Making the most of it!

Kayla asked today why do you do the blog, does anyone read it? The response was that we will have it as a memory for us to look back on in many years to come. This is also the reason so many photos are placed on Facebook. After our trip in 2011, our car was broken into at the cemetery and the camera was stolen with ALL our photos/videos. Luckily the photos were saved onto the laptop as we went as well as some being posted to Facebook. We regretted not uploading all the videos as they are gone forever. So this time, there will be no loss of memories. 

 Zamalin - Tribunj

We have reached the halfway point in our journey and we have found our routine and have planned ahead so we can have some quiet time along with sight seeing. We are trying to make the most of what time we have although even upon reflection, there is never enough time.

Since our arrival in Croatia it has been a mixture of busy sight seeing and catching up with family. Having the car has been a god send as the buses this time of the year run even more less frequently than they did the first time we visited in Summer 2011. The road rules here have been interesting as the gps in the car tells us to go a certain speed, the road signs say a different speed and the speed of the other cars fluctuate daily in the same location. The road signs have been good however they can come a little too late sometimes. At a 'give-way' intersection in Zadar there was no sign at all, we were to notice the faded triangle on the road and give way to the right although usually it is left. The traffic lights are okay although if you are at the front of the line, then unless you have a passenger, it is impossible to see the lights as they are right above you. The gps has been brilliant with only trying to take us the more complicated way a few times and only once down a road that was undergoing major reconstruction. A new road sign that wasn't here last time, or we didn't notice, was the wild boar signs near Tribunj. Apparently boars have become a problem for people walking at night in the bush so the signs are popping up. A bit like kangaroo signs, but uglier and scarier.

BEWARE! Wild Boar Ahead!

Smoking is one of the most obvious things the children do not like about Europe. There is no 'anti-smoking' messages here (Italy and Croatia) and there is no differentiation as to where and when they can or can not smoke. However, it has taught the children to be tolerant and we have tried hard to manoeuvre upwind or in an area that doesn't have smokers (which are few and far between) . So if you are a smoker, this is paradise as you can smoke in restaurants, cafes, bus stations, you name it, you pretty much can. We were told last night at a restaurant that you are not suppose to smoke inside, but this is obviously not being enforced by any stretch of the imagination.

The food has been terrific although a little hard on the wallet. The restaurants here tend to only deal with cash so the plan we had to use only cash for daily purchases has been changed, so the credit card is used when shopping and the cash is used when there isn't card. 

Being able to revisit some places has been great, we really feel like we were only here yesterday and it wasn't 3 years ago. The children are making connections to things they remember and it has been good revision. We have been able to go to other parts of the towns and then recap on places we visited last time such as museums and churches without having to go in them which can be time consuming and expensive. Split was a perfect example as we went there and spent time looking at the Roman palace and the museum, this time we were able to explore more of the old city and seeing much more than last time. 

This is the main square in Split where the Caesar would speak to the masses from his palace when ruled by Romans.

The lovely Luisa.

Split was also great as we had the time to meet the children's Croatian teacher Luisa. Luisa teaches the children via Skype so it was wonderful for them to meet with her so when they return home they actually can communicate with her better as she was just a face on the screen before with no personal connection. The children didn't use a lot of Croatian with her however they are taking note of more and more this trip and are having conversations with Fran to try and make sense of the language. Their favourite word this trip has been 'svakidan' which means 'everyday' as they think it sounds rude. Typical.

The weather has been amazing and the locals have been saying that it was a terrible Summer with local flooding causing damage locally. The roads around the town have been covered with soil that has been swept away in the flood on the 11/9/2014. You can see some of the damage in a video clip of a neighbouring town - Vodice http://vimeo.com/105851734  and this one is the flooding in Tribunj, our town. 

So we have spent some time helping Baba and Didi repair the road near our house so we can park the car on the field as we are unable to park at the house as planned water connection has commenced and therefore they have dug up the road to the house. 

Filling in the holes of the road leading to the field.

The digger wrecking the road for the water pipes.

Why we can not park at the house. If we had a bike???

