Last night in Milan

Erin is off to Cairo for the evening, and Beth and I are staying at the airport hotel tonight (a first for us - staying directly attached to the airport). We figured we have to be at the airport at 5am tomorrow, so it's worth the extra few euros to avoid the shuttle bus before the crack of dawn tomorrow.

Rather than hanging out at the surprisingly nice Sheraton, we hopped the train into downtown Milan. We wandered around, soaking up our last bit of European charm, giant piazzas, outdoor cafes, and impressive cathedrals (the Milan duomo is something else - wow!). One last meal of tomato/mozzarella, pizza, and gelato, and it's back to the US we go tomorrow.

Chasing Shakespeare in Italy

As Erin blogged yesterday, we spent the evening and this morning in Padua (aka Padova in Italian). As Shakespeare aficionados know, "Taming of the Shrew" is set in Padua, though there's no really mention of that or Shakespeare at all around town as far as we could tell.

What was all around town, however, we're many costumed performers who were in town for the European Folk Festival. It was fantastic to run into people wearing kilts, Heidi-like outfits, many bonnets, and other traditional folk outfits. We heard a few performances while we were eating dinner but didn't get to indulge too much in the Festival since we were only in town a few hours.

Today, we left the Folks behind after a quick visit to yet another important and
Impressive church (they're everywhere in Italy!). Off to Verona we went, following Shakespeare's footsteps to the land of not only "Two Gentlemen of Verona" but more famously "Romeo and Juliet."

Verona has cleverly capitalized on the love of Romeo and Juliet, and they've created an entire fictional home and balcony for Juliet. Of course we had to go see it, so we crammed into the tiny courtyard with a million other tourists to gaze upon the (fake) famous balcony that Romeo climbed in order to be with his Juliet. We did not pay the 5 euro to get inside the "capulet house", so we didn't get to take our own turn on the balcony. We probably could have recited more lines from the play than most of the people here, but we couldn't deal with the kitsch.

It really is amazing how a fictional couple can draw tourists to a fictional house, and entice them to spend money on Romeo and Juliet souvenirs. In addition to the house/museum/shops, Verona also has a volunteer "Guilietta" club that answers any letters sent to Juliet c/o Verona from around the world.

(there apparently were two families in Verona prior to Shakespeare's time with similar names to the Capulets and Montagues, but in no way did Shakespeare actually base his play on a true story of star crossed lovers from the families)

What Shakespeare doesn't teach you about Verona is that it's very large (a much larger city than we anticipated), nor that it would be packed with tourists and locals. I figured only nerdy Shakespeare fans like us would want to visit, but apparently it's quite a draw for Italians and other europeans. We didn't encounter too many Americans there, but tourists, tour groups and street performers galore! Its car-free old town, historic ruins and roman amphitheater, and charm certainly make it an appealing stop in northern Italy. Well worth a day trip from Venice (as was Padua, with it's large university scene, giant markets, and frescos by Giotto is the Scrovengi Chapel).

Side trip to Austria

Since we were so close to Austria when we were in Lake Bled, we figured why not hop over the border and see what Austria is like. So after a quick Internet search for a local castle to visit and fond farewell to Lake Bled, we headed north through a 7900 meter tunnel to the land of "Sound of Music."

Austria is, in a word, rainy. It poured our entire way north to the castle (Burg Hochosterwitz) we were visiting (with very low visibility at times through the mountain roads). It rained as we walked up the steep path to the castle on the large hill. It rained as we toured the castle (much of it outdoors). And it finally slowed down to a lighter sprinkle for the drive back through the lower Alps (Dolomites?) into Italy. It was not coincidence that as we ended our drive through the lovely mountains, the clouds cleared, the sun shined, and temps rose dramatically (from 12.5 c at the castle to 30 c by the time we arrived in Padua).

I'm sure there are times it doesn't rain in Austria (for example, I only remember one rain storm in the entire "Sound of Music" movie), but for now, when I think of Austria, I will think of rain and edelweiss.

