August 29th, 2010
Hi there folks.....long time no talk with you....actually it's been for my summer vacation....and what a summer i had.....at this point i am back in croatia, and we have already been in school for a week and a half....not a bad thing.....just a work thing.....
i had an amazing holiday for a bunch of weeks....and for the first week off, i was in croatia....on the southern portion of the coast, also known as the dalmation coast.....i was on a boat with five friends and about 40 other people.....it was a terrific way to start my summer vacation....
i also spent 5 weeks in the states - PA, NJ and MA....seeing family and friends and going to an amazing conference again in boston.....and then i was back in europe for two weeks before school began, traveling with my friend martha from bucharest times to see other bucharest people in germany and the czech republic, as well as attend a good friend's wedding party in the wine region of germany.....we also stopped by salzburg in austria and bled in slovenia - WOW is all i can say about bled this time around....pictures in a future update.....
so all in all it was a great holiday away from croatia.....and this update is focusing on the part that did occur in croatia....the cruise.....below you can see our boat....it held about 50 people including vacationers and the captain and crew.....the captain and crew were not very nice people, which was a bummer....but the boat had only been on the water 3 times previously and the islands we stopped by and saw were amazing.....
we met the boat in split...about four hours from zagreb and our first port of call in the evening was makarska....where we partied in a cave....there was a huge thunder and lightning storm happening out at see and the cave was the perfect place to stay dry and watch it happen....while sipping tasty beverages.....the folks in the picture below are the cool cats i traveled with...left to right - bob, susie, cynthia, sally and matt....it was a fun crew that got along and had a good time hanging and getting to know each other.....here we are in the cave....
As we traveled along the croatian coast, we had many views of stunning water and wineries along the edge of the adriatic....in the shot below you can see one of the many wineries....i guess most folks in croatia grow grapes to make their own wine....we did sample some from a winery along the way....but this is not that one....that was when we stopped a VERY small place called trbnik....where we had the largest and tastiest pizza ever....it was incredible....
this next picture is me trying to imitate these great artists here in croatia who take shots of the beautiful water on the coast....i have two of their photographs....and although mine is not as clear and perfect as theirs, i do like this because it does show you what the water looks like along the adriatic coast....this shot was taken on the island of mljet....most of the islands is a natural park and they have two huge salt lakes we walked to and swam in....it was terrific....
in the following picture you can see the small, very small pot of mjlet where we stayed the night....one of the boats we were tied to here had a HUGE party and we got caught in a HUGE thunder and lightning storm....and got SOAKED!!!!! it was amazing.....for the beginning of the trip we had quite a bit of rain and thunder and lightning, but by about mid-week things finally did clear up and we got some sun....
but the place where we hit the biggest storm was dubrovnik.....a medieval, walled city that is stunning to experience, as you will see from the few pictures that follow....this town has been around for centuries and when we arrived, it was to an enormous storm that included hail....we stood under the awning of a hotel/restaurant for two hours waiting for the rain to stop....and three of the six of us were drenched....including me....but for some odd reason i had packed jeans and an extra shirt in my backpack that weren't soaked....go figure....this first shot of dubrovnik shows you how narrow the alleyways are there....and all of the stairs you can climb to the highest part of the city....it is built on the side of a mountain :)
as you can see from the shot below, the clouds were menacing even after the storm, but the sun did win out....i love this clock tower in the main square along the main way of dubrovnik....
and then we climbed the walls.....WOW, is about the only word i have for that experience....it took us about 1.5 hours to make our way all the way around the walls, and it was stunning....the views of the roofs of the houses, the sea, the small port, the drawbridge, as seen in the picture below....just incredible....this is why this city is so spectacular and i am so glad i have been there and walked the walls myself....with very few people....it was june and the rain storm had sent many people away....we were very lucky :)
this hot is one of my favorites....the roofs of dubrovnik....simply amazing....you can see some of the wall to the right of the picture and that is where we had actually started this walk....and we were coming close to the end in this shot....BUT in this shot, we are at one of the highest points along the wall, hence why you can see so much....
another town/island we visited was korcula, which is where marco polo is from....the italians and the croatians don't agree about him being roman or croatian, but they do agree he wasfrom here.....the stirs you see below are the way into the old part of the city....while we were here we were treated to a spontaneous choir competition...because net to where we were having dinner had fabulous, outdoor acoustics....it was an added bonus to this stop :)
after korcula we headed to hvar....the playground of the rich and famous (and us for a night) on the dalmation coast....we had a stupendous dinner and pre-dinner wine tasting on this island/town....it was a fantastic stop....
one of the other beautiful stops we made was to this beach....we were so happy, there was decent coffee and fruit cups to be had while on this spit of land....some folks got in a swim too....just amazing
the last town we stopped in was split, where the whole adventure had begun....it was terrific....and roman ruins were everywhere in old town....plus it was bob's birthday so we did it right for our last night together....below you can see part of the roman wall that still stands in the center of town, it surrounds a palace.....
the next shot is split by night....just amazing.....the architecture, the lighting, the history....
but the trip had to come to an end....unfortunately....what a trip it was....incredible swimming, terrific meals on the islands (not on the boat though), a great bunch of folks to hang with and a fantastic way to start my summer vacation.....we may be trying to do it all again next year....but we are thinking of a smaller size experience...i'll keep you posted though....all-in-all it was incredible and i am really glad i got to see the beauty of the southern croatian coast (dalmatia)
the final shot is me on the wall of dubrovnik....hanging in one of the guard towers....what a view....
so i hope that you and your families and friends have enjoyed our summer (or winter in the southern hemisphere)...i sure had an amazing time...but now its back to work for this girl....i am in croatia for another year, but am earnest putting effort into finding a job elsewhere for next year...it has been fun being a big fish in a little pond....but now i need to get to asia or africa and be somewhere that is bigger....small schools, although incredible in their own right, are not really my choice for the future....i want a science staff....not just me....i want a middle school team that focuses on the middle school student....
so wish me luck in this quest....i promise i will keep you up to date....and if anyone works in asia or africa in a setting like the one describe above....please let me know if something opens in your school for next year as a middle school science teacher.....
hopefully the next update will be out soon.....hope all is well and that you are happy and healthy....drop a line and say hi if you choose :)
peace out.....dani
