Summer vacation: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Five years ago, Erick and I went on our first cruise. One of the stops on the cruise was Dubrovnik. We fell in love with this beautiful walled city, but we never thought we'd be able to come back. And we never dreamed we'd be able to bring our kids along. It was so much fun!

Quick excerpt from UNESCO.org:

The 'Pearl of the Adriatic', situated on the Dalmatian coast, became an important Mediterranean sea power from the 13th century onwards. Although severely damaged by an earthquake in 1667, Dubrovnik managed to preserve its beautiful Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque churches, monasteries, palaces and fountains. Damaged again in the 1990s by armed conflict, it is now the focus of a major restoration programme co-ordinated by UNESCO.

TJ decided to purchase this awesome fedora during the trip. He battled trying to figure out if his ears go in the hat or outside of the hat. Love this boy!

David drove that little car all over the city. It slowed us down a bit, but it kept him happy.

Bailey commandeered Erick's camera throughout most of our vacation. She has a great eye for photography.

After walking around the outer wall of the old city, we went into the city for some lunch and shopping. We ate at a cute cafe. We had some cold ice cream (it was hot within the stone walls).

Joey and I took off from the rest of the family for a while, and we found Joey a cute dress.

I loved all the narrow walkways and alleys throughout the city.

Love in Croatia?

Summer vacation: Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

On our drive from Plitvice, Croatia to Montenegro, we took a detour to Mostar, Bosnia. I was delighted with this town. Here is a quick history if you are interested from the UNESCO website http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/946

The current name, Mostar, was mentioned for the first time in 1474 and derived from "mostari" - the bridge keepers. The historic town of Mostar developed in the 15th and 16th centuries as an Ottoman frontier town and during the short Austro-Hungarian period in the 19th and 20th centuries. Mostar has been long known for its old Turkish houses and the Old Bridge – Stari most, an extraordinary technological achievement of bridge construction. Architecture here presented a symbol of tolerance: a shared life of Muslims, Christians and Jews. Mosques, churches, and synagogues existed side-by-side indicating that in this region, the Roman Catholic Croats with their Western European culture, the Eastern Orthodox Serbs with their elements of Byzantine culture, and the Sephardic Jews continued to live together with the Bosniaks-Muslims for more than four centuries.

In the 1990 conflict, however, most of the historic town and the Old Bridge were destroyed. The Old Bridge was rebuilt in 2004 and many of the edifices in the Old Town were restored or rebuilt with the contribution of the international scientific committee established by UNESCO.

The Old Bridge Area, with its pre-Ottoman, Eastern Ottoman, Mediterranean and Western European architectural features, is an outstanding example of a multicultural urban settlement. The reconstructed Old Bridge and Old City of Mostar are symbols of reconciliation, international cooperation and the coexistence of diverse cultural, ethnic and religious communities.


We loved the old town! We spent some time walking around. Then we ate lunch at a nice restaurant with lots of local options. TJ ordered pasta. Ha ha! (Obviously not local.) Joey and Bailey ordered kebabs and fries. They were delicious! Erick and I shared a large platter of lots of local favorites. I can't tell you what any of it was called (sorry). It was delicious! The flavors were amazing! Oh, and David ate bread. Typical.

After lunch we continued to shop in the markets and we enjoyed some ice cream. Local men were jumping from the bridge with huge crowds gawking. It looked so scary! After we were sufficiently tired, we headed back toward our car.

We parked pretty far from the city center. On the road back I noticed and photographed a few things I hadn't really noticed before. In the photo below, there is a bright colored contaminant flowing into the river.

I saw memorials nailed onto street posts and buildings. I saw graffiti. I photographed bullet-riddled buildings. It was such an interesting contrast to the vibrant and beautiful old town. It was a powerful reminder that this city was a war zone two short decades ago.

I loved visiting this town, but I am very glad that Erick was with me on this one.

Summer vacation: Plitvice Lakes National Park

Our first stop on our family vacation was the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. We joined the crowds and thousands of other tourists to see the lakes and waterfalls of this beautiful protected region. The water was so clear, we could see to the bottom of all the lakes. In the shallow water, the fish almost looked like they were floating.

It was super crowded, though I tried not to show it too much in the pictures. The crowds, however, made it a little difficult to try to do delayed time shots. It was often hard just to stop on our path to take a quick picture because the path was narrow, and we were not allowed to leave it.  

The weather was warm, but there was always a nice breeze, and most of our hiking path was in the shade.

David was obsessed with all the fish. He would have been content to sit and watch the fish and ducks all day. I, on the other hand, wanted to see the falls. 

After a lot of hiking, we took a boat across the largest lake. After a quick rest and an ice cream treat, Joey and I continued hiking to the big falls while Erick and the other kids began the trek back to the car.

Erick was planning to come pick us up at entrance number one of the park, but guess who had the parking payment ticket in her purse? That would be me. So Joey and I found a taxi, and caught a ride back to entrance two 16 kilometers away. I'm so grateful we found a taxi, and cheap!

Then we went out for dinner to a cute local place. We asked for Jumbo pizzas to share - knowing that European pizzas are always smaller than the American sizes. Boy were we surprised! And full!

I took these photos from the balcony of our cute little apartment located about 10 minutes from the national park. I love booking apartments. I feel like we get to know the countryside and the people so much better.