July 2018 · Bon Voyage on a Big Adventure!

July 28, 2018July 28, 2018

Our First Month Abroad: By the Numbers

Welp, we left America on June 26, 2018, and it is now July 28, 2018 so we have officially been traveling for more than a month. Rich and I thought it would be fun to run through our stats (all calculated by Rich) and share a few reflections.

Number of Days Away: 30 (June 26th- July 25th)

Countries Visited: 4- Iceland, Hungary, Croatia, Greece

Cities/Towns Visited: 12- Reykjavik, Vik, Hof, Budapest, Zagreb, Rovinj, Split, Hvar, Korcula, Dubrovnik, Chania, Rethymno

Transportation

Number of Flights Taken: 5

Number of Buses Taken: 14

Number of Ferry Rides: 4

Number of AirBNB’s Slept In: 9 (24 Nights)

Number of Tents Slept In: 1 (6 Nights)

tent in iceland — A little less comfortable than an AirBNB, but still not a bad view…

Food

Percentage of Meals Eaten Out: 29%

Percentage of Meals Eaten In: 68%

Percentage of Meals Eaten In Airport Lounges: 3%

Eating in isn’t all bad– In Chania, I made a yum watermelon salad with local feta and mint.

Physical Activity

See below for a list in which Rich decimates Amanda in all areas of activity despite the fact that we spend all day together every day. Someone’s FitBit is a little more sensitive than someone else’s.

Rich:

Total Distance: 566,332 steps (262.56 miles)
Average Distance: 18,877 steps per day (8.75 miles per day)
High: 36,619 steps (16.82 miles)
Low: 6,913 steps (3.17 miles)

Amanda

Total Distance: 461,943 steps (203.70 miles)
Average Distance: 15,398 steps per day (6.79 miles per day)
High: 33,638 steps (14.69 miles)
Low: 4,095 steps (1.79 miles)

Rich must have amassed those 59 extra miles the two times he walked to the grocery store without me. He says the difference is due to all the cleaning he does, which I won’t argue against, since I want him to keep doing the cleaning.

Overall Costs (As Percentage of Budget)

Flights: 20%

Other Transportation (Buses, Ferries, Taxis, Rental Car, Etc.): 21%

Lodging: 42%

Food: 15%

Gas: 0.05%

Sightseeing: 0.02%

Other: 1.3%

Before boarding flight #1 out of Baltimore

Favorites

Favorite Meal

Rich: Mazel Tov in Budapest, Hungary
Amanda: Mazel Tov in Budapest, Hugary

Favorite AirBNB:

Rich: Evangelia’s Place in Chania, Crete
Amanda: Evangelia’s Place in Chania, Crete

Favorite City/Town:

Rich: Korcula, Croatia
Amanda: Korcula, Croatia

Favorite Beach:

Rich: Rethymno, Crete
Amanda: Rethymno, Crete

Favorite Town Center:

Rich: Rovinj, Croatia
Amanda: Dubrovnik, Croatia

It’s annoying how aligned we are, isn’t it?

Deltas:

Can you tell we come from education? Let’s not call these weaknesses, maybe just things we might have done differently:

AirBNB Proximity. In both Rovinj and Dubrovnik, we stayed more than three miles from where we wanted to spend most of our time. While both of those homes were really lovely, we didn’t get to spend as much time enjoying the homes OR enjoying the towns because we spent so much time in transit, either walking or waiting on buses.
Skip Iceland. Don’t @ me. Rich volunteered this one, when I asked him what we would change, and then said he was kidding. But I do think our week in Iceland was easily our hardest week AND the hardest on our budget– even though we were camping and eating hot dogs for every meal. Don’t get me wrong, Iceland was beautiful and totally interesting. BUT could we have spent two comfortable weeks somewhere cheaper for what we spent on one week in Iceland? And could we have saved room in our bags by not needing long sleeved clothes? I’m not telling you not to go to Iceland; I’m just sharing that we have spent a lot of time discussing whether it was worth it, particularly since we will be traveling for so long.
Take less stuff. I cannot tell you how many times we have verbally “re-packed” our bags in the last few weeks. We packed a lot of things back in DC that we could have gotten cheaper and smaller abroad (ex: deodarant, sunscreen, etc.). It has also been so hot– Rich has worn a polo shirt once, and I have a long sleeved dress that while pretty, takes up the space that could be occupied by three smaller dresses. We carry our bags a lot, and it’s painful to think about hauling around things we never use. We have also already started offloading a thing or two…
Rich carrying TOO MUCH stuff on a long road to our AirBNB in Rovinj

