Jen and Rebecca Climb the Walls

We were much refreshed after our 10 hours of sleep and feel mostly cured of jet lag now.  Certainly cured enough to enjoy a full day exploring Dubrovnik.  We must thank Rick Steves for recommending we walk the walls around Old Town first thing in the morning before it gets too hot and before the cruise ships dock, clogging the walls with tourists.  We started at 8:30 and managed to work up quite a sweat even at that early hour, but the walls didn't feel crowded until we were almost finished.

Rebecca on the wall with the pretty red roofs

(though they are only so bright because they were replaced after the recent war)

Many pretty red tile roofs

Jen taking a break from the heat under a mangrove tree (it may not really be a mangrove, but it sounds good to us!).

As we were walking along the walls, we spied a cute little restaurant offering breakfast until noon.  Once we finished our trek along above the city, we hiked the edge of Old Town up many many stairs until we found it again.  And it was definitely worth it!  It was a lovely setting and we had decidedly delicious omelets with a crepe for desert.  And our waitress filled our water bottles with ice!  Who can ask for more?  (It's possible that this breakfast was way more exciting because we were so hot, sweaty, tired, and hungry after our wall walk.)  After brunch, we filled our water bottles in the Onofrio fountain on the main street through town.  More cold water was much appreciated.

Since our wall walk tickets got us into the nearby fort as well, we hiked up more stairs outside the city wall.  For some reason, not many other people shared our enthusiasm for climbing stairs in the middle of the day and it was practically deserted.  We like to have historical landmarks to ourselves!

Rebecca's got more than one pair of big ones.

We headed to a cliff-side, ocean-view bar for a much-served adult beverage (Jen had her first Croatian beer and it was yummy) then we hopped on a 15 minute boat ride out to Lokrum Island where we went sea-bathing and were followed around by squawking peacocks. 

Jen drying off on Lokrum with her Greece 2007 souvenir towel on the "rocky beach". 

(Yes, it was literally all rocks, but we didn't mind since we spent all of our time in the water.)

After cleaning up on the mainland, we decided to sample the Croatian interpretation of Mexican food for dinner.  We both consider ourselves connoisseurs of Mexican food, and the obligatory margaritas, and this was a really good dinner!  Really awesome enchiladas (and margaritas).  We rounded out the evening by strolling through the brightly lit Old Town (still a ton of people even at 10:00 at night) and enjoying a night cap at an American-favorite wine bar (at least most of the customers seemed to be American, and it was recommended in several guidebooks. But the Croatian wine was tasty, so who are we to argue?)

Tomorrow we're off to tour Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  And we're driving ourselves!  Updates to follow on if Rebecca allows Jen to test out her new driving skills.  Or if our map reading skills extend to Eastern Europe.

Jen and Rebecca Make it all the Way to Croatia

Whew!  That took a long time and a lot of waiting in airports, but we made it to Dubrovnik.  And the car service was even waiting to pick us up to deliver us to our sobe (which is our lodging here--not in a hotel, but a small apartment in a home.)  And we like our view over looking the Old Town.

We can even do laundry and hang it up to dry.  And given how hot it is here and that we sweated through our clothes the minute we arrrived, we might need to.

Once we got settled, we hoofed it down to the Old Town to get a lay of the land and explore (and to keep ourselves awake for the duration of the day.)  Rebecca almost biffed it on the worn, slick stairs on the first step, but to Jen's amazement, righted herself before knocking her head on the ground.  We proceeded to take photos willy nilly of lots of old walls and stone.

Old Wall of the Old Town

The Stradun.  Reminds Rebecca a little of Venice, but not Jen, because she hasn't been there yet.

We also went into the old Franciscan monastary, which reminded us of the monastary we saw in Quito, that is one the oldest working pharmacies in Europe.

We rounded out our day at a nice seafood restaurant on the harbor, but we were so sleepy from our travels, that given slow European service, we weren't awake enough to eat much by the time the risotto arrived.  Good thing Jen didn't actuall fall asleep in hers, though, as it was black with squid ink and we're pretty sure she would have ended up with an unattractive black-stained nose.  We managed to hike our way back up the hill to the sobe and after showering the travel and sweat off, hit the hay.  So excited to start again tomorrow, all refreshed and rested!

Jen and Rebecca Spend Time in Airports and Fly

Jen and Rebecca are happy to report that we have made it as far as Vienna, thus far.  We successfully met up at the Toronto airport, where we bought only one kitschy souvenier (each) whose purchase we're blaming on those three glasses of wine (each).  Hey, what else do you do to kill time time in airports?

