Bello mondo!

Ciao tutti!  Before we enter headlong into winter, I wanted to post some lovely shots that help me see the beauty of the world around me.  These things testify to me that there is a God who knows and loves me.

Songbird planted this lovely sunflower.

The bees were buzzing like crazy around our oleander.

This was a lucky shot...this bee is looking for clearance to land.

This field of sunflowers was facing the highway...on the other side of the highway,
the sunflowers were facing the highway.  One was almost blinded by so much yellow.

The Net took this lovely shot in Plitivice Lakes park in Croatia.

This was the second lovely shot the Net took in Plitivice Lakes park in Croatia.

This is the third great shot the Net took in Plitivice Lakes park in Croatia.

Croatia

At long last – a second and third stamp for our passports! The first stamp came when we entered Germany through Frankfurt, but since then no one’s even wanted to look at them in an official way. I guess that’s one of the benefits of membership in the European Union – being able to pass from country to country as if they are one. We understand Croatia is entering/has entered/will enter the Union soon, so weren’t sure what to expect at the border, but we watched with excitement as each passport got a stamp! We also received an additional stamp on our way back through from Croatia to Slovenia…so now we’re world travelers! We were counting and have visited 9 countries (Italy, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Vatican City, Croatia, Slovenia) – 10 if you count the drive through Slovenia – since our arrival last October. We’ve averaged about a trip a month.

The Adriatic from the East side was stunning!

View from highway looking west towards Italy

Croatia is beautiful. We were trying to decide what it reminds us of…in some ways it looks a lot like the Bitterroot Valley, but the mountains aren’t as tall and there are more deciduous trees than evergreens. Some have already started changing colors. I’m guessing it’s breathtaking in the fall. Most of what we drove through is farmland with little towns breaking up the distances between. We saw a shepherd out watching his flock, as well as a farmer and his family driving the cows home. In addition, you can see shrapnel marks on many of the buildings and homes. We found it strange to think that as recently as 1995 there was a civil war going on here.

City Building in downtown Otočac marked by war

We bypassed the pigs roasting on spits along the road and had dinner in the hotel restaurant. It seemed to serve everything under the sun! French fries, of course (the only food we’ve eaten in every country we’ve visited!), in addition to a potato any other way you could want it. I had a mixed salad, which had cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers in separate piles, topped with a light dressing. It was salty, but not particularly oily or vinegar-y. Definitely good. We also tried breaded chicken (think schnitzel) and The Net had a pork chop stuffed with cheese and ham. The Linguist tried a standard Croatian dish that tasted like ground beef. It was fried up in thick “finger” portions and was salty, as well as a dish with rice and octopus. The bread was wonderful! That’s something that Italians haven’t seemed to figure out. I’ve wondered if that’s why they’re all so thin?! No yummy bread and only a few baked goods worth eating more than occasionally! Pianogurl was a little disappointed by her beef stew. It looked suspiciously like Lipton chicken noodle! The other kids were apparently intrigued, since The Net and Songbird tried it at the next meal. For dessert, they serve what they call pancakes, and what we would call crepes. Filled with chocolate, jam or a walnut paste, they were delicious!

We spent Friday in Plitvice National Park in Croatia. Known for its waterfalls, the park became a Unesco World Heritage site in 1979. The views were breathtaking! We were pleasantly surprised by how well the younger kids did, I think we hiked for nearly 4 hours (and waited in lines for another 2! I’ve certainly never queued to get into a national park before!) The water is perfectly clear and turquoise in color. It was so clean and lovely that is was surreal in many places. If there hadn’t been several thousand people there I think it would have been quite enchanting! As it was, there was enough noise and passing on the walkways to keep us all grounded in reality.

This is the first set of falls you see after you enter from entrance 

Yes that is water...yes those are fish.

These are not fish, they are children in a cave
in Croatia's Plitvice Lakes park.

The Gang happily hiking along the trail.

Lovely water flows...

Chicken on spits that smelled awesome!

Super cool path made of lopped off tree stumps

The Net couldn't resist "catching" this photo while we waited in line

Notice the mist among the falls

Marching on the trail

View along the trail heading back to parking area

Lovely view from overlook point below

Pianogurl enjoyed this spot.

Saturday we headed out in search of a beach. The drive to the coast was pretty amazing. I think The Linguist got some good photos of that, so I won’t waste my words trying to describe it (see 2nd photo from top of this post). But I’m pretty sure that in a different life I must have lived at the water’s edge. Something about being near the water like that fills my soul.

Deep Thinker like the water despite the crowds.

Rosa, ever the optimist, had a great time playing
in the area in the photo below called her office.