A List of things we love:

Spending time together. Gag. I get it. But it really is a gift to have so much time together every single day.
The Communal Culture of Europe. Every time we go to dinner, we sit outside and are surrounded by young people and old people eating together for hours. There are no cell phones in sight, and people genuinely seem to enjoy being with one another. You have to ask for a check because restaurants want you to stay as long as you want and do not want to seem like they are rushing you. Same for the beach- young people, old people all in the water enjoying being alive. It’s really refreshing and beautiful.
How Healthy We Feel. Rich and I get almost eight hours of sleep every night. We try to run or work out on every non-travel day. We drink a ton of water. We spend time in the sun. I have been dying my hair since I turned 30 to hide gray hairs, and I have only seen one gray hair this entire trip. It is insane how healthy and young we feel free of the stress and pressure that comes with working and living in the US.
Old and young all enjoying being outside together in Dubrovnik

In conclusion, we are having an incredible time. Much like we agree on our favorites above, Rich and I also agree that deciding to take this leap and travel this year was one of the very best decisions we have ever made.

July 26, 2018

Days 26-29: Welcome to Crete!

As I write from Crete, we have now been gone for over a month. We endured camping in cold, rainy, beautiful Iceland (days 1-3 and days 4-6), then rejoiced in all things Budapest (days 8, 9, and 10), before spending fifteen glorious days in Croatia (days 11-14, days 15-19, days 20-21, and days 22-25).

We just wrapped three full days in Chania in Crete, and we received the biggest compliment of the trip: a local woman thought we were Greek! I tried to buy bananas in the supermarket without weighing them and putting the sticker on them first, and in Greek, she told me I needed to weigh the bananas, and Rich and I looked dumbly back at her. Then she said, in perfect English obviously, “Oh! I thought you were Greek!” We were thrilled and totally flattered.

Before I say too much more about our time in Crete, I want to recognize and pay respect to the national tragedy Greece has experienced while we were here: the Attica wildfires. While fires did break out in Crete, we were never anywhere near danger. The events are tragic and devastating, and our thoughts are with all of those who lost loved ones.

Day 26: Travel to Crete

Getting from Dubrovnik to Chania, Crete was quite the transportation undertaking that involved three buses, three flights, and a taxi. We left our AirBNB in Dubrovnik at 8:00 AM to arrive at our AirBNB in Chania at 11:45 PM. Whew!

A few highlights:

Airport Lounge Access. Both our American Express Platinum Card and the Chase Saphire Reserve (our favorite) come with access to Priority Pass lounges. We arrived at the Dubrovnik airport two hours before our flight out and were able to enjoy free coffee, pastries, bottled water, comfortable chairs, and WiFi. We also took advantage of the lounge in Rome to eat again. Eating in airports could be a major budget buster, and we did not spend a dime on food or water the entire day- beautiful.
We enjoyed several coffees and several desserts in the Dubrovnik lounge!

