Brač

We took a ferry over to the island of Brač which is about an hour by boat from Hvar. We had some friends along for the ride...How...fun...is that?The dolphins hung out with us for a few minutes, jumping and playing just to make us land lovers jealous.

We spent the day on the beach at Zlatni Rat doing typical beach stuff. There was sun and fun and salt water. No sand though. All of the beaches we experienced were rocky, pebbly beaches rather than sand. It makes for crystal clear water but can be a little hard on tender feet.

This is Jelsa (back on Hvar)...where we caught our ferry. They have the best lemon ice cream in all the world.
and a nice city center too.Back in Hvar Town...

we watched the sunset again...
and watched the boats go by...
Then went to find dinnerand watch the people go by
Then off to bed to rest our sunkissed sleepy heads.

Milna

Hvar is not the most easily accessible place. We spent twelve hours driving through Austria and Slovenia before we arrived in Rijeka - to catch our overnight ferry which would drop us finally on the island of Hvar after twelve hours at sea.

The ferry trip was intriguing in and of itself with people camping literally in the hallways, the dining room, the bar area, the landing in every stairwell, any nook or cranny one could fit a sleeping bag. Did not know people did that. I was thankful we had a room...with a bed.

Milna was our first stop from our early morning ferry arrival. We dropped in to say hello to our friends, whose family vacation we officially crashed when we booked this trip. Mike & Laurie have been vacationing on Hvar with their three children - well - since before they had three children. They had arrived 4 or 5 days before we did and seemed to be happy to see us.

Milna is a sleepy little fishing village - quiet, secluded and peaceful.
The kind of place you can get up at 8am for a swim in a sea you have all to yourself.
The kind of place where the day's big tuna catch becomes the local restaurant's evening special,
and you sit with a full belly as you watch the sun do this
and this
and go to bed thinking, "This is going to be a very good week."

Two Years

It was two years ago today that I hopped that plane to Frankfurt. Is it too cliche to say I don't know where the time has gone? Well, I don't.

We've done so much, traveled so much, learned so much, met so many fascinating people.

I think we knew we would learn a lot about the world by moving to another country, another language and culture and lifestyle.

I don't think we anticipated how much we would learn about ourselves and each other. It's incredibly liberating to find that you can be up-rooted and re-planted and not just survive, but thrive.

We're not yet tired of looking at this every day...

...I think we'll stay a little longer.

Lost in Translation

Today is a holiday in Germany. It's important to be aware of these things because all businesses are closed on holidays (a far cry from being able to run to the store Thanksgiving morning for those last minute odds and ends or hitting the mall for Memorial Day sales) and we're simply out of luck if we need anything.

I asked my German neighbor what this particular holiday is for and she told me it is Christi Himmelfahrt - or - as she translated to English - "the day the Jesus Christ drove to the sky".

We have grown accustomed to the use of the word "fahren" for more than just driving a car. In German, you drive your bike, you drive your snow skis, you drive an airplane, etc., etc., etc. Basically the word for drive applies to just about any scenario in which you move regardless of the vehicle - with the exception of your own two feet.

They also put "the" in front when referring to a person by name. So, "Wo ist der Steve?" literally translates "Where is the Steve?" which is always good for a laugh.

So when my neighbor explained to me the reason for the holiday I simply smiled and said "Oh, Ascension Day!"

This is not a day that usually hits my radar of important anniversaries but from now on it will always be, for me, "the day the Jesus Christ drove to the sky".

Egypt Was Amazing

Honestly, Egypt was so much more incredible than I could have imagined. We basically spent eight days staring up in awe at structures older than we can begin to comprehend - listening in awe to our guide who has every fact, figure, person, place or thing that has ever had anything to do with Egypt's vast history stored in his brain ready for recall at any moment. As much as I would love to share it all with you right this second, I can't. It's 70 degrees outside and I have to go play. But we do have the first hundred or so (of many hundreds) pictures up on Flickr. So, I wanted you to know that. Go here...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/steveandjami/

If you can't access our photos, send an email to one of us and we'll get you hooked up.

Davos

We traveled to Davos Switzerland a couple of weekends ago for a little skiing. We thought they might also want us to say a few words at the World Economic Forum but nope, they didn't. We had a big fun time although I think neither of us would put Davos on our list of places we would ski again.

I'm still a little bitter about the part where we were trying to find a certain piste (piste means trail, I had never heard it used until we skied in Europe) and took a certain cat trail that forced us out of our skis and hiking uphill to get where we needed to go. Steve is probably still bitter about carrying my skis during said hike. But it was his idea, I SWEAR, and I have added it to the long list of reasons that I am such a lucky girl. Seriously, I thought I might die out there.

The first two days were frigid and it snowed on us a good part of both days. The 3rd day was sunny but no less frigid.

The sun's in our eyes...that's why we look so weird.
No, really, it's just the sun. That's the only reason.

These folks were out paragliding...and Steve was jealous. Doesn't it look cold up there?

The nice thing about skiing in the Alps is that you can take a nice and easy groomed run but easily get off in the bumpier fluffier stuff but then easily get back on the groomed stuff...so you're never really committed. The not so nice thing about skiing in the Alps is that the trails & maps are poorly marked, so you're never really quite sure where you're headed and you sometimes find yourself popping out of your skis and hiking uphill. Plus, they number the trails, they don't name them. Booorrring.

Steve's embarrassed to be seen with me in my goggles. I don't know why.Fortunately, we hit an end of season sale when we got home and I should have a pair of smaller, less RED goggles for next season. So the ski fashion police can just Back Off.

Morning Moon

Some pretty pictures from this morning...we got a little snow last night...and the moon was still out. Guess the dark winter has some redeeming qualities - like being able to watch the sun rise at 8am.