Croatia

In the immortal words of Peter Ellis, we had a "Whale of a time" in Wales. This, despite the fact that we learned from the local family history expert at church that the name Wasden is in no way Welsh. Well, as can be imagined, this was quite a shock. I'd been telling Norah from our first or second date that if we had children together, they would emerge from the womb and enter the world with a Welsh last name - although my wording might have been a bit different. It was a big disappointment for Norah and me along with the Ellis clan that I don't have a Welsh name. Our burdens were lifted and we were in good spirits in no time however after we ate some chocolate covered McVities. It goes without saying that we need to have a chat with mum and pop Wasden. It appears that the Wasden family has a bit more family history to do.

One other notable before launching into the Croatian travel log is the incredible birthday party that the Ellis clan, led by Norah "my last name is not Welsh" Wasden, threw for yours truly. After dinner on our last day in Wales the lights suddenly dimmed, and a deliciously frosted piece of shortcake suddenly appeared, ablaze with two grand candles that formed "30." The family erupted into a chorus of happy birthday, I blew out the candles, everyone was served, and we snarfed down heaping portions of the yummiest strawberry shortcake ever. We ate berries we picked a day earlier and drowned our cakes in fresh cream - delicious! After dinner I had a scavenger hunt that ended in a pack of gum and 4 Cadbury crunchie bars. Then, we wend out to the cliffs and I hit 2 golf balls into the ocean and played a hole on the local (and beautiful!) golf course. I boogied the whole. Oh well.

So, on then to CROATIA!!!!

We arrived on the 29th of June around 10 pm. Upon deplaning onto the tarmac, we realized that it is much warmer in Croatia that it is in Wales. This made us very happy. Jeska, a very nice man who runs the apartment that we stayed at with his wife, met us at the airport and drove us the 15-20 minutes to the old city of Dubrovnik, which is located at the southern end of the country. It was beautiful! (see pictures :)) Dubrovnik is considered the pearl of the Adriatic Sea, and many claim that it is the finest walled city in the world. It sits between scruffy, fairly Idaho-like mountains and the deep blue Adriatic Sea. After a quick loop of the old city, he took us to our apartment, which we had to ourselves, including a nice sitting room, full kitchen, balcony, and bedroom that overlooked the harbor (this harbor is about a 20 minute walk from the old city and ferries leave from here to islands in the area). We were thrilled. (although our first reaction was - wow this isn't as nice as Maryland (the home in Wales). We then, however, quickly realized what a find this place was given the price of $50/night.)

The next day we decided to explore the harbor area and take a ferry out to some close by islands. We determined to save the old city for when Fiona arrived the next day. After a 15 minute walk, we found a ferry service that shuttled people to the Elfati islands (a string of three islands an hour or so off the coast of Dubrovnik - there are hundreds of islands off the coastline and they are called the Dalmatia islands, named after that region of the country). After purchasing tickets for the ferry for an outrageously high price, we learned that another ferry company offered the same service at a fraction of the price. A bit deflated, we nevertheless approached the original ferry company about getting our money back and they acquiesced. We then purchased the cheaper tickets an hour later we were on our way.

After about an hour's journey we arrived at Lopud. The island has a very quaint harbor area on one side of the island and a nice, sandy beach on the other side. After taking in the harbor town for a few minutes, we hiked up a mountain on the island and explored an old church at the top. We then descended the other side of the mountain to the beach and spent the rest of the afternoon taking in sun interrupted only sporadically with dips in the warm water.

Later that night, back in Dubrovnik, we jogged to the bus station to pick up Fiona, who was due to arrive at 9:45 pm. To our surprise, we learned that we'd jogged to the wrong station, and so set off at a fast jog in the correct direction. We arrived in time to intercept Fiona before she boarded a city bus headed toward our apartment. It was great to see her and she was thrilled to be in Dubrovnik (and see us, of course!)

The next day we opted for more islands in the morning to be followed by the old city that afternoon. We loved our experience from the day before! We failed to get off the boat in time, however, and missed our stop on the island that were were going to - Kolucep. Picture Norah and Fiona rushing out to the bow of the ferry while it's pulling away from the dock, frantically looking for Mike on the shore, and then a minute later looking over and seeing Mike coming out of the bathroom, scanning the shore and looking quite perplexed! It was quite the debacle We made due and got off on the next stop, which was the island that Norah and I had visited the day before. We were only able to stay for 30 minutes, however, because the next ferry came 5 hours later, and we didn't want to spend the whole day there. It was a really nice, albeit quick, stay.

Once we got back, we headed for the old city. Upon entering the city walls, the first thing we saw was the amazing main street of the city. It is a wide street made out of shiny marble that spans the length of the city with white buildings on either end of the road - it was so arresting visually!!

We got lost in the narrow alleyways of the city as we explored. Before long we noticed the bullet holes and scars left from the war that ended in 92 - it was amazing to realize that such a beautiful and historic city had been under a year long siege not too long ago by Milosevic. Finally we succumbed to the heat of the day and headed out to a beach right next to the old city. After a few hours Fiona took off to meet her friend Christine, who was arriving from Slovenia. We then wandered back to the old city, spent 2 hours walking around on top of the city walls (great views!), found a great gelato shop (Dolce Vita - yum!), and took in a charity orchestra Tchaikovsky concert put on by the Imperial College of London in the main town square. Norah also wants me to mention here that she got an amazing pistachio and orange chocolate cone. I can back her up on that...it was very good orange chocolate. We then raced back home to cook some fish and eat dinner with Fiona and Christine.

The next morning we said our goodbyes to Fiona and Christine and caught a ferry around 9 for Mljet, which is written up as the most beautifully seductive of all the Dalmatia islands. Our hotel was situated in the Pomona harbor, about a 15 minute walk from a national park that takes up the bulk of the island. We read and slept for a few hours after our arrival to recharge the batteries. Following a quick lunch at the pizzeria in town (this part of Croatia is very influenced by Italy), we headed out on bikes for the national park. The centerpieces of the park are two salt water lakes (big lake and small lake, aptly named) that are fed by the Adriatic. We rode our bikes around the large lake and made our way out to the open coast. On our way, we passed a monastery that is situated on an island in the big lake. Once to the coast, we hiked around on the rock, relaxed, and watched the waves. We then biked back to Pomona, swam in the sea as the sun set, ate at a harbor restaurant, and called it a night.

We awoke around 8 the next day, went for a jog to the small lake, and then came back and ate a lot at the buffet breakfast. We also took some food with us for the day...we're pretty sure they lost money on us. Before leaving the island at 4 that afternoon, we fit in a boat ride out to the Benedictine monastery and walk around the small lake. Upon finding ourselves all alone we went for a swim in the small lake au natural. It was very refreshing! Upon arriving back in Dubrovnik we were met at the port by lots of old women looking for people to stay at their house. Finally we settled on a really nice lady to stay with, took our stuff to her home and spend the balance of the evening in the old city eating gelato.

For our final day in Croatia we made it to the old city one last time before packing up and heading to Israel. We loved Croatia and were excited for our next stop - SHALOM!