Lounge life in Rome. More coffee!
The Athens to Chania Connector. Due to an hour-long delay leaving Rome, our plane touched down in Athens five minutes before we were set to board our next flight. We are still figuring out when you have to go through customs and passport control and when you don’t so we thought there was a definite possibility we might miss our next flight. BUT luckily because Italy and Greece are both Schengen countries, we did not have to go through passport control, and we literally walked 100 meters from our arrival gate to our next departure gate.
Our fabulous AirBNB hosts. Our hosts in Chania met us at 11:45 PM and had fresh olives, cheese, and cherry tomatoes, along with a chilled bottle of white, waiting for us when we arrived. The unit was the nicest we have stayed in and felt like home immediately. We love AirBNB- if you haven’t signed up, you can do so here and get a $40 credit towards your first trip (and earn $20 for us too).

AirBNB Chania Crete — Our AirBNB living room in Chania, Crete

bed in airbnb chania crete — This bed was GLORIOUS after a long day of travel

Day 27: Exploring the town of Chania in Crete

After a busy travel day, we needed a slightly slower paced day. We slept in, then went for a run into town, explored a little, came home, blogged and planned a little, and then showered to go back out and explore some more. A note on the running: it was 97 degrees, and we saw not a single other human exercising. People were looking at us like the only place we could be running to or from was a psychiatric facility.

Chania is an ancient town on the sea complete with a centuries old lighthouse and many Greek Orthodox churches and mosques. We enjoyed winding in and out of the Old Town streets taking it all in.

Old Town fountain in Chania, Crete — The fountain in Old Town

Lighthouse in Chania, Crete — Rich with the Lighthouse in Chania

Lighthouse Stairs in Chania, Crete — Amanda on the Lighthouse Stairs

Rich mosque horse Chania Crete — Rich in front of the mosque (and a horse)

Day 28: Relaxing in Chania, Crete

Rich and I learned our running lesson the day before and just did an Aaptiv workout in the nice air conditioned apartment when we woke up. We then took advantage of the air and the WiFi to do some catch up and sit around with our coffee- a luxury that after being in at work before 7:00 AM each day for the past year doesn’t get old.

Rich found a really great museum for us to visit: The Greek National Football Museum. Every jersey, trophy, soccer ball, pair of shoes, you name it from every World Cup and Euro Cup Greece participated in was on display, and our guide knew his stuff. He was so excited and Rich was so excited to talk sports that it made me excited– which is overly evident in the picture I got to take with the EuroCup. The museum was free, so we tipped 2 euros because it was so fun.

national football museum crete — Rich looking normal holding Greece’s EuroCup Trophy at the Greek National Football Museum

Europcup trophy in Chania Crete — Amanda is invited to join the picture and looks *way too* excited. I’m not from Greece. I have never watched a EuroCup game. As the kids would say, I was pressed for what?

After the museum, we headed to the beach. Best news ever: the beach had real, honest to goodness, SAND. Resting on sand after spending days on rocky beaches in Croatia was glorious.

sand beach in Chania, Crete — A beach with SAND. WINNING.

We spent a few hours at the beach and then went home, showered, and got ready for dinner. Rich picked out To Koutourouki, the best restaurant in Chania with the lowest price point on TripAdvisor, and it was our second favorite meal of the trip, behind Mazel Tov in Budapest. Overall, this was a great day.

dinner in Chania Crete — This man loves food.

stuffed peppers in Crete — Stuffed Pepper appetizer

pork in Chania, Crete — Rich’s Pork Entree

stuffed eggplant in Chania, Crete — Amanda’s Stuffed Eggplant

eggplant in chania, crete — Amanda’s plate after devouring the stuffed eggplant. Hey, it was delicious. And a vegetable!

Day 29: The Samaria Gorge in Chania, Crete

After gorging on food (ha!), the night before we decided we would hike it off in the Samaria Gorge. My good friend Steph saw that we were in Crete and sent me an Instagram message (follow us!) saying we had to hike this. We originally didn’t have it on the agenda because it is in the south of Chania and we were in the north, but we found a way to string together two buses and a ferry to pull it off.

So here’s the deal: You take a 6:15 AM bus to the top of the gorge, and then you hike 13 kilometers (~8 miles) to a small town by the sea at the bottom. Then you take a ferry to another small town to hop on another bus to get back to Old Town Chania.