(btw, we missed Ritterfest - aka Knights Fest) at the castle by just a few days - boo!)

Aperol spritz, take duo

Apparently aperol spritz is the end-all-be-all drink du jour in Padua to have when you're here.

Unfortunately our experience with the drink at the world record breaking cheers in Venice scarred us against what tasted like the most terrible drink on the face of the planet. Err, I mean... Drinking straight cough syrup with an aftertaste of burning is *awesome!*

But as it is the drink of choice in this university town, we decided we needed one last attempt. Thankfully our drink this time tasted slightly better. Obviously the proprtions were better mixed, and it was actually drinkable, unlike our first horrific attempt.

However, the aftertaste of burning orange cough syrup lingers, and I dont think this drink is going on any of our wish lists.

Belch.

The only other lesson Padua has taught us is "left, left, left, Indiana Jones."

But that's another story.

Fairy tale

Before our jaunt around the gorge-ous hike (noted below), the tres Poli spent the morning walking around Lake Bled and visiting the Castle Bled.

I sent the below photo to my friend in the US. She immediately responded something along the lines of, "Holy crap, that looks like it walked out of a fairy tale.
Where are you?!?"

Truer words.

Not in a fairy tale, but Lake Bled is an old tourist area dating back hundreds of years and even more recently including a private mansion for the former Yugoslavian Tito. The area is also apparently home to extensive Slovenian rower training, which turns out famous and wildly successful rowers by the -pun intended- boatload. (Hee hee hee...)

If anyone ever finds themselves in this part of the world, I think we would all highly recommend a visit to the area. You just really can't beat castle on a rock, church on an island, crystal blue lake, ducklings, and row boats, all against the background of the Alps.

Well... You know. If you're into that kind of thing.

Gorge-ous

As most of you know, I'm slightly obsessed with following Rick Steves' advice while traveling in Europe. He's got good instincts and advice about 90% of the time. Today, he rightly advised us to visit Vintgar Gorge near Lake Bled (two out of three triangles, his rating system). However, he very incorrectly described them as "the poor man's Plitvice." Having visited both in the last few days, I can assure you that other than both having waterfalls, they're really not comparable.

Plitvice is a series of tiered lakes, with each lake flowing down to the next (leading to gorgeous waterfalls). Vintgar Gorge is a mountain river flowing through a rocky gorge, with waterfalls over rocks along the way. I guess they both have boardwalks too, but other than a general waterfall and boardwalk theme, there's little to connect them. I fear that readers of Ricks book who have been to Plitvice before coming here will skip Vintgar and miss out on a beautiful (and easy) hike. Hopefully he corrects that inappropriate phrasing in his next book...

A few pics of the gorge and our faith in engineering (these boardwalks were originally built in the late 1800s and some seem that old)....

Sweater weather?!?!

Today we headed north from the Adriatic to the Slovenian Alps. What a difference a few miles and some elevation makes. For the first time since we arrived, we all wore sweaters at dinner (in addition to the pashmina wraps we were lent by the restaurant). Tomorrow is predicted to be a high of 70, with intermittent rain showers. We are hoping tonight's thunderstorms blow through in time for us to actually take advantage of the beautiful surroundings tomorrow with some outdoor activities.

When we were talking to a vintner in Istria today where it was still sunny and warm, she actually lamented the lack of rain and said that it hadn't rained in more than 2 months (a winery we'd stopped at earlier in the trip told us that last year they'd gone 5 months without rain, leaving their grapes more like raisins). Irrigation isn't such a big thing here, so the lack of rain really hurts the vineyards and olive groves.

The hilltop areas of Istria are indeed picturesque and lovely to visit. We stopped at Rick Steves' favorite today (Motovun), to enjoy the views, some truffles, and a tasty lunch. We are sad to leave Istria/Croatia, but at least it's a lovely end to that part of our journey.

