Family Vacation

Summer vacation began for us mid-June when the kids got out of school.  The calendar was already filled up with scheduled visits from family and preparing for our move.  We did not think we would be able to get away as a family this year, but at the last minute we decided the need for rest and concentrated time together as a family before the intense summer was very important and needed to be a priority.  Our last "just us" vacation was four years ago when we went to Paris.

The options were vast to choose from as you can imagine from the Alps to international renown cities to the seaside.  And with so many countries within striking distance it made for a fun search.  In the end, we decided that Croatia provided the perfect atmosphere with quaint villages and cities to visit but nothing that would require intense days of sightseeing and fighting massive crowds.  When we told our families where we were going, everyone's response was the same:  "Croatia?! What's in Croatia?"

Croatia was the former Yugoslavia up until 1991.  It is a country known well to European vacationers, but overlooked by the American traveler.  Croatia's Adriatic Sea contains more than 1,000 islands and in the Croatian part of the Istria Peninsula where we stayed the earth is red in color.  Vineyards, olive groves and lavender fields throughout the region give great resemblance to Tuscany.  In fact, Italian is a minority language in Istria due to their history of Venetian rule and most signs were written in Croatian and Italian, making our travels and communications very easy.  We vacationed during the final days of the use of the Kuna as on July 1, Croatia entered the European Union.

We thoroughly enjoyed our family vacation in Croatia and would return in a heartbeat.  The house we rented had a pool and with the ideal Mediterranean weather the kids spend no less than 3 hours a day swimming.  Little excursions were made throughout our time, but it was so nice to only be gone for a few hours or half a day.  It was hot for sure, but with the cool of the stone house, frequent intake of gelato and refreshment of the pool made it was more than bearable, even if we had no AC in our van.  I did a lot of food preparation in advance and brought it with us, so even though I was cooking on vacation it was still very relaxing.

The kids had a blast with their highlights being the cave exploration, climb up the bell tower, aquarium, ice cream and pool.  I could go on but will save my rambling of special memories for a private journal.  I did my best to narrow down the 800+ pictures to give you a glimpse of Croatia and our unforgettable family vacation. Enjoy!