Family trip to Croatia coming soon

[firefighter ontheside]

Less than a month til we leave.  This trip has been talked about by the wife and I for about 3 years.  Of course there was a world event that delayed the trip til now.  My great grandparents came from there around 1914.  I had little exposure to Croatian culture, because they were gone long before I was born.  My dad's dad didn't talk about them.  The only hint of culture that I got was when grandpa would make goulash.  I met a possible relative of the same last name as me several years ago on FB.  I don't know if we are related, but its highly likely as its not a common name in the country and she is from a town not far from where my family came from.  Unfortunately we may never know.  

We will be there for 10 days and will see a lot of the country, but mostly the Adriatic coast.  We fly into Dubrovnik at the far south end of the country.  We will visit her for a few days.  We will also visit the town where the family came from on our way to spend a few days in the capital, Zagreb.  I'm trying to learn a little Croatian or Hrvatski as it's called.  They call their country Hrvatska and not Croatia.  Hopefully I will be able to post some pics as nice as what @ljohnsaw posted last month.  I can't wait.  This is the first time our kids will have travelled overseas.  First time for me since Ireland in 2001, which was our honeymoon.  We will be in Croatia for our 22nd anniversary.

[Ljohnsaw]

 :P waiting for pictures!

[firefighter ontheside]

Patience John.  Patience.

[Southside]

Why do they call the country a different name? 

[Ljohnsaw]

There were some German print maps at in the place I rented in Kastav, Croatia. And the name on it was Hrvatski. I wondered about that.

Why do they call the country a different name?

Hopefully you make it to Trieste, Italy.

Put Pula, Croatia on your list of things to see. About an hour out from Opatija and you go through one of the longest tunnels in Croatia. That's where the fort with the tunnels and the Roman colosseum were. Jupiter Pizza is the place to eat there.

We came back on the southern "costal" route and saw a pretty cool power plant with the tallest smoke stack I've ever seen.

[thecfarm]

Have a great time!!!

[firefighter ontheside]

Why do they call the country a different name?

It's like with many countries.  We say Germany, but they call their country Deutschland.  The term German came from Latin.  The word Croatia had a long explanation that was confusing, but also derived from Latin.
Cindy said we don't have enough time to see everything we want to in Hrvatska, so Trieste is not gonna happen.  Maybe another trip.  I'm sure I will want to go back.  I would say Pula is a possibility.  We intend to day trip from Opatija to see some of the Istrian peninsula.

[firefighter ontheside]

One week from today we start our journey to Croatia which includes a 9 hour layover in Frankfurt Germany.  I'm excited about that too.  We get to leave the airport and see the city.  I took lots of German in highschool and college, so I feel like I will be able to speak a little.  At the very least I will be able to ask where the bathroom is.

[Southside]

Just don't go all Clark Grizwald while you are there in Germany.  :D

[DbltreeBelgians]

Have a great time Bill. We're currently in Western Colorado at a RV park near the west portal to the Colorado National Monument.
Nice to get a chance to talk to you on our way through St. Louis in that nasty thunderstorm.
Have a great trip and enjoy.

Brent

[firefighter ontheside]

Just don't go all Clark Grizwald while you are there in Germany.  :D

What do you mean??  I just packed my lederhosen.
I think we are going to have the time of our life.  Yes Brent, even though I didn't get to see you while you hydroplaned thru St Louis it was nice to get to talk to you.  Have fun their in CO.
T minus 3 days.

[firefighter ontheside]

2 days til lift off.  Can't wait.

[Old Greenhorn]

Just wanted to jump in here Bill and wish you and the family a great trip! May you have smooth sailing all the way. Looking forward to your updates!

[firefighter ontheside]

Thanks Tom, I fully expect it to be the trip of a lifetime.  At least to date.  Its not a great time to have a flare up of sciatica, but that's what I've got.  I've been dealing with it all year, but its gotten really bad this week.  I'm going to an orthopedic clinic today to see if they can help.

[doc henderson]

pain doc can give a steroid shot.  be safe, have fun, take and send pics.

[firefighter ontheside]

Thanks Doc.  I will do all of the above.  The doctor gave me a script for a prednisone taper.  Hope that works.  I just need it to take the edge off.  Said it looks like I might have a minor herniated disc from looking at an xray.

[DbltreeBelgians]

Have a great trip Bill. Looking forward to updates if and when you can.
Take care and be safe.

Brent

[firefighter ontheside]

I'm going to try to post some pics here while I'm there.  It just depends on my internet access.  Apparently there can be issues with accessing the site from an unknown server.  

[firefighter ontheside]

Made it to Frankfurt.  Croatia this evening.


 

 

 

 

[Old Greenhorn]

Looks like you are off to a running start!

