Montenegro is a beautiful country...from coastal fjords to quaint little mountain towns, rolling green hills and expansive farmland. Unfortunately we were there during a cold, cloudy and rainy snap (forecasted to be a 2 week snap) and were not able to fully see and enjoy all the country had to offer. we were meant to go backpacking while in Montenegro but quickly realized we were far from prepared. It was so cold the first night sleeping beneath our dainty silk blankets that we slept in the car. The next day we bought a big, thick, fuzzy blanket but I was still skeptical that we would sleep warmly. As all illprepared people do, we made a plan...first we would put on every item of clothing in our backpacks, then we would consume every bit of wine we could get our hands on and finally we would bury ourselves in our newly acquired blanket and hope for a bit of sleep. It was a pretty good plan I thought and if nothing else would have provided some good photo ops. But, when we arrived back at camp that night, I spied the nice, cozy looking, A framed, wooden bungalows and casually inquired about the price. They could've probably cost an exhorbatant amount and I woulda been tempted to pay it, but luckily they were cheap and we were moved in within minutes! We slept warm and happily. The next day we awoke to low clouds and more cold drizzle. Luckily having a car and no reservations we felt quite free. We decided to leave Montenegro but were unsure where we wanted to go. We were still hoping for a mountain experience. Austria was our initial plan... Let's get the h$&@ outta here and head for the mountains in Austria we said without much thought. If you take a glimpse at a map, you will see that Austria is not so close to Montenegro. Not to mention that we will be up in Slovenia (austrias neighbor to the south) in a mere 5 days. Employing a little sense we opted out of the long trek to Austria and decided to explore Bosnia instead. We spent a few days in Sarajevo. Amazing to think that place was the center of a war within the last 20 years. Sarajevo is a beautiful mix of east meets west not unlike Istanbul but on a smaller scale. red roofed houses adorn the green mountains while a mix of minarets and chapels make up the skyline. Sarajevo was just the right speed for us and a great place to sit in a cafe with a pivo (beer), kafa (coffee) or cevapi (meatballs). As I write we are in a little town just north of Sarajevo called trevnik. We just inhaled our $2 plates of cevapi and are watching American movies on the tiny tv in our hotel. Tomorrow we head to Mostar where we hope to see some people jump off the famous bridge.

We miss Hrvatska: a quick update

Claire and I are hunkered down in an internet cafe, surrounded my Montengrin rugrats trying to shoot each other online. I'm wearing everything warm that I brought with me, sweater, pants, rainjacket. Claire also is sporting a lovely ensemble of warmth. Today, the thermometer in our rental VW Polo registered a chilly 9 degrees Celsius. To put that in perspective, yesterday, it was 32 degrees on the coast, and we were dripping with sweat in Dubrovnik. Living on vacation can take you to some crazy extremes sometimes.

We left Croatia (Hrvatska) yesterday at 11 and to say that the country was good to us is an understatement. A week and a half of beach time, swimming in the refreshing sea; hanging with Matt, Kasia, Olivia and Kasia's wonderful parents, and Jason and Ambika, and Kate; making and having dinners with aformentioned friends; Old Town's with marbed walkways and terracotta red roofs; cold draft beers (Pivo), clearly "the best thing in the world" when you are sun/sweat-drenched; Hobonitca (Octopus) and other offerings fresh from the sea; Climbing on Hvar Island; looking down on the spectacular walled Old Town of Dubrovnik. I could go on, but I won't. Our experience on the Croatian Coast is the stuff vacations are supposed to be made of. Claire and I will be talking about Croatia for a long time.

We've left the sea and headed to the mountains of Croatia's neighbor to the south. Our experience of Montegro thus far has been charming and bizarre and freezing and lovely. Last night, it was so cold in our tent that we had to retreat to the car for warmth. (We didn't pack for cold-weather camping.) We were planning on doing some backcountry exploration, but our gear is far from adequate. (We were imagining something similar to the Sierras in summertime; instead, we got Northern Minnesota in late fall.: cold, sprinkling, cloudy and grey.) Today we bought warm blankets and Claire acquired some shoes. We are ready for the cold (Did I mention it's cold?). We are hoping that the clouds subside to reveal the peaks that surround us, but at this point remain hidden from view.

This is fun. We are happy.