I had never been in a gorge, but it was, in fact, gorge (last gorge pun, I promise). In case your recall of earth science isn’t great, a gorge is a small path in a mountain or between two mountains that has been worn away over time by water. We walked on A LOT of rocks, and we also saw some terrain that was unlike any I had ever seen. My mom likes rocks and geology– she would have been all over this.

Top of Samaria Gorge in Crete — We started at the top of the gorge…

Samaria Gorge in Crete — Getting started.

While a fair amount of the hike was down, it was still challenging.

Samaria Gorge stairs in Crete — The first two kilometers were almost straight down.

Walk Fast Crete — Danger Falling Rock! Umm, walk fast?!?

bottom of Samaria gorge in Crete — Together at the bottom of the gorge

Oh yeah, and we saw a mountain goat! Rich was much more enthused about taking pictures of the goat than he almost ever is to take pictures of me (I told him I was going to include this– while he was taking pictures of a cat at dinner–and he said, yes, but I see you every day. How often do I see a mountain goat?)

mountain goat crete — Mountain Goat Selfie: Take 1

goat selfie crete — I retain a healthy skepticism towards animal selfies

We also climbed rocks.

rocks in Samaria, Crete — Rich on a far away rock

Rich on rock in Crete — Rich celebrating being on a rock

At the end of the hike, we enjoyed the most refreshing beer and took our shoes off. Heaven!

beer in Samaria in crete — Tired Rich with beer

beer in Crete — Super tired Amanda with post-hiking beer

The only real downside of the day was that we finished the hike around 12:45 PM, and our ferry didn’t arrive to pick us back up until 5:30 PM. We ate lunch in a local restaurant and looked at the spectacular blue coast, but five hours was still a lot of time to kill, and we were tired from staying up late at dinner the night before and, well, hiking 8 miles. When we got back to the AirBNB around 9:30 PM, we slept like babies.

rich on bench in crete — Tired Rich waiting for the ferry.

Samaria blue water in Crete — Some of the bluest water we have seen was in Samaria

samaria crete blue water — Not a bad view at the end of the hike…

Coming Soon: Rethymno, Crete!

July 23, 2018

Days 22-25: Dubrovnik is Divine!

I write from the Dubrovnik airport, and leaving Croatia is bittersweet. We are, of course, excited to see even more of the world- that is what this is all about. However, Croatia has surpassed all of my expectations, and Rich and I could both stay longer in a heartbeat.

After fifteen days in Croatia (in Zagreb and Rovinj ,Split and Hvar , Korcula, and now Dubrovink), we have gotten in a bit of a rhythm- grocery shop at Tommy or Konzum, go swimming in the sea every other day, walk or take public transit into town, enjoy chocolate pillow cereal for breakfast, cook at home with the exception of dinner out every three or four days.

We were able to stay pretty consistent with this schedule in Dubrovnik, which I may have mentioned, is divine.

Day 22: Travel from Korcula to Dubrovnik

We took another quick ferry from Korcula to Dubrovnik. This ferry was a bit more crowded but still easy breezy.

Getting to the AirBNB in Dubrovnik

We got off the ferry in Dubrovnik and debated trying to walk to our AirBNB, but it was 8.6 km, and that struck us as just a bit too far. We messaged our host that we were here, and she said we should stop at the Konzum by the port for groceries because that was the nearest grocery store (for my mostly American readers, 8.6 KM equals more than 5 miles). Since we had all of our luggage, I sat with the bags while Rich tackled picking up what we needed for the next few days.

So at this point, we have our backpacks, and we are carrying groceries. But we have not actually seen our AirBNB yet. Luckily, Croatia has Uber! We will just Uber to our apartment. Yes!

No. First, we got an American Express Platinum credit card because of all of the travel rewards, including a $15 Uber credit each month. We log into Uber, we see a car, and then we see that the Uber credits are not available in our area, with our “area” being any place outside of the US. Bummer #1.