[firefighter ontheside]

It was great to get to see a little of Germany, but no sleep last night plus jet lag are beginning to run us down.  Flight to Croatia is delayed an hour.  Maybe I should put this in did something dumb.  Drank a big glass of beer.  Ate way too much fried potatoes and potato pancake.  Came back to airport to go back thru security.  Finally got to front of line and realized our bottles we bought for the trip were full of water.  Choice was either to throw them away, go empty bottles and start line over or chug the water.  I was already over full and I drank about a quarter of water.  Now I have had to go the WC as they call it about 5 times in last hour.

[Ljohnsaw]

I had a 1 liter bottle about 3/4 full. Started chugging in line as I didn't want to loose my place. Got to the front and had about a quarter left. The TSA lady was about to kick me out. But, I persivered! Yep, stopped at every WC on my way to the gate.

[firefighter ontheside]

We made it to Dubrovnik last night.  Finding our apartment was an adventure, but our host is very nice.  We will be walking the wall of the city today.  Should have some very nice photos later.  Our veranda does not have a view of the sea, so it might as well have a view of a soccer pitch.

 

 

[firefighter ontheside]

Dubrovnik is an awesome walled city.  We walked the whole wall.  Saw some great sights.  Swam in the very cold sea.

 

[firefighter ontheside]

 

 

 

 

[Southside]

I guess nobody is going to give directions to their place by saying they "live in the stone house with the red roof"  :D

[firefighter ontheside]

 

 

 Nope.  Not a chance.  The other pic is ship building tools in the maritime museum.  night shot of main plaza inside the city.  If anyone watches game of thrones you may recognize this staircase.  I've never watched it, took the photo for a coworker who watches it

[doc henderson]

I watched GOT but do not remember the significance of that stairway.  Prob. some nudity. 8)

[firefighter ontheside]

Yes apparently a scene where the queen walked down nude

[firefighter ontheside]

Made it to Split today.  Drove about 15km thru Bosnia to get here.  Another stamp in the passport.  You can read about my driving experience in did something dumb.  Hint I met a nice police officer.  

We will go on a boat tour to a blue cave and then to an island to have lunch and swim in the cold sea tomorrow.  The next day we will tour Emperor Diocletian's palace.  We can just barely see the sea from our room.  It's a very nice apartment and we have a tiny garage to park the car in.

 

[doc henderson]

what is the roof made of in the nearby block buildings?  might be old. but looks like paper mache

[firefighter ontheside]

Good question Doc.  I was looking at those roofs today.  They appear to be some kind of mortar on top of a base of slate tiles.

[firefighter ontheside]

Dubrovnik lies in the extreme southern end of the country.  It is physically separated from the rest of the country by a small portion of Bosnia/Herzegovina.  A bridge was completed less than a year ago that connected Dubrovnik to the rest of the country without having to travel thru Bosnia.  The Pelješac bridge is about 1.5 miles long.  We chose to drive thru Bosnia just for fun and then drive across the bridge and back when we reached that point, which of course lead to my ticket.  This was a huge accomplishment for the country.

 

[Stephen1]

Looks like a great trip ! Enjoy

[Ljohnsaw]

Drove about 15km thru Bosnia to get here. Another stamp in the passport.

Being all in the EU, we were very disappointed in passport stamps :(.  Got stamped in Frankfurt layover on the way to Italy.  No stamp in Italy.  No one at the boarders of Italy-Slovenia / Slovenia-Croatia so no chance to get a stamp. We went Italy <-> Slovenia twice, Slovenia <-> Croatia three times.   Flying back, got a stamp in France but nothing in Spain on my way through.  That could have really filled up the book!

Flying to Ireland, no stamp going in.  Flying back, I went through US CBP at the Dublin airport and I forgot to request a stamp (maybe could have got one?).  I queried "do I have to do this all again at SFO?" (took a non-stop).  He said no, welcome to America, you are now on American soil!

[firefighter ontheside]

We were discussing that too John.  We didn't get stamped when we entered Croatia the first time because we were coming from Germany.  We only got the Croatia stamp because we entered from Bosnia the second time.

[Ianab]

My understanding is the all the EU now has the same entry visa requirements, and free travel between members. So once you get across the external border to one Member country, you have permission to travel to any other. They retain the right to set up border checkpoints under special circumstances, but normal situation is to just cruise on through. Flights within the EU are likewise treated like Domestic travel. 

The English have found that one down side of their EU exit. They now need a passport to take the train to France. 

[jasonb]

My understanding is the all the EU now has the same entry visa requirements

All travel within Europe is based on the Schengen Agreement not EU membership.  As such, Switzerland is part of the Schengen zone but not the EU.  The UK is part of neither.

[Southside]

I can't figure out the whole Great Britain / England / UK arrangement, nevermind the EU. 