So our plans from now on, we have 3 weeks to go. We have booked an apartment for 2 nights in Dubrovnik so we will be heading down on the super fast freeway Wednesday and return on Friday. Again, we plan to soak up the atmosphere and experience as much of Dubrovnik as possible. We then have one more week in Tribunj before we set off to Zagreb, Vienna, Salzburg and finally Munich where we leave our wonderful car and head home. The locals say the warm weather if here to stay until the 27th of October which is perfect as that is departure day from Tribunj. Now to see if the money holds out until then!

The car in it's own personal carpark (Filed) with a view - Kricina. 

The Three Rs... Roma, Roads and Reunite!

It was an early start and the nerves were high with not knowing if a taxi would turn up and take us on our much awaited trip to Europe. Bags packed, we woke the children at 2 am and made things ready for the house sitter and made last minute checks. "Where are the passports?" was the most common question asked at 2 am and with great relief, the taxi driver was there at 2:30 having a little snooze on the verge before our pick up at 3:00. The media hype of higher security at the airport caused us to go down to the airport earlier than the usual 2 hours as we were told there MIGHT be delays through customs. The security was the same as it always was so the added advantage was that we made it through quickly with Fran being held up for explosives and bag checks. Kayla was so happy it wasn't her this time! While we waited for the flight to board, there was an announcement that a Malaysian Airlines flight was cancelled due to technical difficulties. We were so glad we were on Emirates!

Emirates flight from Perth to Dubai to Rome was fantastic and we haven't ever said that for flights. The service was excellent, the food was amazing and after 23 hours door to door, we were remarkably functional. Arriving in Rome on the super quiet A380 was an experience. The enormity of the aircraft and how smooth it flew was truly remarkable. Caleb decided because there was light outside for the entire trip so he wasn't sleepy. He did a movie marathon of 5 movies in total. He finally fell asleep 30 minutes before we arrived in Rome. Fumicino airport was a little chaotic and to be quite honest, we had very low expectations for Italy due to our experience in 2011. When we lined up at the passport check we were surprised how quickly the line moved. When we arrived at the counter the customs guard took one look at the 4 passports and sighed, gave them back and waved us through. Poor thing must have been tired. Collected the luggage and we thought we would have to stop and show our luggage. Nope, no one to be seen, they were all having a cigarette in the office on the side. So it was a smooth transition through to the waiting taxi driver.
Were were so glad to have a taxi driver who must have been in formula one in a previous life however we think most taxi drivers and Italian drivers in general are ex-formula one drivers. But we felt safe except for the fact that he didn't really know where to go and his GPS was on the blink. After a few dead ends and a few stop and ask the locals, we made it to our wonderful apartment at Trastevere.

Trastevere is a very old part of Rome where the locals go to eat and socialise. It is in a great location and it is in walking distance to all the wonderful sites of Rome. We decided to use Airbnb for all our accommodation this trip and we were really inexperienced in the whole process. Once the taxi driver left us on the road surrounded by noisy happy Italians, we tried to call our host via the intercom. Nothing. Then it was time to boot up the mobile phone but with no luck. Every number we dialed came up with a dead end. Last time we visited Europe, our phone just worked. This time it required a series of steps we were not privy to and after 24 hours of very little sleep, it was rocket science. The wonderful little restaurant we were stuck outside of saw us a little distressed and tried to help with their limited English and out non-existent Italian. They finally got a mobile phone out and called our host Paolo who was there within minutes. He was brilliant, taking me to the nearest ATM and showing me the shops that have supplies for the next day. Our apartment was on the 6th floor which required lugging the bags to the top however Paolo helped us to get them up and settled us in. As you can see from the picture, the children passed out immediately and were well rested ready for the day of walking ahead.

On the roof of the apartment in Rome.

And so began our time in Itlay.We walked and walked and walked and walked. Our feet hurt and the word chafing was used on a few occasions. The weather was warm and a little humid to begin with and we stood in awe and pointed and stared at the amazing ruins, brilliant art, strange Italian things and the wonder that was Rome. 2 full days was not enough. The Vatican was big and a little time consuming with lines that went for miles and rather disorganised ticketing system. We went inside the Colosseum, a little disappointed with the Trevi Fountain (Out of order) and were overwhelmed with the magnificence of the Pantheon. The children were a little 'over' old things after the 2 days but there were a few more old things to look at in the following days.