No big, still worth it– let’s get an Uber. We put in our location, request a car, and then get a message that we need to walk 400 meters to meet the driver. Remember: we have all our luggage and groceries, and we have been in Dubrovnik for all of an hour so we don’t know where we are going.

We walk the distance- no car. Now the car is turning around. Now the car is 8 minutes away. We wait the 8 minutes, then the app shows the driver driving past us, but we don’t see the car. Another 8 minutes. Then we look up, and see the right license plate…on a taxi. Rich tells me to go chase it down, I walk up beside it, and the driver NEVER turns his head (difference in opinion between Rich and Amanda on how hard I tried to get his attention). Bummer #2: We cancel the Uber.

Bummer #3: We just get a taxi, and it costs us 143 Kuna = $23 = the same amount we spent on groceries for four days. Ugh.

BUT the view from our AirBNB was simply incredible, and we enjoyed watching on of the most beautiful sunsets of my life that night.

AirBNB View in Dubrovnik — Keep in mind: Our AirBNB had NO air conditioning, and Croatia is hot in July. Still, this was our outdoor space.

Sunset in Dubrovnik — The sunset was warming up…

View from AirBNB Balcony in Dubrovnik — The sun on the rocks…

The end of the sunset in Dubrovnik, Croatia — El fin.

Day 23: Old Town Dubrovnik

If you watch Game of Thrones on HBO, you already know that it is an amazing show, punctuated with breathtaking scenery from all seven of the fictional kingdoms. Dubrovnik is the set for Kings Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne.

I’ll avoid nerding out too much more on GOT but two quick notes:

Walking the very streets where the characters walk was as cool as I imagined it would be, and
Dubrovnik was super chill about GOT being filmed there. We tagged along behind a Game of Thrones walking tour at one point, but I had halfway expected to see people dressed up on Jon Snow costumes or a Cersei bar or toy dragons being sold. We saw none of that. Basically, on the GOT tours, the guides carry laminated pictures of famous scenes to prove that they took place in the very spot the tourists are now standing.

Exploring Old Town

On our first visit to Old Town, we basically just wandered. At every turn, there was a new lovely staircase or view of the sea or tower or chapel or group of cats sleeping. It was like being in a storybook (thankfully, one without actual dragons!).

Path into Dubrovnik — On our way into Old Town– there are stairs and pathways like this everywhere in Dubrovnik.

Outside City Walls of Dubrovnik — Outside the City Walls

Cathedral in Dubrovnik — The largest cathedral in Dubrovnik

inside of cathedral in Dubrovnik — Inside the Cathedral.

Couple in Dubrovnik — Amanda hands the phone to a complete stranger to take our picture.

So many cats in Dubrovnik– they are fat and well-fed!

Cersei stairs in Dubrovnik — SHAME! (Had to include a GOT reference). Rich in front of the Cersei stairs looking quite unashamed.

Outside the walls of Dubrovnik — A final view from outside the walls

Day 24: Old Town Dubrovnik…by the Sea!

We spent most of the morning and into early afternoon the next day doing life catch up- laundry, trip planning, bill paying, blogging, etc.

home office Dubrovnik — Not a bad view from the home office. Rich likes an ordered desk– note the clothespin arrangement.

We then caught a bus (on time in Croatia = 25 minutes late) into Dubrovnik to hit up a swimming spot we saw the day before.

Bus to Dubrovnik — Waiting for the bus to Dubrovnik from Zaton. We spent a good hour and fifteen minutes here.

Dubrovnik bus schedule — The bus schedule. You will note that the only times listed are when the bus leaves each end point. Also, note: the buses run every hour. TIMETABLE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE! Makes WMATA look like they are already back to good.

Walking in Dubrovnik — The hot hike from the bus station in Dubrovnik to Old Town

Buza Bar

Buza Bar is built into the side of the cliff outside the fortress walls. A tour guide came through while we were lounging, and she said when she was a kid, there was a hole in the wall there that all of the kids would climb through to jump in the sea. Now, there is a pretty swanky, but still chill, bar overlooking sunbathing/lounging/swimming rocks.

