A Weekend in the Croatian Countryside: Slavonia

A post by the entire family

J.D.:  We entered Slavonia from Hungary by crossing the Drava River.  It was interesting that the Hungarian border patrol seemed to take the border crossing more seriously than other border officials we've encountered.  In this way, the experience was similar to what you might find entering the United States.

Laura:  We chose to stay for a couple of nights in a vineyard in the heart of Slavonia, about 50 kilometers from the Hungarian border.  The vineyard is called Enjingi, which is the last name of the wine maker.

Caroline:  The vineyard is really nice.  There's a pond and up the hill, there are four cats and two dogs!  Down the hill, there are cows and hay.  You'll really like it if you go there!

Caroline: P.S.:  I tried a little wine!

Alison:  As soon as we arrived, I got pretty excited.  Slavonia has grass and everything else I've been looking for for the 5 months we've been here.  There was no WiFi though.  However, the place was a breath of fresh air!  Literally, it smelled great!  The apartment was pretty basic by American standards, but we all really enjoyed it.

Laura:  And the hospitality was, in what we've discovered to be typical Croatian style, fantastic.  As soon as we arrived, Ivo--the wine maker--gave us a tour of his wine cellar, including a taste of many of his wines.  He was so generous to us, and his staff was kind as well (and made great breakfasts).

Caroline and Ivo in Ivo's wine cellar

J.D.:  The days were hot, but when the sun went down, the cool refreshing breeze swept down from the hills.  This made sitting on the balcony incredibly comfortable, especially with a glass of Ivo's wine.

Laura: We got to see beautiful sunsets (we'll post some photos of those on the Sunset Page) on the longest days of the year, and we got the best sleep we'd had in days.  Plus we liked having the entire place to ourselves.  We highly recommend trying Enjingi wines and going to Ivo's vineyard.  And I think I can speak for all four of us when I say that we enjoyed being off the beaten path.

Caroline & Alison; sunset on the vineyard

Laura: On the way home from Slavonia, we stopped at several interesting places, including Jasenovac and Čigoč.

Jasenovac was the site of a World War II concentration camp, set up in 1941 by Croatia's Ustaše government for Serbs, Jews, Roma (gypsies), and Croatian political prisoners.  The buildings are no longer there, but earth mounds mark the camp buildings and hollows mark the graves and extermination sites, and there's an imposing stone flower monument to the victims.  It's a powerful place.  

Stone flower monument in Jasenovac, built in 1966

For more information on this concentration camp, check out this on-line exhibit at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum: http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/jasenovac/frameset.html.

Čigoč, labelled the European Village of the Stork, is a small village with wooden houses.  You can find a stork's nest on nearly ever roof in the village.

Community watch (stork-style) in Čigoč

Check out the stork nest

Hot in the City (of Budapest)

Last week our family spent four nights in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, and two nights in Slavonia, the easternmost region of Croatia.  We really enjoyed both places, though the experiences couldn't have been more different.  (More on Slavonia in a future post.)


Budapest is about a four-and-one-half hour drive from Rijeka.  J.D. and I both think that it may be the prettiest and certainly the grandest city we've seen so far.  The architecture there is a feast for the eyes.  It was fun to just wander around.  

Looking at the Parliament building across the Danube River

Detail of the Matthias Church, in the Buda Hills

Of course, we saw many beautiful churches.  While in Slavonia later in the week, Alison dryly commented, "I think there’s a disease you get when you visit too many different churches."  Fair enough given how many churches we’ve dragged our kids to in the past 5 1/2 months!  But they're works of art, and so we keep dragging them along.  While in Budapest, we checked out a couple of synagogues.  We actually stayed at a place called the "synagogue apartment," and this was the view outside our balcony window.

Nighttime at the Dohany Street Synagogue

This synagogue is the largest in Europe.  On the outside, as you can see, it looks Islamic, and on the inside, it looks like a Byzantine church!  It's stunning on the inside and out.  Sadly though, the place is like a fortress.  You have to go through a metal detector to get inside, and from our vantage point, the place seemed to be guarded by police officers 24 hours a day.  I understand that previous experience has made this kind of surveillance necessary, but it was depressing to witness.

Caroline pretending to be a banker at Mini-City, a great children's museum in Budapest

We also did several more kid-oriented things.  For example, we spent much of one day at a fantastic, huge waterpark called Aquaworld.  It had a wave pool, tons of different slides, various kinds of pools, and this ball that your child can get zipped into and then rolled into the water (yes, I realize that it doesn't sound too smart to shut your kid in plastic and then put her water for 10 minutes, but judging by my daughters' experience, it's very fun!).  Given that it was in the mid-90s, sunny, and humid, we all enjoyed being indoors and in the water that day.  