The Pantheon

Our time came to and end in the magnificent Rome and it was time to hit the road. We learned that when walking through Rome and watching the other drivers, that you had to "Own the Road". This became out motto when it was time to pick up the car and head to Croatia via Pisa, Florence and Verona. The car was ready when we arrived and we were able to get the car quickly and with little hassle. So we started and we managed to try and turn down a one way road within minutes but were escorted by a very friendly Vespa rider to the correct road. The roads were at first daunting however the biggest issue was the manual gears with Stephen not having driven a manual since the old Suzuki. So first gear was the nemesis more than the roads. The GPS guided us with ease through the spaghetti that is the road system and once away from the big city, it was relatively easy driving.

First rest stop.

Pisa was a brief stop on the way to Florence. We were able to park close by and find the tower, take the photo, have lunch and then hit the road. 

Pisa

Florence was a welcome sight as we had organised an apartment not in Florence but in the surrounding area. It wasn't in the prettiest part of Tuscany however the apartment was clean and quiet and away from the noise and hustle and bustle of the big towns. The host - fantastic. We were able to park the car at the local shopping centre for free and catch the train to Florence. So easy and only 9 minutes to Florence. We caught the tram, saw the sights and again walked and walked and walked. We saw leather, we bought leather and we left feeling that we saw as much as we could in a day. We skipped the museums as they were incredibly expensive and spent more time walking and buying leather. Fran was happy with her new hand bag and shoes and Stephen happy with a new pair of shoes. The only regret was that we only had 2 nights in our apartment. We would love to go back and use it as a base to explore more of Tuscany.

 Florence

Ponte Vecchio Florence

We left a a respectable time and headed to Verona where we were pleasantly surprised at the ease in which we found our apartment and street parking. This time we didn't get to meet the host and were able to acess the house and settle before walking into Verona. Verona had the Romeo and Juliette theme, a smaller Colosseum (Arena) which was still being used. One night in Verona was great and then it was onwards to Croatia.

 Outside our Florence Apartment

Caleb in the Arena - Verona

Tuscany whizzed by in a flash as we literally flew at 130 km per hour past Venice (we lost our invite to the Clooney wedding that was happening as we drove by on the highway) and through the border to Slovenia. We stopped and had a burger on top of a hill overlooking a town on the coast in Slovenia before crossing into Croatia. 

 Verona

Slovenia Burger View Stop

We entered Croatia with the same strange border crossing with the guard asking why no stamps in passport. When told about Rome, he said "Those Italians!" and then he gave the passports back and also didn't stamp! The roads were quiet on the way to Pula. Tourist season is well and truly over in Croatia unlike Italy. Itlay was busy, Pula our first stop in Croatia had tourists but it wasn't the same intensity that would have been a few weeks earlier with many of the European countries coming to Croatia to soak up the sun and swim their days away like we did in 2011. So the feel is different. It is relaxed and quiet and the hustle and bustle isn't there. We spent 2 nights in Pula which was enough as there isn't a lot to do in Pula. We walked, saw the sights and ate. Our apartment was BIG and interesting. It had a mosaic theme which gave it a quirky feel and it was very comfortable and clean. We could also get parking right outside which was perfect for the 2 nights. However the Croatian parking metres are little behind as we had to feed it coins and had to go out at 10 pm  to buy a ticket to get us through to about 10 am so we didn't have to get up at 7 am to buy a new ticket. Pula has an Arena just like Verona and is also being used but it is smaller. So we saw 3 Colosseums in the week which is pretty amazing. The link to Rome is there with many ruins and a forum from Roman times.

