Where? Croatia.

Our first road trip begins with a rental car: Gullliver's first FIAT.

And then we are off to Croatia! Now, many of our friends and family back home said, "Where are you going? Croatia?" And I'm certain they were thinking, 'now where is that again?' and 'is that safe?' Well, I admit when our friend Alessio told us he had been vacationing there for years with his family, I had the same reaction. But loads of Italians go to Croatia on holiday, in fact, the part where we were, Istria, was part of Italy not too long ago.





We stayed in the charming town of Rovinj, a small penisula jutting out into the Adriatic Sea.
And even though the Americans aren't vacationing there, just about everyone else is!




Lots of tourists: Croatians, Italians, English, German mostly. And everyone speaks all these languages so it is quite easy to get by here.


Natural beauty: the Limski Fjord


Our hotel was adjacent to this national park where we spent our first day exploring the seaside coast.








The hotel was a mix between plush, retro, modern and eastern block. But the Hotel Eden had lovely wooded surroundings and two beautiful swimming pools. Plus, the sheets were really nice.




The kiddie pool.


The grown-up pool was gigantic and they even had a water aerobics class. Just as queer as in the states I'm afraid.


The hotel had a green roof and a nicely designed fire escape for the penthouse residents.


The town itself is also known as "Little Venice", and in fact, its winding stone streets are reminiscent of that city.


Other shades of Italy.




Gulliver and Eisen enjoyed running up and down this hill on the slippery marble stones at dusk.



One at rest, the other a racing blur.



The discriminating shopper.


Croatian gelato is also very good.


And we even found this special shop which made us feel not so very far from home for just a moment.

One day among many

Here is a typical day for us:


First we tried a new cafe called Caffelatte. Eisen fell asleep on the way there and Gulliver played Sonic on Tim's iPhone. We drank delicious cappuccini and Gulliver had a frullati, which is like a smoothie made from fresh fruits and yogurt. We also tried some of their delicious homemade cakes. It was a nice spot because there were no other people there and the decor was shabby chic - very different from the rest of Florence.


Continuing on we head to the center.


Along the way we spy one of the hidden doors. Can you spot it?


Eisen is awake and hungry! We stop at a new favorite restaurant in Piazza Santo Spirito called Borgo Antico.


Tim and Eisen both enjoy the spaghetti allo scoglio (mixed seafood).



We have met my former student, John Pusateri, who is visiting from New Zealand. John is a great artist and he also enjoys the fabulous italian cooking.


As usual, Gulliver would rather do anything than eat, so he is mugging for the camera.


Oh! He has changed his mind, he is hungry now - now that we come to the gelateria!


Post sugar daze. I think he resembles his cousin Benjamin in this photo.


Yeah! On to the playground at Piazza D'Azeglio and 1 euro rides on the merry go round.












And now to the playground.



Italian kids have this cute (entrepenurial) custom of selling their old toys at the playground. For us it is great, because we have brought so few toys with us and new ones are very expensive over here. So we buy 2 batmans for 1 euro a piece and the young salesman is very pleased.


Then it is home again and possibly a homemade dinner ( altho' I think I have actually only cooked maybe 4 times since we have been here!!!!! Quite unlike my regular routine) and a stroll later on.