(Apologies to Billy Idol for the post title.  I liked this song when it came out, had the record album (the what?!), etc.)


Laura

An Announcement!

A post by Alison

Hello! If you don't know already, I'm going to Baska Voda (on the coast of Dalmatia) to meet my very close friend Ana for a week! Her dad is Croatian and they come to their beach house every summer! Can't wait to show photos of the great time!

(Home)School's Out

A post by Alison

Well, the time has come guys.  We’re out of school!  Yep, we’re finally done.  Why do I keep saying this over and over?  I don’t know.  I’m just really relaxed now.  But that doesn’t mean that I was stressed while doing the homeschooling.  It just means that I have much less on my mind now. 

Because I had such a great tutor (thank you, Greta!), I think I had a better year than I would have had otherwise.  I should let you know that my teacher in the States offered to teach me by e-mail and PDFs.  I sometimes wondered if I should have done that and then I would have been doing exactly what my class back in New York did, but at the same time, I might have missed home even more.  To be honest, I don’t know if I made the right decision.  It’s really hard to tell.  Either way I’m happy to be done.

For the most part, homeschooling was pretty hard, though I have to admit that the lessons didn’t take much time (usually a total of two hours a day).  I did like that you didn’t have to do all of your tests in one day, and that if you were really stressed about one problem, you’d get immediate help.  That made school easier (I’m talking about math here).  Because math has always been my hardest subject, it’s the one I focused on a little more.  I pick up the other subjects pretty quickly, so they didn’t take much time, and some of them were even fun.  I think my favorite homeschooling subject was composition.  The best thing about it was that Greta said that it was totally fine not to do composition according to the book’s lesson.  Instead, I’ve been working on writing a book on my iPod Touch.

Since Caroline preferred not to contribute on this post, I’m going to say a little bit about her school year because I was definitely very involved with it.  Sometimes back in the States, Caroline would get a bit stressed about school, but here school didn’t stress her out at all.  I’ll also say that she seemed to do amazingly in all of the subjects.  She did great back at home too, but here she really had the attention just on her which you can’t have in a regular school.  I think she enjoyed the attention, and I believe that Greta enjoyed her too.  Since school has ended, Caroline has been talking about Greta non-stop and about how much she misses her.  Greta also introduced Caroline to a new kind of music that I don’t think Caroline had ever heard before: Korean pop music.  Now we hear Korean pop music in our apartment all the time!  In fact, we’re listening to it right now as she goes to sleep.

Our last day of school (June 15) felt so refreshing.  It was part schoolwork, part graduation, and part just having fun and saying goodbye to Greta.  I had already started my work before Greta came that day, so I would have more time with her.  After maybe 1 ½ hours of school, I was totally ready to rip up some of my work books (especially math!), and so I did.  We donated some of the books that we didn’t write in to Linguae, Caroline’s English program…speaking of which, she ended that the day before our last day of homeschooling.  After totally being done with Calvert School program, we said our goodbyes and took some pictures.  Here they are below.

 

My parents still have some work to do, but they definitely have a lot more time to spend with us and to go on longer trips now.  My Dad is still working on his report that means a lot to his college back in the States.  My Mom’s classes here in Rijeka are done, and now she’s giving exams and getting final papers from her students.  Her students get three chances to take the final exam, so if they fail, they get to keep trying again.  

Hail Rijeka!

We had a very cool rain/ hail storm today.  Check out the video I made from our apartment balcony!

Alison

Dubrovnik Days: Extra: Zagreb Mall...and Soccer Noises

A post by Alison

On our way home from Dubrovnik not only did we stop at Mostar, but we also stopped in Zagreb to drop off Aunt Kathryn to go to the airport.  After we dropped her off, we decided to go for a little while to one of the biggest malls in Zagreb, the Arena Centar.  This is a really nice mall.  It also has WiFi, which is always a big plus.  In fact, for dinner we had Middle Eastern food with WiFi.  Dad kept asking me to get sneakers, which also encouraged Caroline to get some.  After almost 45 minutes of Caroline choosing which "Twinkle Toes" (light-up shoes) to get, I headed down to the Converse store and quickly got a pair of sneakers.

I definitely found a lot of similarities between this mall and American malls.  For instance, this mall had a McDonald's and a KFC!  There were a few differences though.  There were less crowds and less sales (that last thing makes you want to go to American mall).  But I have to admit that back in the States, we have to drive 20 miles to go to a very limited mall.  In Rijeka and if we lived in Zagreb, malls would be a mile away.