The late bus got us into town a little too late to swim in the quite cold Adriatic, but we enjoyed a glass of wine and a beautiful view.

Buza Bar in Dubrovnik — Amanda at Buza Bar

Older people in Dubrovnik — This table of older ladies and gentlemen were getting it in at Buza Bar! #RetirementGoals

sea view in Dubrovnik — View from the rocks below Buza

Reading in Dubrovnik — Rich reads on a rock.

It was beautiful, but rocks are not the most comfortable to sit on for long. So we grabbed some gelato (yum yum yum) and caught the bus back to Zaton!

Gelato in Dubrovnik — Gelato: How I have longed for you on these hot summer days. I got Tiramisu flavored, and Rich went with coffee.

Day 25: Zaton by Day, Dubrovnik by Night

Running in Zaton was out of the question due to the lack of sidewalks, so we got a little strength training in with the help of my Aaptiv app on my phone. Whew! Our deck was a great place to work out, but we were wiped when it was over.

workout Dubrovnik — Whew. The sun was not playing with me.

We hiked down to the local beach in Zaton to read and enjoy the sun, before heading back into Old Town to enjoy dinner out. We have been cooking most of our meals at home- we are gone for nearly a year on savings- so dinner out was a treat.

beach outside of Dubrovnik — The Beach in Zaton

As was being in Dubrovnik at the golden hour! Does it get any prettier?

Finally, we enjoyed dinner at the Taj Mahal, a Bosnian restaurant, in Dubrovnik— how is that for world travel all in one night? It was delicious!

yogurt soup in Dubrovnik — Yogurt soup with mint and olive oil at the Taj Mahal

cheese pie in Dubrovnik — Vegetarian cheese pie with local vegetables

veal stew in Dubrovnik — Shish Cevap: Simmered veal with vegetables, roasted potatoes, and thick cream kaymak

Nightlife in Dubrovnik was just getting started as we were heading home…at 9:30 PM!

If it isn’t obvious, we loved Dubrovnik. The town is beautiful, and there was something new to discover at every turn. Visit Croatia!

July 19, 2018July 19, 2018

Days 20-21: Hvala Vam from Korcula, Croatia

Hvala vam! After two plus weeks, I am ashamed to say this is the only Croatian I have learned.

Hvala Vam, however, means thank you, and I would like to extend an extra big Hvala Vam to you for reading this post, following along, and offering your support. Rich and I so appreciate all of the kindnesses we have been extended.

To catch everyone up to speed, it has now been over three weeks since we left the United States! We started in Iceland, which you can read about here and here, then traveled to Budapest, and we have been in Croatia (Zagreb and Rovinj and Split and Hvar) ever since. I write from Dubrovnik now and would like to share quickly about our lovely stay in Korcula, Croatia.

Day 20: Travel from Hvar to Korcula…On the Day of the World Cup Championship

Hvar was beautiful, but it was also a little young and a little untz-untz (that’s my club music impression). Korcula, while only about an hour away, was described to us as sleepy and calmer, maybe Hvar’s cool, older uncle? In other words, exactly our speed.

sailboats, bay, Korcula — Sailboats in the Bay in Korcula

That is unless Croatia was playing in the World Cup championship for the first time in its history the day of your arrival!

Rich and I traveled form Hvar to Korcula on ferry, which is by far the easiest way to travel here. We arrived at our sweet little AirBNB with gorgeous views (seriously, go to Croatia), and were able to check in upon arrival. Rich and I grabbed groceries, showered and got dressed, and then went to find seats to watch the game.

rooftop view Korcula — The view from our AirBNB rooftop in Korcula

We found a table in the back of a nice cafe overlooking the Adriatic, mostly filled with families. When Croatia tied the score at 1-1, the cafe was feeling good, but dejection set in pretty quickly as France turned it into a rout.

