Sea Urchins and Sibenik

A quieter week this week with us spending more time visiting relatives and going to Sibenik. Caleb became unwell with the same virus Kayla had and visited the doctors and was placed on a course of antibiotics. But as this is written it can be said we are nearly all well!

Buttons in Sibenik

On Monday we went to Sibenik again in the search of shoes for walking and keeping away from the stairs as it was enough last time and we didn’t want to subject the kids to the many stairs again. We enjoyed a hamburger (so not Croatian) and icecream whilst wandering through the beautiful streets that have been cleaned up a lot according to Fran since the refinery closed in recent years. A lady on the bus there told us it was blown up with dynamite! Fran also managed to get her hair cut and she said it made her feel a whole lot better. She did try and find a hair dresser in Tribunj however the hair cuts on the hair dressers worried her so she thought she would wait until the big city….well, bigger than Tribunj.

Kids in Sibenik

Visiting relatives was the order of the week with us visiting Fran’s cousin Nada in Vodice (she owns apartments and only works 5 months of the year) and she lives next door to her mother Aunty Stoya (Stana’s sister) and her brother. We enjoyed cake and coffee and good conversation.

Petar, Carlos, Stoya and Nada

We then went to Fran’s Aunty Kate’s place up the road and we saw Fran’s cousin Anita and Fran’s cousin Sanja’s daughter Martina (15)….very confusing for us non Croatians. We enjoyed conversation and wine and we must state here that the kids have been amazing. This time has really been Fran speaking Croatian for up to 2 hours straight and the apartments are very small with very little room for the kids to play. The odd game of Uno can pass the time but they have done really well as there are not many kids there age around when we have been visiting. We then walked all the way back to Tribunj along the coast.

Aunty Kate, Fran and Kayla

The following day we went to visit Fran’s cousin Marijana and brother Sime , children and lovely very frail mother. Again more food and wine was had (mostly by Stephen) and Fran once again spoke for up to 2 hours. This time there was room for the kids to play however they were getting a little tired of the visiting at this stage.

Marijana, Matija, Sime

We then went to Vodice to make one last visit on the to do list and it was to meet up with Fran’s cousin Sanja and she lives close to the ocean in Vodice and a beach that is more pebbles than rock.

Kayla wasn’t keen to go in but after reassurances that there is nothing dangerous in the water she went out deeper than advised and of course stepped on the first sea urchin in the area. This resulted in Fran and Sanja (an exnurse) trying to get out the spines (2 tiny spines) from her foot. Whilst screaming like a banshee, one was removed and the other a cream was added so Fran could remove it the following day…which she did and Kayla once again screamed like a banshee and declared never to swim again in the ocean without shoes.

Pebble beach pre-urchin

So we are now booked for a busy few weeks. Next week we have the Donkey races on Monday, not sure why a Monday, then we are off to cruise around the islands of Konate. We have also booked Dubrovnik for the following week then we plan to go to Zagreb and Venice the week after that. We have managed to secure some apartments in Dubrovnik and Zagreb and hope to do the same for Venice, that’s if the travel agent in Vodice can get on the internet! If not, we will be doing it from the tepid hotspot in Tribunj! Dovedenja!

Rakia and The Fishermans’ Festival

Did you know that Rakia has medicinal purposes? Rakia is the local alcohol that is about 99% proof so it tastes and smells like petrol. Kayla and Caleb have been attacked by the ever increasing swarms of mosquitoes which is a relatively new phenomenon in Croatia (apparently). Our ever trusty Aeroguard has been great however we are using it sparingly so it will last the entire trip….why hasn’t anyone sold Aeroguard to the rest of the world??? Due to the mosquitoes preferring Caleb rather than Kayla, he has been swelling up in all sorts of places…until Baba said “Put some Rakia on!”….it worked! Caleb cut his toe on a rock….”Put some Rakia on it!”…it worked! You are suffering from a tummy upset? “Drink some Rakia!”….amazing stuff. Finally we have discovered citronella available which seems to work as well so we will head out and get some as soon as possible to supplement the Aeroguard for now. Around the table with Stana's two sisters Kate and Stoya and cousin Sanja.

But today is our rest day. Maybe a swim later and a coffee at a local café… sounds like a plan.

