This was a fun day of swimming and getting caught in a rain storm. The photo of me wrapped in a tablecloth is from a restaurant where a waiter noticed I was cold. He draped it around me. So kind and resourceful. 🙂 We were stopped by police after I took the video of us driving into the city square. Whoops. All’s well, that ends well.
This beach was fabulous! We went there to celebrate Lennon’s birthday. The town is called Polignano a Mare. I had never heard of it. Not sure if a lot of people travel to the heel of Italy, but we are so happy we did. The people were amazing. It was super hot, so everyone went cliff-jumping then we walked to another beach. There are beaches everywhere and they are packed!!! You have to search for a spot – we have never had a problem squeezing in somewhere. 🙂 We went to a restaurant where the elderly waiter reminded me of my Grammy. She was such a live wire! This guy was so cute, funny and full of energy. Made our experience that much better! I hope to live to a very old age, have lots of laugh lines and make people smile when they’re with me.
If you are ever get to Dubrovnik, I would highly recommend you go to these two places. Bellevue has a cave to swim in and explore, plus some fun cliff jumping spots. Buza Bar is crazy. Tons of people drinking and jumping off of varying heights. As a mom and one of the older people there, I kept worrying about people getting too drunk, too confident and then hurting themselves. I may have done similar things back in the day. Anyhoo- when we were there, everyone was safe! Some of the cliffs are so high, they call jumping off of them “tombstoning.” Yikes!
We have done so much since I was last able to post. The WiFi at the places we have stayed had been dreadful. We are in Rome now. I will try and find a cafe tonight or tomorrow with some good WiFi… and strong espresso! All Love!
When you’re on these roads, you often come across some really cool things. Loved this tunnel. We stopped in Bosnia for a quick lunch and to take a break from driving.
This city is absolutely stunning. You can get lost just wandering all day long. The old town is surrounded by huge stone walls from the 16th century. There a ton of people taking photos and lots of songs being played from Game of Thrones. I never watched the show, but I heard it was filmed here. Someone told me they hardly had to build any sets or scenery because the city is so well preserved.
There is a commemorative stone for a photojournalist that was killed during the recent war. It looked like it was being repaired. It was surrounded by scaffolding. It is hard to believe that from October of 1991 to May of 1992 the Yugoslav People’s Army and Croatian forces were fighting here. The Croatian forces were defending the city of Dubrovnik. It was called the Croatian War of Independence. I was looking up information it. The Yugoslav Army had 7,000 people. Croatia had between 480 and 1,000. Croatians were victorious but 194 people died and there were 16,000 Croatian refugees.
Love the drawbridge!
I was wearing pink to go to see the Barbie movie!
Can not believe this outrageously amazing human is 16!
This was an airbnb we packed everyone into. It was tight, but had AC for Maizy and Dottie and was walking distance to everything. You can travel relatively cheaply if you stay at modest places and stop at grocery stores for snacks. Don’t get me wrong, we also love going to local restaurants. But there is so much to see and do in these beautiful cities and a lot of it is free. The locals are usually very proud of their cities and want foreigners to experience and enjoy their culture.
Here are some photos of traveling Life. We often wash clothes in the sink, cool the dogs off in pools, lakes or the sea and sometimes we have to wear incredibly sexy aqua socks. When we do stay at a hotel, I don’t want anyone to disturb Maizy and Dottie- so I translate “do not enter. dogs in here.” 🙂 There is a photo of poop on Emerson’s bed. Dottie was mad at her for some reason. That is her way of getting revenge. Michael, Em’s boyfriend, recently joined our crew! He adds a buffer so there is less arguing now.
We have quickly moved from place to place. We don’t vacation like normal people do. There is not much relaxing. We are on the move to see the sights and get a feel for the people. Adjusting to new places gets way easier the longer you travel. I also don’t really care what I look like at all- which is very liberating. I can easily wear the same clothes from day to day, throw my hair in a bun, put on sunscreen and go! Life is so much easier the simpler it is. We love figuring stuff out. Jesse is great at navigating and planning. Whenever we get somewhere, we get everything organized and make sure people and dogs are relatively comfortable. Then we venture out to see what the new place is all about. What I have learned in all the places we have lived and have been fortunate enough to travel to – is that the people make the place. No matter the weather, the neighborhood, the food. The kindness of strangers, people smiling and helping you with the language or while you’re at the grocery store can make an experience so much better. Connecting with people, with strangers is so fun. We are all so very similar when you start to peel off the many protective layers people have accumulated over time. I rarely give unsolicited advice, but if I did – I would say in Life, find good people. Find the people that make you laugh, that make you the best version of you, that elevate you, that accept you unconditionally, that Love you! Those are the good ones and there are so many out there even if it feels like sometimes we run into quite a few a-holes. So that’s my advice for today. Find the good ones! And have a glorious, magical day!
marschmadness 