We had another wonderful vacation and I really enjoyed writing the blog much more than ever before. One of our Tauck travel partners, Steve, announced to the group how much he was enjoying my blog and the Tour Director, Gabby, sent everyone the link. I think you know how much I love to see the reader’s “Comments” and “Likes” but traveling along side of some readers made it even more special.
We had a lovely fairwell dinner last night and said goodbye to our new friends. This morning we left for the airport via water taxi at 3:35 AM. Things went very smooth at the airport because it was essentially empty. The short flight from Venice to Munich might have provided us with the highlight of the trip. Shortly after take off we saw a magnificent sight outside the left side windows. I asked the flight attendant and she confirmed we were looking at the Dolomite mountain range of the Italian Alps. The highest peak is a bit under 11,000 feet but extending through the clouds and being covered with snow presented a glorious picture of the Earth. I took some shots but again they don’t replace seeing them for yourself.
Dolotmite Mountains from our flight from Venice to Munich.
As usual, at the end of a trip, I like to post some pictures of interesting things I have seen during our excursion. I hope you enjoy them.
About 35% of adults in Croatia smoke (compared with about 11% in the USA). Hopefully warnings like this will help get their numbers closer to ours.Messages like this might have the opposite effect. Especially in Alabama.Lots of signs in English here to attract tourist customers. Sometimes they get creative with their spelling. In addition to the creative spelling (exhibition) they have allowed HBO access to the monastery on Lokrum Island. I know I have shown you this before but with my legs looking like they belong to Patrice still cracks me up.Apparently the Croatians can only count to 55? After that they add the appropriate digits?Is a Bloody Mary considered a soup in Croatia?In Split, Croatia parking can be hard to find so they often park on the side walk.All the important rooms are listed on this sign from the Hotel Esplanade in Zagreb.This looked interesting but we didn’t get a chance to go. Next time.
And lastly, a picture of my real travel buddy. Looking relaxed while having lunch in Split, I caught this shot under the table.
We got off to an early start this morning in order to visit the nearby town of Pula. It is located at the tip of the Istrian peninsula of Croatia. The main tourist attraction is the Pula Arena which was built between 27 BC and 68 AD if you believe Google or in about 100 AD if you believe our guide (or if I heard him correctly). During the Roman era it was used for gladiator battles and is now available for concerts. When we were visiting they were in the process of breaking down the stage from a concert that occurred yesterday. Here is an incredible picture of the Pula Arena.
Which I didn’t take.
Here is my photo.
Okay, okay, I am not a great photographer.This one is from the inside, it is not perfect but I like it.
The remainder of the tour of Pula was very interesting. We were shown the various types of architectural forms in the town. As you would expect the different styles are dependent on when they were built. In one area alone we saw construction that represented the Roman period, Mussolini era, Austrian (also known as the Habsburg Monarchy), and finally Croatia when it was part of Yugoslavia.
From left to right: Mussolini era, Austrian, Yugoslavia. See below for what is located just to the left. To the left of the Mussolini structure is this Roman arch.
After our day in Pula, the bus, I mean the coach brought us back to the hotel. By the way, did I mention we are staying at the Grand Park Hotel Rovinj (Smareglijeva ulica 1A, 52210, Rovinj). Yes, Rovinj is another one of those Croatia towns with a random J thrown in. I suspect a government official at some point in time owned the rights to the letter J and got a commission every time it was used.
After a hot time in Pula, Patrice and I just wanted to chill. We had a nice lunch at the hotel cafe (yummy 4 cheese pizza) then headed to the Adriatic to dip our feet in the waters that have been purported to be therapeutic. It has been said that putting your feet in the Adriatic Sea can cure strept throat, urinary tract infections, and bacterial pneumonia. That is if it is also accompanied by the appropriate antibiotics.
It was great resting out by the water. The hotel provided very comfortable lounge chairs and shade umbrellas. We took a quick dip in the water but just up to our mid shin and I can report that the pain in my right foot felt much better almost immediately. Of course now my foot is complete numb from the cold water.
