Strawberries and Rollar Blades - Erdbeeren und In-Line Skates

Lane took the trains all by herself back to Rheda-Wiedenbrück on Friday. After some shopping, we went back home and got ready for a fancy dinner that Christof and Sandra were treating us to that night. 

We all wore high heels! Well, not Christof.

The next morning we woke up, ate some cereal, and strapped on rollerblades. Yes, that is correct. Lane and I had planned on going strawberry picking on Saturday, but were thrown a curve ball when our bikes were in the shop. “No worries,” says Sandra, “You can take the in-line skates.” We were worried. After spending the greater part of the morning practicing and taking pictures in the backyard, we set off to the bank before skating to the strawberry field. Bad idea, seeing that the bank was located in Old Town Wiedenbrück, aka cobblestone galore. It also didn’t help that we were skating with a big purse and an empty bucket for our strawberries, but we made it to the bank with only two wipe outs. After sitting outside of the bank and removing our skates, we went in wearing socks, keypads, and wrist guards. Money in hand, we skated to the strawberry field, which was actually very nice and easy to get to, and picked strawberries for probably around 4 minutes. When our bucket was full, we went to pay. 3.17 Euros. We had triple that before our disastrous trip to the bank. Who knew strawberry picking was so fun and so cheap!? Plus, we learned that Mathis loves strawberries as well.

Blading is serious business. Safety is also. Please note the safety gear.

Finally made it to the bank!

Taking off our skates so we can go inside.

The cobblestones were problematic. 

We made it to the strawberry field!

Skating back with our strawberries.

We were proud.

Mathis and Lane excited to eat!

We babysat that night and baked a German chocolate cake for Martha's birthday on Sunday. They had never heard of it. Right as we were commenting how problem less and calm Lane’s trip had been, she just happened to check one of her flights which just happened to be cancelled. After some minor panicking they found her a flight an hour earlier and added another stop to her trip, coming to a grand total of six airports in 24 hours. We woke up at 3:30am and I drove (stick shift!) to Düsseldorf with Sandra. Man, I really loved having Lane here. I can’t wait to come visit her in Maryland when I get back to the States. 

Speaking of visitors, Brian is supposed to be landing in Düsseldorf on Friday. Here’s to hoping this volcano in Iceland doesn’t get in his way! 

CROATIA! - Part Two

Many steep hills later, we found Lapad, the subdivision of Dubrovnik where we were staying, but we couldn’t find out actual hostel. We parked on a street we could find, and hiked up the steep stairs connecting the streets that we would come to love. A friendly homeowner who could speak surprisingly great English pointed us in the right direction, and we found the hostel owner in the street waiting to greet us. We was busy at the moment, but told us her son would drive with one of us to our assigned parking spot. She called him, pointed over out shoulders, and we turned, expecting to see a gorgeous  and tan Croatian God like in the films.  Instead, a lanky smoker in his nascar hat shook our hands, asked furiously who the driver was, and I marched off behind him to the car, practically running to keep up. We ran out of things to talk about on the first set of stairs, but stopped often to have loud arguments with the neighbors. He asked for the keys, I sat in the passenger seat, and we were off. Only then did I remember how it isn’t the best idea to give your car keys to complete strangers, and then free willingly get in the car with them. Whoops. He had a lot to say when we started driving, though, and he made a big loop, shouting out all of the important things to see and know, in between shouting at people on the street that he knew or hated. I couldn’t tell. Lots of shouting.

Back at the hostel, I decided against all of the son’s suggestions except for food recommendations, which all were delicious in the end. After pizza and pasta for dinner, a trip to the Lapad side of the Adriatic, and a bus to the Old Town, we found quite possibly the most scenic bar in the world. Back alleys led us to a doorway through to the other side of the Old City Walls, and we enjoyed Croatian beer on rocks facing the Adriatic. A really fun jazz bar paired with drunken British men dancing about made for a great end to our first night in Dubrovnik. 

Clear Water and Sunset 

Lane's Idea to Get "In" the Adriatic

We woke up, ate freshly baked croissants, and made it to Old Town, which was a drastically different scene than the night before. A number of cruise ships had docked in Dubrovnik for the day and while the streets were completely packed, we immediately climbed up to the city walls, which felt much more secluded. They are said to be the best preserved ancient city walls in existence, and they provided a beautiful view of the red roofs and the clear Adriatic. 

View from the Walls 

The bar outside the city walls from the night before.

Red roofs of Old Town

Loving every minute!