[firefighter ontheside]

We went on an amazing all day boat excursion today.  We went inside a "blue cave" in a small boat.  Overhead clearance was only about 36" above the water.  Then we went to a bay on a small island to swim.  Then we went to a restaurant on the island of Hvar for an amazing lunch at a restaurant right by the sea.  Then we went to the town of Hvar on the island of Hvar and walked the town and hiked up to a 13th century Spanish fort to get a great view.  To cap it all off we had a thunder, rain, hail storm on the 90 minute boat ride back.  It was awesome.  Pictures later.

[firefighter ontheside]

 

 

 

 

[firefighter ontheside]

 

 

 

[firefighter ontheside]

Today is Statehood Day in Croatia to celebrate their declaration of independence from Yugoslavia.  We happened on a parade starting inside Diocletians Palace with veterans from the war.  I have learned so much about what I didn't understand when I was watching the news about it from 1991 to 1994.

 

 

[firefighter ontheside]

Just outside Diocletians Palace some actors are dressed up for photo ops with the kids.  We've been trying to get Sean to do it for days and he wouldn't until yesterday.  They are of course accepting tips.  

 

 

[DbltreeBelgians]

Just showed that picture of you getting ready to do battle to Jill. She giggled and said it looks like your having a good time.
Enjoy Bill,

Brent

[firefighter ontheside]

I've had an exciting couple of days.  Yesterday evening we met with my friend who may be my relative.  She has the same last name.  We went to dinner with her and her young daughter.  It's hard to believe we did that now.  Then today we visited the very small town where my relatives came from according to immigration papers.  There was not much there but a small church and about 12 homes and small farms.  We got out of the car and looked around.  Went up to the front of the church and it was locked.  A man who lived next door encouraged us to open the gate to go up by the church.  Took a few pictures and then were close to leaving, but my wife thought we should approach him. He was happy to see us coming over.  He could not speak any English and I only know about 20 words in Croatian.  With google translate we were able to tell him and his wife that my ancestors had come from there.  They did know of my name or my great grandmothers maiden name.  Still, it was amazing experience that I will never forget.  Actually makes me tear up as I write this.  They were happy to have a photo.  

 

 

   

[firefighter ontheside]

 

 

[Old Greenhorn]

Looks like you folks are having a GREAT vacation! (Although the Chevy Chase vibe is still strong with your group. :D)
 I am surprised that we have seen one photo or a fire station or truck. Thought you might be curious how they do it over there. ;D

[firefighter ontheside]

Yes, Tom we certainly are.  Come over to did something dumb to read about my Chevy Chase type moment today.

[thecfarm]

It's nice to know and to see where it all started!!!

[firefighter ontheside]

Building with non matching roof tiles is the Croatian Prime ministers office.  It was one of few buildings damaged during the Croatian war for independence when it was bombed in an attempt to kill the new country's leaders.  The tile lady do not match due to the repairs.  Other building is the parliament.  Normally you could walk right in front but rehab work to St Mark church in middle of the square has it blocked off.

 

 

   

[firefighter ontheside]

This pharmacy was opened in the year 1355.  Nikola Tesla was born in what is now Croatia but he was an ethnic Serb.  In 1892 He tried to convince the town of Zagreb to be the first town in the world to install an AC electric system.  They declined.  He moved to America and helped Buffalo New York to gain that distinction.  He is still highly revered in Zagreb and his statues and plaques are all over town.


 

 

[TimW]

Fascinating!  Can Y'all stay another week and post more photos here?
hugs,  Brandi

[firefighter ontheside]

I'm afraid not Brandi, but we have 2 more full days and should have some nice stuff to post.  Tomorrow we are going to Plitvice National Park which is an amazing natural landscape of cascading waterfalls.  Then on Tuesday we should make a trip into Slovenia and see a castle.  Plus, when I get home I will transfer pics from this phone to my computer and post more pics.  I'm glad you are enjoying them.  

[TimW]

Awesome.  Y'all have a safe trip home!!!
  hugs,  Brandi

[Ljohnsaw]

What castle are you going to see in Slovenia?

[firefighter ontheside]

John, I think it's Celje castle.  Only about an hour drive from Zagreb.

[Ljohnsaw]

As long as it's not the one in Ljubljana. That one was a disappointment. Have fun and waiting for pictures!

[firefighter ontheside]

Plitvice Lakes was the first Croatian National Park in 1949.  It is a long series of lakes and falls thru karst topography. One of the lakes is fairly large and you ride on a boat from one end to the other as you make your way along the river.  The walkways are built right above the water and sometimes a little in the water.  The views were wonderful and the water is crystal clear.  There are some trout, but not many.  Liam spotted about a 24" pike.  Fishing is strictly prohibited.  It was quite crowded and is a big matter of National pride for Croatia to have such a place.  You drive  few hours into the country to get there and see quite a lot of abandoned and damaged homes.  Many of these belong to Serbs who fled during and after the war to never return.

