Give a Little...Get a Lot

Rome, Italy

So much water has gone under the bridge of life that I can't decide what to write about!  The good news is I am writing this from my computer!  I cannot tell you how much I missed it over the last month.  Our reunion was eye opening for me.  I had not realized what an intimate relationship I have with my computer, sad but true.  The large screen, the familiar keyboard, the easy access to my favorite sites, she knows me and I know her.  One interesting observation I have made is that I may have broken a habit because I have not spent nearly as much time on the computer since our reunion.  Using my stone tablet was a chore and may have cured me of my screen obsession....or not...don't touch my phone!

I spent much of one rainy day, while I was back in Houston, organizing the photos from our anniversary trip.  It may be the most documented trip I've ever taken.  Culling through over a thousand photos and trying to choose "favorites" is like choosing your favorite child...it can't be done! Looking through them is like taking the trip over and over again and it gets better every time.  Every once in a while I have an ache to just go back to Croatia.  But I guess you can't go back...or can you?

Puntalina bar and restaurant, Rovinj, Croatia,
 cold and closed for the season
March 2015

Puntalina bar and restaurant
sunny, hot...and fully booked for the night.
May 2018
I vowed to come back and I did!

Since this was an anniversary trip maybe I'll give you a couple of glimpses into what makes this thing called "our 40 year marriage" work.  TJ shared some very sweet sentiments with me on our way home and I was touched.  He referred to them as, "reasons I am still in love with you".  Always nice to hear and they give me reasons to still be in love with him!  They were two situations where we accompanied the other doing something they love.

On our second night in Rome the four of us were riding back to our apartment after a full day of sightseeing and walking many miles (over 20,000 steps to be exact).  We enjoyed a delicious dinner and decided to give our aching feet a break so we took a cab back to our apartment.  While crossing one of the many bridges in Rome I suddenly said to the driver, "Can you stop the cab?  I want to get out."  I was not ill, I had just looked out and knew I wanted to walk the rest of the way.  The night lights were reflecting on the river and the buildings were all lit up against a deep blue sky.  It was a picture, or 100, in the making.  TJ asked the driver to "pull over now" and we got out.  I don't even think he had to ask why I wanted to get out... he just knew!  It was a memorable evening stroll.

St. Peter's Basilica in the distance.
So worth walking the rest of the way home.

"O" baby!

We walked in the twilight and marveled at the lights on the river.  When we crossed one of the bridges we noticed a bridal photo shoot.  What an awesome location for bridal portraits! 

We also met this guy....

Come on...we had to say hello! 
He has on a UT hat and is doing his best to keep Austin weird
with his skateboard and bottle of wine.
Note the color coordinated hat and shoes.

Turns out he studied for a semester in Austin and was just visiting (don't remember where he was from) Rome, just like us.  Small world indeed.  Plenty happening on the bridges of Rome!  We went on our way over the bridges and through St. Peter's square oohing and aahing at the lovely evening.  It was one of those times I wished time would just stop.  Perfect place, perfect person, perfect weather ...what more can a girl ask for?

The next situation came on the island of Korcula in Croatia.  I had done my homework and suggested we rent bikes on the island and explore the towns and vineyards via bike.  As many of you know, TJ is a very serious bike rider.  I....know how to ride a bike.  He was very excited at the suggestion of biking!  The one day we had to bike was overcast and rainy in the morning.  We delayed the ride hoping for nicer weather.  The forecast gave us hope that the rain would end by lunch.  With the promise of sunnier skies, we went and rented our bikes from the local shop.  I did protect my camera in plastic and we both brought rain gear.  The blue skies were in the distance....

In spite of the lovely blue sky ahead of us....we were getting drenched!

