It was a typical first day of the trip today. After 24 hours and traveling through Washington DC and Vienna, Austria we arrived to a torrential downpour in Dubrovnik. This was the first time I had ever seen rain in 7 trips to this city! Fortunately we had a restaurant near our apartment during the storm. After it stopped raining, we had a nice, cool walk through the Old Town. Everyone is doing well. Dad actually traveled well without much sleep. He is still raring to go while the rest of us have run out of gas! Enjoy the pics from the day! More tomorrow.... read more

We made it to Zagreb today! Not before having to make the traditional stop at the Karlovac McDonald's though. Got to the hotel Dubrovnik at about 3. while dad rested, the rest of the crew went out to shop a bit. After that, we meet Domagoj, Lea, Ivana and Franjo for supper at the restaurant at our hotel. The food was Excellent. After eating we had to head out to Makšimir for the Dinamo Zagreb game. They were playing a team called Sheriff from Moldova in a Champions League qualifier. It was quite an experience. We had to pay 5 x the regular ticket price, found out only half of the stadium was available for seating due to penalties handed down on the club for racist violations, saw 10 times as many SWAT people than I ... read more

We had a great breakfast early this morning as we prepared to leave Brinje. It was great to see Mira again and it is always sad when we leave her. She works incredibly hard to make us feel at home at her house. There is something special about her that connects to me as I think back to the trip I was a part of in 1987. Hopefully next time is not too long from now. We also had a great time with Domagoj, Lea and Luka. The kids are really growing and we can't wait to spend more time with them in Zagreb in a few days. Our first stop today was in Pula. I had always wanted to see the colosseum there and finally got my chance. It is in amazing shape considering it ... read more

We had a nice last night in Split. Dad was beat out though so we headed back to our apartment early. Tithe following morning, we left Podstrana and ate lunch in Šibenik. I always expect there to be more of a tribute or memorial to Dražen there. After lunch some of the group walked up into the old town for a while and dad and I waited for them in a nice, shaded, breezy walkway Inside the town's walls. From there, it was back to the auto cesta for the Ernest of the trip to Brinje. We got to Brinje and visited with Mira and Tomo for a while. After supper, we headed to Letinac to see Nevenka Perković. She seemed to be doing well. A couple of shots of rakija later, we were listening to ... read more

Left for Croatia at 7:30 Monday morning. Unfortunately we found out that we were short one bag. After the wring that I left the van locked from Carrie, we found that a group of younger people used a cell phone to unlock our vehicle. They went into the back of the van and took a bag that had things we brought for Domagoj's family and some things we bought in Dubrovnik. Took the route over the mountains through Vrgorac to Makarska and missed the 2:30 ferry. We ended up being the first 2 cars on the 6:00 ferry. We all swam at Makarska. There are few better places to swim here in terms of scenery with the mountains as the back drop. Got into Bol at 7:30. Went to the riva And ate supper. The town ... read more