 

 

 

 

     

[firefighter ontheside]

In the hills I saw a lot of log yards and piles of logs in peoples yards.  It appeared to all be going to firewood.  They must use pretty big burners here as the firewood was all about 30" long or maybe longer.

 

[firefighter ontheside]

I've really enjoyed the beer in Croatia.  My family came from a little village near the larger city of Karlovac(pronounced Karlovots). The main beer of the country is Karlovatčko( pronounced Karlovotchko).  I've taken a picture of every can and bottle I've bought and I've bought a few.  My loving wife hasn't complained once.  The bottles and cans all look very nice.  The beers are mainly light lager type beers.  Tonight I bought a beer and it was served in the bottle with a glass to pour it in.  After drinking for a minute I decided I had to have the glass and asked the waitress if I could buy it.  She said she could not sell it, but could just give it to me and even brought me a clean one to take.  Best souvenir I've gotten.  Prices are very reasonable here if not cheap.  We had a huge amount of food which was a meal meant for 3.  Four of us ate and brought a lot home to the apartment.

 

 

 


 
   

[sawguy21]

My goodness, that is a lot of food for 3. ;D Trying local beers when I travel is one of my great pleasures.

[barbender]

 I may have said this before, but up here on Minnesota's Iron Range, there are a large amount of different ethnicities that migrated here in the late 1800's- early 1900's to work in the iron mines. Finns, Italians, Czechs, Croats, Serbs and I'm missing many more. The "ich" suffix on surnames is very common in towns like Hibbing and Virginia. From the outside looking in, it is hard to tell if a person or family is Serbian or Croatian...but don't mix them up!😬

[TimW]

Please explain what all is on the plate.  Looks like pork on top of the French Fries. 
hugs,  Brandi

[barbender]

That is a good looking plate of food!

[thecfarm]

Now that's a pile of groceries!!!

[Ljohnsaw]

I see 3 chops (pork?), 3 hamburger patties (beef?), 3 kabobs (lamb?), onions, fries and some sauce that looks like sweet potatoes or something spicy? and a good stack of pocket breads.

[DbltreeBelgians]

Bill, would you please take a close up of the lid on the can and maybe one of the back of the can label where the ink overlaps. Having worked for Ball Metal corporation for 33+ years I have a habit of looking at who manufactured the can and the end.
Thanks,

Brent

[firefighter ontheside]

Well, there were 3 chops maybe pork, 3 kabobs I think lamb, 3 burgers a mix of pork, beef, and lamb and 12 čevapa beef sausages.  There was a mountain of French fries, some sliced onions, ajvar which is a relish made from sweet bell peppers, and a cheesy sauce that they put on everything or so it would seem.  Plus a plate of lepinje which is flat bread.  That was doused in olive oil and delicious.

[firefighter ontheside]

Brent, I hope this helps.

 

 

[firefighter ontheside]

As I learned a while before I came here my name should be spelled like this, Modrošić.  The two diecritics indicate sh and ch sounds.  We consider it an accent mark above a letter, but they consider it a different letter.  Many names that sound like that in English were transcribed phonetically to include the sh and ch or even tch.  That does help to pronounce it correctly.  I never knew how my name was supposed to be pronounced until I met my friend Marijana Modrošić.  Telling Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian names apart is difficult for us.  There are lots of Bosnians in St. Louis, but not a lot of Croatians at least not those that came here in the last 30 years.  The Bosnian culture is pretty strong in St. Louis with so many recent immigrants.  My son's most recent soccer team had many Bosnians.

[aigheadish]

Tasty looking meal! 

Those pictures of the lakes and waterfalls are beautiful! 

[jasonb]

28 Euro for that meal is a very good deal.  Those little sausages are very tasty.  I had a version in Fieberbrunn, Austria that was really good.

[firefighter ontheside]

We had the meal, a large beer, two sodas and a glass of wine for €39.  Cheaper than Mac Donald's.

[firefighter ontheside]

Got home about an hour ago.  Happy to be home.  9 hour flight was easy to take.  Cindy bid $200 for each of our seats to be upgraded and we got them.  We got much bigger seats with much more legroom, nicer food.  I watched 4 movies and we were in St Louis.  I will post more pics in the coming days, but for now just resting.  It's almost midnight where we spent the last 11 days.  Now its only 5pm at home.  The dogs are happy to see us.  I'm not sure the chickens and goats care.

[jasonb]

Glad yall enjoyed the vacation.

Now it is time to start planning and saving for the next trip.