Es un Mundo Vagabundo: From Spain to Croatia!

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My lovely, wonderful, energetic, mother, Lori, made the long trip to come see me!!!!!!!! To greet her I made the trek to the airport via the metro. This was my first time using the metro solo and I am proud to say it went flawless. Luckily, I found her and her friend, Leslie, with ease. Due to the amount of luggage these ladies brought, we had planned to take a cab back to our flat. Well, the first cab to pull up got out, looked at the amount of luggage, and flat out said “NO”! We eventually found this young, vibrant, cab driver that was very nice and turned a 17-euro ride to a 40-euro ride… Jennison usually handles the cab drivers… lesson learned on my part- sorry mom. That night we all went out to dinner and my mom was able to meet all of our Spanish friends. We only had about three days left in Valencia so we toured what we could, bought matching Valencia soccer jackets, (my mom is cool like that) and then it was off to Croatia!

Planes, trains, buses and automobiles were needed to get us to Croatia. My mom, Leslie, and I flew to Munich, Germany where we met up with Jennison and Brynn. Munich was amazing. We took this awesome bike tour of the city that not only gave us history information, but also took us to a BEER-GARDEN! Unfortunately, the temperature was in the 30s and we froze our you-know-whats-off. My mom had laughed and said there was absolutely no way she was riding a bike in that weather, so after the bike tour we met up with her at the Hofbräuhaus. The Hofbräuhaus is this gigantic restaurant/beer-garden, where you can order a liter of beer, served by ladies in lederhosen. I could have spent all day in there. From Munich it was off to Innsbruck, Austria.

Innsbruck, Austria is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Innsbruck was not a very large city, it had amazing food such as a Wiener Schnitzel. Wiener Schnitzel however, means "breaded veal cutlet, Vienna style" (not a hot dog as I thought due to the American fast food chain). Traditional Wiener Schnitzel is a thin cutlet of veal coated in flour, egg, and breading, which is then cooked in oil and butter until crispy. It’s delicious. From Innsbruck we took a train to Trento, Italy. Trento was nice, but it was my mom’s heart’s desire to see Venice.

My mom and I traveled by ourselves to Venice, where I believe is now her favorite place on Earth. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have shared with her. We got off the train, checked out the river, boats, and cool bridges. My goal was to get her to St. Marks Square. We stopped at this cute café for coffee and ordered some chocolate treats. There was a slight drizzle of rain, but I think it only added to the magical feeling of Venice. We roamed the tiny streets until we made it to St. Marks, here we took some awesome photos together and I will remember that moment with her for the rest of my life. We then ate a two-hour lunch that could of fed four people at this little hidden gem of a restaurant.

A few trains and bus rides later, we went from Trento, to Zagreb, to Split, to Pisak, where Jennison and I will be living for the next two months. My mom and Leslie stayed in Split, so we met them for dinner. My mom asked the hotel for a “local, mom and pop” restaurant and that is what we got! The hotel made us a reservation and said that was the only way you could get a table. The restaurant consisted of only five tables and the server was the son of the owner, who was also the chef, awesome! A plate of whole uncooked fish was brought out to us and we choose which ones we wanted grilled up, Amberjack and Sea Bass it was! I am so happy my mom was able to make it out here. It was her first trip to Europe and I am so glad I was able to be a part of it.

Hers

From one beautiful country to another... We may just be the most blessed people in the world!

Brian's mom, Lori, and her friend, Leslie, joined us in Spain for our last few days in Valencia and came along with us on our adventure as we traveled across Europe to our next home, Croatia! We had a great time showing them around "our city" and introducing her to our new, Spanish friends. It was so nice to be able to show someone some of the many reasons we love Spain and loved living in Valencia.

We left Spain and headed towards one of my favorite cities in the world- Munich! I have always wanted to take Brian here and it was extra special because Brynn and I had traveled to Munich together about 9 years ago! We took the same bike tour, with Mike's Bike Tours, as we had taken our first time in this gorgeous town. After the bike tour we grabbed some beers at the Hofbräuhaus and sat amongst the many tourists and locals as they chugged down liters of beer and ate traditional greasy, German food. Unfortunately I was sick with the flu on our one night here so I called it an early night while Brynn and Brian went out for some more beers with our awesome tour guide.

The next morning we took the train to Innsbruck, an adorable Austrian town, with some of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen. Every turn and every corner was more and more beautiful. We spent our time here walking around, enjoying the beautiful views and each other's company. We even found a Mexican food restaurant! The black beans in our fajitas may have been a highlight of this trip...

From Innsbruck we went to Trento, Italy. This was a super relaxing leg of the trip for me. Brian and his mom took a day trip to Venice so Brynn and I spent the day together. We slept in and stayed in our pajamas until about 1:00 pm, grabbed coffee and pizza in town, and spent the day just roaming around the city. I even partook in Italy's must-do tradition of sampling gelato! It was worth it...

Our longest travel day was getting from Italy to Croatia. We took a train out of Trento first thing in the morning towards Venice. From here, we took a bus to somewhere in Austria... and then hopped on another train to Zagreb, Croatia. What a great feeling it was to finally reach the country that we would be living in for the next two months! Besides almost leaving one of Brian's bags on the train... Zagreb was an uneventful, short pit-stop.

We left the next morning and took a five hour bus ride south towards Split, a popular tourist destination on the coast. The bus ride through the Croatian countryside and mountains was beautiful. These hours on the road ended up having a huge impact on me. It was the first time I felt completely lost with the language, having no way to communicate and it felt impossible to understand. I could feel, physically, driving further and further away from Spain. Spain, a place we had made our home, with amazing memories and the comfort of friends that we loved. As we continued to drive, I felt physically, and metaphorically distanced from everyone, and everything I knew. I remember thinking, "What are we getting ourselves into...? Was choosing Croatia a mistake?" I am happy to report, this was not a mistake. Instead, it was one of the best decisions we could have ever made!

Lori's last nights in Europe were our first nights in Croatia. We had a great time exploring the old town of Split, eating a traditional Croatian meal, and spending quality time together. It was such an amazing experience to share with family and we are so lucky Lori decided to make the trip out here to visit!

We are currently living in a small town on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia called Pisak. No traffic, no city lights, no crowds. Just beautiful views and perfect company. Want to hear more? Stay tuned for our adventures in and around Pisak...until tomorrow!