Food, glorious food!

People have been living in what is now Dubrovnik for centuries.  It thrived in the 15th and 16th centuries when it was a trading town that remained independent of all powerful nations nearby, working with those empires rather than against them.  Libertas, the "battle cry" of the people of this town, a motto of the country means freedom of mind, body and trading.  In fact, Dubrovnik did away with slavery in the 14th century, hundreds of years before England and America.  The city itself has has dealt with catastrophic earthquakes (that caused fires, tsunamis and floods) as well as, even in very recent years, wars and sieges that destroyed much of the town.  Throughout the city, if you look closely enough, you can see roof tiles that are pristine, uniformly shaped and perfectly colored, contrasted with ones that were once formed on ladies' thighs and put into place years and years ago.  You'll see stone that is crisp and white alongside ones that are yellowed, or even charred.  Some of these buildings have been here for centuries.  Some were destroyed in the devastating quake of 1667.  Some others were destroyed in the early 1990s when Croatia was attacked by Serbia and Montenegro.  But no matter how old the individual structures, the ancient walls of the town remain.

The city walls of this town are a little over a mile to walk around, so you can imagine how small the interior of the city is.  Streets, aside from the main Stradun are about the width of me if I spread my arms out to touch the stone facades fingertip to fingertip.  Cars are not allowed in the city, because well, where would they even go?  We walked around the interior of the city today, meandering up and down narrow streets, enjoying the idea that you can't really get lost as long as you stay on the inside of the wall.  In a short amount of time, we saw much of the city.  I understand why people believe they can see it in a day, but I'm so looking forward to taking our time to find our favorite restaurants, shops, and choose museums and churches that we really want to spend time at.

On our meander today, Dad darted into a hole in the wall, and we decided to follow him.  Thankfully, we did, because we found, clinging to the outside of the wall, a lovely sitting area and bar overlooking the bay and the Adriadic Sea.  We are on vacation, so yes, of course, we paused to stop and enjoy the warm sunshine and a cold beverage.

We had booked a walking food tour for the afternoon, and I couldn't be happier with it!  Ana and her sister started a small tour company a few years ago.  They had both been involved in the tour industry, but weren't thrilled with the large group settings they often encountered.  Both being local girls, they wanted an intimate way to get to know travelers, and share their love for their country.  Check out https://dubrovnikfoodstory.com/ if you are headed this way!  Unknowingly, we had already booked a different type of tour with their same company this coming Sunday, and are thrilled that we may get to spend Sunday afternoon with Ana!

We met Ana at the large fountain near the main gate in town where she started our tour off by giving us a bit of history of the city telling us about its foundation, the classes of people who have lived here and some of the destruction that had occurred over the centuries.  Five lovely ladies from Canada completed our group, in every sense of the word.  The eight of us got along splendidly and Ana became accustomed to saying, "Alright, ladies, and Steve...".

I was thrilled that we had slept late, meaning we had a late breakfast and skipped lunch, because we ate our way through Dubrovnik this afternoon!  Thankfully, the portions at each restaurant were on the small size, meaning that while I was very full and satisfied, I could still fit down the narrow streets when we completed our tour.  I believe the first restaurant was my favorite, Moskar, and I hope that we will go back again this week.  In total, with the indoor and outdoor seating, I believe it held about twenty people.  For me, this means it must be special.  We had a small sandwich that Ana referred to as the "grandmother to pizza" which consisted of bread, tomatoes and salted fish.  The Dalmatian pasticada with gnocchi was truly divine.  A meal she said was often reserved for weddings, or other big celebrations because it took days to marinate and cook, tasted like it should be its own celebration.  The beef, after marinating for days fell apart and melted in your mouth with the light gravy drizzled upon it.  The gnocchi simply seemed like a soaking tool to for the remains of the perfect gravy and small bits of shaved cheese on top.

Marco Polo, the restaurant, not the game, was our second stop.  Surrounded by sea, this small city, of course is known for its seafood.  Here, we were served a small sampler with a local oyster, salted anchovies, fresh anchovies and smoked tuna, also known as tuna prosciutto.  I'm not really a fan of oysters, and while I thought the fresh sardines would bother me, I actually enjoyed the fresh ones more than the smoked ones.  And of course, the smoked tuna on a piece of a French baguette was near perfection.

