Well Its Not Far Down to Paradise, At Least It's Not for Me....

Sailing....(Thanks Christopher Cross)

We have saved what we hope is best for last... a week long cruise down the Dalmatian Coast.  The boat is small (20 cabins) and we are part of a group of 30 cruisers ministered to by 8 crew.  The cabins are great and the air conditioners are even GREATER.  Our group is eclectic -- Australians; Tasmanians (they seem to identify as Tasmanians not Aussies); Mexicans (real, not us); Argentinian; New Zealanders and Americans.  The routine on the boat varies a bit but in general we breakfast, set sail for the morning and stop along the way to swim off the boat, lunch on the boat, tour the port we are at and then we're on our own for dinner and the evening.  Works well for us.

I will not bore you with a blow by blow of every fort, harbor, lighthouse etc. that we saw but will try to hit some of the highlights.   We started out in Zadar which was replete with the usual fort etc. but also had two pretty interesting  contemporary things.  The Sea Organ and  the Monument to the Sun. A long promenade lines the Sea and under a section of it there are a series of pipes of varying sizes and lengths.  As the waves wash into the pipes "music" is created.  Sounds a bit like whales actually. Based on changing winds and waves the tune always changes.  It is alleged that there is a similar Sea Organ in San Francisco but I've never seen it.  Right near it is a large circle filled with solar panels which absorb light all day.  At night, it turns into sort of a large, one dimensional disco ball. The neatest part of all this is that locals take an evening stroll, watch the sun set, listen to the Sea Organ and then jump, dance and prance on the circle as the lights strobe on and off. Nice experience.

The outer wall of Zadar with one of the arched entrances.

The Town Guardhouse with the clock tower dating from the 16th century.

The City Lodge

An wall sculpture from the communist era.  Socialist Realism.  Or so they thought....

A building from the communist era.

St. Anastasia Cathedral bell tower.

Church of St. Donatus. Construction was begun in the 9th century and was located on the northeastern part of the old Roman forum.

The remains of the old Roman forum.

The Monument to the Sun consists of three hundred multi-layered glass plates in the shape of a 22 meter diameter circle. They are photo voltaic cells that absorb the sun's energy. Lighting elements installed in the circle turn on at night creating a light show.

A newer section of Zadar with the mountains in the background.

There were some very large sailboats...

as well as a semisubmarine for viewing under the sea.

This is a caper plant. They tend to grow on buildings loosening the mortar and are considered a nuisance.

Some of the columns from the old Roman forum were used as the base of the Church of St. Donatus.  An early example of recycling.

The entrance to the Church of St. Donatus.

The Sea Organ is a famous fixture on the Zadar waterfront. People sit on the steps to listen to the organ, whose sounds are made by the waves of water passing through various pipes.

University of Zadar. This is where our guide Bruna went to school.

We set sail to Sali and got our first chance to swim from the boat.  The water is absolutely amazingly clear -- and a little chilly still in early July but great.  By now, everybody has gotten with the program and Bruna (our really terrific guide) has bonded the group somehow.  As we swim, two of the sailors lean casually at the ship's rail.  While very understated, it is clear that it is their job to keep the tourists from drowning -- more on that later.  In conversation we tell Bruna about the never-ending saga of the dirty laundry and she leaps into action alerting the hotel in Dubrovnik to be on the lookout.

The beautiful water of the Adriatic. The salinity level is so high that you can lie on your back and float.

Scenes of Sali harbor.

The ship Karizma, which was our home for seven days.

There are more than 1000 islands along the Adriatic coast of Croatia. Some are mostly barren...

while others have scrub bushes and some grass, which is why they are divided up by stone walls to delineate property boundaries. They are primarily used for grazing of sheep and goats.

Maritimo is a bar on Sali that had this promotional piece on the table. While we were there we did not see any "girls dressed in gold and silver with delightful derrieres", nor any "shaven heads bursting excited muscles." Perhaps we were there too early to witness this spectacle.
Go ahead.  Read it.  It's worth it.

That afternoon we end up back at Krka. Photos tell the tale.

Crystal clear water makes it easy to see the fish.

The blooms on this bush were amazing.

The falls and the water were crystal clear.

The falls were used early on for grinding corn...

and washing wool...

as well as producing electricity. This was the first electric alternating current plant in Europe and the second in the world.

More beautiful falls...

and of course the ubiquitous selfies!

Our tour guide Bruna with one of the New Zelanders.

Suzette with two of the Tasmanians.

As opposed to previous trips, this was the only pre-wedding photo op.

Barbara & Suzette cracking up over one of Deirdre's stories.

