President Dubrovnik

... on with lazing around and reading our books. After returning for lunch Cesca had a nap whilst I watched some Wimbledon on tv. Then we got very hot walking to the bus station to buy tickets back to Split before hopping on a bus to the Old Town. We found a nice little Italian restaurant up one of the little alleyways of the old town to eat. The pizza here is just like in Italy - faqntastic. Sitting at the old fountain we found some free wireless and so booked ...

... nice, and there are always boat trips to the islands. In fact, taking one is a good way to get a perspective on the city walls - from the sea, they look impregnable, and you can imagine how important that image was to medieval mercenaries who fancied their chances on a raid. We were wrong - Sara and Maja were right; the passport was handed in (has to be the most honest city we've ever been to) and we made another trip to ...

... br>
I was given the following mathematical equation to solve: take a two week holiday or lose it. Three weeks and you can do something decent, but two weeks and going abroad to somewhere interesting? Not much chance there as the flights (to interesting far-off places) would take up two days, jet lag would account for another ...

... our accomodations from. Very nice, spoke english well. Anthony and Tamara had a double room and I scored a really nice private room with my own bathroom. I know it doesn't sound like a big thing but when you are used to sharing with 20 or 30 people it is privalge to take a shower in peace. We cracked open a bottle of wine and called it an early night, we are all freaking tired from traveling. We also had to be up in the morining early to hit the sunny beaches of Croatia. When ...

... see Fort Lovrijenac towering above. Like a few other places in our trip, the Pearl of the Adriatic has the potential to be a very romantic spot, though we have limited opportunity for hand-in-hand strolling with three active children in tow (or more usually, running full-tilt ahead). Amy and I may need to come back here by ourselves in a few years.

... their experience fighting for independence from Serbia and Yugoslavia. Through speaking with the locals and taking a tour from a war survivor about the city history, you get the sense that many of the locals are still a bit shell-shocked and hardened by seeing their city under seige, watching it go up in flames, and leaving their families and possessions behind to get to safety. It was so interesting to hear their different versions and stories of how they and their ...

... his house, as countless other camera wielding tourists before me have, any day. We all went home and put our respective lemons up to our noses in new appreciation. Croatia is a beautiful place. I've probably said that about every place so far, and yes, it's a pretty hackneyed word, but Croatia's beauty is on such a higher realm-a different stratosphere then the other places. It exudes and vibrates beauty and everything, every physical image, every vantage point ...

... courageously driving. I am ashamed to admit, I really HATE driving a stick-shift :-( (One of the highlights of Dubrovnik was a wrap-and-smoothies-stand called Fresh. They actually made Hummus that I liked! It's really simple, they just don't use tehina. I had a seafood wrap with wasabi which was great. We don't really need to tell you about Dubrovnik itself, because all of the tourist sites and brochures tell the same story. If you insist, check it out in Wikipedia.)

... with our backpacks to an area where Lonely Planet claimed to have a lot of hotels. The first one we checked said they only had a room for one night and another one they called for us was booked. We ended up renting a room from a nice Croatian woman recommended by the hotel. She was really sweet and we obviously saved a lot of money. We have to share a bathroom and it's really hot in our room, but it's only more night and the location couldn't be better. Due to these ...