Korcula Cafe seats — Our World Cup Seats

world cup korcula — Our view of the television for the game. The girl in front of me showed COMMITMENT to holding her flag up for the entirety of the game.

The game let out and young people poured into the streets. Would there be looting, rioting, anger? Nope. Just a lot of drinking. Like I went to an SEC school, and there was A LOT A LOT of drinking.

We are old so we made our way back to our lovely, quiet apartment.

And could continue to hear the partying from a nearby party boat. The DJ played every hip hop jam from high school and college designed to, umm, loosen inhibitions further: Baby Got Back, followed by The Thong Song, followed by It’s Getting Hot in Here, followed by Drop It Like It’s Hot, followed by Gold Digger. You get the idea. This classic party playlist lasted. for. hours.

Croatia, a nation in mourning.

toddler with Croatia flag in Korcula — One of the few young people in Croatia who chose NOT to imbibe following the loss.

Day 21: Re-group by Day, Explore Korcula by Night

Our WiFi had been pretty weak in Hvar, so we needed a day to post, blog, plan, and regroup. We went for a run in the morning, came back and ate chocolate pillows, our very favorite Croatian cereal, and spent most of the rest of the day getting organized.

Chocolate Pillow cereal in Korcula — Don’t even come to Croatia if you don’t purchase a box (we are on our third) of chocolate pillows. Why would you not eat something whose spokesanimal is a hippopotamus?

We wandered out for pizza dinner, and after dinner, we thought we would wander a little more since our step count was low from all of our indoor lounging.

purple flowers Korcula — A sleepy walk to dinner in Korcula

Almost everywhere you eat is on the water- our view from dinner.

And thank goodness we did! We wandered into the fortress in Korcula, and it was teeming with life. Live musicians, sidewalk restaurants, small chapels and bigger cathedrals, kids playing soccer in squares. Korcula was decidedly not sleepy- it was alive in a beautiful, family-oriented sort of way. Young people dining with older people, dogs on leashes, wine flowing lazily. It was a Monday night, and everyone looked happy to be with each other.

Rich taking our pizza on an evening stroll.

selfie in Korcula — Together in Korcula.

small chapel Korcula — A small, beautiful, ancient chapel we wandered into.

glowing selfie — Glowing. Might be love, might be sweat, might be both.

If you are in college and you are reading this (shoutout to my husband’s younger brother and all of his friends in West Chester), visit Hvar. If you are glad you are over thirty and never have to live your twenties again, choose Korcula.

Unless Croatia plays in the World Cup Finals– then you can find a party anywhere.

July 17, 2018

Days 15 – 19: Croatia, The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Oh, Croatia. When Rich first proposed that we spend 14 of our 301 total days abroad in Croatia, I thought that might be a bit excessive. I imagined a day or two in a city, a day or two at a beach, we would do some Game of Thrones stuff, but a full two weeks?

I. was. wrong. Croatia is paradise, and if you have never thought about visiting, start thinking about it. The beaches are beautiful, it is affordable, it is easy to navigate, and every little town is different from the last.

And when you do visit, make time for Split and Hvar!

Day 15: Travel from Rovinj to Split

As I shared before, we really loved Rovinj, Croatia and would have added days there in a heartbeat. However, Rovinj is not the closest to the rest of what we wanted to see so I will quickly share the highlights of what was a long travel day. We want to paint a realistic portrait of what traveling for a year looks like, and some days, well, it looks like a lot of traveling.

First, we knew we were going to sit for the majority of the day, so we decided to walk the three miles back to town with our packs for exercise. Still painful, but not as bad as the first time since we took on the challenge willingly.

We boarded our first bus at 8:45 AM and traveled about 3.5 hours to Rijeka. After a quick lunch break, we boarded our second bus at 1:30 PM that delivered us to Split at 9:15 PM. The distance between Rijeka and Split? About 257 miles (~415 KM).