Now that my blog has become so popular we did have the occasional passerby asking for a photo with us to show to the folks back home. Of course we accommodated all our fans. I’m not sure if it was the blog that attracted them or seeing Patrice in her thong bikini and me in my Speedo. Here is a picture of us relaxing in our aforementioned bathing suits.
That’s Patrice on the left, I am on the right.
While relaxing I heard a loud squawk. I looked up to find this guy standing on one leg. I tried to film a video of him squawking but he must have been camera shy because he’d only do it when I lowered my camera.
I tried to recreate this pose only to nearly fall and hurt myself.
Well rested, we were now ready to resume our vacation which more times than not means to get some food. I didn’t plan to write much about dinner but tonight was a special event. The meal was good but the dinner was more of an experience than a meal. On the boat ride over we were entertained by some men singing in what I assume was the Croatian language. They joined us at the restaurant as well. I was told that the restaurant (Spacio Matika) is only open 3 times per week and only for special parties. Following the meal the singing got even more intense. Our tour director, Gabby, serenaded us with two John Denver classics. She was great. Then one of the male singers sang “O Sole Mío” in Croatian. Here is a YouTube link if you are interested in hearing this young man.
After dinner we walked back to the hotel. Tomorrow we leave for Venice. John and Brian were asking for more magic tonight but they will have to wait for my ace trick tomorrow at our farewell dinner. I told them I get it right about 50% of the time. My good friends know it is closer to 25%. But when I do get it right it is SPECTACULAR. Well maybe not that good, but I think it is pretty cool and in the end isn’t that all that really matters?
I’m starting to hate myself. Yes, I’ve become one of those obnoxious self-absorbed tourists. It became evident this morning at breakfast when I told Patrice that the Eggs Royale this morning wasn’t as good as at the Hotel Esplanade in Zagreb. Oh well, I’ll just have to adjust.
Today we had a very early start being told to have our bags ready for pick up at 6:20 AM because we would be leaving the hotel at 7:20 AM. Apparently an early start was necessary because Tauck Tours had a very special activity planned. I’m not from Missouri (the “Show-Me State”) but I still need to be shown the proof because I would have preferred more time in bed.
After about one hour on the bus (Excuse me, Tauck Tours has a “coach” not a bus. This is a very high class operation) we arrived at Postojna, Slovenia. Is it my imagination but does almost every city in this region have a J in its name? Also they seem to be thrown in at random, like in Postojna and Ljubljana. In Postojna, we toured their famous caves. They are famous to anyone who knows anything about this section of the world. Of course that would not include me. One very rewarding part of this trip has been that I have learned a lot of information that quite honestly has been soulfully lacking in my education. Back to our early start. We left early so we could enter the caves one half hour before opening and have the place to ourselves. Our sacrifice was well worth it. My pictures cannot do it justice. The sights were spectacular. It was a bit chilly and occasionally we would get hit by some water drops from above, but overall it was a great experience. Here are some photos that won’t impress you but you should definitely add this place to your bucket list. Before this trip I didn’t know a stalactite, or a stalagmite, from a hole in the ground.
I just read how to make it is easy to remember. If you care at all about these formations, stalacTites grow from the Top of the cave and stalaGmites from from the Ground of the cave. That should make it easy to remember.
Group of stalactites extending from the top of the cave ceiling.Lovely stalagmites growing from the ground of the cave.
There were a series of formations that resembled some other objects. Such as a couple with one holding a baby, a kissing couple, and the one below that looks like a rooster.
Does this look like a rooster or hen to you?
At end of the tour we were treated to a series of Slovenian songs sung by a male A Capella group. The acoustics in the cave were fantastic and made the performance unique.