Ljubljana, Slovenia was a surprising delight. Much less a typical gritty urban city than imagined (or in any way similar to Split or even Pula, which feel like big cities), instead Slovenia's capital is a nice mix of Italian and Austrian architecture, few high rises, many squares, a hilltop castle, and a delightful river walk area. We easily could have enjoyed a few more hours there (or even another day or two, soaking up the ambiance), but had to settle for a quick visit of only a few hours on our way to Lake Bled (up near the Austrian border). If you're ever in the area, put Ljubljana on your travel radar.

In our few hours so far in Bled, we are in love. Our pension is fantastic (it looks like it should be in a Heidi storybook, complete with a big shaggy dog). Lake Bled is gorgeous and picturesque (even with the clouds). Our dinner on a patio, under a tent as a thunderstorm raged around us (with a view of the lit up castle across the lake lake) was atmospheric and delicious (mmmm...schnitzel...).

We are looking forward to exploring the area more tomorrow, and hoping the intermittent rains are more "off" than "on" (and at the very least no thunderstorms).

Polished

Rovinj is polished. Not only are it's cobblestone streets extremely polished (and therefore extremely slippery), but its entire vacation demeanor is very polished. Rick Steves' claimed that this place wasnt a tacky tourist town, and we beg to differ a bit. We've seen some elements of just that in town. Its market is full of very aggressive olive and truffle oil hawkers, as well as people selling mugs with Beyonce or Twilight, jewelry you could find at a local Claire's or various Euro football (soccer) jerseys. Plus all of the towels, snorkel gear or hats you could need.

But in and amongst that polished Made For Tourist focus is charm and uniqueness. There are artists selling their pottery, paintings and jewelry. There are cobblestone paths to wander down, to find sleeping cats, children playing, and laundry hanging out to dry. There are a ton of beaches (or what pass as beaches in much of Croatia- nice rocks to sun on with a ladder nearby to the clear water or pebbly beaches). Tourists and Locals alike ride bikes, eat gelato, and drink Istrian wine. Rovinj is a great home base in Istria, as long as you've got good shoes to navigate the slippery cobblestones.

On our day trip to Pula, we saw the closest thing to the Coliseum outside of Rome. A full sized, authentic amphitheater from 50 AD. Think gladiators and togas (dating from when Istria was an important part of the Roman empire). Unfortunately, most of the interior stones were taken after Rome fell for use in foundations of new homes around town, but the exterior is remarkably intact. What I found the coolest the part of the amphitheater is that it's still used for concerts and events today. THey had to stop the rock concerts (since the vibrations were causing damage to the structure), but it's still used for things like the upcoming Film Festival, Tom Jones concert, and orchestra performances. What a venue.

Exploring the Hill towns of Istria tomorrow and sadly saying goodbye to the Adriatic Sea (my new favorite sea). Then off to Lake Bled in the Slovenian Alps, where it should luckily cool off a bit but unluckily rain while we're there. Boo. Guess we will find out what there is to do in an outdoor paradise in the rain.

Istria

Last year when Nancy and I were visiting Emily in SF, my parents recommended an Istrian restaurant for us. I had no idea what they were talking about. Now I'm here in Istria, enjoying their wines and truffles (they are famous for both). Ah, the twist and turns of fate.

Clearest water we've ever seen

There's something about water in Croatia. The Adriatic sea is ridiculously clear, which makes it very enjoyable for swimming. Apparently in WWII, navies stopped using the Adriatic as a battleground since the waters were so clear that planes flying overhead could see subs 55 meters down without any special equipment. Not much subterfuge there. Today we visited Plitvice Lakes inland, and the water in the lakes was somehow even clearer than the Adriatic.

The Lakes are a series of tiered lake, with waterfalls between each of them. The water apparently carries calcium carbonate with it, which deposits itself on the land, forming travertine stone. It's a truly unique and gorgeous site. The minerals in the water make it very basic (opposite of acidic), which prevents algae from forming. That helps lead to the clear water and the unique blue hue. We lucked out with low crowds (getting there early) and low humidity, so it was a very enjoyable morning hiking through the park.