Thankfully, we had to climb the Jesuit Stairs, designed with the Spanish Steps in Rome in mind, to get to our next destination to work off some of courses we had already devoured.  Kopun served us another beautiful sampler of items that I probably would not have chosen on my own.  There was something called a rooster salad, that while fresh, delightful and refreshing with cucumbers, tomatoes and strawberries, was not anything like what we southerners would call a chicken salad.  There was rooster pate, which surprisingly may have been my favorite.  A bright orange, creamy shrimp pate which I mistook for hummus when it was placed before me was next in the platter.  Tuna tartar, peppers and puree carrots and deer salami rounded out the other, perfectly proportions scoops of food.  I believe that was my first deer salami, and well, has anyone ever had bad salami?  I have not and this one did not break that record.

At the first three places on our tour, we had lovely glasses of red wines.  Croatia is known for its wine, but we don't know about it because only 5% of the wine that is produced here is exported.  Obviously, that means we must drink a lot while we are here to taste the variety!  There are grapes and wine varieties here I have never heard of, such as plavac mali, perhaps my favorite of the day.  Also, we learned the zinfandel grape first originated from this area.  At our final stop, for dessert, we instead had local liqueur.  Honey liqueur was on the menu, and if you know me well, you know that could be my middle name.  So, honey liquor it was.  I'm thankful I was not given the bottle, because as opposed to the plum and walnut liqueur we also sampled, the alcohol flavor had seemingly disappeared and it tasted as if sipping straight honey.

Our final stop was Pupica Patisserie where their cakes are made daily by a local woman who makes them in her home.  The three of us got different cakes, so I got to sample the traditional local carrot cake, a traditional orange and almond wedding cake and a scrumptiously rich chocolate cake.

By the end of our tour, we were making jokes with our new Canadian friends, having friendly banters with Ana and sharing travel stories in our small group.  I'm so very thankful that we found this experience and that we took advantage of it.  Not only was it a wonderful way to learn more about the city, but also to taste foods I would not have tried without a guide, and to get to interact with other travelers from other places.  

Traveling has a beautiful way of somehow making the world seem larger, and smaller at the same time.

Travel Day

Almost 24 hours after we left home, we arrived in the beautiful city of Dubrovnik, and have already been in awe by this ancient city of wonder.  I'm eager to explore it more and get to know the quiet, narrow streets!

Thankfully, our travel day went off with barely a glitch.  We had a bit of trouble parking outside the Atlanta airport, but any of you who have interacted with Atlanta, or the airport know that a bit of trouble there is something to expect.

This part of the world had deemed a little challenging to get to, so we flew from Atlanta to Istanbul, several hundred miles east of here.  I must admit that Turkish airlines was an absolute treat.  There was a bit more leg room than I am accustomed to, the food, by airplane standards was delicious, and the large personal screen was filled with a variety of entertainment options.  The flight was around eleven hours long, but thankfully, since we left at night, most of us were able to at least sleep our way through part of the flight.

As we understand it, the airport where we had a short layover in Istanbul is a brand new airport.  We were a bit anxious as we had heard how large it was and that making your flight could be a nightmare type situation.  While the airport was large, it was absolutely incredible.  Signs were easy to follow, and we had ample amount of time to catch our short flight to Dubrovnik, but we were all in constant awe of the shops, restaurants, stylish waiting areas, wide walkways, and intricate high ceilings.

The flight to Dubrovnik was less than two hours, and as such, we were often at a low enough altitude to take in the surrounding scenery, which did not disappoint.  Leaving Istanbul, I was most impressed with the rural country side, dotted with small communities, all of which, no matter their size, had a stunning white mosque with a large dome and tall tower.  We are accustomed to seeing church steeples in communities we drive through, but these incredible structures were a marvel to see, especially in some towns that appeared very small.

The landscape changed drastically as we flew over, from what looked like almost rolling deserts to snow covered mountain peaks, and then to rocky mountains with just speckles of trees on them before seeing the Adriatic Sea.  We flew over the town of Kotor, Montenegro which we will visit in a few days.  It was easily distinguishable thanks to its location on an inlet of water.  The pilot, who possibly is instructed to do this for the tourists, flew past the city of Dubrovnik, then circled around so that both sides of the plane could see the walled city, before landing about twenty miles south of the city in a small, friendly airport at sunset that was such a welcome site for we weary travelers.