Leaving the caves we took a short ride to the town of Prašćari. There we were the guests of the Prodan family who owns and operates a truffle farm. I learned that truffles are mushrooms which need to be “hunted”. Apparently they grow in the wild and are not readily apparent. So in order to find these guys you need to use truffle sniffing dogs to locate them. We also had a wonderful truffle-themed lunch. Appetizers, salad, scrambled eggs, and ice cream all using truffles as a focal ingredient.
As a little bonus I did a card trick after lunch that worked perfectly. I had promised John and Brian for days that I would do the trick but kept forgetting to bring my cards to lunch or dinner. I finally remembered today and my travel buddies were a great audience. I’m now 2 for 2 doing magic tricks on this trip. Dare I press my luck with my favorite trick on our last trip night? We will see.
After Prašćari it was back on the bus, oops I mean coach, and headed to Rovinj. This is a small seaport town in Croatia. We had a short working tour on arrival but I was too hot and worn out to pay much attention. I will say ciao for now and hopefully have some more trip information for you tomorrow.
After suffering the Croatian heat while walking around seeing some lovely sights the past few days, today we were treated to much cooler weather in Zagreb. There was some slight rain but being outside wearing long pants and my sweatshirt was a welcome relief. This was better than becoming dehydrated each day in spite of wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Enough complaining (Patrice here: “Enough complaining?” I have 42 years of experience to know that he is never done complaining)
We started off with an excellent breakfast which for me included “Eggs Royale” or “Jaja Royale” if you prefer to read it in Croatian. That dish is Eggs Benedict with lox instead of the Canadian bacon. I also tried (at our tour director, Gabby’s suggestion) the Zagorski štrukli. It didn’t look very appetizing but it was delicious.
Zagorski štrukli. Would you want to try this? I know it doesn’t look special but I thought it was fantastic.
After breakfast we heard a lecture from former Minister of Tourism, Pave Rusković. To say she was impressive would be an understatement. Ms. Rusković discussed the developement of modern day Croatia with great detail describing her involvement in tourism in a variety of positions cuminating in her heading the Ministry of Tourism. This was a post she held from January 2000 through December of 2003. A side note of interest is that Ms. Rusković is the mother of the silk worm lady I discussed when we were in Dubrovnik.
After that we had a walking tour of Zagreb armed with hotel provided umbrellas which were needed only briefly. We are staying at the Espanade Zagreb Hotel (Mihanovićeva ul. 1, 10000, Zagreb). The place is gorgeous and our room is spectacular. It is the type of hotel you might expect in a movie like “Murder on the Orient Express”. Actually it is adjacent to the Zagreb train station and that is not by accident. The hotel was built to accomodate the extremely wealthy passengers on the Orient Express traveling through Zagreb. There are all sorts of pictures of the famous rail line scattered around the hotel. We were told a number of celebrities have stayed at the hotel. England’s King Edward the VIII supposedly stayed here and swam naked with his wife Wallis Simpson. I asked Patrice if we could do that royal activity and she said “Have fun, I’ll meet you in the room when you are done.”
Our city tour included all sorts of fun facts and beautiful sights. One of the focal points was Ban Jelačić Square with the main attraction being the statue of Josip Jelačić. He was a famous guy in these parts in the early 19th century. I won’t bore you with details about him because I don’t remember any. But I will show you his statue and let you know why it was important today. See below.
Statue of Josip Jelačić most important today because he is using his sword to point the direction we need to walk to get back to the hotel.
After the morning tour we had a lovely lunch and then were left to our own desires regarding further sight-seeing. Patrice suggested we go see “The Museum of Broken Relationships” (Ćirilometodska ul. 2, 10000, Zagreb). This museum has a collection of artifacts from emotional relationships that didn’t work out. Do you think Patrice is trying to tell me this will be our last trip together?
Some of the exhibits were funny and clever, like the mobile phone with the description “He gave me his mobile phone so I couldn’t call him anymore”. Or the “Ragged floor lamp” which a woman saw in some sex photos on the internet with her boyfriend with another woman…… Ouch!