We are now in Istria, the peninsula between Croatia and Italy. It's part of Croatia but historically had bounced between "owners" so it's a definite mix of cultures. All signs are in both Italian and Croatian, and both languages are taught in school. Perhaps the most famous person from Istria is Mario Andretti, the car racer. James Joyce also apparently vacationed/lived here for awhile.

After yet another delicious meal, Beth, Erin and I went for drinks at a bar along the coast (literally you sit on cushions on the rocks). As we were waiting for our drinks, a school of dolphins started jumping off shore celebrating the sunset. Welcome back to the Adriatic, Polichs!

(the picture with the boat is the Adriatic, and the others are at Plitvice Lakes)

Croatia loves bears

While driving to Plitvice Lakes today, we crossed under not one, not two, but FIVE bear and wolf bridges. That's right - the nice Croatian people have created bridges over their main highway just for their wildlife. Now they just have to hope the bears are smart enough to use it instead of the shorter route through the cars whiz zing by.

(does this remind anyone else of the wolf highway on one of West Wing's Big Block of Cheese days?)

Sadly, no pics of the bear/wolf bridges on my phone, so can't upload to the blog. Nor can I show you the sign for the 3.5 mile tunnel we took today.

Instead, I shall leave you with my view where I sit outside, updating the blog, enjoying the low humidity, and soaking in the beautiful forest surroundings. Tomorrow is a hiking day, so lets hope humidity stays low and temps don't hit 90!

Yum

Our wifi isn't working well, so no time to blog about the sea kayaking yesterday. Rest assured we all survived with just a wee bit of sea sickness.

In the meantime, here are some pics of some of our fantastic food we've enjoyed (note that most of the shrimp here comes with heads and feet on - Ew):

Stray cats

Haven't seen many stray dogs around here, but stray cats are all over Croatia. Erin appreciates that they're not full of fleas like the stray cats and dogs back in Juba.

Old Town

Today was our day to discover Old Town Dubrovnik. We headed down early to get to the walls when they opened at 8am, heeding Rick Steves' advice to avoid some heat and crowds. As is the case 90% of the time, Rick did not steer us wrong (the tiny coastal road he sent us down to find the best winery in Croatia a few days ago is a whole different story though...).

The walls were not crowded for the first half (until the cruise ship tours showed up), and really wasn't too hot. After his description in his guidebook, I was expecting a much more arduous task to walk around the top of theses old defensive walls and towers (there are something like 650+ steps along the loop). We were rewarded with amazing views of the city, surrounding area, and Adriatic sea. Well worth an early morning! It's easy to see how the walls defended the Republic of Dubrovnik from invading Venetians, Ottomans, etc for so many years. They are no joke (at some points 18 feet thick). They were even used in 1991-1992 during the siege of Dubrovnik by the Yugoslavian/Serbian army to protect themselves against bombing/other attacks. Amazing they are still so useful today.

I can definitely see why Dubrovnik is discussing limiting the number of cruise ship passengers per day. Today was a relatively light day we think, with only 2 cruise ships in town (a large Royal Caribbean and a smaller local one). Old Town was an absolute madhouse by 12:30 or so when we descended from the cable car and made our way out of the town gates to our lunch cafe just outside the walls. There was literally a line of people waiting to enter the Old Town area. At that point, we'd enjoyed wandering and seeing the Old Town sights for several hours, so we happily enjoyed the breezes at the cafe, ate delicious mussels, had a few beers, and then meandered back to our hotel area to find the local rocky beach (complete with kids jumping off the cliffs into the sea).

We had a random brief respite from the humidity when it dropped from 50% to only 30% in the few hours before dinner. Sadly by the time we got back to our hotel a few hours later, humidity levels were back up near 65%. Ugh. Amazing what a difference the humidity can make in feeling comfortable or miserable (we all had sweated through our clothes - again - by about 10am).

