tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74462307817391628562024-03-18T21:00:23.540-07:00The Travel AddictsIn January of 1999 Michael and SaraGrace departed their home in San Francisco for the adventure of a lifetime: a nearly 2½ year circumnavigation of the globe - on the ground.
Now they're at it again - this time with their kidsMRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.comBlogger266125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-10599095495448225492014-07-12T01:28:00.002-07:002014-07-12T01:28:36.792-07:00Sushi & Minecraft
We just got an apartment. We are on the second floor which is really high above. If you count how many floors we are realy on it's 6 or 5. The apartment is good. There is a big bath tub, a flat screen tv, a washing machine, and a bed that turns into a couch. The apartment was actually a big house but now they have turned it into apartments. There is a wooden Michelangelohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09697271269401236462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-32718158539700396512014-07-10T08:11:00.000-07:002014-07-11T08:27:26.329-07:00A Quick Time in Italy
We saw the wonderful wonderful ruins. The driving was sincerely crazy. It was so crazy that everyone in Rome has to hang onto the handles because of the crazy driving. We saw a beautiful site. We went into the Colosseum, we had Pizza where it was invented, we climbed the leaning tower of Pisa (aka mistake Pizza).
We walked through Pompeii where all of the buildings Michelangelohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09697271269401236462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-86960780997665546672014-06-30T13:22:00.000-07:002014-07-08T13:23:08.704-07:00I don't want to talk about the boat
After we got off the boat, we took a long hike with our stupid backpacks. We went to our cabin in iItaly at the campground. First we picked up the car from stupid Hertz. We had trouble getting the car from stupid Hertz because Mommy wanted to drive because Mommy does not like it when Daddy drives. This is because one time in Mexico at Christmas time Daddy saw a guy Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03098152283504063404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-64072296382283180892014-06-29T06:42:00.000-07:002014-07-06T08:00:27.666-07:00Eurocamping
On the recommendations of our friends The Griffiths, we decided to try some "Eurocamping". Essentially it's like an upscale KOA style camping trip. Lacking camping gear - we chose what KOA would have called "Kamping Kabins" which were essentially tiny concrete block structures featuring 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and kitchen. It was too small to eat in - so the table was MRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-51855084394898988722014-06-28T04:24:00.000-07:002014-07-07T04:29:32.713-07:00The Amalfi Coast Sucks
Yes it does. We had been looking forward to seeing this famous stretch of coastline for months and months. Only it was absolutely no fun. Italian drivers are the worst in the world. Except maybe Indian drivers - but I could be convinced either way. Apparently the rules of the road simply do not apply if you are Italian. And unlike India, where they also do not applyMRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-87139525562182797712014-06-26T03:54:00.000-07:002014-07-08T03:56:11.355-07:00Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP
One thing that the Paestum are is famous for - and was granted DO status for - is their Mozzarella cheese.
We spent a day visiting "Tenuta Vannulo", a buffalo farm (or "Tenuta") well respected in the region. It's all organic and, like all Mozzarella from the DOP, hand made. The buffalo are extremely pampered - they decide when to milk themselves!
We took a tour, ate some (awesome)MRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-24557831882326729112014-06-25T07:50:00.000-07:002014-06-29T09:15:45.560-07:00Camping In Italy
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Michelangelohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09697271269401236462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-86632685336450574782014-06-24T02:52:00.000-07:002014-06-30T02:53:13.332-07:00Reflections on Yugoslavia
Yes I know that there is no place currently named "Yugoslavia"; but it does translate as "Land of the Southern Slav's" and that is where we went.
Croatia:
Tito did Croatia a great favour when he insisted that industrial development remain away from the Dalmatian coast. This act preserved the historical city centres and look and feel of the country in a way unparalleled in Europe (except MRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-1014216498368387602014-06-24T00:57:00.000-07:002014-07-06T01:05:45.903-07:00Across southern Italy to the land of my ancestors
We took the ferry from Dubrovnik to Bari. Upon arrival in Bari we picked up a Fiat Panda Diesel. Interesting car - with 6 forward gears. Brings back memories of my old Firebird which had 2 forward gears (Powerglide). Of coarse the Firebird had 455 cubic inches of displacement, and I think the Panda had 6.
The drive across the underside of the arch of the Italian boot was MRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-46561778467338368612014-06-23T02:06:00.000-07:002014-06-30T02:08:27.489-07:00Croatia Summary
In Croatia the buildings looked weird because they are all different shapes than I am used to.
The people talked in Croatian and I couldn't understand a word they said because I dont speak Croatian. Their accents if they spoke English were funny.