I will preface this by sharing that we had already done one bike tour in Rome.  The bikes were e-bikes which meant any time we got to a steep hill all we had to do was activate the "e" feature, pedal and it was easy to get up the hill.  The bikes we rented this day were NOT e-bikes, they were good old fashioned road bikes.  I was not ready for this!  TJ however was in his element.  I did my best to put on a smile and pedaled my legs off.  The farther we got, the heavier it rained.  I needed windshield wipers on my sunglasses!  All I could see were raindrops and TJ in front of me.  We were riding to the town of Korcula, a mere 5 miles away.  It only seemed like 10!  There were moments I wanted to cry because the perfect leisurely day spent biking through the scenic countryside along azure waters on one side and majestic mountains on the other was looking a lot like pea soup.  As they say...the best laid plans of mice and men...

Blue skies are coming...I just know it!

We persevered up the hills and through the rain to Old town Korcula.  We just kept chasing the blue skies!  We were soaked when we arrived!  We quickly locked up our bikes and found a dry place to have lunch and wait for the sun to come out.  I just knew it was going to come out...hope springs eternal!

Why are we still smiling?  We made it!

We coincidentally went in to a restaurant that was full of spandex clad bikers!  They had all dried off, had lunch and were heading back out.  Good for them.  We had lunch, dried off and were thrilled when the clouds parted and the sun came out!  We explored the old town and then just because I had to get the iconic view of the town, rode up many switchbacks out of town for "the photo".  At least it wasn't raining this time!

We were rewarded for our efforts!

The day turned out just as nice as we had hoped it would....before the rain.  We were so glad we decided, in spite of the rain, to go on with our plan and make the best of it.  I would have hated to miss this lovely town and the perfectly clear blue waters and the views...!  Sometimes you just have to get soaked.

I could share those thousands of photos to show you just how beautiful Croatia is but then why would you need to visit?  I've said it before and I'll say it again...visit Croatia!  It is a charming and lovely country.

As for us two married folks...I love that he is more than happy to get out of the cab and walk along enthusiastically with while I take hundreds of photos of city lights and bridges.  He says he loves that I am willing to get soaked on a bike for the sake of a good ride and some spectacular views.  We both give a little and we both get a lot...that's how you make it 40 years in this thing called marriage.

Unexpected Blessings

The fact that you are reading this is a miracle!  I am writing this with my old Samsung tablet which is like using a chisel on a stone tablet.  I miss my computer!  It will truly be a test of my infinite patience.  I could just cheat and post lots of pictures but I'm not a cheater so here goes my tedious first (because there will likely be more than one) post about the 40th anniversary trip.  Rather than just give a play by play I thought I would write my first post about some of the special God Winks (coincidences, moments of Divine Intervention, random luck....call it what you like) that made this trip full of memorable moments.

Like finding the Roman numeral for 40 on the Coliseum.

Our trip began in Rome.  So much to see and so little time!  There was a church Roberto wanted to visit in Rome, St. Cecelia's in the Trastevere area.  We managed to find the church only to find it was closed.  We were "parched" so we searched the area to find a restaurant where we could sit down, have a drink and maybe a snack.  It turned out to be a full service restaurant and they were not happy with our order of drinks and a light snack.  Our waiter was a very surly chap dressed in a cross between lederhosen and old country Italian farm wear.  I think that is why he was so grumpy!  Anyway, as we left the grumpy restaurant we passed St. Cecelia's again and it was open.  We went in and were treated to a group of nuns on the altar chanting a mesmerizing song.  Turns out St. Cecelia is the patron saint of musicians. Wink!

Our first stop in Croatia was Dubrovnik and after we walked the wall around the city we agreed that the other sight in the town we wanted to visit was St. Blaise Church.  After all...we had just climbed a million stairs and saw the entire city from above and it was close to lunch time.  We found the lovely church and it just so happened they were saying Mass when we stuck our heads inside.  We, of course, went in and stayed for the rest of the Mass.  Roberto had been fighting a sore throat that day, which is important to know since St. Blaise was a physician and the patron saint of throats.   After Mass, to our surprise, they did the blessing of throats and Roberto and Belladonna were extra blessed that day.  Right place, right time!  Lunch at the restaurant right around the corner was delicious too.  Wink!

If it is this lovely at night, the inside must be beautiful too!