The next day is breezy but beautiful.  We moor for our morning swim and I say to Michael: "Hmmm. I don't know about this.  Looks pretty windy."  Just then the youngest member of the group (6 years) jumps with his Dad into the water.  The kid has a inner tube (good thing) and within seconds the two of them are being blown rapidly away from the boat -- really rapidly.  Even the Aussies and New Zealanders (born swimming) reconsider.  Our two nonchalant sailors continue to lean on the railing gauging the distance father and son are traveling.  They look at each other, unfurl the life ring, and throw it to the drifters.  They then look like they are mentally tossing a coin to see who will have to go in and perform the rescue if Dad and son can't make it to the ring.  But they do. We cheer and they pull themselves in.  By the end of the cruise, the sailors just throw the life ring in immediately as a matter of course.  We all feel better.

In the distance you can see the father & son drifting away.

They were clinging on to two tubes and a noodle.

Even Ivan, the wild Aussie from Cairns accepted a pull in to the boat.

We take a little break in Trogir and then head into Split (where Michael and I had started our trip). Over lunch I had told the table about how excited I was that I would finally get to see Froggyland. Bruna (who has been guiding for a while) didn't believe me, said it didn't exist and even if it did who would want to go see it.  Our new pals, Suzette and Barb displayed significant interest and, once I provided documentation as to its existence they were all in for a visit.  Well, not Bruna.  But first there was a tour to attend to.  The high point was Diocletian's Palace.

The town of Trogir. It is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites for its Venetian architecture.

Kamerlengo Castle was built in the 15th century. The word kamerlengo (Italian: camerlengo) refers to the title of a Venetian administrative officer (a chamberlain).

Many images of Triptolemos (the Greek demi-god who presided over the sowing of grain-seed and the milling of wheat) were visible all over the island.

One of the older structures on Trogir with colorful shutters.

Photos of the castle.

The dock, town and bridge connecting Trogir to the island of Čiovo.

Another view of our ship, Karizma.

A Venetian gondola plying the waters off Trogir show the influence of Venice on the region through the ages.

We saw some amazing ships and boats, such as this classic.

The waters off Trogir were also conducive for kite surfing.

Diocletian was a Croatian (well it wasn't Croatia then) who managed to work his way up through the Roman hierarchy to become emperor for 20 years (quite a track record).  He did this through intelligence, hard work and killing anyone who got in his way.  In fact, he developed quite a taste for killing people --- particularly Christians.  As he approached his dotage he decided to build a retirement palace in Split to take advantage of its mineral springs and lovely setting.  This thing was/is huge -- 600 feet on each side-- and he constructed it in only 11 years upon the bodies of 2,000 slaves who died doing it.  Diocletian REALLY hated Christians.  He killed all of them around Split and when he ran out he imported more to kill.  His wife and daughter secretively (apparently not secretively enough) practiced the faith and when he discovered them he had them immediately beheaded.  He was not a nice man.  What happened after his reign is actually as, or more, interesting than the above.

When he died, the remaining Christians and other disgruntled subjects just moved right in and today their descendants still live in the Palace.  They carved it up, built partitions, added stores and markets and restaurants and today it forms the core of Split.  The Castle sits above a labyrinth of cellars that, in the time of Diocletian, used to flood.  So if garbage, excrement whatever exited from the first floor to the cellars the tide would take care of it.  But over time the area in front of the palace silted up and water no longer flowed into and out of the cellars.  By then, thousands were living in the palace and all had created holes in the floor to serve as their latrines.  Over 700 years things got very unpleasant. Very.  Centuries go by and Tito comes to power.  He sees the tourist value of Diocletian's Palace but there is this little "feces in the basement" problem.  The lovely thing about being a dictator is that, really, nothing is off limits.  So, to solve the problem he enlists high school students.  Each day they are given a spoon (literally a spoon) and sent to the cellars to remove the offending substance.  I like to fantasize what it would be like rounding up the kids at, say, Greenwich High and dispatching them to a basement filled with poo armed with a spoon.  We can dream....

A view of Split from the water.

Why erect a cell tower when you can rent space on a church dome.

Bruna posing with a sleeping Deirdre. She fell asleep (uncharacteristically) after lunch before we began our tour of Split.

The basement ceiling of Diocletian's palace with holes poked in the ceiling to allow for the free flow of effluvia from the houses above.

A bust of Diocletian, which accurately reflects his menacing character.

A pile of effluvia which has built up over the centuries in the basement. Tito's high school students never got around to removing this.

One of the old houses built on top of the palace.

A tower of the palace.

Another example of the classic European clothes dryer.

The oculus of the dome.

We were entertained with traditional Dalmatian a capella singing in an area of the palace with amazing acoustics.

More images of the palace...

along with a sphinx brought from Egypt (probably along with the slaves brought over to build the palace).

