Dubrovnik - Bosnia - Tučepi

We said a fond farewell to Dubrovnik today - it is a place that I do hope to come back to one day - with more time to explore and swim and relax.

The girls on the window-sill of our apartment...

The view toward the old city in the morning.

After we picked up our hire car we took off up the coast of Croatia, through some gorgeous scenery, with barren, imposing mountains on one side and the crystal blue Aegean sea on the other.

Shane did a great job remembering to drive on the 'right' side of the road...

We had to cross through Bosnia (as Croatia mainland is split for a brief section by Bosnia) – it was no trouble though as we had been given a special ‘green pass’ to get us through the border without any hassle.

The border crossing to Bosnia

We ended up at our next stop early in the afternoon. We are staying in a town called Tučepi, which is part of the ‘Dalmatian Riveria’. It too, is a beautiful part of the world and our ‘home’ for the next 3 days is right on the water with views across to the Croatian islands of Hvar and Brac (which we will be staying on for a week after our time in Tučepi.

The view from our apartment - pretty hard to take really

The ‘beach’ at Tučepi is VERY crowded. I am not sure that many more people could have squeezed onto the pebble beach (not a speck of sand to be seen).  However the water is clear and warm and once you work up the courage to cross the deadly pebbles, it is fabulously refreshing!

 After Dubrovnik and the beach there (which was probably 50% pebbles and 50% sand) we thought we could handle the pebble-dance that you need to do to get into and out of the water ( the prime spots right near the water are always taken first – so you don’t have to walk so far over the pebbles to reach your towel). But Tučepi beach has done us in after only an afternoon and we have all now bought a pair of beach shoes to deal with the pebbles – apart from Eloise who insists that the shoes are not pretty enough (even the pink ones) so refuses to get any…..we will see what she says this time tomorrow.

We even went out and bought an inflatable li-lo bed thingy….so we truly look like the rest of the European tourists here (apart from our sun-shirts!). They have paddle-boat-type thingys with a slippery slide attached that you can rent and paddle out into the sea and then go down the slide into the water…we will give this a ‘road-test’ tomorrow.

The li-lo sailors

The 'sailors' heading out to sea

We had dinner tonight as the sun was setting behind the island of Brac, at one of the cute little restaurants that lie right on the beach. There is a little road that runs right along the beach and is filled with resturants, bars and shops….and we also discovered that gelatos here are even cheaper than Dubrovnik – only 6Kuna (about $1)….it is truly paradise!!!! 

Dubrovnik - Du-beautiful

Ahhh...holidays. Sunshine, swimming, relaxing in beautiful surroundings....

This was the theme of today. Much like yesterday (and the days to follow I suspect) there was no pressure and no agenda except for some swims and an ice-cream (or two!).

I was out early this morning to do my lap of the old city wall....I was one of the first up on top of the wall so I had it all to myself for about half of it - truly peaceful in such a magical location.

Neve has fallen in love with prosciutto (although I think part of the reason is that she loves to say it with an accent and roll her “r’s” - so we bought some fresh bread, some ham and prosciutto and cheese for lunch….perfect.

The water at the beach was a little colder than the last 2 days – but still warm enough for even me to take a dip.

I must admit that we are the most over-dressed people on the beach. I have not seen another sun/rash shirt (on a child or adult) and I could count on one hand the number of women NOT wearing skimpy bikinis…..we have seen some particularly spectacular cases of sunburn – ouch.

Our 'overdressed' but sun-safe children....looking just a little bit "batman and robin" in their goggles!

Relaxing on the beach....thank goodness the apartment came with padded beach mats - the pebbles can really hurt (I have bruises on the soles of my feet!).

In the evening we went into the old city (which is literally only down the street) and had a ‘quiet’ drink in a piazza while the girls danced and entertained the crowd of nearby pigeons.

Chilling out with a beer (or two)

Neve and Eloise doing the 'marriage dance' (so they call it)

After dinner we had the obligatory ice cream (when a delicious gelato only costs 10kuna – the equivalent of about $1.50)  how can you say no?? Neve certainly enjoyed her chocolate one!!!

Tomorrow we pick up our hire car and head up the coast for some more adventure and to see if we can find a place that is even more beautiful than Dubrovnik. I could definitely come back here and spent a few weeks exploring the area…..one day…..

Dubrovnik - Eloise's 4th birthday

Today my little baby girl turned 4!!!

So Eloise was in charge of our days activities - so it isn't surprising we spent the majority of the day on the beach - stopping only to get some lunch (chicken nuggets and chips of course) and a birthday ice cream. I did search every bakery I could find in Dubrovnik but there were no birthday cakes to be found....Eloise was just as happy with the ice cream!

We managed to 'bring' a present all the way from Dublin Disney store for Eloise to open this morning.

My big 4 year old!!

She was almost as excited about the mermaid wrapping paper as the present itself.

A princess for my princess

















Shane managed to squeeze in a quick trip around the top of the city walls (I will go tomorrow morning if I can get out of bed early enough!), which shows the city from a different, but equally beautiful, angle.

