We spent the first 2 weeks of September in beautiful, sunny, warm, Croatia with a final few days in beautiful, sunny, less-warm, Vienna. Ed did a great job booking our places, with Rick Steves' help. It was a relaxing vacation, with afternoon naps or reading and lots of cafe' sitting. We love looking at historical sights, so we did a lot of that, too. Now, we're back in reality = rainy Bergen with work and doctor appointments. We had no way to upload pictures while we were gone, so I'll take you on the 2 week trip in one quick tour today...
Dubrovnik, Croatia is on the Dalmatian Coast, on the Adriatic section of the Mediterranean, east of Italy. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The environment is a lot like Phoenix, Arizona. The plants are drought-tolerant, and the day to night temperature drop is sudden and huge. It looks like the pictures you see of the Italian country, with stone buildings baking in the sun.
Dubrovnik was hit very hard (stunning video) during the 1991-1992 war of independence that broke up Yugoslavia. In the picture above, you can see an old roof in the front. That was one that survived intact. The new red roofs are all new since the siege.
We stayed in a room on a narrow street in the Old Town. The town was built in the 13th century, with a massive wall that tourists can walk around. There are bars perched on the rocks outside the wall, and we spent some time at this one 25 meters from our room.
The water is sooo blue and clear! You could climb down into the sea from the bar, but the waves were pretty fierce. We spent one afternoon on a beach with lots of sand over rocks.
And another on this "beach" of concrete with a ladder into the water.
During the walk on the wall, Ed got to make his own coin - a dukat!
We took a day tour to Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Mostar used to be known as a successful example of Christians and Muslims living together, separated or joined, depending on your point of view, by a single bridge. The bridge was destroyed during the war, but has been rebuilt using the old methods, and the town welcomes tourists. We toured a mosque, a Turkish house and a street market.
Back to Croatia, and their wonderful seafood! We loved Red Scorpionfish, and not just because it has a cool name. It turns out to be Red Snapper, which we already knew we liked. We also loved, believe it or not, Octopus Salad. Rick Steves said you had to try it even if you thought you wouldn't like it. Rick was right again.
Our last night there, we went to a folk dancing show that was really fun! The costumes and dances were from all over Croatia.
Our next stop was Korčula, an island we reached by a 3 hour car ferry ride that was very enjoyable itself. The č is pronounced "ch". We spent even more time on a little strip of pebbles that we treated as our private beach right across the street from our room. The water was warm and shallow, still beautiful blue and green.
Next stop - Split, Croatia. We took a catamaran to get there. The high point of Split was Diocletian's Palace. It is one of the cooler sights we've seen. It was built between 295 and 305 AD as a retirement house for a Roman emporer. Then in the 7th century the neighbors fled into the walled palace to get away from the invading Slavs, and built houses and shops inside. In the Middle Ages, the palace was lived in, built up, and the basement was used for garbage, an archeologist's dream. It is still being built in and used. For instance, there's this glass-walled bank right in the middle, and looking through the glass, you see the edge of the Roman road with one of the columns. Wandering through a coffee shop, the mix of ancient and modern is really striking. They say that constant use is why the palace is still standing.
On Wednesday, we walked up the Marjan Peninsula, following the signs to the zoo and botanical gardens. The botanical gardens are total ruins and the zoo is very sad. No money, we guess.
Back in 2007, Ed and I spent the last week of August and first week of September in Vienna, Austria taking German lessons. That's when we fell in love with Vienna, and decided to retire there. Since then, the opportunity to move to Norway changed our plans. But we wanted to see if we still loved Vienna. We spent the last weekend of the vacation there, and the answer is, yes, we still love Vienna. We had such a good time, visiting with one of my classmates and our favorite cafe', and following Rick Steves' tour suggestions, and for sure, revisiting the farmers' market.
Speaking of food, this time we did NOT forget to put our vinegar in the checked luggage, so it did not get confiscated at the airport. Vinegar, you ask? The Gegenbauer vinegar booth at the farmers' market is a must-see. They have casks of vinegar aged up to 10 years, of 4 kinds: fruit, wine, balsamic, and drinking. They let you smell a dropper-bottle of each type, lick a drop off of your hand, and try to not buy one of each.
Another destination that we missed last time was the Hundertwasserhaus, a fun architectural oddity.
