Pula and Medulin

So, the coast trip begins. Our traveling companions Darryl (my best man from 2011) and Susan, his beloved. They met in 2011 on a train going from Zagreb to Budapest. They plan to recreate the journey in the next few days. First we drove to Pula.

 

 

 

While walking the promenade in Pula, Renata and I were reminiscing about the boat tour of the Briuni Islands that we took in 2011. Lo and behold, there was the boat, right where we left it. I ran over to have Renata take my photo in front of it, and all of a sudden, there was Suad, our tour guide. He remembered us from 2011, and so we ham it up a little for the camera. Very cool.

 

 

 

At our hotel in Medulin, (just 7kms from Pula, and where most of the hotels are for that area) Renata flies the Yukon Brewing colors in front of a huge kiwi plant.

 

 

 

 

In front of the colloseum is a statue worth a quick pic:

 

 

 

 

More coast posts to come. I'm a little tired now, and then off the have dinner with Ivan Markovich, Eka's special friend.

 

Cheers,

 

K&R













Kitchen changes, dinner at Mickey's, and Zagreb

Renata's mom had some work done in the kitchen. It used to have a wall with a long curtain separating the oven and sink area from the dining area. Those of you that were here in 2011 will remember how tight it was.

Check it out now:

 

 

 

Sweet little pony wall, and much more open and appealing.

 

Some dinner at my sister and brother-in-law's house. Cousin Bero takes care of the grill. Marinated chicken and pork cook slowly (both home-grown in the back yard) while Mickey looks on to ensure quality control.

 

 



 





We love Zagreb. Cruising through the open air market, the amazing architecture, and sweet memories from our previous trips. Far too many photos to post, so one will have to do: The famous Ban Jelacic Trg (square):



 

 

 

The next few posts will be a series from our trip to the coast. In 2011, we only had a very limited amount of time to travel, and didn't manage to go as far south down the coast as we wanted. This year, there was nothing to stop us but fear and common sense. Fortunately, we don't really suffer from either of those conditions.

 

Cheers,

 

K&R



Rain Rain Go Away...

Irony is so damn ironic.

During our wedding trip in 2011 (see previous posts), Croatia (and a great deal of Europe in general) experienced the worst drought they had seen in over a hundred years. In 2012, it was pretty much the same. No rain, and temperatures easily reaching 35-40 deg C.

This year, the ground is so wet, flowers are floating out of their beds here in Popovaca, and areas of Germany, Austria and Slovenia are suffering through widespread flooding.

Hilarious.

So to add further insult to injury, the area where we built the deck in 2011 heaved up in one corner around 8", and in another area, fell about 3".

Disaster. Ujo Stef came by after the freeze / thaw in the spring of 2013, and pulled up the floor boards which had simply erupted from the structure underneath.

We walked into the yard and saw this:

 

 

When we left in 2011, it looked like this:

 

 

 

 

I have to admit, Renata and I had a few tears in our eyes. It was weeks of work torn apart by Mother Nature.

 

I love the way the wood aged, and got a nice patina after a couple of seasons, but the structure is no longer viable.

 

After a full day of rest, Darryl, Susan, Renata, Eka and I spent about and hour and a half cleaning up the mess, and starting the tear down. The patient is beyond saving.

 

 

 

 

We figure that tomorrow morning, it will be a couple more hours of work, and we can have the whole thing demolished. We will be saving the wood that can be saved, and the rest will find it's way to the garbage. It was all stained when we built it, and no one is comfortable burning the now toxic wood.

 

We're hoping tomorrow that we can walk across the street and ask the folks at the lumber yard if they can move the Rostilj (BBQ) with the forklift for a small fee. If not, we will be forced to chip away the concrete that holds the bits together, and move it piece by piece.

 

All hope is not lost. We have scouted a new area for the brick patio (no more wooden decks, I do have the capacity to learn) that we will install on our visit in 2016.

 

Tomorrow after we complete the tear down, we will determine the rest of our touring schedule.

 

More to come.

 

Cheers,

 

K&R