Tučepi - we 'bags' our spot

An excerpt from Shane's Facebook status...

"From Tučepi, Dalmatian Coast, Croatia: today I went down to the beach (ten steps from door) at 7am, and in true central and eastern European style, placed our mats, inflatable Aegean Sea toys, and towels in a prime location for all morning shade. Then the family went for breakfast, had a coffee and milkshakes, a walk, and went to the beach about 1030. Later we went for lunch, stayed out of the mid day sun, and returned to our patch around 230. If you can't beat em, beat em."

That pretty much sums up our day. I am ashamed to admit that, yes, we have become those people who 'bags' the good spot on the beach with their stuff in the morning and then leave until later in the day!!!! But when EVERYONE does it - does that make it OK? I may not be able to forgive myself when I think back on it....but for the moment...I am totally fine with it....I consider it 'respecting the culture'....!

Our 'spot' secured in an early morning stealth move.....

So our day was - swimming, aimless wandering, eating, more swimming, pedalling a paddle boat (with on-board slippery slide) out to sea, pedalling back, more swimming, more eating (some drinking).....and on and on....

The other major event that happened today (besides the paddle boat - which was lots of fun, except Eloise was too scared to go in the water because she could see little fish in the water (which was probably 10 metres deep but SO clear you could see all the way to the bottom).....was that the pebbles finally cracked Eloise too and she got a pair of beach shoes!!!

Of course they HAD to be pink and the most stylish shoes we could find!

Eloise modelling her new 'stylish' beach shoes.






















But they have made the world of difference to us all - I no longer flinch at the thought of going on the beach. And EVERYONE is wearing them so there is no need to feel daggy - although people still stare at us because we are so overdressed. I think we are also the only English speaking people in the town - the rest are Croatian (obviously) and Russian and Polish and Czechs and Bosnian.....

 Captain Eloise steering the boat back to shore

First-mate Neve putting her legs to good use

Step 1: climb ladder and slide down

Step 2: Splash into water

Step 3: Climb back on boat and repeat steps 1 and 2 (x 100).....

















Tough day at the office again tomorrow....

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!