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Vienna & Croatia

November 2023 - January 2024
Finn has finished Grade 12 so we are heading off on a family holiday before he starts uni. Read more
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  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    Day 10

    Hilltop village of Motovun

    December 4, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    About 40 minutes drive inland is the medieval hilltop of Motovun, smack bang in the middle of truffle territory... And olive oil territory... And vineyards...

    We almost had the entire place to ourselves to wander around. There was only one restaurant open from what would have been at least a dozen if not more, so that combined with the fact it had a loo, meant that was where we had lunch.

    And OMG, these places are why I love food so much. We were told later it was the best restaurant in Motovun. I had tagliatelle with truffle sauce, the kids had soup, Craig had a 1/4 chicken with a cheese sauce which unexpectedly came with a side of homemade gnocchi in a crispy cheese basket. The parents had omelette where truffle was shaved by hand over the top at the time of serving.

    We were given olive and truffle tapenade with house made bread as starters on the house, and after the meal complimentary red wine liqueur specific to Motovun. It was like Christmas in a glass, and sent us back up the hill to the distillery shop where we had some tasting of limoncello and orangcello. And then bought a bottle of the limoncello and aforementioned red wine liqueur called teranino.

    And after Jeff made us dinner of poached eggs, a wee limoncello has gone down a treat. We have already looked up where we can restock on our trip 🫢.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    1
    Day 11

    Poreč

    December 5, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    We had a lazy day today, so not much to write about. I did find a great use for egg cups though! In lieu of not having any shot glasses, they made a reasonable substitute for our red wine liqueur.

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    122
    Day 12

    Rovinj

    December 6, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    We spent Finn's last day of being 17 and our last day in Istria in the village of Rovinj, also known as "The Venice of Croatia". This fishing port was one of the more bustling places we've experienced since we've been here, but still a sense of having it to ourselves. We were immediately able to plunge ourselves into the narrow cobblestoned alleys, with glimpses out to the ocean. In the centre of the old town up on the hill was a church. It was midday when we were up at the church so got the full church bell experience.

    A lunch of fish and chips and calamari seemed in order since we were in a fishing village. Finn had one of his favourite meals (lasagne), Kate went for linguine... Everything is dual signed in Italian here.

    The kids spent their time befriending the many cats. We also managed to make one local rather grumpy because we didn't buy a tacky souvenir of a goat or turtle magnet made out of tiny local sea shells.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    Day 13

    Poreč to Split

    December 7, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY TO OUR BOY 🎂

    We spent about 7 hours on the road today driving through many tunnels and the remnants of last night's light snow fall. A couple of service station stops for coffee and later a hot meal for lunch.

    We eventually made it down the narrowest of lane ways to Maki Stone House in Split's old town area, which has three apartments in the one house. Finn's 18th birthday present is one of the apartments all to himself. The owner said her favourite was the one on the top floor so that was the one he got.

    We did a quick scout around the Riva when we went out for a few groceries.

    Finn's birthday dinner wish was kebabs, so takeaway kebabs it was.

    At 10pm tonight we will head back into town to meet au pair #5. Hannah has caught a bus from Germany to come and visit us this week in Split.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    Day 14

    Amazing supermarket

    December 8, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    I am in a little bit of awe at the incredible location of this Spar supermarket which was set up in part of Diocletian's Palace. A strange thing, this taking of photos of a supermarket, but it was rather spectacular!

    Dinner tonight at Glen and Jeff's apartment. The night might have degraded somewhat.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    Day 14

    Diocletian's Palace, Old town Split

    December 8, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    We picked up Hannah from the bus station last night just after 10pm. She left her home in Saarbrucken Germany at 8am in the morning, and after a train to Paris, a flight to Zagreb and a bus to Split, she came back to our place for a bit.

    Bearing gifts... A beautiful array of Christmas biscuits she had made. We have had to show great restraint to not eat them all in one sitting.

    This morning we plunged into the alleys of the old town, through the labyrinth of old town mixed with Diocletian's Palace shops, and a meander through the farmers' markets.

    We spent some time just following the impossibly narrow streets with beautiful points of interest and general awe as to where over time restaurants, cafes, bars and shops have managed to establish themselves.

    We bought rolls at the pekata (bakery) which we took down to the Riva (waterfront) and ate, for a cheaper, lighter but incredibly yummy lunch.

    Later we started to meander along the marina with views of a very ugly and prominent building being actively demolished, and saw the island of Brac which is where we are heading after we leave Split.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    1
    Day 15

    Marjan Forest Park

    December 9, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    This morning we set off for a walk up the middle and peak of Marjan Forest Park which occupies the peninsula overlooking Split with views out over the islands of the Adriatic Sea and the mainland. Today we nearly broke the 20,000 steps.

    Lunch was another Balkan dish called
    Burek which is a filo pastry layered pie thing. We stumbled across the bakery it happened to be selling them, so we tried them out.

    On the way home, we scouted out how to navigate where we need to go for the car ferry across to an island next week. We then stopped for a coffee in a beautiful square before restocking at the (now favourite) supermarket.

    Given it was a Saturday night we thought we would join the fray at a local Dalmatian restaurant. There was only one other customer. Seafood is big in this region as you'd naturally expect. I had a local dish of cuttlefish and squid ink risotto. Craig had grilled sea bream. Delicious.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    1
    Day 16

    Wet day no play

    December 10, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    We had a zero day today (getting in my future hiking terminology right there) because it was raining and when combined with it being a Sunday and all the shops being closed, we stayed in our cosy apartment and watched Christmas movies on Netflix and played card games.

    My annual viewing of The Holiday is ticked off, Love Actually still to go, but there is time. We ducked out to see if we could find bread to accompany Glen and Jeff's stew, but no luck with finding an open bakery. About 4.30pm the skies cleared and we found a gelato shop which was open out on the main boulevard. Yum!

    There is a ginger and white cat hanging around the apartment, so we invited it in for a bit of affection.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    12
    Day 17

    Split

    December 11, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Craig, Hannah and Kate did an 11km round trip to The Split Mall for Kate to buy fake Ugg boots from H&M and a pair of Christmas PJ pants she can wear all year round. I will add here we live approximately 2.7km from the H&M at Mt Gravatt! Still, the walk did contribute to Craig hitting 20,000 steps today.

    I took a load of washing to the laundromat and then did some aimless wandering through Diocletian's Palace between washing and drying.

    Finn and I went out to lunch at a great pizzeria.

    Dinner in the upstairs apartment of the Ingram Seniors.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    Day 18

    Split

    December 12, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Another wet day with little doing. We played online rummikub with each other, an outing to the pizzeria for lunch, shopping at the asian supermarket. I have found plenty of things you could make money on if you could import cost effectively. About €6 for a 5-pack of mi goreng noodles that we buy in bulk because Kate eats them in great quantities. €3.80 for a can of coconut cream. Crazy.

    Craig made a yummy massaman curry for dinner and we kept on playing rummikub. Somewhere in all of that we semi-watched a couple of B-grade Christmas movies.

    EDIT: Our game statistics said we played 5.5 hours of Rummikub today 🫢    Read more

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