I must admit this is the first time it has truly felt like a ‘holiday’ – I am SO glad I am out of “slaps’ reach” when I write this – of course it ALL has been a holiday…but I guess I am more like the children than I thought….it doesn’t feel like a ‘real’ holiday until you have sat on the beach and felt the salt air against your skin…..

It’s also the place where neither Shane nor I have any work to do (Chicago and Dublin) nor any giant list of things that I need to see (New York)…..the next few weeks are all about relaxing, swimming and enjoying the sun…anything else we see or do is a bonus.

Doing the pebble-beach "shuffle" ( it really is murder on your feet!)

Happy birthday beach babe

Even though we are on the other side of the world, Eloise managed to get quite a lot of birthday wishes which really meant a lot to her. She has decided that she is no longer a baby at 4 years old and I caught her this afternoon in her and Neve’s bedroom (did I mention how fabulous the place we are staying in is? It truly is a fantastic find – one of my best!). – she was making all the beds and folding all the clothes and lining up all the shoes…..it’s only taken me 4 years but I think I have trained her well!!!!!!!

Birthday lunch - Eloise's choice

Choosing her birthday ice-cream flavour....

Beats a birthday cake on a hot day.

Happy birthday my beautiful girl. We love you!

Dublin - Dubrovnik

Well.....they might have the same first 3 letters in their name, but Dublin and Dubrovnik could not be more different.

It's been a big day. We were up at 430am to get to the airport by 530am, for our 730am flight. Seasoned travellers Neve and Eloise were VERY excited to be starting a new adventure and to be going on another aeroplane flight (that makes 6 this trip).

We left cold Dublin behind (at a chilly 16 degrees) and less than 3 hours later, landed on the other side of Europe an in 32 degree heat!

We got into our apartment in Dubrovnik, amazed (but excited) at how hot it was…and also so grateful that our apartment is right across the road from the closest beach to the ‘old city’ of Dubrovnik! It is very beautiful to look out your bedroom window at yachts and an uninhabited island and the ancient walls of a magnificent city…!!

What we can see out of our apartment...

I don’t even think I had put our bags down before the girls were undressed and ready to put their cossies on and hit the water! It certainly was a far cry from the beach at Sandmount in Dublin.

REAL swimming this time!

Floating in the ocean with a view to the old city...

A great cool off in the ocean cleared the cobwebs and we then headed out for a late lunch at a nice little café overlooking the town.

 Another swim in the afternoon (and those who know me, know that to have even 1 swim in the ocean is pretty rare for me – so have 2 in a day means the water must be pretty warm!) and then we wandered into the ‘old city’ which lies within huge ancient walls.

Inside the walls there are countless little alleyways, enough to get happily lost in for days. It is even better than I had imagined.

Inside the city walls

Gorgeous little alleys

Poor Dublin….it isn’t that it isn’t a fantastic city…I loved Dublin…but the time had come for somewhere warm and a bit more exotic….Dubrovnik has provided the perfect solution!

Dublin - the last hoorah

Today is our last real day in Dublin....tomorrow morning we fly out to Dubrovnik, Croatia. It's been just over 3 weeks and we have had an awesome time - even beginning to feel like 'locals'....but I must admit I am looking forward to warmer weather and swimming in the warm mediterranean.

Yesterday Neve and Eloise had some time apart in the morning. It isn't that they are not getting on - just the opposite really....they have played together SO well and truly are best friends. But just to calm things down a little, Shane took Eloise into town for some father/daughter bonding while Neve and I went for a big walk down to the river to take another look at the tall ships, where Neve had a ride on a pirate ship and then we took part in a music show before walking into town to meet Shane and Eloise for lunch.

The rain started at lunchtime so we did a quick dash around town before heading home to warm up and dry out.

Today started out cold and wet. But (as is typical in Dublin) the rain stopped and the sun came out briefly - before the clouds came back. Since this was our last day, we went into town for a final walk around. We all bought warm jackets in preparation for our time in Switzerland in October - which seems ridiculous since we are about to spend the next few weeks in 30+ degree weather - but who can resist a sale! We then wandered to the Temple Bar area and went to THE Temple Bar, where we enjoyed the true Irish pub experience....

Eloise acting a bit 'fishy' in the Temple Bar

Eloise was highly impressed with the local performer at the Temple Bar...

 She insisted I take a photo of the Mickey Mouse bag....

The whiskey list at the pub

After we were kicked out of the pub for drunken rowdiness (hmmm.....sure) we walked through to another pub where we had lunch. It was pretty quiet (until we got there) but they still had Irish music playing. Neve's Irish blood means that she can't help but tap her feet whenever she hears the fiddle and flute of an Irish band....

So while they were waiting for their lunch Neve and Eloise gave us their rendition of an Irish jig...

I think Neve is going to miss Ireland the most out of all of us....

We walked back home through town....past the statue of Molly Malone (or 'the tart with the cart') and a happy leprechaun.

A quiet drink at Shane's favourite pub and it's farewell to Dublin and Ireland.  Ireland is great, Dublin is fantastic....it's been 'grand'.....