Time to hit the road again and head onto Tribunj to reunite Fran with her parents. We drove along on the quiet highway that had extremely high tolls we discovered and arrived safely in Tribunj. On arrival tears flowed from Petar and Stana happy to see us and happy to see that we made the journey safely. Food and beer and wine were the order of the day once we unloaded at the house and settled for the evening. Tribunj is quiet and it is quite a contrast from the large masses that converge every year in Summer. It is lovely to see Tribunj in a different light and we are glad we chose this time of the year for our visit. We have been here 4 days now and have settled for the larger part of our break starting to plan the next 3 and a half weeks. Kayla is itching to ride and Caleb continues to cartwheel and handstand his way through the towns. We are hoping to use the car more in the coming weeks as to get our money's worth but also to get to places we couldn't before.

 Reunited after 3 years

Tribunj from the hills.

That will be enough for now....we are tired and resting and know that we have a lot more to do and see before we leave. The north wind is gently blowing and the leaves are turning. We hope the weather remains clear and user friendly for a little while more and hope that our clothing is enough to see us through. 

Feliz Navidad! 2013!

If we get time, we will write another post with all the details for the year. Merry Christmas from the Powells! Stephen, Fran, Kayla and Caleb ~O~

Caleb's Floor Routine @ Club Competition

Took too long to upload onto the blog, so I had to go through Youtube. Check out his back flip and front somersault! We are impressed!

Caleb's Circles - FINALLY!

The Year that was.....

What a year we have had. The family is getting busier and busier. As it has been such a busy year, dot points have been called in to list the happenings.

Stephen and Fran at Nelson, New Zealand, July 2012

• Stephen dropped down to 4 days of work and  had a change of year level after 2 years at the top (Year 6/7) and plummeted to the realms of Year 1/2. This was a welcome relief and he is happy to be with the little ones again as the hormones were just too much. His class last year was terrific so it was a good last class to have.
• Fran also works 4 days now and continues to work hard in the Tax office working on the mining tax which is oh so popular with the mining industry. Fran was hit hard by the Flu this year, we have never her seen her so sick. She was so sick she had to cancel a work trip to Melbourne. 
• Kayla has been Kayla. This year she started with a new dance school. She is with Kalamunda Performers and she is studying jazz, ballet and singing which she loves. She completes Year 4 this year and with only 2 remaining years at Sawyers, we are now starting to say, "Where did those years go?". Kayla also continued with her piano lessons.

  

  Kayla getting ready for her Dance Concert 2012

• Caleb has had a very big year. He has completed Year 2 this year and is making great progress with his reading which has been a challenge for him. His most impressive work has been with his gymnastics. He started the year in high performance at Swan Districts. He worked and competed at Level 3 International Levels (We think, gymnastic levels confuse us) and managed to be good enough to badge and be allowed to compete at States in September  The family even got to go to New Zealand in July for 2 weeks so that Caleb could compete for his club. He didn't win anything but we all had a brilliant experience and can't wait for the next one!



Caleb warming up at the State Gymnastics Competition on P-Bars with coach Teagen.

• So the first six months was really work, training for Caleb, taxi service for the kids, lessons for Kayla, more taxi service and saving up to go to New Zealand as this was not on our plan for the year until we were told in February. Well, actually we were told that Caleb will be going to Queensland however due to the Olympics, Gymnastics Australia didn't really get the dates ready and so the club decided it was New Zealand. So it was many sausage sizzles and Krispy Kremes sold to try and reduce the cost, not a lot was raised, but every cent counts, so we are not complaining. 



Caleb on High Bar at Top of the South Competition - Nelson, New Zealand.



Number 6950!

• Our journey to New Zealand started in Nelson where we had the 3 days of competition. We loved Nelson and were so glad we decided to go. Once the competition was over and all the team events over, we headed in the car down south to Greymouth, Franz Josef, Fox Glacier, Waneka and Queenstown.



The view from our room in Queenstown. The Remarkables.

•  It was high on the list for us to see snow and on our last day we all went to The Remarkables for skiing lessons. When we arrived, it started snowing lightly, then it got heavier and heavier and colder and colder. It was perfect for the kids to see real snow and not just the lumps on the side of the road. It was a day they won't forget. New Zealand was amazing and we would love to go back again.



