Thoughts on Europe

Still in the thinking phase. Check back later....

Home Again

Getting from Seattle to home took me as long as flying from Wash DC to Seattle! Seattle traffic was a huge mess in the morning due to the Blue Angels practicing for the SeaFair events. 520 was backed up forever & I-90 was closed. : ( i had to drive clear down to the airport to hook up to 405 North. Even, then it was stop-and-go till I got off at the Renton-Issaquah highway. Had to stop and do some grocery shopping and then pick up Miko at Mom & Dad's before finally getting to home! The cats & Miko were so glad to see me and be able to get in out of the heat! I took a nap before heading up to Kristi's to pick up Mika and she remembered me!! :) She was very happy to see me. I stayed for dinner & then back home to bed.

Lots of interesting things have been happening here on the Hill in the last month besides Mika getting bigger. Our cousin, Joe, has apparently hit the jackpot. Hope things work out for him!

Last night, Becca and James came over for dinner and movies. We swapped alot of European. We're thinking that for Matt's birthday, we will put together a little family Tastes of Europe dinner. Becca and I both enjoyed gnocci very much, so we're going to figure out how to make that with a tomato-cuke salad and some Ajvar condiment sauce with bread and cheeses. Hmmm, what shall we do for dessert?? Have to think on that. Gelato, for sure, with ???

I had a really fabulous trip, but it's nice to be home. Matt,James, Dad and Kristi all helped me out so much with the yard, garden, house and animals. I really appreciated all their time and help with things. Because of them, I'm able to just relax and not be pressured about yard or house work. Thanks!!! Now, work....well, I won't go there for a couple more days at least ; )

Chasing the Sun

I must find out how many miles I traveled in this last 24-hour period! Four airports and three flights and I chased the sun about halfway around the world! Wanting to be sure I had no problems getting out of Croatia, I got up at 5:00 AM and caught a 6:30 taxi to the airport for a 9:00 AM flight. I did have to pay some additional taxes and fees on my plane ticket, about $40, I think, but still had an hour and a half to hang out at the airport. Once I got to Franfurt, Germany, though (at 11:30 AM), it was rush, rush, rush! I had to find the International flights gates, go through a long line of security and get to the gate desk to get my boarding pass issued! No time to go to the Duty Free shops for Euopean chocolates : (

Once I was in the air, I changed my watch back six hours to Wash. DC time, so now I was back to 7:00 AM that same morning again! The flight was long, watched a movie & slept some. There was quite a cross section of people, Germans, Americans and Indians. Several of the Indians were a great nuisance to the flight staff, constantly up out of their seat, moving about, asking for this and that. They also congregated in the rear of the craft & talked, I was a bit worried about what they were up to. But, made it safely to Wash DC at about 3:30 PM.

I had two hours to get through passport control, customs, etc. before the flight to Seattle. Passport was easy, the agent just had to scan my card through the machine. All the passport stations were equipped with videos trained right on the person as well as fingertip scanners. I think all the foreigners entering the country had to scan their fingertips into the computer system.

Now, getting through customs was another story, because a beagle dog sniffed out my Croatian pear I had in my carry-on! The agent asked me to step on the other side of the guide rail and asked me if I was carrying any fruit : 0 He was very nice about it, chatted with me about how the SuperBowl was stolen from the Seahawks, but that the Steelers, in his view, were the better team anyway. I said I'd agree since I did want to get on that flight to Seattle ; )

So, once they confiscated my pear, I rechecked my bags and headed for the last flight. Once in the air, I changed my watch back again three hours, so now it was 3:00 PM again!! I read some, slept some and talked some with the person next to me who was returning from a cruise from Vienna up the Danube to the Rhine and then down the Rhine. He and his wife had a wonderful time & liked just leaving their bags on the boat & seeing so much of the country from the rivers.

About 8:15 PM Seattle-time, we landed and I finally got to see the sun set on this 24-hour flight following the sun across the sky. In Croatia it would have been 5:00 AM in the morning!! I dropped off Mom & Dad at Denny's (they're flying to Alaska first thing in the morning) drove to Matt's place (he had dinner and a couch for me to sleep on) and fell asleep!

Croatia Folk Music and Dance

Dubrovnik hosts a musical festival every July and August. On my last night there I was able to get a ticket to a Croatian folk music and dance performance. It was very, very good. The company performed many songs and dances native to the Dalmatian Coast as well as music and dances from the inland hills.



The performance was held in an outdoor courtyard on the Wall, called Revlyn Court, I think. After the show, I took one last stroll down the Stradum, Main Street, of Dubrovnik, before heading to my Dubrovnik home. Have to get up at 5:00 AM tomorrow and travel many, many, many miles....









The Stradum at night. Dubrovnik is very busy at night, great for people-watching. And at the far side is Restaurant Row in Dubvrovnik. The Ragusa 2 is owned by the same people whom I rented the apartment from.

Goodby Dubrovnik

This is a photo of Korcula from my morning swim across Shell Bay. I stayed in a room just up the street from the trees. The street below the trees is pure restaurants and cafes, just as the street I'm on here in Dubrovnik is also.


Adios to Dubrovnik,

I'm pretty much packed, may be able to do just the two bags I came with, will see in the morning. I'm headed out to see if I can get a taxi at 6:30 AM. People here on the coast don't generally seem to get moving till after 8:00. Even the bus starts running at 6:40'ish. Will use it if I must. But I think I have to get to the airport early to be sure to get surcharges paid on my ticket to Frankfurt and go through check-in.

Korcula Restaurant Row in the evening.

Met two gals traveling on the ferry to Dubrovnik. They have been traveling (back-packing) spur-of-the-moment for the last 10 days and were exhausted! Besides which they have spent alot of time looking for lodging, figuring out the towns/cities etc. I prefer using my travel time seeing the sites and absorbing the atmosphere of the place, not worrying so much about where to stay. If you do your research, you still have flexibility within a framework of security. Yea, RickSteves!

Today, coming back to Dubrovnik was like coming home! Knew exactly which bus to take, how to validate my ticket, where to get off. Then I went for a swim outside the city walls before getting to my packing. Hope those two girls fared well, I gave them lots of info and some pages from my travel book to help 'em out.

The Jadrolinja ferry I took from Korcula to Dubrovnik.

So, Mom and Dad, I'll try to call from Washington DC. I do have my cell phone. Don't have any idea what time that might be, maybe something like early afternoon at home??? Hope for my travel luck to hold out for a couple morfe days and yours to go well also. Oh, how's Bec and Diana doing? They come home tomorrow also, yes?

Matt, see you tomorrow night. Kristi, et al, see you Thurday afternoon. Hope Mika will remember me....

Steph