Our 7th Anniversary

Yesterday we celebrated our 7th anniversary! Due to it being a weeknight and planning on taking a trip later to really celebrate in Venice it was low key. So I decided to try to make a nice dinner/evening of it by starting off with drinking Sekt and celebrating with caviar on crackers. Together, we made one of our favorite curry dishes for dinner.  After dinner we walked to our new favorite cafe where they have an indoor children's play area.  Although it was a bit chilly, we sat outside under the balconies of flowers and white lights with fleece blankets on our laps.  We sat sipping liquors and eating a huge tiramisu.  The children had eis and played in the play area, though they were content to sit outside with us under their cozy blankets too (to our surprise)! Fun was had by all.  Cheers to 7 years!

Probably One of our Favorite Places

Baska, Croatia

View of Baska from hike

Beautiful but windy and cold Baska

Quaint Baska

We will have the seafood platter for two!

OH MY! Baska, Croatia was everything we didn't expect it to be and everything we expected it to be.  We thought we were heading to the beach for one last time to soak up the rays and relax with the kids on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Instead, we arrived to rain, chilling wind, and one quite wild ocean.  We drove through Austria and Slovenia to get there, over one of the largest cement bridges in the world leading us from mainland Croatia to the island of Krk (try pronouncing that!). An island full of charm, ruggedness and intrigue, instead of lying on the beach we found ourselves weaving and wandering in and out of the numerous allies, winding little streets and breathtaking views. And oh the art of masonry in the many man made walls we discovered up on the hilltops! We fell in love with the people, cafe culture historical town, and its bakery. Yes. One.  On the day we left, I don't think we were ready.  Liam wanted an ice cream from one of the many ice cream places (it was just tooo cold for ice cream) I wanted once more to wind in and out of the many little ally ways and take pictures of old windows and doors.  Scarlett wanted to run up and down the little streets with Liam.  And, I think Christopher would have wanted to eat the seafood platter together again at our favorite restaurant. We had such a great time.  Thank you Baska!

At the foothills of the Small Carpathians

Yesterday, we rented a car for the first time (a Scoda--ever heard of it?) and drove to Trencin which is just an hour or so from Bratislava.  Our drive was lovely since we weren't on any sort of timeline.  We drove off the beaten path and actually found a back road lined with wild apple trees (Bonnie!!) which I kept saying, "we have just got to pick some" but, didn't.  We foundour way to Trencin which is known for its amazing castle which towers over the city (and I am sure for many other things too.)  But as tourists, we cozied our way up to the castle through winding cobblestone streets.  Up, up, up.  And when we didn't think there was any more up to go, we went up once more.  The view from atop Trencin castle is amazing.  After winding down at a cafe at the top with a Zlaty (our new favorite beer) and some Zmerzlina (ice cream), we ended our blue sky day adventure in Taravna--a short drive on the way back to Bratislava.  Shockingly, this sleepy little town reminded us of our journeys in Latin America and we just can't place why.  We enjoyed our favorite dinner of some pizza (yes, it is true...and it is just so tasty you would be jealous all of you Charlie pizza eaters!) Taravna's claim to fame is that it is one of Slovakia's oldest cities and it has the most old churches. We just enjoyed the drive there and the fact that the restaurant on the main square had a kiddo play area that the kids enjoyed while we enjoyed ordering our food and waiting for it.  Got to love it.  Now, why hasn't someone thought of that in the States?