Slovenia...Austria

Got cut off...a national park that was amazing and then into the Slovenian alps. We did a farmstay with a familz that has 50 milking cows, gardens, fruit trees, a dog that just had puppies, and loads of kittens. The food was amazing after all the pizza in Croatia. We stayed near Lake Bled and swam every day in the lake. We were able to use some bikes from the farm and would ride into town to swim and explore the area. There is a church on an island in the middle of the lake that both Greg and I took turns swimming to...the day we swam to the lake it was really windy and there were some whitecaps. Greg went first and I started worrying if he would make it when he started swimming the backstroke. Luckily, he made it and came back to shore safely.
We had to drive back into Croatia to return our rental car to Rijeka. We found a small town south of there on the Istrian peninsula to stay at for the night. We were able to swim in the ocean one last time and have some fried squid. Yum. Then we managed to find the rental place in the citz without killing each other or getting lost. We loved having the car and the freedom it gave us to explore.
We took a train a few hours later to Lubljana, Slovenia and we are still here. It is a beautiful citz with lots of gorgeous buildings, a river running through the old town, and a castle sitting above the city on the hill. Unfortunatley, all shops are closed on Sat. and Sun. the onlz days we are here. Pretty slow when nothing is open. We rented some bikes and explored the outskirts of the city where there are loads of gardens and parks.
Now we are waiting for the train to Salzburg where we will stay for two nights before hitting Vienna and then finallz leaving on Thursday. We are a little worried about things being expensive but we found a cool place to stay just outside Salzburg at a bed and breakfast. The hostels we researched seemed nuts and liked to play the Sound of Music everynight...no thanks.

Slovenia...Austria

We finished up our car tour of Croatia and Slovenia yesterday. We drove from Dubrovnik through the mountains hitting a national park,

Korcula living

Ahh, I am having a hard time in Dubrovnik because Korcula was heaven. We actuallz looked around at a couple of sobe places and found somewhere amazing...right across the street from the beach with a view of the ocean and nunnery..is that a word?? Greg says it is...We swam every morning and every evening. I convinced Greg to rent a bike despite the heat. I do not think I have ever seen anyone spontaneously start sweating profusely like Greg...amazing really. So we rode about four miles to a couple of different swim spots and saw beautiful vineyards of olive and grape. Korcula is known for Grk, a sweet wine, and we stopped and tasted olive oil and their wine. We bought both and can not believe the taste of the olive oil. I wanted to pour it all over myself, it was that yummy. If you are lucky, we will give you a small bottle of Croatian olive oil...we also found a store that sold wine out of the barrel. We filled up in the store in a plastic bottle, went home mixed in some orange juice and spritzer and had ourselves some sangria! Drank that all afternoon and swam until sunset. Life is hard right now as you can see...I am just glad we got out of that dank scary room Greg found us. Somehow bugs just love me. Oh! There are cicadas here the size of my hand. They have been flzing around at night in the old citz and scaring the shit out of me. Reminds me of Miami with my mom telling me to go out and kill the grasshoppers that could have picked me up. Scarred for life!
Tomorrow we leave for another adventure...

Dubrovnik #2

Ok so our accommodations were really that bad...Amy barely slept and was bitten by bed bugs all night long...gross! Today we got up early and hit the Travel Agency to find a new place, and again Amy got us a wonderful place with an amazing view.
For some reason I skipped Korčula so we will have to backtrack. Uploading pictures is taking for ever and because we are paying for internet time, just words for now.

Dubrovnik

We are at the southern most point in our trip and it is hot. We arrived today via ferry and Greg quickly abandoned our plan on finding accommodations by talking to an old lady before we caught the bus to town. We are staying in the smallest and most depressing Apartmani yet...in Hvar and Korčula we had amazing views of the Adriatic, kitchens, plenty of room to move around and wonderful bathrooms. All whining aside we are in the center Dubrovnik (within the city walls). Look that up on line and you will see what we mean. Within 15 minutes of being here and without even trying, we found a bar on a cliff just outside the city wall...amazing.
Monday we pick up a car and drive North...Bog and Hvala for reading.

photos

Diocletians palace, Split
Swimming in Hvar
Boat ride, Hvar
Lake near Sora, Italy
Rome architecture at night

