Croatia, Day 1

I'm way behind on this thing. After walking around and exploring all day, mustering up the energy to upload pictures and post about them can be hard. Today is my fourth day in Italy and I still haven't been able to post about my time in Croatia. I will attempt to remedy that now. It was a fun week and culminated in a beautiful wedding on June 19. Mary's friend Kristin got married, her wedding was the entire reason for the trip (I just tagged along), but of course we decided that we should see more than one country if we were over the Atlantic (England and Italy, too).

But now, back to Croatia...

Upon our arrival at the airport, we were supposed to be greeted by a driver, who had been prearranged, and would be bringing us to our villas about 40 minutes away for a set price. We get off the plane, grab our luggage, and head down to the line of drivers and guides holding signs with people's names on them. Ours? Nowhere to be found! We waited for at least 45 minutes, but then decided to take our own taxi, as it was getting late. This was when our first true "foreign" experience occurred on our trip due to language barriers. After miming and pointing and sharing addresses, we took off on our journey from the airport to Villa Babilon in Zaton Mali. Once we arrived, we did a little more miming to get into our room, then headed downstairs to the restaurant at the hotel and enjoyed a delicious meal and local wine for a very reasonable price.

About 36 people or so were gathering in Croatia for Kristin's wedding, so we had a nice little group to hang out with for the week. Kristin arranged for several activities that guests could participate in, such as sea kayaking, cook-outs, island cruises, dinners, etc.

Waking up to this view is a nice way to start the morning


We met the group around 10 to go kayaking in Zaton Bay, which is gorgeous




Kayaking with Mary (picture also taken by her)


Another one of Mary's pictures, more kayaking (that's a funny word, by the way...kayaking...)


After paddling until our arms were sore, we were rewarded by arriving at a private beach for swimming and relaxation. The water was beautiful, clear, and cool, but you had to beware of sea urchins!


Another cool thing about the water was its high salt content...it made Kristi and me super buoyant!


After kayaking back from the beach, we cleaned up and met for lunch. Because we were dining as such a large group, there was a set menu. Meat and potatoes, anyone?


The food was good, but I fed this kitty a good portion of it as well


For dinner we were supposed to have grilled fish, but the order for the fresh fish wasn't put in on time. Instead everyone went to the market down the street and picked up a little something. In the end we were able to cook this fine feast with the help of the owner of the villa and one of the wedding guests, who happens to be a culinary whiz.




At the end of the night, we were tired but content.


Next up: Old Town!