Then there were some objects that showed some real pain. Like the exercise bike that one guy donated to the museum saying, “It was not the only thing my girl friend liked to ride”. Or the full length mirror a man said his wife used to spend hours in front of making sure she looked “just right” when she was leaving him at home with their 2 children while she was going out to meet clients. The husband later found out she was meeting other men.
After the museum we headed back to the hotel to rest our weary bodies and get ready for dinner. I am not sure how much I will be able to eat because I am very nervous. I announced to two of our new friends, Steve and Karen, that I will be doing a new magic trick tonight. They were a great audience for my first trick, how could I not perform an encore?
I will report about dinner and magic later. I need to practice my mind reading skills for tonight.
No break from the heat today. After breakfast we boarded the air conditioned bus avoiding the 86 degree temperature while we headed to a museum dedicated to the art of the famous Croatian sculptor, Ivan Meštrović. If you have not heard of him don’t worry you are not alone. None of our fellow tour members knew of the man. We might not have heard of him but others had, enough so to make him a rarity……. a wealthy artist. The works we saw were truly impressive.
Sculptures of Adam and Eve made from Oak (Eve is on the left in case you failed anatomy)This is our guide (Harry) explaining this depiction of his wife, or was it his girlfriend? The artist’s wife or girlfriend, not the guide’s.Meštrović’s sculpture entitled “The Great Pieta”
The above work entitled “The Great Pieta” is very impressive but a bit wierd in my viewpoint since the portion that is meant to represent the Virgin Mary is a self-carving of the artist, the Jesus representation is actually his son.
The museum is located in what used to be the artist’s “Summer Villa”. It is huge and absolutely beautiful.
View of the Meštrović gallery as you approach the entrance.
If you walk up those stairs and turn around, this is what you see. See below.
Not a bad view from your entrance, no?
Like I said, this was his summer residence. Apparently he never returned after the Nazis occupied Yugoslavia.
After the museum we headed to what used to be a palace in Split. The tour was informative and interesting but the heat was opressive and I couldn’t wait for it to end. Interestingly, outside the palace we were shown this. See below.
Yes, a sculpture by Ivan Meštrović.
After lunch we walked back to the hotel but we made a stop to buy materials to show my travelmates another magic trick. For the trick I needed to buy a postcard. I found one that would work and it cost .50€. We didn’t have any change and the smallest bill I had was a 10€ note. The woman at the store said she didn’t have change. I was a bit shocked. I definitely would understand if she didn’t want to make change for a 100€ or a 20€ but a 10€? So we went next door to a jewelry store and apologetically asked if the salesperson had change for a 10€ note. She said no initially but after Patrice told her we just needed 50 cents for a postcard the woman went into her purse and gave us .50€ in change. I didn’t want to accept this incredibly kind gesture but preferred to look further for the change but she insisted that we accept. I then reached in my pocket and offered her a USA one dollar bill as a gift from me. She seemed very pleased. It was one of those moments that make travel so very special to me. I have a modest interest in seeing “things”. What really gets me going is interactions with local people.
To further expand on this concept, an interesting thing happened at lunch. We were sitting at a window table and a young man sat just outside and for some reason I wondered where he was from. Patrice and I talked about it and I said, I am quite sure he is from Germany. I have no idea what made me think that but once we had the discussion I had to find out. I asked the waiter who I saw talking to him if he knew but he just gave me a shrug of his shoulders. Finally my curiosity forced me to act. I went outside and told the gentleman that my wife said what he ordered looked really good and we wanted to know what it was. He said the homemade pasta. I then asked “Where are you from?” To which, he replied, “Germany”, “Munich, Germany”. Now that is what I call magic.
I would write more, but I need to work on my magic trick. We are having a group dinner tomorrow and I don’t want to disappoint my audience.
Today we had an early departure from the hotel in Dubrovnik on our way to Split, Croatia. I’m embarrassed to admit I had never heard of this city.