Al l rugged up and having something warm - Kayla and Stephen at The Remarkables.

• Our house continues to provide us with all we need to be comfortable, we are slowly improving areas that needed redefining and we have added a new path. 
• We were very sad to say goodbye this May to our beautiful cat Emma. The awful decision was made to have Emma put to sleep as her health was deteriorating and she was so sick, it was the kindest but most difficult choice. She had a wonderful 18 years of life, so sad to say goodbye. We spent a long time without a cat in the house and in October, Kayla and Stephen went looking for the newest member of our family. We found the beautiful Peppa at the RSPCA. As soon as Kayla and Stephen saw her, it was love at first sight. She is now 5 month old and runs the house as if she has been here all along. A very clever and well behaved cat.



Hello Peppa!

• The caravan (VANessa) hasn't been out and about too much due to the New Zealand trip but she had a quick trip to Manjimup earlier in the year and we hope to take her out again over the Summer break.

The Family - Cardrona New Zealand (Non ski gear - first time at a ski resort)

I think that is enough about us for this year. We worked hard and tried and stay sane for as much of it as possible. Please have a wonderful break this Summer (or Winter) and we wonder what 2013 brings us all.  Merry Christmas and happy new year from the Powell Family!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Caleb and his Gymnastics

R.I.P. ~Emma~

It was with great sadness we said goodbye to our beautiful cat Emma. She was much loved and will be missed by us all. xxxxo
~September 1993 - 27th May 2012

Caleb's Gymnastics - Vault

Merry Christmas! Another Year Over....

Another year has flown by and if you are in regular contact you would be aware that we had an adventure this year, the Powells went global. Our flight plan was Singapore, Frankfurt, Budapest, Split (Stay in Croatia 2 months and visit Venice, Dubrovnik and Zagreb) then back to Budapest, London, New York, LA (only after we had a flight cancelled and ended up going to LA via Boston), drive around California, Arizona and Nevada, Tokyo, Phuket, Hong Kong and home. The blog was only kept up to date with posts in Croatia however Stephen managed to keep the posts up to date on his class website http://misterpowell.edublogs.org/ . We had a fantastic adventure and the children were really really good considering what we parents put them through.

It was wonderful spending 2 months with Fran's family with Stephen, Kayla and Caleb finally having some understanding as to what makes Fran and her family tick! We swam everyday, and we ate way too much food and Stephen drank way too much beer. The weather was hot and humid which was unusual by Croatian standards. We could write about Croatia forever, but you can go to the older posts to read about our thoughts and observations.

London was great, Stephen finally enjoyed it as last time he was run off his feet looking for visas! Our accommodation was great (Think Apartments in Earls Court) and we managed to navigate our way around with seeing Wicked as a highlight and the natural History Museum. Harrods - overrated and way too expensive!

Off to New York and we were amazed at it's size and feeling of safety, we did not feel at any time at risk from the wonderful people of New York. Our hotel was amazing (The Beacon) and we were lucky to have a room on the 23rd floor overlooking Central Park. The kids enjoyed seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway but jet lag caught up with Caleb with him sleeping through. We navigated the subways and walked and walked and walked doing the usual touristy things. Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Rockerfella Centre, Central Park, Park Avenue, Time Square, New York Museum of Natural History, New York Zoo, Maceys, Bloomingdales, Tiffanys....we saw a lot in 4 days.

After a somewhat disappointing flight change at JFK Airport we observed Boston from the terminal before heading on 'shonky' airlines (American Airlines) to LA. The children were so tired but lucky for us Disneyland doesn't open to 10am, so the kids could sleep in a little before 2 days at the Happiest Place On Earth! We had a blast and were amazed when we bumped into and Education Assistant from Sawyers Valley at California Adventure Park (Part of Disneyland). Two days was enough at Disneyland and it was time for us to hit the road with some trepidation. Driving on the wrong side of the road on the wrong side of the car was enough to strike terror in the hearts of Stephen and Fran. To make things worse we had to navigate 6 lane freeways straight away! We had a very comfortable Chrysler Town & Country and a GPS! We drove to Palm Springs, Phoenix Arizona, Scottsdale, Sedona (Amazing - we all want to live there) Meteorite Crater, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas then back to Aneheim. LA was dirty and busy and we were glad we had only one night before flying out to Tokyo.

