Croatia Vacation - Dubrovnik

 9/3/22

After a week at sea, we finally left our boat to head into King's Landing.  We had a driver pick us up and we were delivered to Hotel Excelsior where we were able to score an early check in.  Using a full sized shower for the first time in a week was a delight.  Hotel Excelsior was a great stay, but I have a complaint.  A five star hotel should not lock the room thermostats to a temperature that causes you to sweat in your own bedroom.  A quick (and slightly buzzed) call to the front desk fixed that problem quickly.  

Our hotel was around a 10 minute walk from the walled city, so Allison and I made the trek down to meet up with friends to explore a bit and complete our main mission for the day: find a bar that would show the Razorback game after dinner.

Croatia Vacation - Peljesac Peninsula

 9/1/22

We woke up early to snag a ferry over to Orebic on the mainland to meet our tour guide provided by D'Vino Wine Bar out of Dubrovnik.  We had originally planned to visit 3 wineries/vineyards and make a stop in Ston to go out in a little boat and harvest our own oysters, but severe thunderstorms forced us to drop the oyster excursion.  Oh well, you win some and you lose some.  

Our first stop was to Korta Katarina, a newer winery overlooking the sea right on the outskirts of Orebic.  

Croatia Vacation - Korcula

 8/31/22

After staying the previous night in a natural harbor on Otok Scedro, we pulled into Korcula slightly after lunch.  We were able to snag a nice spot to park the boat, so we were able to get directly on/off board without needing to bother Ante for dinghy pickups.  I mainly wanted to see the walled Old Town area and grab drinks on top of the tower.  We also stopped to purchase some fancy crayons for Emerson as a way to beg forgiveness for abandoning her for weeks.  Spoiler alert: it worked.

Croatia Vacation - Hvar

 8/28-8/29/22

I have a ton of pictures from the boat and of the amazing scenery, but I'm going to dump those all in a separate post.  

The island of Hvar was our first main stop.  We pulled in to the Palenki Islands early in the afternoon to prepare for our dinner at Zori, which is just a short boat ride away from Hvar.  Our captain, Ante, fired up the dinghy and motored us to the restaurant, which is located in a beautiful cove.  I scored our group an amazing waterfront table that I got to enjoy for all of 5 minutes before my seasickness hit.  Long story short, I was able to escape the restaurant but I was unable to avoid blasting the nearby vegetation (and myself) with vomit.  It was an awkward ride back to the boat on the dinghy for me.  Everyone else had a wonderful time.

Totally not seasick...yet.

Croatia Vacation - Krka National Park

 8/27/22

We woke up early to meet our tour guides, Bartul and Hrvoje, for our trip to Krka National Park and subsequent transfer to our gulet outside of Trogir.  Our first taste of Krka was the amazing dictator tour bus that was in front of us waiting to enter the park.  Congrats to Tito for making the bus.  No one outside the region recognizes you, though.  Like the 5th member of the 1993 Atlanta Braves pitching staff.  The Xs were way too small, in my totally correct opinion.  

The bus says Never Again, but the size of the
X implies "Maybe we should get the band back together?"

Croatia Vacation - Split and Bosnia

8/24/22 

2.5 years ago, the cruel bitch that is COVID caused the cancellation of our Spanish vacation mere days before departure.  During that time, I got fat, I got skinny, I got fat again, I got skinny again, I procreated, and I got fat again.  After some heavy drinking, Allison and I assembled a group of 10 of our friends and rented a gulet to cruise the Adriatic for a week.  What's a gulet, you may ask?  A gulet is like a yacht, but it's wooden, looks like a pirate ship mated with a fishing boat, and is significantly cheaper than the aforementioned yacht.  

Since we had been stuck stateside for the better part of three years, Allison and I decided to splurge on our first business class flights.  Since European airports had been in turmoil all summer, we decided to go the "all carryon" route, which made Allison a bit grumpy.  Her mood soon changed once we finally broke the threshold of the airport Chili's.  

When asked to describe America, I reply with "Airport Chili's."

Quebec Vacation - Quebec City

8/2/19

Allison and I took a spur of the moment anniversary trip to Quebec City for a long weekend.  The location was going to be a surprise, but she ended up guessing correctly on her second try so I had to tell her.  Flights went smoothly and we ended up arriving at our hotel, Hotel 71, at a little after 5PM on Friday night.

Hotel 71 is located in the Lower Town area of Old Quebec and is about a block from the pedestrian area.  The location is ideal and the staff at the hotel are extremely helpful and very friendly.  Would definitely stay here again.

Since we were late getting in, we didn't do anything beyond briefly exploring the Lower Town and grabbing some drinks and a quick dinner.  The following day was to be dedicated to Montmorency Falls and Isle d'Orleans, with focus on the city resuming on Sunday.