Ahhh, we're back.
We had a great trip, despite changing our plans rather last minute and ditching Venice (I'm sure it'll still be there to visit within the next ten years). Our two nights and one full day in Opatija, Croatia was worth the loooong car rides getting there and back. I never would have been able to stand the car sickness had it not been for the ability that the Lord (graciously) gave me to fall asleep at the drop of hat. Since I can't read in the car, it really is my only defense mechanism, no matter how much Max makes fun of me for it ;).
We arrived at our hotel and it was thankfully quite lovely (when booking through the internet, you just never know).
That evening, we found a restaurant that overlooked the fantastic coastline of the Adriatic Sea and ordered pizza. As it turns out, portions are quite small in Croatia (though the pizza was tasty). I reached the same conclusion when I used the bathroom in our hotel room and discovered that the toilet paper was dispensed one sheet at a time--picture an upside down tissue box. As the evening light became progressively dimmer, we opted for a stroll along the coast and an ice cream cone. The ice cream was practically
gelato because of Croatia's relative proximity to Italy. They had flavors that were awesome... nutella, kinder chocolate, ferrero rocher... needless to say, I was in heaven.
The next day, after a very generous hotel breakfast (when there's all you can eat bacon, I can get a little crazy), the four of us headed for the "beach". I put beach in quotation marks because there's no sand. There's pavement/sidewalk, then water. At the edge of the water there were dozens and dozens of brightly colored lounge chairs and umbrellas for public use. Since we got there well after ten, these were all taken. Once we had settled on our towels on the cement, we plunged into the Adriatic. Actually, mom and dad plunged, and Max and I crept in inch by inch on account of the water feeling SO cold at first. We alternated between laying out in the sun and creeping into the water for a couple of hours, then decided to eat our lunch on our hotel terrace. And by lunch, I mean stolen breakfast rolls with meat and cheese :).
After lunch, we debated what to do next for quite a while. It was getting very hot and muggy, but despite that, we went on a walk around the coastline, finally landing at a little cafe where I had my first
Orangina in I don't remember how long. We walked back to the hotel where mom and dad decided a nap was in order. I was only too glad to get back to the room as I felt in bad need of a fan--I am such a wimp when it comes to hot weather (and cold weather for that matter.... good thing we're in CA for the time being). Max and I watched Columbo in English on TV and learned some Croatian from the subtitles. I've decided it would be a hard language to learn (something that dad demonstrated as he tried to learn "Have a nice day" in Croatian from the hotel receptionist. The man was having a good laugh at dad's expense, I'm afraid!)
That night we ate at the Grand Hotel Adriatic at a secluded table for four overlooking the coastline. It was a nice way for mom to celebrate her birthday! Sadly, all the fresh seafood was gone by then, but everyone enjoyed their dishes anyway. We lingered for nearly two hours, enjoying the company and the view. Afterwards it was only fitting that we finish off the evening with another delicious ice cream cone. Have I mentioned that I like ice cream? We walked through boutiques on the way back to the hotel.
And the nex
t day was our loooong car ride home. Thankfully, I slept for six out of the 15 hours we were on the road. (I'll try to beat that record on the way to Alabama!). We saw some amazing scenery on the way home as we drove through Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, then France. Needless to say, my hind parts were numb, despite a few stops to stretch. Here's a picture of us stretching in the Italian Alps ;).