It has come to the point in our trip where we have lost all concept of time and day. You know you're on vacation when you have no clue what day it is and really have no real reason to know. We've been in Croatia for a while now (don't ask me how long...I just told you I have no idea!). We spent several days near a town called Sibenik with our friends Matt and Kasia and their family. Our days consisted of waking up to fresh bread brought by the bread truck man, eating Poland's (Kasia's family is Polish but they vacation in Croatia every summer) finest assortment of sausages, jumping off the pier into the warm and salty sea water, playing in the water, relaxing in the shade, snorkeling, hunting for octopus, reading, chatting, laughing, taking boat rides to small islands where we repeated all of the above mentioned activities (except for the bread truck...he can't make it to the island) and simply just being with good friends and living on vacation. Kasia's family were so welcoming and kind. On our last evening Kasia's dad made us the best octupus (known in these parts as habotnitsa) we had ever eaten, followed the next morning by a feast of a breakfast! We were sad to leave that little place we'd like to consider home (for the moment at least) but, we left. A beautiful drive down the coast took us through Split and many other small towns to a town called Drevnik where we took a ferry boat to Hvar island. Croatia is beautiful.
Hvar town is a cute little town definitely well occupied by tourists. While in Hvar, we spent our time sitting on steps watching the world go by whilst consuming multiple 2 litre bottles of Karlovacko, taking walks to find sweeping panoramic views of the town itself, making ridiculous poses to mimic street signs and climbing. If only we had had more time there to climb but alas, a traveler must move on. So it was back in the car for a nice journey down the scenic Croatian coast (with a short hop into Bosnia) and into Dubrovnik.
In Dubrovnik, Jij and I found ourselves without a plan for sleeping for the first time this trip! Last time we travelled together, that was our norm. So it was back to roaming the streets looking for the best place to stay. We met a nice man who seemed really excited about his place..."terratcia, panoramica, nice, nice place, parking, down stairs city to the right city, down stairs to the left beach (he didn't specify that it was down 392 stairs!!!)". Needless to say, he won us over and we stayed in his place. It was BEAUTIFUL, the view amazing, the room cute and everything we needed...the only downside were those THREE HUNDRED NINETY TWO steps especially if we decided to climb them in the heat of the day (99 degrees). The walled old town of Dubrovnik is amazing and beautiful to look at as well as walk around. The pictures will speak for themselves. In Dubrovnik, we found ourselved eating delicious and
reasonably priced seafood, once again sitting on steps or on our balcony drinking 2 litre bottles of beer, enjoying the view, and kayaking. I think we could have stayed in Dubrovnik for EVER but, again we moved on.
The Croatia portion of our trip will bring many fond memories. We were greatful to have spent it with good friends. Nastrovia to Jason, Ambika, Kate, Matt, Kasia, Olivia and Kasia's parents for helping create those fond memories. Let's do it again soon!
**Pictures to come later...

Living on Vacation is easy when...

• You get picked up at the airport
• You have a pool to sit next to (where you can simultaneousloy swim and hang your laundry to dry)
• You get a free glass of champagne upon arrival at your luxury hotel
• You get a great recommendation for a restaurant on a small street by the Pantheon and eat amazing pasta to go along with a liter of cheap but good wine
• There is a buffet breakfast and Claire brought her purse
• You have a map
• Your clothes are clean
• The internet is free and functional
• You don't feel like you HAVE to do anything really
• You are with Claire

What else ıs there to say?

What else ıs there to say? We lıke ıt here. A lot. The people. The food. The cıty and the sıghts. The colors, the cobblestones, and the cold beer. The cıty cuts a fıne fıgure agaınst the sky, and it seems to go on endlessly ın all dırectıons. The mınarets of mosques pıerce the sky, and Galata Tower, Aya Sofıa, and the Blue Mosque domınate their respectıve sıdes of the Golden Horn. Boats bounce along and carts sell round pretzels and undercooked corn and the most fantastıc fısh sandwıch I've experıenced ın some tıme. Claıre can't resıst the kaleıdoscopıc plates and bowls sold at every shop or stall on every block. It makes gettıng anywhere dıffıcult at best. (Good thıng our wee backpacks ınhıbıt us from purchasıng every pretty porcelaın plate, vase, cup, bowl, candle holder, lantern or saucer. Very good thıng.) We have two more nıghts here before we head back West, lıterally and fıguratıvely. We are both glad we ıncluded thıs Eastern excursıon ın our ıtınerary. We wanted to go someplace that felt dıfferent and we've succeeded. But oddly, ıt's so comfortable here for us, almost lıke home. Istanbul.

Reflectıon from last nıght

I'm ın Istanbul. The waıl of what I thınk ıs a call to prayer at the Blue Mosque cuts through the pıtter patter of raın (a pıtter patter that has served as soundtrack for most of our fırst full day ın town). My feet are tıred from walkıng all over thıs cıty, from Taksım Square down Istıklal Cad. across the Galata Brıdge back to our hotel ın Sultanhamet. İ've got a cold Efes ın my hand and Claırey at my sıde. Lıfe ıs good. On vacatıon.