At night it was a bumpy bed and noisy and there were more Croatain speaking people than English speaking people. So we read a book and Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03098152283504063404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-26250092218555232892014-06-23T01:03:00.000-07:002014-06-29T09:15:30.147-07:00The Bosniak Kingdom
When it came time to depart Split and head down to Dubrovnik, we decided to take the detour into Bosnia-Herzegovina and see the famous Mostar bridge. (Another World Heritage site)
I will admit to being slightly apprehensive - not because I thought we would be targets or anything; but because I simply do not understand their recent war, nor how they can live with themselves afterMRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-89244763934052621972014-06-22T07:45:00.000-07:002014-06-30T02:08:18.172-07:00The Fishys
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03098152283504063404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-74449505676087369442014-06-22T02:40:00.000-07:002014-06-30T02:42:15.202-07:00The Ragusan Republic
Bella Relaxing in Dubrovnik's architecture
We ended our days in the Former Yugoslavia in the city of Dubrovnik, the former capital of an independent country called "The Republic of Ragusa". This country consisted of the portion of Dalmatia south of the Bosnian access to the sea. In it's day, it was a major maritime power, challenging the Venetians for commercial control of the MRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-75820674560129190832014-06-20T10:33:00.000-07:002014-06-20T10:33:21.517-07:00Moving, Move out
We saw Angelo's pirate ship and we sailed to new places and it sprinkled then rained then was pouring. It was so pouring that everyone got seasick and my sister was turning green and throwing up. I did not get seasick because I was reading my books in the "I Survived" series. It was so pouring that the boat tipped over and over and over. When we stopped, everyone got Michelangelohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09697271269401236462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-31919050778746518122014-06-20T09:35:00.000-07:002014-06-29T09:36:17.496-07:00Montenegro
We took a quick jaunt down to Neighboring Montenegro's Bay of Kotor, which is a World Heritage site.
The trip involved a long drive around a Fjord dominated by Tito-era construction. It became apparent that the Montenegrins are not as prosperous as the Croatians (but more so than the Bosnians).
While the Fjord itself was beautiful - it was the town of Kotor itself that was the MRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-19545404579128611452014-06-19T08:59:00.000-07:002014-06-29T09:15:30.144-07:00Home of Zinfandel
Plavac overlooking the Adriatic
The day after our stressful drive thorough the Serbian hinterland, we took it quite easy and drove down the Pelješac peninsula to visit Croatian wine country. The peninsula is just as stunning as the rest of Dalmatia. Our primary destination was the teensy tiny town of Dingač, which was where UC Davis researchers finally isolated the origin of MRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-55517798348637791342014-06-18T13:31:00.004-07:002014-06-19T22:39:05.463-07:00The Moving DayToday I moved from Split to Dubrovnik. In Dubrovnik I met the landlords of the apartment that we are staying in today and I am writing this. Today we had to pack all of our stuff that were in Split.
We went in the car for hours I kept on saying “Are we there yet?” and the answer was no until we got to Mostar. In Mostar little girls had to where veils or hats so that boys would not see how Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03098152283504063404noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-23376961669070787832014-06-18T00:11:00.000-07:002014-06-21T22:08:20.647-07:00Central Dalmatian Cities
After picking up the car, we did some driving around to see some other towns and cities in central Dalmatia. I am astounded at the freakish quantity of mind-blowingly fantastic architecture and historic districts in this country!
Renaissance band in Trogrir
Trogir
The day we picked up the car, we stopped in this town since it was very close to the Airport (where the car pick up was). &MRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-81759044571636375962014-06-17T10:55:00.000-07:002014-06-21T22:08:36.660-07:00Plitvice Lakes (Nacionalni park Plitvička jezera)
As I said before - Croatia is beautiful. Plitvice lakes is a series of cascading waterfalls in a Karst region. We had to drive about 3 hours out of Dalmatia and into Slavonia. to see them. The park is also the place that the war in the 1990's started - the very first casualty was a park ranger here.
As we walked through the trail, I kept thinking how much my father would MRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-62649092366184084942014-06-16T14:39:00.000-07:002014-06-19T22:39:59.265-07:00Pirates on the Adriatic
Šolta and Brač
Michelangelo at the helm whilst Bella hangs on for dear life and Daddy and a Crazy Russian party on in the background
While we originally had thought we wanted to do a day trip to Hvar; in reality any Dalmatian island would do, and since there was this 1/3 size replica of Columbus's "Santa Maria" going to Šolta and Brač; and the kids thought it would be fun to go on a "MRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-58547114117887759462014-06-15T00:25:00.001-07:002014-06-19T22:39:05.466-07:00The Greenest Face
Me driving the pirate ship
Raining on a pirate ship
Me and my family went on a ship. Never listen to the weather report in Croatia
because the weather report in Croatia said it would be sunny but it was
raining. I was looking forward to going
on the pirate ship. We got on the ship,
and one minute I was not barfing and the next minute I was barfing. My face turned Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03098152283504063404noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-85013493276368649572014-06-14T01:58:00.000-07:002014-06-19T22:39:59.272-07:00Cæsars freaking palace!
Spalatum (Split)
What could be cooler than listening to live music under the stars in Cæsars Palace? And I don't mean Vegas. I mean the actual home of Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus, Emperor of the Roman Empire, 284-385AD. Cæsars freaking palace. The real deal. And let me tell you, Vegas got it wrong.
The Peristil at night
Diocletian built MRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-49786939859280612422014-06-13T08:43:00.000-07:002014-06-19T22:39:24.047-07:00Out of the country
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03098152283504063404noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7446230781739162856.post-6534677737886492572014-06-12T03:31:00.000-07:002014-06-21T22:12:03.047-07:00Wheels down in Dalmatia
I arrived with a full day of spare time before SGK and the kiddies do. Croatia marks the 64th nation that I have visited. I have not done much except check into my AirBNB accommodations, that while quaint and oldy worldy features a toilet so small that you have to exit the room in order to wipe.
Isabella's goals for the trip
I am now in the new accommodations awaiting the arrivalMRAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06522080235349266608noreply@blogger.com0Split, Croatia43.5081323 16.44019349999996443.4160113 16.278831999999962 43.6002533 16.601554999999966