We landed late afternoon in Tokyo and went straight to our Ryokan. We had a walk and found Stephen's apartment where he use to live. The next day we met up with Harumi and visited the Sumo Museum, Edo Museum, a beautiful 400 year old park, Fish market sushi restaurant, Imperial Palace and Asakusa. We needed to have an early night as we were required to be up early for our flight to Phuket via Hong Kong. We were getting tired now.

We landed in a very wet and soggy Phuket. Thialand floods were bad and the day before there were land slides. We tried to rest as much as possible, swimming and doing very little sight seeing. We rode elephants and went to a show, and that was enough. We were well and truly ready to go home. Just one more stop.

We headed back to Hong Kong for 2 nights and had a half day tour of the island. It was very wet and crowded, again, we had had enough and couldn't wait until our final, number 13, flight.

Highlights were  Croatia ~ Beautiful, Sedona ~ Beautiful, Grand Canyon ~ Amazing, New York ~ Friendly, Tokyo ~ Clean and friendly - we were disappointed that we couldn't stay longer but with the radiation risk, it wasn't wise. London ~ helpful and cheaper than expected.

Apart from the 3 months away, Stephen had a great Year 6/7 class, Fran was busy working 3 days a week, Kayla completed Year 3 and Caleb Year 1.

This week we had our car broken into and we lost many items including the brilliant camera we had whilst away. A very sad end to a wonderful year, but we are all safe and well. We are looking forward to more adventures in VANessa in the holidays and hope to go away lots in 2012. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year! With love from the Powell Famliy xxxx ~O~

Venice and back…

"Lost tourists in Venice....NOT US!"

Well our time in Croatia is slowly coming to an end and before we leave we managed to sneak in a few more things. It all started when we decided to go to Venice for a few days. After the complicated booking process, we managed to board a bus to Split in order to catch the ferry to Ancona in order to catch a train to Venice. Sounded easy. How hard could a 2 hour bus trip, 5 hour fast ferry and 4 hour train trip be? We flew from Perth to Singapore to Frankfurt to Budapest to Split, we could easily manage this…

Caleb with Roman Guards in Split

The trip started off fabulously with us being collected from the house by Petar then as we arrived at the bus station, a bus arrived heading to Split. Awesome. The weather was a tad on the hot side reaching 38 degrees when we arrived in Split, a city that has a large port and ancient city. We explored the ancient city after checking in (all good so far) and we placed our bags at the left luggage. Excellent progress. The kids were getting hungry and hot so we found a place to eat in the shade and then we still had time to explore the city. We then made our way to the SNAV terminal and we passed through passport control ready for the Italian adventure.

SNAV Croazia Jet in Split

The SNAV boat – Croatzia Jet was impressive. It was sleek and big and only running about 20 minutes late. The majority of the passengers were Italians returning from their Summer holiday or a religious pilgrimage to Medjigore (Spell check?). The crossing was smooth and the transition from Kuna to Euros was relatively painless although the girl at the counter was disgusted that Stephen produced a 100€ note as that is all that he got at the bank.

We arrived at Ancona to be dumped on the dock at nearly midnight with not a clue as to where to find a taxi. After some clever scanning of the area by we managed to get a very friendly taxi to take us to our hotel. A speedy 5 minute ride cost us 25€ ($1.00 AU is about 0.75€)…okay, it is worth it, getting to the hotel safely and we were tired and ready for bed.

Waiting at Ancona Train Station

Day 2, after a pre-packaged continental breakfast (didn’t know they existed really) we left for the train station (22€) and only 3 minutes away. We happily waited for our train and boarded the first class carriage to find people in our seats! How could this be!? We planned everything so well, well it turned out that the computer changed our ticket. Stephen marched up to the conductor and said “People are in our seats!” and the conductor looked at the ticket then said calmly “You have the wrong day, you have no ticket.” Well, Stephen went pale then was told” Ah, it is hot, there are many seats, just sit anywhere”. So for 4 hours we had to change seats at every station until it got so annoying that we ended up sitting in the carriage that had no air conditioning working. It was about 38 degrees and the conductors were so distracted by the heat they never asked us once to show our ticket. They kept saying “It is so hot, please move up to the next carriage …” but we just said that it was easier to stay put rather than keep moving. We gladly jumped off the train once we arrived in Venice to start the exploration.