Recently I was talking to a patient about our upcoming trip to Croatia. He asked me “Are you going to split”? I said “No, this is just a vacation. I love my work and plan to work it as long as I can”. When he explained that Split was a city in Croatia and he wasn’t asking if I was planning to retire soon, I had to confess my ignorance. Prior to arriving at Split we stopped at a farm just outside of Dubrovnik where we saw a local olive farmer named Mato Dubelj. Mr. Dubelj taught us how olive oil was made prior to the advent of high tech machinery. In part this involved a horse pulling two huge stone wheels to crush the olives and express the oil. He was extremely affable but his command of English made understanding his presentation a bit challenging. I think I understood most of what he said but some of the details might have been missed. Here’s a picture of Mr. Dubelj with his work-horse Perla.
Mr. Dubelj and his horse, Perla. Perla is on the right.
We then got back on the bus and crossed the border to Bosnia Herzesgovina on our way to the town of Mostar. Unlike yesterday, this border crossing went very smoothly and shortly thereafter we arrived at our destination. There we were given a tour of the market place and shown a museum dedicated to remembering the tragedy of the war that gripped this region in the early 90s. This is when Yugoslavia ceased to exist and the countries we are visiting on this trip came into existence. We saw pictures of the bombed buildings and the rubble left behind.
Then we heard a gentleman named Mustafa talk about life in Mostar during the war. At times it was difficult to listen to what Mustafa was saying and I don’t mean because of his accent or the volume of his voice but rather because of the heartbreaking human tragedies he described.
It must seem like an odd segway but after this sobering talk, we then headed for lunch. I saw this sign on our way.
No dogs, no kissing, no alcohol, no music, no laughing (really? No laughing?), and no bathing suits.
I warned Patrice not to kiss me since it would be breaking the rules. Hard to imagine she could go throughout our visit without a burning desire to kiss me a time or two. As difficult as this would be she will have to suffer since we are not rule breakers (Patrice here: Is this man deluded?)
After lunch we headed back to Croatia and to the city of Split. Today was another hot day so after arriving at the hotel I just wanted to chill (literally) in our room. Soon it was time for dinner. In case I hadn’t mention this before, we are on a Tauck tour. This is our first trip with this company but my mother used them extensively and always spoke highly of their trips. One thing I like about their trip style is the opportunity to meet some other travelers. Tonight we had dinner with Steve and his wife, Karen who are from Boston. Steve is a big Celtic fan so he was immediately put on “friend probation”. I am not sure I can be friends with a Celtic fan. After dinner I told Steve that I have been taking magic lessons and offered to show him a trick. I explained I am new at this. I had him tap a card from the deck but I never showed it to him making it impossible for him to know if I found the correct card. Like I said, I am just learning. So I tried it again and this time it worked perfectly. Steve seemed very impressed and wanted to see more tricks. Being a Celtic fan is no longer a problem.
Not sure what is on the agenda for tomorrow but I sure hope it is cooler.
Recently my days have been very busy trying to raise money for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. The Take Steps Walk was this past Sunday, June 2nd and the Team Reiss team members came through again. As of now they have raised about $115,000 with more still coming in. This is the most the team has ever raised and put us in a great position to next year bring the grand total to over $1,000,000. Our family, and millions of other sufferers, thank you. If you are interested in joining Team Reiss and making a donation, it is not too late. Here is the link.
Join me in helping end Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis
Here I am with my team co-captain, Patrice, at the walk sporting our Team Reiss sweatshirts (thank you Fayla for turning us on to the website where we bought them)
With the Take Steps Walk behind us, Patrice and I could get back to traveling. We are now on our way to Croatia. You might be asking why Croatia and I have to admit it was not our first choice. Originally we planned to go to Norway and Sweden. The agent we contacted told us that the trip would be expensive because Scandinavia was much in demand with the lessening of travel restrictions enacted during the Covid pandemic. Even that didn’t prepare us for the quote of $52,000 for a 2 week trip. Apparently they didn’t realize we just planned to visit the countries. We didn’t plan to buy them.
