A week ago we took a little family trip to Croatia. It's super easy to get to from Italy (in the car)...parts of Croatia are only a couple of hours away.
The part we went to was about 7 hours away but honestly - it still blows my mind that I can drive out of one country, through another, and to another in 7 hours. I grew up in a state where if you drive for 7 hours...you are still in the same state!
We decided to rent a house in the Trogir/Marina area- about an hour from Split.
As we got close to our destination, I was super interested in the terrain. All rock + olive trees. I'd never seen anything like it, and Jimmy said it really reminded him of the time he spent in Isreal.
We stayed in a little apartment (pretty much all Croatia rentals are apartments) about 100 meters above a little cove. This is what it looked like walking down to the cove:
And then...BAM. Turquoise ombré waters and not another soul around. I couldn't believe it.
We LOVE the beach but we are not an elbow-to-elbow Italian beach kind of family. So this was absolutely perfect.
The water was super COLD the first night but we went swimming anyway!
The next morning we headed down to the beach again and we couldn't believe that the water was even more beautiful.
Note: Most Croatian beaches are ROCKY. Water shoes are a must. Sadie stepped on a sea urchin the first night (her shoe fell off) and it was a disaster. Jimmy had to tweeze forever and she spent most of the night and next morning vomiting and having an upset tummy. :( So if you head to Croatia good water shoes are a must.
These are the super steep stairs that led down to our little dream beach. You can't really tell how steep they are from the photo, but trust me. :) They were really fun to go down - especially with beach anticipation aiding us - but not so much fun to go UP. But my little European troupers didn't complain.
The next morning the owner of our apartment (such a lovely family) took us out on his boat. He drove us to Old Trogir and a small SANDY beach!
It was wonderful. Lots of snorkeling and skinny dipping.
Not really, but funny story. A LOT has changed since I moved to Europe. One of the many changes is that I no longer make my girls wear one pieces. I no longer wear a once piece. It's just not done here. And it's NOT a big deal. It is not sexualized. Just like breast feeding isn't a big deal and isn't sexualized.
You really won't see a little girl five or under (or ten or under!) wearing a top at all. Their mentality is...they don't have anything to cover, why would they wear a top?
At first I found this shocking. Now I don't. It's the way of life over here. And the girls took to it like a fish to water. Three of the four (the littles and the maniac Sadie) love it. Harper, not so much. She's my modest girl and I love her.
Cate and Lucy asked my why my top wasn't off. Ummmm?
Two nights of three we went into Trogir for dinner. Some of the best meals we've had in Europe. Truly. And y'all...Croatia is SO CHEAP. It's perfect for a family vacation.
Here are some shots I took while walking around Trogir:
Guys- this is NOT what I expected when I ordered fried fish!!!
Sponges and Lavender everywhere:
This was a wonderful trip. I recommend Croatia whole-heartedly. It was family friendly, inexpensive, and everyone was so NICE. Mostly everyone speaks English too, which was weird! But easy.
I had big plans for day trips. Split, Dubrovnik, maybe even an overnight trip to Montenegro. But nope. It was so nice where we were...we just stayed. And chilled. That's hard for me sometimes and I need a reminder to just be at times. It was perfect.
One more story...we drove through Slovenia to and from Croatia and ate lunch there both times.
Every restaurant in Slovenia either has a pig on a spit or a billboard of a pig on a spit. I had to record how the girls felt about this. Please look at Harper vs. Sadie. BAHAHAH!
Looking back at the past 2 years and looking ahead here's a little list of the travel we've done.
Places We've Been
1. Italy (obviously)
2. Germany
3. Austria
4. Switzerland
5. Liechtenstein
6. France
7. Monaco
8. Spain
9. Slovenia
10. Croatia
And the other places we haven't made it to:
Places We Still Want To See:
1. Hungary
2. Czech Republic
3. Malta
4. San Marino
5. Vatican City
6. Poland
7. Belgium
8. Ireland
9. Scotland
10. England
11. Greece
12. Montenegro
13. Netherlands
14. Portugal
Hmmm. Don't think we can make it to all of those in the next 9 months to a year, but don't think we won't try!
Thanks so much for stopping by today and reading my ramblings. I hope you have a beautiful Monday!
xoxo
S
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