Our dinner tonight was at a restaurant recommended by a local and was just outside the city walls. Another amazing meal (with fantastic cheese from the island of Pag), and beautiful views of the walls through sunset and getting lit up at night.

Tomorrow beth, erin and i are sea kayaking out to a nearby island. If there are no further posts on this blog, you'll know it didn't go well for us (kidding - mostly...). I'm worried my arms will fall off before we make it to the island, and I'll just be floating along in the Adriatic unable to help myself. Luckily, there's a motorboat that follows us, so I can always hitch a ride if I get too tired. My parents are heading to different islands via a boat, so they could always stop to pick us up too :)

Hot times in the city

While Chicago/most of the US is sweltering in record-breaking heat, rest assured that we are not escaping the heat or humidity over here either. Korcula had a lovely breeze which kept it pleasant in the shade most of the time, but back on the mainland today, that breeze seems to have disappeared. Even when we stopped for drinks outside on Dubrovnik's city walls, overlooking the Adriatic, it was sweltering in the shade. I was jealous of the people swimming in the sea below us.

After dinner, Old Town was much more pleasant, when temps dropped to the mid 80s and humidity levels seemed to drop a wee bit too. Old Town's Stradun (main drag) is hopping at night, with busy restaurants, cafes, bars, shops, and people just strolling and soaking it all in (while eating gelato). We had a fantastic dinner of Bosnian meats (including the Jengis Kan aka Ghengis Khan platter) and fried dough at what seemed to be the most popular restaurant in town, in a little side alley within Old Town. And why wouldn't you name your Bosnian restaurant Taj Mahal? Only slightly misleading (and undoubtably disappointing to those hoping for Indian food). So completed another fantastic food day, with our seafood lunch (oysters, mussels, etc) on the bay in Mali Ston being one of our top meals yet!

Do we have to leave?

As predicted by people we know who have been to Croatia/Croatian islands before, we really don't want to leave. Korcula slows the pace down, relaxes you in a way that only the islands can. We spent the morning at one of the few sandy beaches in Croatia(most ste pebbly) followed by an afternoon wandering around old town and swimming off the rocks here. The water is amazingly clear (even our where we couldn't stand, we could seep our feet/rocks on the bottom). I spent quite a bit of time today sitting in the shallow waves, reading and watching the beautiful blue water and fun crowd. Yes, definitely men wearing Euro banana hammocks, and quite a few naked kids running around (nudity is not just for babies in Europe). Saw only one topless lady though, sorry guys. Though I'm sure you would have enjoyed the stretching/work out class in front of us in the water today. Island life rocks.

Tonight's dinner was more seafood and pasta, followed by cocktails on top of one of the surviving turrets/towers of the old town walls. Anyplace that involves a ladder to climb is probably touristy but worth the extra few dollars. So after a few cocktails under the full moon (and another scoop of gelato) we say good night to Korcula and sadly prepare to leave for wineries en route to Dubrovnik in the morning.

Split to Korcula

One word: Ow.

Maybe we should have realized that a three hour late morning to early afternoon ferry ride might lead to redness, despite the sunscreen attempts. Oh well.

The ferry ride over from the mainland to the island is a gorgeous stretch of scenery.  Lots of blue water and white rocky islands in the distance.

Arrival in Korcula, via way of Vela Luka, greeted us as a phone call to our apartment manager who instructed us to "follow the white van" we saw parked two kilometers out of town. While that may sound like a horror film opening, its because there is no parking in old town where we are staying and this made it much simplier to find our accommodation.

First impressions of Korcula are lovely. A small town, touristy but not gaudy, and with endless views. And the water. Oh gosh the water. Even after dinner and after the sunset, the water is so clear you can see straight to the bottom, at least ten or twenty feet down. Unreal.

Speaking of dinner though we had a lovely meal at a small restaurant in old town. The street is so small that five of us couldn't fit at one table outside and we sat half inside and half outside, combined through an open dooorway. Certainly unique.  But the fish was outstanding, and my dad claims the calamari to be the best he's ever had (and he's certainly no stranger to the calamari).

