We got up late and headed to the art museums. We hiked up the hill to an area known as Gradec, or the old upper town. This area has museums as well as well as parliament (Sabor) and the government of Croatia (office ot the Prime Minister). There were lots of sleek black BMWs and Mercedes as well as flags and guards, and a TV reporter reporting, dressed in suit and tie and athletic shoes. We saw the Burglars’ Tower, 13th century guardian of the area; an orthodox church with the typical iconostasis, painted wall between heaven and earth; and the Church of St. Catherine, locked. The first museum we saw was the Croatian Museum of Naïve Art. This museum was originally known at the “Peasant Art Gallery.” It features 80 expressionistic paintings by untrained artists. ... read more

We got up and headed for the train station around 7:00 am. There we had our pastries and white coffee at (ugh-NO-YES) McDonald’s. It was quite the place, with free WIFI and a dollar menu for breakfast. The white coffee was pretty good. In Slovenia, McDonald’s charges for ketchup – 20 cents!!!! There is a transportation hub here. The bus station is across the parking lot from the train station. The train station has 5 or 6 places to eat, a large and very clean restroom with self-flushing toilets, and smoking lounges. There is an elevator for bikes that enters on one side and exits the other… ride right in and out. We found it worked fine for suitcases as well J. We dragged the bags out to the #6 platform where we waited for the ... read more

Day 32: otherwise known as the day we went from the Adriatic to the Alps, or better yet, the day we went from 100 degrees to 80!!! Today I realized I have not watched a TV show since I left the USA (not counting a couple of World Cup soccer games), and I haven’t had a diet coke in 10 days!!! These are good things. Our ferry ride was our last of the trip. I really do like this Croatian ferry line Jardolina, clean, always on time, reasonably priced, decently restaurant, comfortable beds. AC is questionable though… we didn’t have much in our cabin and it was hot and stuffy. We got up at 5:45 am and went to breakfast at 6. We had a full breakfast of ham, cheese, scrambled eggs, bread, cereal and two ... read more

RULES OF THE ROAD 1. Never pass up a bathroom 2. Never travel with more than you yourself can carry 3. Keep all medications, money and passport on your person when en-route 4. Ask, ask, ask, ask again, and you’ll get closer, closer, closer 5. Learn to say “thank you” in the language of every country you visit 6. Eat, sleep, play as locally as you feel comfortable 7. Let your curiosity be your guide 8. Laugh at yourself 9. Don’t let the frustrations of travel get you down; you will eventually arrive at your destination 10. Remember that bad experiences make the best stories ... read more

This is going to be a down day, relaxing again. We saw some of the old town last night, and will probably try for the other high points tonight. We cooked breakfast and Gary did another load of laundry. The internet connection is fantastic, so we caught up on blogs and other travel arrangements. It was quite warm (83 degrees inside) and we don't have AC here (neither do any of the houses in this area). The heat made us very sleepy and content to do nothing. Coffee has been an interesting problem here in Croatia. Unlike Italy, were every apartment has at least one coffee pot (stove top boiler), we have not seen any form of a pot here in Croatia. They seem to use Nescafe instant coffee or get good “white”coffee at the bar ... read more