Croatia

We got off to a late start on our Croatia trip.  John Ralph had some work issues to deal with on Friday and Saturday morning, so we didn't end up leaving until mid-morning Saturday.  I was worried we weren't going to have enough time to really enjoy ourselves.  Plus, what should have been a 3.5 hour drive turned into what seemed like eternity because of traffic at the Slovenia/Croatia border.  To be completely honest, I thought the trip was going to end up being a total flop. 

Well, I couldn't have been more wrong.  The trip was exactly what both of us needed:  A few days filled with a whole lotta nothing. 

We stayed at a resort right on the Adriatic Sea.  We changed into bathingsuits right when we arrived and hung out by the pool for several hours.  As the sun started to go down, we made our way down to the water.  It was super clear but still quite chilly. However, that didn't stop us from taking a little dip. 

I know I shouldn't complain...we were in Croatia afterall...but it was really quite annoying (and rude) how other people staying at the hotel would claim lounge chairs by the pool.  They would set their towels on the chairs at SEVEN O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, and leave the towels there ALL DAY LONG, and maybe use the chairs for a few hours in the afternoon.  So there were tons of chairs with towels on them, and maybe 20 people at the pool.  Got under my skin.  Because of this, we spent all of Sunday down on the rocks by the water.  It was still super relaxing even though the rocks weren't as cushy as the chairs by the pool.

For dinner on Sunday, we ventured down to a little seafood shack down the path from our hotel.  We had the mixed seafood platter for two, which included fresh mussels, shrimp, squid, and fish, with a side of spinach and potatoes.  It was pretty delish. 

After dinner we walked back to the hotel along the rocks.  (John Ralph called these my "grandma shorts"...the kid wouldn't know fashion if it bit him in the face.)

Our walk began right as the sun was setting which provided us with a lovely backdrop for a few quick pictures.

This just shows you how clear the water was.  You could see the bottom perfectly, even when it dropped off pretty deep.  I'm not a huge ocean swimmer.  Something about it just bothers me a little.  (I'm really trying to get over that.)  But during the 3 mintues I was in the water, and the 30 seconds my head was underneath the water, I was really amazed at how super blue and super clear everything was. 

The sunset was lovely, and we attempted to end the evening looking at it while listening to some jazz music on the balcony, however, this seemed a little to classy for us, so we found some ice cream and a soccer match.  (Soccer...who are we turning into?)

We definitely want to make our way back to other parts of the country at some point during our stay in Europe.  I think it might end up being the perfect destination for a girls weekend during deployment.  It was a perfect weekend to recharge and enjoy the simple life together.