This 28 foot tall statue may look like Gandalf or Dumbledor out of Harry Potter, but is in fact Gregory of Nin. In 925 at the Synod he lost his bishopric to the Archbishop of Split.

This was one of the more amusing fountains we encountered.

Finally Froggyland

At last.  What is Froggyland?  Picture it if you will.  There are over 500 stuffed frogs dressed as humans and meticulously arranged in tens of dioramas in which frogs portray humans busy at various endeavors.  Frogs performing circus stunts, frogs in the classroom, frogs playing tennis.... you get the idea.  I know, you think it is the lamest thing you have ever heard of but it is really funny and actually very impressive. Ferenc Mere, the creator of Froggyland, whose life is "shrouded in mystery" obviously had a thing for frogs.  In the late 19th century, taxidermy was all the rage so Mere was right in the midst of a frenzy of naturalists stuffing anything that moved -- or once moved. Taxidermy on frogs is particularly fraught with difficulty making Mere's accomplishments more astounding.  "Their skin can shrink and look not quite right," an expert said. "Popular taxidermy supply catalogs (there ARE such things?) don't offer frog-facing tools, even as they are rife with gadgets to stuff snakes and fish."  You can see what Ferenc was up against. Well Barb, Suzette, Michael and I couldn't get enough of Froggyland. Whereas we had taken pictures of fabulously expensive artwork, sacred sites and museums we were STRICTLY forbidden from taking pictures at Froggyland.  And their postcards were substandard. You'll just have to take our word for it and for more info (really?) go to Atlas Obscura.

The brochure and pictures tell it all.

Onward...

We set off for Hvar. Meanwhile Bruna tells us that the hotel has received our package of clothes.  We are beyond excited.  Hvar is sort of a Mykonos on financial and party steroids.  As we pull into port our introduction to the island is observing THE WHITE PARTY which is going full force at 3:30 PM (not AM, PM). Hordes of young jet setters or wannabes dressed or half-dressed in all white are gyrating to some form of music I am unfamiliar with while chugging exotic cocktails.  We have definitely arrived in Hvar.  Our Captain, in an amazing display of understatement, warns that it "might continue to be loud for most of the night".  Really?  This is the first time we are docked in parallel with other boats of similar size.  Thus, to reach your boat or they to get to theirs, one must transverse any boats between one's boat and the dock.  Very few people fall in but sometimes they do. It is a great way to meet new people as they stop in for a drink and you try to figure out if they belong on your boat or not.

The harbor of Hvar with the castle overlooking the harbor.

Hvar is now included as one of the 10 best party islands in Europe (much to the chagrin of the residents of Hvar). 

Away from the party palace of the harbor were charming, narrow walkways such as this one.

One of the grandchildren from our ship posing in front of this well...

from 1475.

The Lion of St. Mark again shows the Venetian influence on these islands.

These stones with the holes were used to attach pulleys to haul heavy items to the upper stories of the houses.

The architecture reflects the various conquerors and residents of the island.

This door of the church, shown above, was used by the common folk. Only one side was opened as can be seen by the wear pattern in the stone.

Notice the Moorish influence in these two buildings.

The ships were once more lined up in a row due to the lack of dock space for the number of ships.

From Hvar it was on to Korčula-- alleged home of Marco Polo.  MANY places say they are the home of Marco Polo so we don't listen anymore.  Another tour in sweltering heat.  Our last island before Dubrovnik is Mljet which is advertised as a "relaxed, less developed" island about which we are all pleased.  A hike into the nature park is planned and once again it is HOT.  Michael and I opt for lounge chairs at the beach club with cool water, cool drinks and a sweet breeze.  Our boat pals stumble back exhausted, sweaty and disenchanted with the hike/island/guide/life.  We commiserate.

One of the many cruise ships we spotted. We were very happy to be on our little ship.

This statue caught my attention...

as did this wall crypt, in The Cathedral of St.Mark.  I cannot recall ever seeing anything like this before.

Another caper bush growing on the wall.

Another beautiful ship.

That night we are once more moored in the parallel boat position off the dock.  This island only has one hotel and a couple of bars so we figure it will be a quiet night.  People start drifting back to the boat around 8 and we notice that the boats on either side are starting to have a pretty good time.  It appears there are Aussies on some.  Our Aussies commence some form of Aussie call involving screaming "Oye,Oye,Oye" (I think I'm spelling that the Jewish way) and the other boats respond. This appears to be their conversational opener.  More music gets cranked up and more milling boat to boat ensues.  We are beat so we go to bed thinking things are winding down. But no... Around midnight the manager of the ONE hotel has to board our boat and demand that we ratchet the party down. Ha! And they think we're old.  Michael and I were very distraught that we had missed the best action but c'est la vie.