Bus, Split, Croatia — Our second bus to Split (The “slow” bus)

Why did it take us nearly eight hours to travel 257 miles? We were on the slow bus. That’s what they call it. It not only operates interstate travel, it also picks up Maja at the grocery at a city bus stop and drops her off seven minutes later down the road. We must have stopped sixty times. And stopped for two bathroom breaks. Because obviously there was no bathroom and no free WiFi on board.

But Croatia, the gift that keeps on giving, was beautiful so it was easy to look out the window for hours and hours imagining all the other Croatian towns we would love to visit…

And then we arrived in Split!

Day 16: Seeing the Sights in Split, Croatia

Split is the second largest city in Croatia, behind its capital, Zagreb. It is an ancient city, home to Diocletian’s Palace and other Roman ruins. And it is loved by backpackers! There were tourists everywhere, taking it all in.

We enjoyed coffee at Matejuska Port along the Riva (imagine: Hollywood palm trees meet European riviera), a hike up to Sustipan Park to take in views of the city, and a few beers out at a very local pub. It was the only place we could find a seat to watch a Croatia victory over England in the semifinals of the World Cup, and the jury is out on whether they wanted us there. I think our English made them doubt our allegiances!

Split, Riva, Croatia — On the Riva in Split, Croatia

Rich making Amanda nervous standing on a wall on a tall cliff overlooking water.

Split Croatia — Looking at the boats from Sustipan Park

Diocletian Palace Split — At Diocletian’s Palace- There are shops, cafes, and restaurants throughout.

1. Some of Game of Thrones was filmed here. Tell me this arch does not belong in Game of Thrones. 2. There is a man enjoying gelato behind me while wearing a fanny pack. Love it.

Roman ruins in Split, Croatia — Rich with Roman ruins

Diocletian's Palace in Split, Croatia — Proof we were at Diocletian’s Palace together.

Day 17: Avoiding the Tourists in Split, Croatia

The next day, we got off the beaten path a bit and climbed to the top of Marjan Hill overlooking the city. We have noticed that in Europe they like to categorize hikes as “easy” that are anything but. It was a big climb, but the views from the top were stunning.

Marjan Hill Split Croatia — There is a reason the arrow on this sign points straight up.

Climbing Marjan Hill Split Croatia — Rich climbing.

Top of Marjan Hill, Split, Croatia — Together at the top!

Views from Marjan Hill Split Croatia — The view was worth the climb

And as a reward, we hiked down to a beach! Like in Rovinj, all you need is a good rock, and you have a beach of your own. The water was so clear I could see the peeling polish on my toenails, and we were out of the crowds of the day before. Oh, pretty Croatia.

Clear Water in Split, Croatia — The view from our rock

beach selfie in Split, Croatia — Together at the beach!

Day 18: Travel from Split to Hvar

We took a ferry from Split to Hvar. Ive, the host of our next AirBNB, picked us up at the port in Hvar holding a sign with my name on it. Our AirBNB had a beautiful balcony. We went out for lunch, then swam, and then shared a bottle of wine on the balcony, watching the sun set. Croatia, the gift that keeps on giving.

Inlet in Hvar, Croatia — Just one little inlet in Hvar

Selfie in Hvar, Croatia — Is this real? Oh, Croatia.

Rich with a statue in Hvar, Croatia — Rich made a friend.

balcony sunset in Hvar, Croatia — Our view of the sunset…from our balcony

Day 19: Enjoying the Paradise that is Hvar, Croatia

Our full day in Hvar was perfection. We went on a three mile run that took us to an end of the island we had not seen. At the end of the run, we jumped in the Adriatic, running clothes and all, for a refreshing ice bath cool off (totally normal- another couple did it before us!).

I made omelettes at home, and we headed out to a beach to read and sunbathe. We came back in for lunch, and then we headed the mile into town to buy ferry tickets for the next day. We showered, got spiffy, and then went back into town for a delicious seafood feast.

The end. Perfection. Croatia!