Our next stop was the Island of Korcula.  Our Airbnb host volunteered to pick us up at the ferry port and drive all four of us and our luggage to his home, about 15 minutes away.  Very accommodating and he was rewarded with an excellent review.  The next morning turned out to be dreary and a bit wet, with the promise of clearer skies later in the day.  I was a bit disappointed in the weather since TJ and I had mentally planned to take this day, rent a couple of bikes and ride around the island exploring, more on that in a later post.  Roberto and Belladonna wanted to enjoy the day regrouping since they had been traveling longer than we had.  While we were away, once it finally cleared up, our friends went out on their own exploration.  They stopped at the nicest restaurant in our small town and made reservations for dinner.  They may have mentioned both couples were celebrating our 40th anniversaries.  This became known on the trip as "playing the anniversary card".  We never expected it to work so well!  Boy were we surprised when we were shown to our table!  The waitress and her little 4 year old helper/daughter went out of their way to make our dinner special.

Our table awaits complete with roses, candle light and a killer view!

The entrance to the restaurant....no wonder they chose it!

Zadar was a town we had visited before and liked so much we had to share it with our friends.  We were treated to a nice sunset and a lively little town, unlike the empty town TJ and I visited three years ago.  May is a much better month to visit than March.  On Saturday morning we walked the town and happened upon a Slovak festival in the main square near our apartment.  My grandmother was Slovak and I remember my aunt and cousin dressing in similar traditional dresses and dancing these dances.  I searched the festival for some of my favorite pastries and found one!  A Slovak festival only steps away from our room....in Croatia.  Wink!

Slovak Festival!

Warming up for his performance

If you are like me, you like to have personal encounters when you travel.  It is nice to go and see monuments, museums and scenery but when you meet local people and get a glimpse into their lives the trip becomes more alive and dynamic.  Sometimes staying in a family run accommodation provides those opportunities.  Our rooms in Plitvice Lakes Park were that experience.  Firstly, the house was in a very rural area near the national park.  It reminded me of driving to our place in Nova Scotia....way off the beaten path.  We drove up to our accommodations and were greeted by the owner who promptly offered us each a shot of his homemade schnapps!  He insisted!  We toasted each other and it was down the hatch!  Since it was a Saturday, we asked if there was a church nearby and what time Mass was on Sunday.  His face lit up and he told us the church was only 2km away and Mass was at 10:30.  He also told us, in his broken English, that his grandson was going to be Baptized at that Mass and they were hosting a big party afterwards.  They were going to cook a pig and a lamb for the party, right there on the grounds outside our rooms!  We were treated to bread drenched in drippings from that roasting pig while we sat out on picnic tables with our happy hour wine and cheese.  We felt so welcomed!

Our host and his buddies roasting the pig

The view from our room...we loved it!

The next morning we packed up, went to church and witnessed the real community.  A church full of family and friends of the baby's family, the regular parishioners and four strangers who without understanding a single word knew exactly what was going on throughout the ceremony.  We left church feeling truly blessed and touched by God.  With so many choices of places to stay, for some reason I chose this one, something about it drew me in all those months ago.  I am so glad I listened.  Wink!

Apartments and Rooms Ruhige Lage in
Rakovica, Croatia

The best shot of Great Grandma I could get....
she worked from sun up to sundown!

The sweet church in Rakovica
translation "God is Love"

From our family baptism we went in search of Roberto's roots.  He had the name of the town his grandmother lived and it was on the way to our next destination.  None of us knew what to expect!  We found the town and found the church.  Every town has a church or three.  Croatia is 90% Catholic.  The name of his town is Hreljin and if you ask five people how to pronounce it you will get five different pronunciations.  The town is on a steep hill/mountain near the coast and according to our GPS every street is named Hreljin!  "Turn right on Hreljin", "turn left on Hreljin", "turn left on Hreljin" were the only directions we got from the GPS!  TJ refused to turn on most of the streets because they were blind drops!  Steep!  I am guessing Roberto's grandmother was in great shape if she navigated these streets!

Maybe these things don't seem unique to you and maybe they do but we noticed time after time the little things that happened that you just can't plan and never expected.  Part of enjoying travel is being open to the unexpected and unplanned treats.