Sunday, September 18, 2011

Home

We are home. I am uploading photos as I type. But here's a sneak peak:
Here we are at the train station in Varenna, Lake Como. It was absolutely lovely :)
And a preview of Croatia! This is right near our lunch restaurant in Dubrovnik. Ah! Miss it already!

Our travels home took just over 21 hours total. HUGE thanks to James and Kylie who picked us up from the airport at 11:30 and didn't get home until 1am. Once home, neither of us could sleep, so we were wandering around the house until about 3:30 am... Im so SO glad I left the house clean, that was very nice to come home to!

We are scrounging the kitchen for food. It's Sunday and we cleared things out before we left.

I think we'll be taking a few naps today and hope to get ourselves together for work tomorrow.

Everything in our luggage made it home in one piece, which is kind of a miracle considering that our new Costco luggage kind of failed us.

Okay, I'm going to crop some photos now and try to get myself put together for church. Much love!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

from rovinj

Dont have long todaz, but wećre in Rovinj (Istria) which is lovely! Scott went Scuba diving this morning and mostlz remembered all his skills since BYU- this was his first open water dive and he loved it! I loved laying out at the hotel pool and reading. We are staying at a nice place close to town that has, like i said, 2 great pools! I found a little German kid to play with me for over an hour- he wore water wings and jumped in to me in the deep end and i pulled him around and taught him a few english words- the CUTEST! We have a nice afternoon planned and then will drive 3 hours to Zagreb tomorrow to return the car and then catch a train to Budapest. life is good and we cant believe were nearing the end of our trip! much love!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

From Plitviče

We have done so much since I last posted! We have gotten internet far less than i expected to... it seems much less accessible than Asia, surprisingly. Since Dubrovnik, we have spent 2 nights with a Bubushka in Montenegro (sounds fancy, but is not) and we did go to Bosnia for 1 night. Scott was an all star driver in the stickshift on those windy mountain roads. It was truly CRAZY roads! ah! I get nervous just thinking about it! We found a great restaurant in Montenegro and had some good lamb, trout and always great breads and soups. We went rafting on the Tara River which is gorgeous- those pictures will make you cry it looks so perfect! The river was verz low and slow but once we got used to the idea that this is about beauty instead of thrill it was great. We had some fun cliff jumps and met other travelers who were fun to compare stories with. Through a series of miracles (communication barrier), we got our bubushka to do our laundry for us which was great! Andreas and Petra from Slovenia were our good friends there- we stayed in the same Sobe and ate dinner with them both nights and went rafting together, fun times! Mostar, Bosnia is full of culture and history! I cant believe it has only been less than 10 years since that nation was so war torn and taken advantage of. I have more to saz about the war later, but the photo museum was very moving. I got a few pieces of jewelrz in MOstar which i am excited about- our onlz souvenir so far. We stayed in a nice place in Bosnia which was a nice chance to reallz relax and regroup halfway through our trip. Its about this time its easy to burn out, but we are staying strong!

After MOstar we headed to Split for the day. Many say split is their favorite, but it wasnt mine. I think i was reallz hot and tired, and just kind of over another walled city. TOday in Zadar was much better with going to the local branch (we found it) eating a picnic lunch at teh bay, and then going for a swim in the adriatic! sooooo nice! Oh, we left our towels at an accomodation a while back, oops. And also, the wheels of our luggage kind of broke. did i tell zou that already? Anyway, we arrived here in Pliviče tonight and will go to the national park full of waterfalls tomorrow. We are filling up our memory cards with video and photos and loving every minute!

After plitviče we will head up to Istria and spend a few nights in Rovinj! Weve been looking forward to this all along! Then we will go to Yagreb to return our car and train to Budapest where our airbnb homestay ladz will meet us at the train station. Scott has been to budapest before and is excited to show me around town :) Much love and stay in touch! We have scotts phone and can sometimes connect to wifi to read things, but not long enough (and too small) to type. Okay gotta do some research online before we head to dinner! love!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Dubrovnik!

Sorry for the fake out post :) oops! We are back in Dubrovnik now, it is more than amazing! WE just spent 2 nights out on the island of Mljet in the most amazing waterfront apartment. Nicola was so sweet to us and even offered to make us dinner for much less $ than all the yachters were paying for the seaside restaurants. wait until you see the pictures! All the big fancy private yachts have done nothing to quench Scott's thirst for becoming a skipper :) Quite the opposite! We rented a scooter and took it 1.5 hours each way to a sandy beach on the other side of the island. We also went to Odysseus' cave which was the total highlight for Scott! I was scared of the sharks. The moto scooter was a thrill as always and we cant get enough water it is soooo hot! Good thing we're here in Sept! The grilled fish here is to die for. Our other day on the island was spent at the national park taking mini boats between islands. Once we got to the monestary island Santa Maria we took a dip in the Adriatic! It is perfectly clear, with fish and lots going on underwater. Our car is about ready to pick up at the port. We will go to Montenegro today, and we are reconsidering Bosnia. We met the retired US defense council man for Bosnia. He retired just last year from advising US on Bosnian affairs. We've found lots of new friends/aquaintences here that have been really fun! Scott is as resourceful as James Bond when we travel, he always has good ideas and gets us out of pickles consistently. We just found his book in our Dubrovnik hotel that slipped under the bed- he is thrilled! Well, life is great in Croatia, its no wonder this country is considered the most beautiful in all of Europe!

Mom, be sure you call Beeg and give her the scoop! Family, thank you all for your emails, it is so fun to check email and see whats happenin on the home front. Noelle, special thanks for the H and M addresses for Croatia- maybe i'll come home with all the forward fall fashions :) ahaha. Okay, much love and stay in touch!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Italia and Dubrovnik

Dear Mom-SueAnn,

Sorrz for the tzpos, time is short and keyboard is awkward. We are safe and LOVING our trip! Just arrived in Dubrovnik and it is HOT and a dream come true. We are stazing with a nice man named