Opatija, Croatia and Trieste, Italy

After visiting the Predjama Castle in Postojna, Slovenia, Tony and I hopped in the car and drove South to Croatia. We went through customs and got stamps on our passports! Though Croatia is part of the EU, they still use their own currency, the Kuna. It's rough 5 kuna to one USD, maybe even more than that. Compared to the U.S. and Italy, most things were generally cheaper. I think if we hadn't been in a resort town, we would have noticed an even bigger price differential.

The drive between the two cities was an easy one, only about an hour and a half, though I did get a little queasy from the twisting roads. It was a beautiful route, and I was quite happy to be a passenger for it. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty rainy for the drive and our first couple of days in Opatija, but we still made the best of it. Opatija is in the northern crook of the Adriatic Sea, and a popular resort town even though it doesn't seem to be a cruise ship stop. The city is built into the hills and goes right down to the water, and we noticed there are no beaches anywhere! The waterfront is paved, and there is a beautiful sea walk called the lungomare, and there are lounge chairs, canopies, bars, and restaurants all along the water. Swimming access is generally via ladder or diving board!

I captured this kid jumping at the perfect moment; it looks like he's going to capsize the sight-seeing submarine!

Here's Tony deep in thought at our hotel bar:

We stayed at the Grand Adriatic Hotel, and while we enjoyed it, I probably wouldn't really recommend it. It was very nice, but some of the reasons we booked it ended up being not what we expected. For example, use of the pool was free, but towel rentals were 4euro each! Luckily, we packed our own. However, thbe hot tub was not included, and it was about 12euro per person for a four-hour block of time. WHAT?!? We did it once, because the pool was a little bit chilly and the view was amazing, but it would have been nice to have that included with the room or a multi-day pass offered.

One of our goals on this vacation was just to relax and enjoy some downtime. So, in light of that, we got massages! They were fantastic, but that was a very different experience for me, too. Our appointments were for 10am, so being the good military folks we are, we showed up ten minutes early...and the spa area was locked. We hung out in the hallway until they opened the doors, but the lit candles on the floor everywhere weren't nearly as romantic and relaxing when you witness the staff rushing around like crazy to light them.

My massage therapist was named Miri, or Mini, or Mimi. I'm not quite sure; I asked her to repeat her name but my ear still didn't catch it the second time around. I don't think her English was very good, but she was friendly enough. Let's call her Miri. Imagine a James Bond movie where the masseuse is a very tall, beautiful, dark brunette in a double-breasted khaki minidress that looks like a flight attendant could have worn it in 1971. Now imagine that masseuse's twin sister, who is equally beautiful and competent but in a slightly less mesmerizing and sinister way. That was my Miri. :) She was very tanned and her pedicure matched the orange candles around the spa, but I did notice that her toes were wrinkled, which I found odd in someone my age or slightly younger. She also wore a charm anklet that had a purse, a blinged out Michael Jackson-esque glove, a high heel, and what looked oddly like a blinged out Ping Pong paddle. Riddle me that. I dunno, sorry, I spent a lot of time looking at her feet when I wasn't dozing on the table. Oh! And we also got fake little paper slippers and thongs to wear, only my slippers were two very different sizes and the male thong (which Tony did not wear but saved for me to see because he knew I would appreciate the humor) was more like a banana hammock.

Anyway, we did get to enjoy the lungomare and a hike up the cliff, and we ate some very delicious food. I pretty much officially decided I don't like Grappa, but we did come home with a bottle of Croatian Cabernet Sauvignon. Tony tried several of their beers and enjoyed them, and I had one local apple-cranberry cider that was so delicious as to be dangerous. The hotel casino opens every night at 8pm; I played roulette for a few minutes but it was no fun by myself, and Tony went back one night for a Texas Hold 'Em tournament. I guess he was the only English speaker and he got a little annoyed at all the opportunities for folks to re-buy, but apparently when they took a break the hotel/casino provided drinks and an antipasto selection. I gotta say, Europe wins the cured meats and cheeses competition hands down. Our last full day in Opatija we debated taking a fishing charter because the prices were so low, but the weather didn't look very cooperative. We did get some sunshine on our last day though, which was great considering our first meal there we had to move seats because we kept getting rained on and taking sea spray because we were so close to the edge of the canopy. I'm happy for our time together there, but I would like to see some other parts of Croatia.

View from the lungomare:

On our drive back home, we took a quick detour through Trieste, Italy. We specifically went to climb their Vittoria lighthouse, one of the oldest in Europe, but we discovered it is only open on Saturdays. Oh well. We found it, it was beautiful, and the coastal drive from Trieste back to where we live was quite beautiful. We were surprised to see how big and modern-looking Trieste was, but once you get up on the hill it is a lot more rustic. We even saw deer! Oh yes, and we stopped at Ikea on the way home to pick up some more picture frames for our family and friends gallery wall. It's not vacation without Ikea, amiright? Just kidding!