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Croatia Bound

May 2018

Croatia has been on my bucket list for many years. I wanted to make sure I did this trip exactly right because it holds a lot of special meaning to me. My mother was of Croatian descent. This is one trip I wished I would have taken with her. I think she would have enjoyed it immensely. My grandparents (on my mother’s side) were from Croatia. My grandfather immigrated through Ellis Island in January, 1921. Argentina - Fabian's Boat

He came in from Trieste, Italy on the ship named the “Argentina” which was built in 1907 by Russell & Co out of Port Glasgow, Scotland. It held 1450 passengers.

The Croatian culture has been instilled in me from a very young age. Family barbecues would not be complete with out a lamb roasting on a spit and the entire family smelling of garlic. I went to Sacred Heart Croatian Catholic School in Chicago, Illinois. Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic Church, founded by the Croatian immigrants of South Chicago in 1913. The Sunday 10am church service was spoken only in Croatian. This church built a strong foundation of community where I met life-long friends and learned how to Croatian kolo dance to Tambura music.

My favorite song was called “Sve ptičice iz gore”…

Aside from my Croatian heritage, there is so much about this country that has drawn me to it for many years. I will be covering a lot of ground in the next few weeks learning, experiencing, and enjoying all there is to see, do, and taste along the way.

I’m going to travel the country from North to South; starting in the capital city of Zagreb. Here’s a high level itinerary of the areas I’ll be exploring:

Istria Region (Rovinj) – Known for its truffles, wines, and olive oils
Plitviče National Park – One of the country’s oldest and largest National Parks
Split – This is a major city that is nearby where my family still resides in Kaštela Novi
Hvar – One of the 1000+ beautiful islands of Croatia
Dubrovnik – The very famous walled city and Old Town; a UNESCO World Heritage Site

I hope you will follow me along my journey.

Canada

November 2000

Vancouver

For a few months in 2000-2001, I commuted back and forth each week to Vancouver, Canada for a project at work. I loved Vancouver but hardly had any time at all to see any of it any any amount of detail. My memories of Vancouver are fond and I look forward to going back some day.

Sorry for the bad quality of the photos, but these photos were taken using an old film camera.

Scotland

July 1999

Road Trip around Loch Ness.

During a trip to Belgium I got word of a client opportunity in Scotland late the following week. So, rather than flying home and then coming back, I ended up going straight to Scotland. The extra few days allowed me to do a lot of site-seeing.

My co-worker and I spent the weekend visiting Edinburgh Castle, taking a trip around Loch Ness and visiting Inverness Castle.

Click here for the full size gallery.

Sorry for the bad quality of the photos, but these photos were taken with one of the first digital cameras that came out on the market.

France

July 1999

A whirlwind tour of Paris.

On a trip to Belgium and Scotland for work I had some down time in between countries and took a day-trip to Paris with my boss. Suffice it to say that by the end of that day I had seen enough of France to last me a lifetime. It was overcrowded with tourists and the locals were so rude and unhelpful. Since that trip I’ve spent a night here and there in Paris while traveling to, through, or from Europe. I’m still convinced it’s not all it is cracked up to be. Some day I do plan on giving France another shot at redemption but it is pretty low on my list.

While I was in Paris I did get to see all the highlights one would expect like the Eiffel Tower; which at the time was counting down to the Millennium.

Click here for the full size gallery.

Sorry for the bad quality of the photos, but these photos were taken with one of the first digital cameras that came out on the market.

Belgium

July 1999

No more crevettes!

Belgium was my first trip off of the North American continent. Little did I know that this would be the start of something great. My love of travel.

My trip to Belgium was a work trip with many hours spent in the classroom teaching. However, my co-workers and I arrived a few days early to do some set-up and we were able to see some of the sites while we were there.

We ended up staying near the Grand Place in Brussels. This was my first experience of old-world architecture. I was in complete awe.

…and one cannot visit Brussels without visiting the famous Manneken Pis statue! He’s much smaller than I imagined and sort of tucked away on a side street. He’s pretty easy to miss if you aren’t looking for him.