The Last Port of Call

We reach Dubrovnik and it's time for one last tour.  Dubrovnik is beautiful and has a tall wall running completely around it.  While excellent for defense it is horrific for airflow. It has to be over 95 degrees. As our guide extols the wonders of Dubrovnik one by one members of our tour just slink away to wallow in shade and imbibe cold drinks. I just realized that I've gone through our entire trip and never mentioned the Balkan Conflict (1991-2001) Well, too late now.  And it's really complicated and you can just look it up.  I thought of it because in all its history Dubrovnik had never been damaged in war until the Balkan Conflict in which much of the city was impacted.  You can look at the roofs and by the colors tell which buildings had been damaged -- and there were a lot.  Our last day was off the boat and in a hotel.

We saw an amazing variety of lighthouses...

natural structures...

and even caves on our tour of the Dalmatian coast.

Our captain even decided to enjoy the cool waters.

As we were anchored this dolphin swam right by the boat.

A bird's eye view of the old walled city of Dubrovnik...

and a painting of the old walled city as it looked in ancient times.

Dubrovnik boasts the oldest continuously operating pharmacy.

This swallow is flying by the clock..

while many of its fellow birds were soaring above the city. I thought we had a lot of swallows here, but the numbers flying above Dubrovnik was astounding.

The old port is very small, which is why we were anchored well away from the old city.

While eating dinner above the Adriatic we were astounded at the number of kayakers coming back into their launch sites. There must have been over 200 kayaks over a forty minute period.

Others preferred to squeeze on this replica of a Spanish galleon to watch the sunset.

While the sun was setting, the full moon was rising above the city.

The bridge, below which we were anchored.

A Dubrovnik sunset.

So Not Fair

At the hotel we received our long sought after package of clothes. We had snipped at each other, sent endless emails, attempted to track the package (ha!) alerted the hotel etc. etc.  Finally our perseverance had been rewarded.  We ripped open the box..... and they were the WRONG clothes. Not ours.  Winter socks, gloves, toe warmers -- the man truly was a moron or had a very evil sense of humor. We sent one more very pithy email to the gent, threw out the toe warmers and shabby clothes and moved on.

This was a sample of the clothes we received. DEFINITELY NOT OURS!

And why we would bring toe warmers in summer?

A Little Taste of Denmark

We had a six hour layover in Copenhagen on the flight home so zoomed in to see the sights.  It was a glorious day and every Copenhagian (?) was out and lounging on piers, sidewalks, squares -- wherever.  On the boat cruise we took, the guide glossed over the sites and just kept saying:  "Can you believe this day?  This day is amazing.  We get only a few days this nice.  It is SO nice."  Clearly, the climate is a problem there and we lucked out.  We need to go back to Copenhagen  -- really beautiful and interesting.  We just had time to grab some lunch after the boat.  We happened upon a herring buffet -- all the herring you could eat prepared in ways that defy imagination -- at least our imaginations.  While eating pounds of herring before a long flight is ill advised we dove in and suffered no tragic effects.  And then we were back in the U.S. and ultimately Mexico.

The ability to enjoy our layover in Copenhagen on a beautiful summer day was fantastic.

And the best way to see Copenhagen, given the short time we had, was to take a boat ride...

to view whimsical seaside sculptures...

colorful structures on the water in this hippy enclave...

the older buildings along the water..

including the Holmen Navy Base (home of the Royal Danish Navy).

It was impossible to avoid the cruise ships.

Of course no visit to Copenhagen would be complete without seeing the iconic Little Mermaid statue. As can be seen from the many people crowded around with cameras, this is a must see photo event.

A picture of Frederik's Church, popularly known as The Marble Church for its rococo architecture.

Of course the Danes are also proud of their modern buildings.

The Church of Our Savior with its outside spiral steeple. I could never convince Deirdre to walk up this.

Circle Bridge is a pedestrian bridge spanning the southern mouth of the Christianshavn Canal.

The Dragon tower of the Børsen, a 17th century stock exchange. The tower is shaped by the tails of four dragons twined together with their claws as the base.

This building was constructed in 1937, part of which was used as a customs house for goods to and from Sweden. It is now a jazz club and restaurant.

The Copenhagen Opera House in the background. The bridge in the foreground is unique, in that the sections of the bridge do not rise, but separate to allow tall boats and ships to pass.

Copenhagen has an amazing range of architecture and somehow it all works together.

So that's it for this trip.  We're in Ajijic for most of August and then go to a festival in Zacatecas that is so weird I can't even describe it here.  But it promises to be interesting.  Until then, enjoy the rest of summer.