Once the Net found a crab, Rosa & Songbird cleared out.
He probably would have stayed all day!

We were reminded again, however, that one of the challenges to vacationing in different places all the time is knowing very little about the places you’re going ahead of time. We’ve found that no amount of internet searching can replace the actual going and figuring things out. We spent over an hour trying to find parking near the beach and finally gave up – only to run smack dab into a parking place in Crikvenica (the Linguist is referring to it as Rock-o-Rama). The Net was thrilled. He’s been dying to get some more beach time ever since we left Spain.

It was near a grocery store and we walked through a small open air market on the way to the beach. It was pretty typical – clothes, fruit, baked goods, gelato. The beach was interesting. First we came across people lying on dirt under trees near the water. I’m guessing they chose their location because of the shade? They had towels, but it still seemed a little uncomfortable for my taste. We hopped over the low wall that separated the beach area and found more people reclining on towels laid over rocks…not pebbles, but rocks. The rocks were bigger near the water’s edge (more boulder size) and a little slippery. To get to the swimming area you had to carefully wade over the moss-covered rocks until the water was deep enough for swimming. The water was pretty cold, and I was the only one (of our group) who spent much time in it.

The Net spent his time clambering over rocks in search of little crabs with Deep Thinker hot on his heels. Rosa found a little pool surrounded by rocks and busied herself creating a “home” there. I went to visit and was instructed on the proper way to enter, where to sit, etc. In the meantime, more and more people were adding their towels and bodies to the area. Being a Montanan at heart, the whole people-crowded-on-top-of-each-other thing isn’t my favorite. It doesn’t even phase Europeans.

After an hour or so we headed back to the car via the gelato store and the bakery. The gelato wasn’t as yummy as what we eat in Ferrara, but it wasn’t terrible. Could there be such a thing as terrible gelato? I’m not sure it’s possible…although on second thought, the stuff in the grocery store might qualify. We also stopped at the bakery and had a delicious braided bun, a yummy ham and cheese pastry, a doughnut filled with marmalade and a croissant with chocolate inside. It’s probably good that I don’t like Italian pastries and bread more…and that we don’t live in Croatia! Our trip back to the hotel was fairly uneventful – except for the few hair-raising miles we spent on a narrow little back road that could only safely accommodate one vehicle. 

We stopped for a quick walk through Otocac, the town nearest our hotel…(think Stevi sized) and another stop at the ATM to acquire kuna – the local currency. The prices in the grocery stores are similar to what we saw in Denmark, but pleasantly, a kuna is worth about 18 cents and the goods are fairly inexpensive, as well. Gelato was less than 1 euro/scoop. As a side benefit we got to see bits and pieces of a local wedding.

Here most of us pose near the Church in downtown Otočac.
Note the shrapnel or pock marks on the building behind.

First, we saw the church that had some simple decorations over the door and a couple of bows. Then we walked by the hotel having the wedding party. People in fancy clothes were all over and local music was blaring. Next, we saw the bridesmaids, groomsmen and bride and groom finishing up their pictures in the park. The dresses were fun to see. The bride’s was a huge layered puffy white dress and the bridesmaids were shorter, more like what you’d see in the U.S. Finally, at the hotel a few hours later, the whole party drove by in cars, honking. Each car had bows on the windows and anyone not driving was sitting in the windows, waving at passersby. We’re not sure if that’s local custom or just particular to this bride and groom, but it was fun either way!

After a wonderful weekend we headed for church in Trieste, Italy…only to be waylaid by traffic. We sat at a total stop for an hour and were finally routed around the remains of a motorcycle accident. It looked as though it only involved one rider, but it was apparent that he didn’t make it. Those kinds of experiences are always sobering…

Switzerland

We've visited Switzerland a few times now.  It is so very lovely.  We recently visited to attend the LDS temple in Bern.  We reserved a hotel in the heart of a ski town about an hour and a half southwest of Bern.  The drive was great until we hit the hairpin curves on the road.  We chose this particular hotel because it had a pool.  We arrived after much anticipation and rushed to get to the pool which was only supposed to stay open for another 30 minutes.  The folks there were very gracious and let us swim for an extra 30 minutes or so.  The room had a sauna which was great for my cold and very relaxing.  Rosa called it the "hot room."  Our breakfast views were glorious.  I'm sure my ancestors really loved this beautiful country.

Handsome young man with a great backdrop.

Wow...If only we could have breakfast with such views everyday.

Rosa enjoyed the views and the sun.

Minus the ugly roofs, these mountains were amazing.

The kids patiently waited for us as we attended
 a temple session in the Bern LDS temple.