GOOD BYE Croatia

Mysteries of Croatia that will remain unsolved:

Why Croatians are all slim but they sit around cafes all day and night eating and drinking, in addition they do not exercise?

Why only 1 building in Dubrovnik is orange and yellow, while all the others have to confirm to strict laws; white buildings, green shutters, no signs, and orange tile roofs?

Why there is a bin of fresh ginger at the supermarket, yet no dishes seem to be made with ginger?

Why the peanut butter is always in the cooler at the grocery store, but the milk is always on the shelf?

Why the Croatian bank does not print lots of smaller bills, so that the clerks do not scowl, every time you hand them a 200 kuna note?

Why all the politicians on the billboards are bald, but I never see a Croatian man that is bald?

Croatia taught me I can live without the following:

Twist ties, rubber bands, and paper clips.

My own car.

Walmart, Target, and K-mart.

Big cups of coffee, fast food, Styrofoam containers, plastic ware, paper ware.

Fruits and vegetables not in season.

Divided highways, 4 lane highways, any road you can drive more thatn 40mph.

What I learned in Croatia:

How to gut a fish, and cook it Croatian style.

That grilled squid is really good.

How to sit in a cafe and make a tiny cup of coffee last 2 hours.

How to drink Grappa (home-made brandy), even when it is offered at 11am.

Venice - We Are ALL Tourists Here!

To see photo stream, go to March entries, Honor's Dinner.

We decided to go to Venice, since it was right across the Adriatic Sea.  But it is not easy to get from here to there.  If you look at the map, it shows a ferry going from Dubrovnik to right below Venice, but not at this time of year.  So we flew to Zagreb, and rented a car at the airport, and drove across Slovenia into Italy.  Slovenia has divided highways most of the way and is part of the European Union. But it is still a 5 hour drive. We left the car in a car park and got on a Vaporetto to go to our hotel. Our hotel was near the famous Saint Mark's Square, and was a converted palace with a very fancy lobby and modest rooms. We only had one and a half days to explore Venice.  The next day we went to Saint Mark's Square which was jammed with tourists (it was May 1st, a holiday in Europe), after walking around we decided to escape to Murano Island which was less crowded.  We loved seeing the glass artworks in the showrooms and Maya liked watching them make the glassware.

The next day we got up early to be at the front of the line to go into the Campanile Tower to see the views all around Venice.  We took a gondola ride and Maya bought a carnival mask, which she wore in the gondola ride. Every time we went under a bridge, tourist snapped photos of the little girl in the Carnival Mask on the Gondola. I am glad we visited Venice, there is no place like it in the world, but after a day and a half, the crowds of tourists and the cost of just being there got to me. It is a hard place to drag a kid around in, especially when it is so noisy and crowded. Back in Dubrovnik the tourists are also making life a bit harder. The bus is jammed, the traffic is slow, the old town is busy.  I think back to those days in March when we had everything to ourselves.