The weekend we arrived to do set-up, we spent the afternoons visiting nearby Bruges and Ooestende. From what I hear, Bruges has become completely overrun with tourists so I’m glad I was able to experience it while it still had its small town charm.

Our class was held in La Hulpe Belgium; which is a quaint little town just outside of Brussels. I still have flash backs of all of us crammed into our rental car going around the round-abouts so fast that one time we lost a hub-cap! We laughed about that for months!

It was a beautiful campus. I loved going out on our breaks just to admire the sites. Also, I remember being completely SHOCKED that they served alcohol at lunch and many folks enjoyed a glass of wine or beer with their lunch. For the most part, class seemed to go very well – with a few exceptions…

I believe this trip also was the start of my love of food. The food scene was so electric. I tried so many different types of seafood on this trip that I had never had before. This is where I had Moules-frites (mussels with french fries) for the first time and I could not get enough of them. To this day, I love them still! I also discovered European chocolate; which has forever ruined me for traditional American chocolate like Hersheys.

One thing I will never forget was the exorbitant amounts crevettes; which are the tiniest little shrimp you’ve ever seen. They were everywhere! By the end of the trip I didn’t want to see another crevette. This was also the first time I had ever seen shrimp (prawns) with their heads still on. I very vividly remember my boss cutting off the heads for me and putting them under a napkin so I wouldn’t have to look at them. My how times have changed. Now, I will try almost anything at least once and can stare down the head of anything on my plate with no remorse.

Click here for the full size gallery.

Sorry for the bad quality of the photos, but these photos were taken with one of the first digital cameras that came out on the market.

Mexico

January 15-24, 1998

No mas mezcal, por favor!

My very first trip out of the US was to Mexico with my cousin. We didn’t travel to the traditional places but rather spent the first few days in Oaxaca which is known for its art scene and food culture. Suffice it to say that we fully embraced the food and liquor traditions.

Oaxaca

January 15-19, 1998

Our first day was spent around the Zocalo (city center) and the market.

We visited the Camino Real which is a 400 year old convent that has been converted to a hotel. One evening we went to a traditional folk dance dinner called a Guelaguetza at the Camino Real convent. We were enjoying a nice evening dining on a traditional delicious meal until suddenly I saw a leg of an insect in the potatoes and quickly learned about Chapulines – grasshoppers! Later on in the trip we got over our fear of the chapulines and snacked on them like beer nuts as we sipped margaritas.

The next day we took a tour of some of the other local highlights. We took a day trip to Monte Alban to visit ancient Zapotec Ruins.

San Jeronimo Church is a 16th century church that’s interior was painted by Indian ancestors using indigo and red dye extracted from beetles that feed off a cactus plant native to the region.

In Teotitlan, we took a tour of a rug weaver who also uses the dye extracted from the beetles to hand color the wool they spun from their home raised animals.

Dye extracted from beetles to color the hand raised wool for the rugs.

We also took a tour of the mezcal factory and did a tasting. It’s delicious!

The Tule Tree is one of the biggest and oldest Montezuma water cypress trees. It is estimated to over 2000 years old.

Montezuma cypress – It has the stoutest trunk of any tree in the world. About 2000 years old.

Temple de Santo Domingo has real gold throughout the entire church.

On our way back to Oaxaca we visited a wood carving shop where we each purchased a few wood carvings called “alebrijes” which are brightly colored Mexican folk art wooden sculptures.

Huatulco

January 20-24, 1998

Huatulco, to this day, is still a somewhat unknown beach town. It was very picturesque and a complete contrast of Oaxaca.

We spent a lot of time outdoors soaking up the sun in various ways such as enjoying the ocean views…

…snorkeling for the first time, ever…

…and horseback riding on the beach..

Click here for the full size gallery.

Sorry for the bad quality of the photos, as these were taken with an old film camera.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we made lots of friends that helped us pass the evening time in La Crucecita, while in Huatulco.

Viva el Festo!