Stephen, Kayla and Caleb in St Marcs Square Venice

Venice is beautiful and it is somewhere you must visit at some point in time at least once. Stephen was fortunate to visit once before however this time he really felt he saw Venice as we stayed for nearly 4 days. And boy, an expensive 4 days they were! We walked the streets after finding our gorgeous apartments. The Venitians obviously hate tourists as they are rude and don’t try very hard at all to make your stay easy. When we arrived we were given no real information about where the local shop was or how to get about. Luckily we knew about the bus pass which was expensive and the discounted price was only for children aged 14 to 26….go figure, so at 33€ each, we made very good use of the pass as well as a museum pass that we eventually found. St Marcs square and the palaces are amazing. Caleb loved spotting gondolas (he called them canoes for 2 of the 4 days) and Kayla was obsessed with Gypsies. We looked at masks and glass and we did a trip across to Murano in the hope of seeing glass blowing but it never eventuated as it was way too hot. Fran and Stephen were keen to get some clothing which was good for Fran but not for Stephen. The kids were excellent with walking in the heat everyday.

Nice dinner in Venice

Our first real cost shock was when we were desperate to have a cold drink. We had a coke, a tonic water, 2 juices and a bottle of water. Stephen nearly had a stroke when he had to pay 26€. Highway robbery. After the first day we found the local shop tucked away so tourist can not find and got food and water etc…to reduce our cost of living. The kids were stoked as they were allowed to have cocoa pops for breakfast as it was cheaper than everything else. We rode the gondola knowing we paid too much but it was worth every cent. We saw Marco Polo’s home and Cassanova’s Venice hangout which would have been missed if we didn’t do it. Caleb loved seeing real dinosaur bone and sabre tooth tiger teeth at the museum and Kayla loved being in Venice. We were happy with our navigation and Fran was actually exceptionally pleased with her map reading skills.

Gondola ride in Venice

So we said goodbye with a little bit of relief to Venice and we headed back on the train with the correct ticket to Ancona. We had a cabin to ourselves which was great however the kids had been struck by cabin fever as there is no where for them to run and jump and play. We hoped that they would sleep due to exhaustion however they seemed to have more energy. So 4 and a half hours was spent saying “Sh” and “This is your last warning” and “There are other people on the train” and “How many times have we…” and with great relief we arrived in Ancona. Again, off to the hotel, only 15€ this time…keh? How come it was 22 and 25 last time? On arrival we asked the reception to point us in the direction of a park which we found and said “Run wild!”.

Kayla mesmorised by Monks and Priests

The boat crossing back to Croatia wasn’t as smooth and there was a delegation of Italians going to Medgegore where they gathered around our area in order to hold mass. Well, Kayla thought she had died and gone to heaven, there were 3 priests and a monk. She sat through the entire hour of mass in Italian and at the end the monk gave her a silver crucifix which she now wears proudly. On arriving home Kayla built her own wooden crucifix and she prays every night. Don’t ask us where this all comes from…we are just as confused.

The golden challis and Kayla

So we are back in a Croatia and starting to look towards the holiday destinations starting on the 9th of September. We have managed to set Petar and Stana up on Skype which has been a great achievement and they already been chatting to family in Australia. Today we went to Krka on a cruise and swam in a lagoon at the base of a waterfall…absolute bliss and we could have swam for hours, but the boat had to leave some time.

Where we swam in Krka National Park

There will be one more entry before we head to London and the entries will be shorter as we won’t have to luxury of time as we have had in Croatia. Now to upload a videos and picks for Venice and Krka.

Krka

*Unable to upload videos due to seriously weak internet*

Memories so far...