All and all... Not a bad introduction to island life. I think after a half day we are already giving Korcula a big thumbs up.

Diocletian's Palace

Today we learned more about the Roman emperor Diocletian than we ever thought we'd know. Turns out he was originally from Croatia, worked his way up the Roman hierarchy, and ruled as emperor for 20 years (ad284-305). He wanted to retire to his homeland, so he built himself a giant palace in Split.

So while we didn't see any ancient Roman ruins in Italy, we certainly saw some today! After Diocletian died, his palace gradually stopped being used by the Roman empire. It remained empty for a time, until villagers used it to take refuge from invaders. Today, the palaces is a mishmash of ancient ruins, medieval homes, renaissance palaces, and more modern structures. About 2000 people live inside the palace walls, surrounded daily by tourists, people dressed up as Roman gladiators, vendors, and restaurants. It's truly the most unique "palace" I've ever visited. In what other palace would you see laundry hanging out to dry, gardens being kept, and cats sunning themselves?

Split is also home to a great waterfront street known as the Riva. While it was way too hot to enjoy it much during the day, this evening it was jam packed with tourists, vendors, and even Split residents enjoying the cooler air. Food at the restaurants along the street is overpriced and mediocre, but the people watching and ambience are top notch.

Tomorrow we're off on the morning ferry to Korcula island. Weather reports show it approaching 100 there tomorrow, so I'm hoping their beaches are as alluring as promised. Also hoping we have wifi, otherwise we will update the blog from Dubrovnik in a few days.

Polic history

On our way to Split, Croatia today, we met up with our parents in Zlobin, Croatia. Our great grandparents Stephen Polic and Helena Kruzic were married in Zlobin in 1904 and moved to America in the early 1910's due to lack of work in the area.

In our visit to our ancestors tiny hometown, we got to visit the church in which they were married (with our Dad arriving earlier in the day, in time to visit with the priest and some villagers), as well as the home in which Helena lived (Stephen's home has since been destroyed). We stopped at the cemetery where we found many, many Polic and Kruzic headstones but none for my grandpa's siblings who had been born but died in the Old Country before his parents left Croatia. They'd apparently been destroyed years before (perhaps during one of the wars?).

In Croatia and other Slavic languages (such as Serbian), the "c" is pronounced as a "ch". When my great grandpa moved to northern Michigan, he changed his name from Polic to Polich so it would be pronounced correctly in America. In Croatia, our surname is still spelled without the "h" on the end.

There is some speculation on various ancestry sites that the Polic family may be related to the famous Marco Polo. While Marco is known as a Venetian explorer and by his Italian name, he was almost assuredly born on the Croatian island of Korcula (which was part of the Venetian Republic, under whose flag he sailed). His Croatian name would have been Pili or Poli (which later became Polic). I've decided random Internet postings and rumors are good enough for me, so I declare Marco Polo as my ancestor, many centuries ago. Why not, right?

Ode to air conditioning

Last weekend in Nashville, I learned to appreciate air conditioning in the South, especially in time time of corsets and petticoats (think Gone With the Wind. Whoa Nellie was it hot. In Venice, I learned the appreciation of air conditioning in even earlier times, during the heyday of the Venetian Republic (1200s-1700s). When we sweated our way the Doges Palace in 90+ degree weather, it was an absolute delight to catch a fresh breeze from the windows or finally make it back to our air conditioned room. Just imagine the poor women in their huge dresses, and men in their Venetian finest. Even a gondola ride couldn't cool them down in the summer swelter.

Despite the heat, the Doges palace was very interesting to tour, with both the Doges' (leaders') apartments as well as the Republic's public spaces. Their Grand Council meeting room is simply stunning. One might even call it grand...

Finished our time in Venice with more delightful strolls around town, dinner on a residential street with kids flying kites and dogs being walked, and of course more gelato. We are really hoping Croatia has a gelato equivalent, as we've become addicted in three nights.