Italia and Croatzia

I am writing from the island Hvar in Crotia and the kezboard is a little strange so I am going to go with it...we arrived here in Hvar four dazs ago. The island is amaying! There are loads of farms that grow lavendar, grapes for vino, and olive for ulje (oil). We got here from Split and to Split from Ancona, Italz.
It has been quite the adventure. Our farm staz in Italz was great but it was less farming and more hanging out than we wanted. We went on a huge hike that got us into the mountains in the Abruzzo National park. We swam in the freeying waterfall. We met some wonderful people at the farm from all over the world and now Greg tries to talk like a South Africa whenever he gets the chance.
We took a train from Sora, Italz to Ancona but got off on the wrong station...oops. The ferrz to Split was awesome! Huge ferrz that went reallz fast. We arrived in Split and walked around the old town and the Dicoletian palace. We have been doing homestays, Apartmans, here in Croatia and we love it. The people are so friendlz and want to help whenever thez can!
We got to Hvar and have stazed longer than we thought...rented a scooter one daz and explore the island. Yesterdaz we rented boat and swam in all these amaying coves around the outer islands...the water is super clear. I am sad to say that there must have been amazing coral reefs here at one time but all thez are now are bleached rocks with sea cucumbers and sea urchins. We have onlz seen small fishes and we are starting to talk like Croats, adding s to all single words...it is actuallz kinda fun.
We are putting some photos up but not lots for now, sorrz---later todaz we are off to Korcula and then to Dubrovnik on the mainland to rent our car.
Love to everzone!!

Off to the Continent

After the farm, we toured around Vermont, stopped at a cheese factory, and walked around some historic towns in the pouring rain. We were headed for our last friend stop on the NE tour in the cute town of Concord, NH. We were visiting my best friend/college roommate from UMass, Liz, her husband Jarett, and their two adorable children, Hunter and Charlie :)
Liz and I were roommates my sophmore and senior year of college. I don't think college would have been the same without her. We only get to see each other every few years and this was the first time she would meet Greg. We arrived to bouncing chocolate labs greeting the car and Jarett and the kids in the driveway. It is always so good to see old friends. Jarett and Greg got along instantly and Liz wasn't home yet...of course as soon as she came home we both broke into tears!
We spent the evening catching up and I tried to keep them from telling too many college stories...Greg does not get to hear about all my UMass days and it may be better that way. The next day Jarett and Greg made some great blueberry pancakes while Liz and I just missed each other for a run/walk. Then later, we went into Concord to see the bustling town. They live just outside of town in a beautiful house in the woods. Greg and I both fell in love with their dogs, Bodi and Fisher. They made us miss Slick and V like crazy!
There is never enough time to spend with old friends and I hope that Jarett and Liz are able to come and visit us sometime soon. And no, your kids did not make us run screaming from the house...to quote Jarett "now it is only a race against time until you have kids." Thanks Jarett!
Pics to be posted soon!

Off to the Continent

Greg and I are in Boston waiting for it to be time for us to leave for the airport.
After we left Matt and Linda in Connecticut we headed north into Massachusetts and toured around the Amherst area reminiscing about my college days. Then we turned north into rural Vermont. It has rained a lot these days making for a soggy, lusciously green backdrop for our tour.
I had a surprise for Greg at our next stop in Vermont. I spent a semester abroad in Costa Rica my junior year of college and became friends with Josh. He grew up on a farm in southern Vermont and I visited him there about 11 years ago. I thought about not going back to college and just staying on their farm. His father, Willis, and his mother, Tina, live and work on a 200 year old farm where they have cows, chickens, sheep, and make both maple syrup and apple cider products. His family made such a wonderful impression on me that when we decided to come to New England, I contacted his parents to see if we could stay with them or at least visit their beautiful farm. They somehow remembered me and graciously allowed us to stay in their cabin in the woods.
We took our time and arrived at the farm about 4:30. Greg and I somehow manage to get along with him driving and me trying to figure out directions. Sometimes it is smoother than others...Willis greeted us and showed us around. We said hello to some soggy sheep and tried to take all of the beauty in. They live on the top of a hill with an incredible view of rolling hills and woods. We changed into some warm clothes and descended into the basement.
There isn't much work on this kind of farm this time of year (too wet to hay) so we helped bottle some apple cider. Willis had his friend Tom over to help bottle up their fall hard cider that was brewing in the basement. We shared stories and laughter bottling the cider. It was a great way to spend the afternoon. Greg and I both got to take turns filling and capping the cider.
Then Willis went up to make some dinner. I helped harvest some lettuce and kale from the garden. I do not remember slugs out here from my farming days but with all their rain I felt like I was back in Oregon fighting for some greens. Willis cooked up some homegrown hamburgers and lamb kebabs. I tried the lamb and it was delicious! We lingered over dinner and were both grateful for our conversation and company. There are people in this world that are so open and friendly that you feel like you have known them forever, and Greg and I both felt that way about Tom and Willis.
On our way to our cabin for the night, Greg called to some owls in the field. We stood there for a while listening and watching the fireflies. Greg heard the owl call later in the night but I missed out. The cabin was set back in the woods and had huge windows so we listened to the evening and the rain the next morning. It sure felt like Oregon!
We gathered our stuff together and went up to the main house for breakfast. We decided that we would like to see "rural" Vermont and got some great tips. We left shortly after coffee and granola but we both left the farm with a huge smile on our faces and in our hearts. Thank you so much Willis for welcoming us into your home and life. We both hope to someday have a farm like yours and hope that you come and visit!