(Not actually the tacky souvenier we bought.)

We survived the flight to Vienna, Jen finishing her book, though Rebecca kept interrupting to share fascinating tidbits about Croatia she found while reading the guide book.  Jen probably wishes she hadn't asked that nice man to switch seats with her so that we could sit together...she would have otherwise finished her book a lot sooner.  But reading the guidebook made me all the more excited to be going there. Less than four hours of crappy sleep later (despite the inflatable neck pillows, it's still ridiculously impossible to get a good night's sleep on an airplane in coach) here we sit on fun fainting-couch style seats at the Vienna airport with our feet up, waiting for our flight to Dubrovnik.  Both Toronto and Vienna airports have free wi-fi.  How thoughtful!  And some day we're coming back to actually go into Vienna proper.  As lovely and austere as the airport is, it's not quite the same as seeing the city...

[Insert photo of Jen with her feet up, enjoying her first European Coke and a smile of the trip when the internet connection isn't so slow.  Darned free wi-fi anyhow.]

Jen and Rebecca Are Almost as Excited to go to Croatia as Shaun

According to the internets, the necktie originated in Croatia.  Once source says: Hrvat means Croat=Cravat.  And as we all know, the cravat is an early form of the modern necktie.  (We all knew that, right?  It’s possible that Jen and Rebecca have read far too many historical romances…er, too many high-brow historical novels.)  Therefore, to accessorize on this trip to Croatia , Rebecca has made Shawn a few neckties that he is super excited to show off.  Here he is modeling one:

  

 

As every good traveler like Shaun knows, Rick Steves is the guidebook to bring.

Jen and Rebecca Can’t Wait to Blow this Popsicle Stand!

We depart for Croatia tomorrow, but it still seems like forever because we still have to get through another day of work!  During the past few weeks we’ve been emailing like crazy discussing what to pack, how much to pack, last minute shopping trips to buy things we want to pack, how many books to pack, what knitting projects to pack, and what snacks to pack (Jen is always in charge of the candy.  Rebecca tries to pretend we’ll eat something slightly healthier by bringing a few granola bars and trail mix, but both of these “healthy options” include chocolate.)  We decided not to get as crazy with the driving in Croatia as we did in Scotland (in other words, we decided not to drive EVERY DAY of the trip, but to spend multiple nights in any given location, seeing less of the country and having more time to relax and explore each place.)  But as a precaution, Jen has finally taken some lessons on driving a manual transmission in the hopes that Rebecca won’t have to do all of the driving yet again if we end up stuck with a stick for the days we will have a car.  (A big giant shout out to Janelle for providing the lessons, and to Paul for sacrificing his car’s transmission!)  Now I suppose Rebecca will be expected to take scuba lessons since Jen has been taking them and will soon suggest a travel destination where we can scuba dive…

 

To give you a sense of our Croatia plans, we will be based in Dubrovnik for the first 5 nights, taking some day trips from there.  Then we spend a day in the car to get to Plitvice National Park where we will spend two nights and hike in pretty scenery (to clarify my poorly worded sentence, the hiking will take place during the day, not the night).  Our last two nights will be spent in Zagreb.  Below is a map of Croatia with our general route, and a few possible day trip locations marked.  For those who are geography challenged, note that Croatia is located across the Adriatic Sea from Italy.  (You can Google a full European map on your own if you still can't figure out where Croatia is!)

Jen and Rebecca Go to Visit Each Other

As some of you loyal Jen and Rebecca See the World blog enthusiasts already know, Jen and Rebecca do not live in the same state.  So each year, we usually find the time to go visit each other in our respective locations.  In December 2010/January 2011, Jen nearly got swallowed up by the snow piles of Minneapolis.

 

Jen with said piles of snow outside Rebecca's house.

 

We also got dressed up for New Year's Eve and had a few drinks.

 

In July 2011, Rebecca ventured out to Denver, though she took a plane and not the Wells Fargo wagon.

 

4th of July at Four Mile Historic Park.

 

Rebecca got a little fresh with a pirate.  He seemed a little stand-offish.

Jen and Rebecca Got to Travel with Janelle Again

More catching up...in August 2011, we got to take a trip with Janelle after a long trip-with-Janelle-hiatus.  And we got to drink lots of wine because we went to Napa!  I think I must have forgotten Shaun again as I have no photos of him in Napa.  That's too bad, because I hear he likes to pound grape with the best of us.

 

The Russian River Valley has both delicious wine and beautiful scenery.

 

Jen scores some liquid grape goodness.

 

Rebecca loves wine THIS MUCH.