As soon as we arrived in Athens we were able to take a deep breath and enjoy a much slower, less busy pace. Our hotel is a 5 minute walk from the Larissa Station, an easy connecting point to everything (the metro, out of town trains, the airport and the beaches). After checking into our hotel, we enjoyed an air-conditioned nap after our early start and then headed out to sort out transportation to Istanbul. We learned that there is no longer an overnight train and that due to a transportation strike we would only be able to complete half of the trip in our desired time frame. We also learned the cost of the 19hr train ride was 90 euro per person one way. We quickly rethought that plan and booked ourselves another night in the Novotel and a flight to Istanbul. A 10 minute metro ride landed us just at the base of the Acropolis in the Plaka, a charming all pedestrian area amidst beautiful old buildings, bustling with restauranteurs and shoppers. We wove around the streets in search of the most enticing restaurant. All the menus looking similar, each restaurant with a man outside wooing people into his restaurand, we ended up at a spot where the man boasted of "the only charcoal grill in town, live music, traditional greek recipes and a quiet location." Not too different of a sales pitch to the rest but there was a bar next door that was showing the football and Jij was able to conveniently position himself so he had a glance of the game through dinner...I think that was the real draw to this place! A greek salad, plate of mousakka and mound of lamb chops later we left feeling replete and ready to relax in our nice room.
Athens highlights:
1. Friendly people happy to share their culture.
2. Slow pace of life.
3. The beautiful, quaint and romantic streets of the Plaka and Monastiraki.
4. Acropolis. Perched high above the city, serves of a good reminder of Greek history (and a great view of the city to the ocean when you are there).
5. Food. Gyros, mousakka, pasticcio, greek salad and the rest.
6. Weather. Hot in the afternoons but cooler in the morning and evenings. Always a nice refreshing breeze.
7. Novotel and it's rooftop swimming pool!

My sense the few times I've been in Italy is that, for every second I spend in their country I'm a bother and that they'd much rather that I get in, get out and ask as little from them along the way. That being said, my experience here in Italy has only been in big, touristy cities in the peak of summer.

Rome. The Romans are/were tenacious and resilient...that's all I could think about as I roamed around ancient buildings still standing (dating back to many years B.C.) through many an attempted conquest.

Rome highlights, so far, for me:

1. The Piazzas (NO not the pizzas, the piAzzas or plazas). I could sit in a piazza and watch the world go by for hours. It helps that they are often amidst remarkable sights such as St. Peters Basilica, the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and so on.

2. Trevi Fountain. What a shock we got as we came upon this colossal fountain! We couldn't believe the size...the base is larger than a swimming pool (and at the peak of the hot summer day, I was tempted to jump in).

3. The Italian language is a joy to listen to. I am half tempted to learn it when I get home.

4. Gelato. A bowl of lemon gelato quickly refreshes you on a hot day.

5. Colloseum. We only saw it from the outside but what a remarkable building. I can't wait until we can explore it when we return in a weeks time.

That's all on Rome from me, Jij posted about it in more detai l if you're interested.

We arrived in Rome giddy with excitement. Excitement quickly turned into confusion, mixed with hunger, in the vast Termini Station, Rome's central rail transport hub/shopping mall/hangout for Filipino ex-pats (yes, Filipinos are abundant in the capital for Catholics.)
We needed to get to our campground, Camping Roma Plus, in the western suburbs of Rome. Long story short, after circumambulating the train station multiple times, finding the right train line, getting off of it thinking we were wrong, waiting 1.5 hours for the next one, then walking along a dark road for what seemed like ages, we got the campground. We found it to be an oasis of rest, our canvas tent with white sheets on the bed.
The next day was a mad dash tour of Rome's greatest hits. We started at the Vatican Museum, rushing through the ancient Egyptian relics and marble statues of naked people to get tp the main event: the Capella Sistina. In a word: inspiring. Sometimes, big iconic attractions seem overhyped; the Sistine Chapel lived up to it and then some. We found a nice seat against the wall and got a chance to just sit and take it all in.

time's running out, so I'll leave at this for now: Loved Rome, now in Athens and had a wonderful relaxed evening at our fancy hotel here. Now trying to book a flight to Istanbul because the train workers are on strike.

Things Jij has learned in England (typed by Jij)

• People drive on the left because, in the olden days, it was preferable to pass other horsemen on the sword arm.
• Things are in different places on English keyboards. Use the @ with my pinky?
• Claire's grandparents bought their house for £5000 pounds and payed £19/month mortgage. In 1949.
• I'm afraid of climbing up 2 stories on a ladder. (As grandpy said, I'm "not a ladderman."
• English soft-serve ice cream is far superior to the stuff you get in America. A 99er with a Cadbury Flake = excellent.
• Castles are for real.
• Grime is a type of music, East London-style hip hop. Check out Lethal Bizzle or Dizzee Rascal. Note that I did not recommend either.
• The English like: walking in parks and gardens, drinking tea, sitting and talking (preferably outside, preferably with tea and in a garden), eating treats and sweets and sausages.
• I can't wait until next time.