Dinner at a Local Retaurant in Tribunj - Konoba Simun
During the week we were able to attend the annual Fishermans’ festival and we were treated to a boat ride around the islands at dusk, a busy street festival in the old part of town and lots of Croatian music that would have had Paul (Fran’s brother) in raptures. Fran was in heaven when she was able to partake in the local fish produce and the children were able to purchase various cheap items that lit up. But we soon became tired and wandered home through the quaint streets back home and pass out whist the town celebrated into the small hours of the morning. Fran, Kayla and Caleb setting sail on the boat ride. Kayla and Caleb at the fesival with Baba Stana

We awoke to a very fast and furious thunder storm creating minor flooding to the town. We had planned to go to Sibenik, the nearest large city to Tribunj, as we were in desperate need for some new sandals for the huge amounts of walking that we will be doing. Crocs just don’t cut it. When the storm had cleared, we were provided a lift by Petar and Stana to Vodice and then we managed to wrangle a spot on an intercity bus to Sibenik (about a 20 minute trip). After being stuck in a traffic jam along the way, we arrived at the bus port.

Sibenik from the castle

The town is very old dating back to the 13th century and we tried to see as much as we could walking up and down the various stairs leading to the castle at the top of the town.

Castle Wall

The medieval castle gave a spectacular view of the city and we tried to explain to the children how old it really was. Caleb said “Cool!” a lot.

Stephen & Kayla outside cathederal - Sibenik

Stephen and Kayla managed to find some sandals and a very good price and we also picked up some bits and pieces as true tourists. A warm ride home after a delicious lunch, icecream and shopping.

The morning ritual has become a favourite with Fran walking to the shops and returning with some delicious bread fresh from the oven. The chocolate injected doughnuts are a personal favourite of Kayla, Caleb and Stephen. The baker works hard here. Weekdays 6am -10pm and then Sunday is an easier day starting at 7am and finishing at 10pm.

Next week, hopefully a trip on a boat around the island of Kornate (spelling?) and we will start to look at our trips to Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Italy.

Budapest, Zamalin and Bikinis

After an extremely long journey we safely arrived in Budapest. Thanks to QANTAS and Malev we managed our jet lag quite well although the effects were quite present towards the end of our day trip in Budapest.

The flight from Singapore to Frankfurt was as expected, long and tiring but not as bad as expected. I was pleased to leave Singapore after Caleb decided to run after Mum in the QANTAS lounge and i was left with Kayla and the hand luggage unable to do anything. We then came up with the code word, glue, which means, not to leave Dad or Mum at any time. We had a few hours in Frankfurt and were very confused about "Shengan" and "Non-shengan" but the customs officer left their booth to show us the way and we ended up going from international to domestic. The kids had a great time running around at the play equipment in Frankfurt Airport.

Kayla and Caleb at Frankfurt Airport

After an hour delay with Malev Airlines it was a very brief fllight to Budapest. We all agreed that one day was not enough but did what we wanted, we stopped and rested before heading to Croatia. Our hotel was brilliant (Adina Apartments) and we were able to do some walking along the Danube, around the Parliment House, across the Schains Bridge (spell check) and up the Funicular to the Royal Palace and Buda (old part of Budapest). Caleb successfully developed large blisters on his ankles and Kayla perfected the art of being difficult....understandable as we were all very jet lagged and in need of a good sleep. We had dinner in Buda and managed to negotiate our way back to the Hotel dodging gypsies and homeless people which Kayla also had an art of spotting. We caught the tram to reduce the walking but we didn't know where to buy tickets. Another tourist said that the inspectors will fine us if we are caught which thankfully we weren't. We had the money for the fare in our hands but apparently that won't wash. We wandered back and the kids had a swim at the hotel before retiring for the evening in our spacious 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, kitchen and louge apartment, all of sleeping well ready for day 3.

View of Parliment from Funicular

Our flight from Budapest to Split was delayed yet again with Malev (Something we will need to allow for before going to London) but we had a smooth flight to Croatia and to the very happy Buba abd Didi. There were tears of joy as to be expected but of course we couldn't see them straight away as one of our bags was the last to come off the plane!

We have been here 5 days now and we are starting to settle into the late nights and lazy days. The children are having fun playing with the children next door and managing to communicate when not being able to speak the same language. We have eaten so much food. The tomatoes here taste great! The Zamalin is an easy stroll from the house with all of us enjoying an icecream or two or three. The Zamalin is a boardwalk area made of concrete and rock where the locals and tourists gather to swim and eat and talk. There have been a few sights and I said to Fran one day "If I could update my status right now it would be ten words - Large balkin Women in Bikinis, Large Balkin Men in Speedos"....need I say more.


We have been to Vodice by bus and had the opportunity for Fran to reunite with family that she hasn't seen in 24 years. We have 7 more weeks here and a lot more to see, do and share...stay posted and we will stay posted unless the internet goes kerplunk!