After some wandering and souvenir shopping, we ate Bosnian food for lunch before jumping on the ferry to Lokrum, an island and nature reserve 15 minutes from Dubrovnik. Possibly the best decision of the day. Once we were off of the ferry (where we saw the guitarist from the jazz bar the night before!) we walked onto the trails and away from all people. The island felt so secluded and we found the most picturesque places to take pictures. After a peacock almost ate me, we found the perfect “cliffs” and bravely jumped into the freezing Adriatic. It was so unbelievably scenic that it was hard to really feel like we were there, but we have the jumping pictures to prove it!

Lane and I climbed up to these towers!

one million jumps later!

Told you it was a big rock! That's me in front, swinging my arms in terror.

After eating shrimp, squid, two types of fish, mussels, and mini octopus. 

Early the next morning we drove to the airport, I parked our lovely stick-shift car in the rental lot, and the weight of the world was lifted off of my shoulders. Then it all came crashing right back down on me when the Styx guy found a scratch on the back right side of the car, but we had insurance! Thank goodness for the insurance. Our flight to Berlin was relaxing, and after a short 6 hour stay in Germany’s capital, which included currywurst, a excellent free walking tour, and wonderful artist squat, we set ourselves on the train and tiredly headed home. 

CROATIA - Part One

Whoever thought that renting and driving a stick shift car in former Yugoslavia was a good idea should never be trusted again. Oh wait, that was me. And that is exactly how we managed to see the country of Croatia almost entirely in 4 days and 3 nights. 

Lane flew into Germany the week before, and I had such a great time showing her all around Rheda-Wiedenbrück. A few long walks with Mathis, who was very afraid of Lane for awhile, provided a great way to see the whole city. On Tuesday we took our bicycles on the train to Münster and saw all the sites via biking, even a beach bar on the harbor! After the gentle “warming up to Mathis” process, he stopped crying and running away from Lane and they became good friends, sort of. 

Trying to take pictures while riding bikes in Münster

Early Thursday morning, April, Lane, and I flew to Zagreb, where I got my first ever stamps in my passport and attempted to pick up our rental car. First problem: I printed the wrong sheet, one without the name of the rental car company, so we had to run down the aisle of 16 companies asking if they had a reservation for Virginia Bridges and then wishing them a good day. Second problem: After finding our man, we were asked to pay a huge deposit we weren’t prepared for, as well as confronted with additional insurance fees. Oh, the joys of renting a car.  A short fight with the GPS later, we were on the road, I was driving stick shift, and the Plitvice Lakes were only 2 hours away!

Things started to get hilly once we turned onto smaller roads, and after one monumental time of burning more rubber than in movies, we found our adorable guesthouse. A few minutes later we were driving to the park, and things got extremely beautiful. The Plitivice Lakes are a Croatian National Park as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and they are made of hundreds of waterfalls, pools, and lakes of the most extraordinary shades of blue and green. I have never seen a place like Plitvice in my whole life, and I especially loved the wooden pathways that led over the entire park.  Around every turn there was another place that was as beautiful if not more beautiful than what we were just looking at. Sadly, the park closed, forcing us to leave. Even though we got stuck at the exit gate in a position impossible to get out of with my current stick-shift skill lever, a nice attendee opened the gate for free for us!  We ate at a delicious Croatian restaurant, took showers, and finished the day outside on our guest house's brand new picnic table with cheap wine, dark chocolate, and some of the best cheese I’ve ever eaten.

One of the first views of the waterfalls!

So lovely. 

Loved the walkways.

Falls everywhere you look. 

View from our guesthouse

Wine, cheese, chocolate, and plans.

The next morning I woke up before the alarm, already worrying about which gear I should be in to back out of the steep driveway, but of course it was fine. We were headed to Split to take a look around, and then to park the car in Dubrovnik that night. All day I just kept thinking, “You don’t have to drive tomorrow.  You park the car tonight and forget about it. There’s no place like Dubrovnik. There’s no place like Dubrovnik.” Lane even helped drive a little on the highway. After a hilarious stalling out/toll road/toll attendant/round-a-bout incident, we switched seats in Split so I could drive in bumper-to-bumper, crazy, market day traffic. It was difficult but we found a great spot to park with only a small hill, and only a minor scratch on the side of the car. No worries - we got the insurance, remember? Split was bustling with the market, but the old town was peaceful and reminded me of Venice, with its winding alleys and the plants growing on the side of the old Roman walls. We ate wonderful fish and gelato inside of gates of Diocletian's Palace, took some quick pictures, and hoped to soak it all in before dashing to the car for the last leg of our road trip. 

Market in Split. 

Old Square in Split

more to come!