We tripped over a fall fair at the Hofburg Palace, with lots of fruits and vegies, beer, games for the kids, and booths about lots of farm and outdoor things.
Austria has great eating! Yet Ed is still losing weight, amazingly enough.
Now we are back in Bergen, where it is definitely not summer any more!
Dubrovnik, Croatia is on the Dalmatian Coast, on the Adriatic section of the Mediterranean, east of Italy. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The environment is a lot like Phoenix, Arizona. The plants are drought-tolerant, and the day to night temperature drop is sudden and huge. It looks like the pictures you see of the Italian country, with stone buildings baking in the sun.
Dubrovnik was hit very hard (stunning video) during the 1991-1992 war of independence that broke up Yugoslavia. In the picture above, you can see an old roof in the front. That was one that survived intact. The new red roofs are all new since the siege.
We stayed in a room on a narrow street in the Old Town. The town was built in the 13th century, with a massive wall that tourists can walk around. There are bars perched on the rocks outside the wall, and we spent some time at this one 25 meters from our room.
And another on this "beach" of concrete with a ladder into the water.
During the walk on the wall, Ed got to make his own coin - a dukat!
We took a day tour to Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Mostar used to be known as a successful example of Christians and Muslims living together, separated or joined, depending on your point of view, by a single bridge. The bridge was destroyed during the war, but has been rebuilt using the old methods, and the town welcomes tourists. We toured a mosque, a Turkish house and a street market.
Back to Croatia, and their wonderful seafood! We loved Red Scorpionfish, and not just because it has a cool name. It turns out to be Red Snapper, which we already knew we liked. We also loved, believe it or not, Octopus Salad. Rick Steves said you had to try it even if you thought you wouldn't like it. Rick was right again.
Our last night there, we went to a folk dancing show that was really fun! The costumes and dances were from all over Croatia.
Our next stop was Korčula, an island we reached by a 3 hour car ferry ride that was very enjoyable itself. The č is pronounced "ch". We spent even more time on a little strip of pebbles that we treated as our private beach right across the street from our room. The water was warm and shallow, still beautiful blue and green.
  |
| Right above "our beach" was a small cafe' |
On Wednesday, we walked up the Marjan Peninsula, following the signs to the zoo and botanical gardens. The botanical gardens are total ruins and the zoo is very sad. No money, we guess.
Back in 2007, Ed and I spent the last week of August and first week of September in Vienna, Austria taking German lessons. That's when we fell in love with Vienna, and decided to retire there. Since then, the opportunity to move to Norway changed our plans. But we wanted to see if we still loved Vienna. We spent the last weekend of the vacation there, and the answer is, yes, we still love Vienna. We had such a good time, visiting with one of my classmates and our favorite cafe', and following Rick Steves' tour suggestions, and for sure, revisiting the farmers' market.
Phil Moran, my German classmate, immigrated to Vienna from Wales this last year. Ed and I spent hours having great wide-ranging conversations with him, over Physics, Psychology, and living as an expat. The food in Vienna is completely and totally awesome. Goulash is probably my favorite single dish, and we bought the seasonings for it at the farmers' market. (Along with dates, stuffed peppers, and sturm - wine that's not really ready yet.) We had Tafelspitz one night at Plachutta, which is an experience in itself. They even bring you an instruction sheet on the right order to eat it! Then there's the heuriger experience... This means you go to a vineyard that has tables and a garden, serves you the latest year's wine, and some food. I got us reservations at a tourist-trap one with a singing and dancing show to go with the food and wine, and we enjoyed it even though it's touristy.
Speaking of food, this time we did NOT forget to put our vinegar in the checked luggage, so it did not get confiscated at the airport. Vinegar, you ask? The Gegenbauer vinegar booth at the farmers' market is a must-see. They have casks of vinegar aged up to 10 years, of 4 kinds: fruit, wine, balsamic, and drinking. They let you smell a dropper-bottle of each type, lick a drop off of your hand, and try to not buy one of each.
Another destination that we missed last time was the Hundertwasserhaus, a fun architectural oddity.
We tripped over a fall fair at the Hofburg Palace, with lots of fruits and vegies, beer, games for the kids, and booths about lots of farm and outdoor things.
Now we are back in Bergen, where it is definitely not summer any more!
Ed looks good, so slim! Looks like a really wonderful vacation. It's cool and rainy here, too. Fall in the Northern Hemisphere, I suppose...
ReplyDelete