 The weather was crisp, and invited us for a short stroll down the steps of the city along the main drag which was still crowded with people dining or enjoying glasses of wine.  The main pull for us choosing this particular Air B&B was the balcony, and well, despite the climb, it is worth it!  I sit here now typing this while watching sparrows dart about, listening to bells chime the hour and half hour and looking over a stunning variety of rooftops that somehow piece together.

Where are you going?

Over the years, my friends, family and colleagues have changed their summertime question to me of rather than “What are you doing this summer?” or “Are you traveling anywhere this summer?” to “Where are you going this summer?" As assuredly as kids get antsy in May, Rebecca will be traveling come summer.

This summer, I was absolutely thrilled that my parents wanted to take a trip with me!  We haven't really traveled together in several years, and so the opportunity to spend time together and share in experiencing a new place together is a thrill.  The next big question was... where do we go?

Answering this question was more challenging than we first thought it might be.  As for myself, I am trying to reach a goal of seeing 50 states and 50 countries by the time I turn 50, so I wanted to go some place new rather than returning to the familiar.  While I am very proud of my parents, pretty much agreeing to go anywhere, I knew that their adventurous spirit was not quite to the level of mine, and so I knew that we would need to go to a place where the culture was unique and unlike our own, but not so drastically different than what we are accustomed to.  Mom also gets hot terribly easily, and Dad doesn't do well in extreme cold.  These weather restrictions, gave us certain latitudes to look at.  Browsing through Lonely Planet's Where to Go When, I landed on what seemed like the perfect fit for us: Slovenia.

When I excitedly announced to my parents that I had decided on the perfect place, their first response was, "Ok.  Now where is Slovenia?"  The more we read, and the more photos we looked at, it truly seemed like the right fit for us.  And so, we expanded our trip from this initial choosing. 

We are headed first to Croatia.  Technically, it is not a new country for me.  About six years ago, I taught for the year in England at a middle school.  The principal there had entered and won a contest through Monarch Air that took about 200 students and faculty members to Dubrovnik for a day.  For someone who plans field trips for 100 fourth graders to travel two hours away, I still can't fathom how we took that many children on an international day trip.  But, it was a magical day, and I'm thrilled to go back to the city and spend more than a few hours there.  And yes, of course, I'm eager to walk the streets of King's Landing, but hopefully there will not be someone with a bell following me!

We'll day trip to Montenegro, and move up the country to a couple of other cities before going into Slovenia.  Jessica, my travel buddy and fellow teacher from Denver, will join us toward the end of our stay in Slovenia and then the four of us will drive to Hungary together.  My parents will fly home and then Jessica and I will set out on a road trip through Austria, Poland, Slovakia and Romania.

We fly out this evening, in just a few short hours, and in a way, I'm more at ease than I often am before I head out.  Part of that may be that my parents are with me, and so there are not difficult goodbyes to be said (although saying goodbye to the four-legged Lizzie is never easy), and also that I know that my parents have always watched over me, taken care of me, and I know they'll be there alongside me to once again do that.  There is part of me, though, who is more anxious than usual.  I've planned most of this trip, which I love doing, but I would hate to have chosen the wrong thing or for things to not be as perfect as I want them to be.  Would my parents complain?  Absolutely not, that is not them, but I still want it all to go smoothly and be all that we have hoped for.  I believe all three of us are a bit anxious about spending several weeks together.  We have an incredible relationship, and I realize just how rare that can be and how fortunate I am.  We are truly a three.  We are each other's biggest cheer-leaders, best friends, confidants, and sometimes the ones who push each other when we need to be shoved just a bit.  But, as family, we also feel comfortable to speak our minds, knowing that we will always forgive one another.  And well, let's face it, what family wouldn't be a bit anxious to be together for three weeks solid?  Am I anxious?  A little.  Am I fearful?  Not at all.  Do I believe that we'll make memories a lifetime together?  Absolutely.

Let the next great adventure begin!