So it’s off to Croatia we are. Our travel company recommended we arrive at the airport 3 hours early for this international flight. That seemed a bit excessive but Patrice suggested we even add another 30 minutes and leave 3 and a half hours before departure. I told her “No way, I’m the man and I decide when we will leave”. So we had our bags packed this morning and ready to head to the airport 3 AND ONE HALF hours prior to departure. Patrice can be very scary at times so I do what I am told.
Turns out it was good we got an early start because the taxi was 10 minutes late. I prefer a cab over Uber because they typically arrive early and know where they are going. This driver was the exception, plus he didn’t help with our luggage and was on the phone the entire trip to the airport. That wouldn’t have been so bad if he seemed to know where he was going. We passed terminal 3 and we were still in the far left lane as we approached the Bradley International Terminal. Getting over to the right was an adventure in that we almost got hit by two different cars. I don’t want to be melodramatic but, is about 8 inches from another car equivalent to almost getting hit?
Once we arrived at the airport TSA security was also an adventure. Prior to going through TSA security we needed to walk past what I assume was a bomb-sniffing dog. We finally made it through security and after a short rest in the lounge we were ready to board.
Our flight was on Lufthansa. Did you see the recent Lufthansa landing at LAX? If not, here’s the link.
Not exactly what you want to see before boarding a Lufthansa flight
With that in mind I was a bit nervous about the flight. One of my patients, Barbara, works for Lufthansa and I told her that the video made me very uneasy about the flight. Barbara reassured me and even contacted the flight purser, Vera, who welcomed us on the plane and assured us that our pilot was very capable.
The flight was very smooth with a rare episode of mild turbulence. I did have a problem getting the headphones out because they were stuck under the remote control. I tried everything I could think of to free the cord. I then asked the flight attendant who couldn’t possibly weigh more than 110 lbs (oops I forgot we are heading to Europe, I meant 50 kg) and she popped it out like it was a child’s toy. Oh well, bullied by my wife this morning, now shown up for my weakness by a flight attendant, this trip is off to a great start.
Next it was time for some food. The very sweet flight attendant offered me for a starter seared ahi (no, I like my food cooked), vegetarian (maybe), or veal. When I heard that veal was being offered I jumped at it. I remembered back in 1990 when I was a doctor for the PAC 10 all star basketball team tour of Germany. We were greeted in a variety of cities and almost every night my pregnant wife and I were treated to veal. We were told they wanted us to experience an authentic German meal. So I told the flight attendant that I’d have the veal, “It’s traditionally German, no?” She replied “No, it’s a baby calf”.
Landing in Frankfurt was smooth and we headed to the lounge because we had a 5 hour layover until our next flight. Patrice was able to get some sleep on the plane. She is my idol when it comes to being able to sleep. I, on the other hand, am a horrible sleeper. I was exhausted getting off the plane and was happy to see that the lounge had a sleep area. I headed there and found 1 of the 4 “beds” available. I made myself as comfy as possible and did manage to get about 30 minutes of sleep. There were 3 women in the other cots. One was snoring and another was coughing. It is amazing I got any sleep but what I did get gave me some renewed energy.
We then had a short flight from Frankfurt to Dubrovnik. The plane was not full and both of us had our own row. See below.
Patrice enjoying her own row.And across the way, I had my own row.
The Dubronik airport had very few passengers when we arrived. Getting through customs was a breeze and at baggage claim I only saw people from our flight and our bags came out very quickly.
Recently we have had some problems with our guides meeting us at the airport. That was not the case today. We quickly found the guide with a Tauck Tour sign, met a few of our fellow travelers and then had a very comfortable bus ride to the hotel. The scenery on the way to the hotel was gorgeous. We are looking forward to starting the tour tomorrow. I hope you will join us for the ride.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 