trying to see as much of the palace as we could. Several parts were off limits, only open during regular hours and for an admission price, but what we saw was really enough. Given more time, I would definitely go back here in the daylight and likely pay to see more, but this was just the right way to finish our adventure. We headed back to the B&B and managed to get a bit of sleep ahead of departure day.