My two weeks back in the good ol’ USA were cram packed with three beautiful weddings, much needed time with family, a surprise visit to Baltimore, and Drew’s spur of the moment flight back from Poland to join in the happy engagement news sharing. By the end of the month, though, Drew, Leah (yay for Leah!) and I flew ourselves right on over to Zagreb, Croatia.
We rented a car and AirBnB-ed our way from north to south, with Drew as the trusty driver in chief 🙂
My favorite parts?
The kind, kind people we met through AirBnB: including students wanting to improve their english and a local family who brought us cake and ice cream at least twice along with unlimited fresh basil and tomatoes from their garden. Let me tell you, we lived off caprese salad for a few days straight.
Plitvice Lakes: we got there early to beat the crowds, and boy was it worth it. So many hiking paths around these brilliant colored lakes, lots of shade to protect you from the burning sun, neat boardwalks through tall grasses and lots of fish sightings in the transparent water. There’s no swimming here, but it certainly bested Krka National Park in terms of day trips and breathtaking views.
Zadar: wish we had more time at this coastal town. Here, we perused the local outdoor market and indulged in a big bag of fresh cherries as well as locally made pag cheese. We sat and enjoyed a cappuccino, and then Leah and I hopped into the Adriatic Sea to cool off near the awesome Sea Organ (the waves literally play the pipes, creating a changing melodic ocean soundtrack to the day). Why doesn’t every place have something like that?!
Dubrovnik: this walled city was pretty sweet. I took so many pictures of the architectural detail, the little fountain sculptures, the clay tiled rooftops, the narrow alleyways filled with tiny restaurant and cafe tables. This is the place where Game of Thrones was shot (not that I’ve ever watched it) but just saying. We enjoyed probably the best pizza of the trip in one of the open plazas, with live accordion music accompanying the onset of dusk. Ahhh… so this is Europe!?
Cavetat: here was our place to rest and relax, with the lights of Dubrovnik still in sight. This is where we enjoyed the famous apartment of cake and ice cream and UNO and fresh garden veggies as well as a daily trek down to the rocky coastline to swim in the super d duper clear water. This must have been the purest water we swam in. You’d look down and think the bottom was two inches from your toes, only to realize that your best efforts of diving down to the bottom were just barely rewarded with popping ears and your fingertips brushing the sand after five attempts. Here’s where we ultimately had to say goodbye to Leah, though only after successfully turning her on to New Girl and grapefruit radlers. Oh how we loved our time (and our many cappuccinos) with you, Leah! And Erin, next time you’re coming with!
Drew and I stayed at our lovely home away from home for another four days, perfecting Audrey Hepburn’s recipe for fresh tomato sauce and planning the next step of our Europe adventure.
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