Adventures of Trent & Jane

 The title is only my opinion but that is what I think. There is so much art scattered around this city it is hard not to run into it. I came for several reasons but the primary one is the David. I think it is the greatest piece of sculpture on the planet. Our apartment is nice a little way out but the tram is handy. Jane discovered that if we tap on the tram with our Visa card it is free. Apparently, Visa sponsored the tap machines so Visa users get a perk for the first year or some. It is hot and busy in the city. We checked out the main square and the Ponte Vecchio. Lots of nice gold that we dare not buy. If you have to ask how much you can’t afford it! We shopped a bit in the morning at the market near the Odeon Theatre.  Apparently Apple has a good location, just down the street from the Ponte Vecchio. I came to Florence for a few reasons but the most important one was to see the David. I wasn’t smart enough to buy tickets a week or so ago so when I looked I could only ge...

We were not expecting very much of our last port, Dubrovnik. I am not sure why really, just a feeling. Maybe we are too jaded from all the travel we have done to this point or are just getting tired. Luckily the world still has some surprises to bring to our attention. We will keep a more open mind from now on. Once docked in Dubrovnik, third boat out, we went for a guided tour. Matija seemed a little surprised as the regular guide was not there. It was a bit of a journey by bus, 15 minutes or so, to get to the Pile Gate (pronounced peela) which is the main entrance to the old city. This city is a real surprise, we weren’t expecting it to be this spectacular. The walls are massive, but cost €40 to walk on, and really define the old part. Dubrovnik has a great history and has been a trade centre for centuries. Really great architecture inside and plenty to keep your eyes amused. The guide was not our favourite, she tended to talk continuously and not always to a specific point. She did ...

 After our regular morning, swim stop I’m managing the winds from Jugo. We arrived at the town of Jelsa on the island of Hvar. Our tour manager was able to arrange Diving for Trent and I we dived at a site where there was amphoras from an unknown in century leftover possibly from a As all the others were in Hvar town we chose to have dinner on the wharf at a lovely restaurant where the waiter played us with our wine, and we joked with him about being afraid to go diving, even though he swam every day in the ocean shipwreck. Our next stop was Korcula, possibly Marco Polo’s birthplace. The island was also interested as the town was formed in the shape of a Fish spine we also did two wine tastings one overlooking the ocean and the other in town. We got to try Grk as well as Dinga.   We ended the day going to see the Moreska, a Croatian sword dance.  Very well done and seen sparks fly as the swords clashed.   The next day we stopped at Mijet  where we walked out to ...

 Out of Split on a boat! We are on the MY Arca. We found the boat on the day we arrived so we knew what we were up against. Our hotel isn’t too far but it’s too hot to schlep. We were going to take the bus but a cab took us for €10, not too much more than the bus and we didn’t have to walk too far. It’s a nice boat, definitely an upgrade from our live-aboard in the Seychelles. Our boat is moored to the dock but there are three others moored beside us. Thank goodness, moving the bags around boat gangways and passages would be brutal. Our itinerary takes us to several islands, here is the map. We have guided tours included in each town and excursions to other sights (ie. waterfalls) included as well. Croatia has been under several different ancient empires, Greek, Roman, Venetian to name a few. Not to go into too much detail, we are learning a lot about Adriatic history. July 5. Split has quite a history of its own. Diocletian, a Roman emperor was born in Dalmatia and made Split his ...

 Did a stop in Zadar and walked through the Roman old town, very impressive town square.  Interesting town parking only on the waterfront, no restaurants.   We enjoyed our little apartment, the kitchen was the best so far equipped with a stove and dishwasher!   Did 2 days of diving, mainly along walls.  Trent was happy he was able to see a wreck, it was the a German transport that they don’t know the name of. It was carrying munitions and when it hit a shoal the ship exploded. It was blown completely to pieces and sections are all over the ocean floor from 12 meters deep to over 40.   On Friday we headed to split with a detour to Bibichi winery where we sampled some amazing Dalmatian wines, the white, Debit, is similar to Chardonnay and the three reds  La sin, Babic and Plavina (lighter Zinfandel) Had a nice room just outside the wall in split, wondered around the town in the evening as it was 38 during the day.  Found some ice cream to cool down....

We both have seen enough coastline and salt water or a while. There is a national park inland with the highest waterfall in Hrvatska! (That is the actual name of Croatia, that is why their license plates ha HR on them).    The road through the mountains has some winding parts and hairpins but at times it literally goes through the mountains, one tunnel was 5.8 kms long and another was 2.6. The lesser ones are only a few hundred meters long, .75 to 1.5 kms. Once in the interior there is no way you can see the coast, the mountain ridge is virtually solid.    We are not sure what to expect, there are 16 lakes and numerous falls in the park. We have arranged a place with a pool, it’s only a few kms from the park entrances (there are two). The B&B is really nice, tucked off the main road. The dog is big and looks and acts tough, plenty of bark but he is really a pussy cat, just pet him and see! Jane has done some research and they have several trails connected by a bo...