Dubrovnik, Croatia: Redux

This is a surprise for me, to go back to 2007 and revisit a place I had all but forgotten about.  But there's a reason....

First of all, I'm working on a comprehensive photo book of images that showcases the different places/countries I've been fortunate to visit over the years.  Just when I think I've covered all the bases, another country pops up...like Croatia.

Croatia is the operative word here, because right now it's at the top of the list of where I want to go next year for my 75th celebration.  Santorini, Greece, is also up there, but Croatia may win out because we've heard so much about it from many sources.

And THEN I realized I had already been to Dubrovnik, even if for only a day back in 2007 when Donica and I were on our Mediterranean cruise.

So, this is a way of whetting my appetite again....

What I most remember is sailing into the city and passing under the big bridge....

...and admiring the lighthouse that first greeted us.

Dubrovnik fronts the Adriatic Sea, so, yes, there was water everywhere.

And besides that, it was a rainy day!

Here you can see Croatia...

...with Dubrovnik all the way down at the bottom tip of the country.

The capital city, Zagreb, is way at the top.

(A possible trip next year would take us along the entire coast, 1,104 miles, via coach for 12 days.)

Massive stone walls from the 16th century surround the old town center.

Most of you know that THIS is what I most love about Europe...the OLD part.

Talk about being "protected."  But from what?

A city that sits on a hill and goes down to the sea has breath-taking views, of course.
What goes up must come down.

HA!  Exactly.

The OLD TOWN feel is in my hart-n-soul!

How else can you explain it.
(Sister Ruth would probably say it's in my DNA.)

And always near the water!

So I had to let my creative juices flow.

Back on the ship, we passed under the bridge again....

...and then out to sea.

That was 12 years ago!  Would I want to return to a country with that kind of "appetizer?"  OMG, yes.  But I have a year to decide.  If you've been there and want to convince me, please do, of course.  But based on what I've seen of the rest of the country, it's kinda like a no-brainer!

Besides, maybe we can do Santorini the next year, right?

To those of you who celebrate it (we don't...it's American!)

Happy Valentine's Day

Our 9th Wedding Anniversary

It was this past Tuesday, 5 February, when we babysat Hailey, so this post will also be about Hailey...and how we were able to weave her into our 2019 anniversary celebration. You'll see.

First, let's start with the 9 yellow roses Astrid gave me on Monday

(knowing we'd be busy with babysitting on Tuesday).

Bless her, Astrid is number specific each year with yellow roses.

It was a rainy day on Tuesday and because Hailey has been under the weather,

we knew there would be no walk outside.

In fact, besides feeding her pear, she did little else but sleep.
[She's now had carrots, pumpkin, pear, banana, zucchini and green beans!]

The last two hours before Papa came home, I held her asleep in my arms.

Before I show you the next video, here's one Mama sent us last Saturday.
This little pip-squeak is finding her voice!
[Sorry this is so big; I don't know how to make it smaller.]


Remember, this is 3 days later and she's still not feeling well.
You hardly know if she will laugh or cry...or cough or poot!  HA!
How can you not just eat her up!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Okay.  That was Tuesday, when we were the scheduled ones to babysit.  So we waited till Wednesday, yesterday, to celebrate our anniversary.

As a rule, Astrid and I do not buy material gifts for each other on special occasions because...well, because we have everything we need.  We prefer to spend our money on travel or experiences.  Which we did!

I had seen this experience on Facebook a couple months ago and pursued it,

not really knowing if it would interest Astrid.  When she got excited about it, too, 

we booked our tickets for yesterday's 2:30 afternoon performance in Rotterdam.

O M G

It was a rainy day but nothing rained on our parade, as you already know about us.

We decided to eat our anniversary meal at the nearby Hotel New York, just 3 blocks away.

Rotterdam's "Swan" bridge was, yes, right there.

The fun thing about the big meal at noon is that you get a lot for usually cheaper than at night.  

When you live on a budget, that's important, even for a special occasion.

Astrid was ecstatic about her pasta with seafood, as was I about my lamb shank.

And because there was so much left over, we'll have it again tomorrow!

We knew there would be gratis wine later at the Shen Yun intermission, 

so we opted for our next big favorite, latte macchiato.

Hotel New York in Rotterdam is a landmark because it's based in the former 

building of Holland American Lines (cruise ships).

"It was used as temporary accommodation for European emigres

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries."

Sometimes you just have to taste the history!

With plenty of time to spare, we walked back to the New Luxor Theater.

Our 24-page program whetted our appetite.

Absolutely no photos/videos by camera or mobile phone were allowed!
My guess it that it's not only because of copyright protection but because
many of the dance routines, some from 5,000 years ago, are not allowed in China.

At the intermission we had our glass of wine...and even a bottle of water.
Everything was so well-organized.

Happy anniversary to us!  We'll never forget it.

And now let me bring wee Hailey back into the mix.
Two years ago her mama and papa went to China, walked the Great Wall,
and continued on to Tibet.  They want to go back!
Guess who will probably get to tag along???
(No, not us, silly!)