I also want to add that as I write this post, Croatia is playing in Euro 2012--Europe's soccer (called football here) championship tournament.  Dad and Mom are watching the soccer game (Croatia vs. Ireland) on TV.  Our balcony door is open, and when Croatia just scored, we heard loud cheering outside along with fireworks, maybe coming from as far away as Opatija.

Dubrovnik Days: Day 3, Leaving and a Side Trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina

On Day 3, we enjoyed a bit more wandering through the Old Town and a great drive overlooking the city on our way out.  Above is a photo of one of the many water fountains which are part of Dubrovnik's medieval water system.  We saw people filling their water bottles in the various fountains.

As we left Dubrovnik, we took a detour into Bosnia-Herzegovina.  We had already gone through a tiny stretch of this country when we drove to Dubrovnik.  In fact, unless you come to Dubrovnik by boat, you must go through a Bosnian town called Neum to get there.  This time though we purposely went through the Bosnian countryside, maybe an hour or so from the Croatian border, to go to a city called Mostar.

Mostar--and the ride through the Bosnian countryside--were unlike what we'd seen so far during our time in the former Yugoslavia.  As we drove through Mostar, we saw buildings with bullet holes, with roofs that were blown off, and with burned-out centers.  All of this occurred during the war in the early 1990s.

When the four of us and my mother-in-law went to Plitvicka Jezera (the largest national park in Croatia), on one of the roads to get there, we had seen buildings riddled with bullet holes and new churches, replacing the ones that had been shelled during the war in the 1990s.  We weren't mentally prepared for that, nor were we ready for what we saw in Mostar.

While in Mostar, we were also struck by the mosques--something we hadn't seen in Croatia or Slovenia.  Croatia is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, while Bosnia-Herzegovina has a real mix of Muslims, Orthodox, and Catholics.  In Mostar, we saw mosques and Catholic churches near one another.

Also striking was a Muslim cemetery in which every gravestone marks the grave of a person who died in 1993, 1994, or 1995.  The rows and rows of gravestones with names and photographs of often young Bosnians, as well as Arabic writing, were very moving.

Stari Most (Old Bridge) in Mostar; note the mosque just behind the bridge on the right side

Perhaps most striking of all--once we read the story about it--was Stari Most (Old Bridge).  As an article in Architecture Week explains, the bridge, built in the 1500s as part of the Ottoman Empire, "not only connected the city physically but, by the 20th century, had come to symbolize the coming together of many nationalities and ethnicities."  The bridge survived until 1993 when Croats shelled it so much that it went crumbling into the Neretva River.  International assistance allowed this important and beautiful bridge to be rebuilt, using local materials, in the early 2000s.

On a much lighter note, here's something that we saw in a touristy shop near the bridge.  It's called "Beautiful Barbie"; I presume it's a knock-off of the real thing.  As you can see, these Barbies are blue-eyed and pale-faced and in a kind of Turkish costume.  I realize that Turks have many different skin and eye colors, but still I found these Barbie knock-offs to have an interesting combination of traits.

Note too that the price is advertised in Euros (€) (though Bosnia is not a member of the European Union), as well as in the Bosnian currency, the Convertible Mark (Konvertibilna Marka, or KM).  While in Mostar, we paid for some things in Euros and some in Kuna (Croatia's currency, abbreviated in Croatia as KN and internationally as HRK).

Laura

Dubrovnik Days: Day 2, Peacocks in Paradise

Another post by Alison and Laura

Alison: On our second day in Dubrovnik, the five of us took a 15 minute boat ride to a nearby island called Lokrum.  On the boat ride, it felt very cool having the wind blowing in my face.  When we first arrived on the island, we saw a lot of people, just like we expected.

Laura:  But once we walked a little way, we quickly got away from the crowd.  It was a welcome departure from the masses in Old Town.  It was kind of hard to believe that we were so close to Dubrovnik.

Alison:  Instead of people, there were peacocks.  I think that peacocks are so pretty and exotic, so I took a lot of pictures of them.

I don't think I've ever seen a peacock before, so it was such a cool experience.  I will say though that the beautiful male peacocks are pretty snobby.  Even the less colorful females were very pretty to look at.

Laura:  While paying attention to the many peacocks, we came upon an outdoor gym with a variety of exercise equipment--and a four-person sea-saw.  And all five of us played there.  J.D. and I think that this kind of outdoor gym would be a great addition to our hometown in the States (though the many months of snow might discourage gym-goers!).

Sisters on a sea-saw 

Alison: I'm sure you know the Dead Sea in Israel.  Well, there is a Dead Sea in Lokrum too.  Actually, not quite a sea and not quite dead either (I saw fish in there).  When we first got there, we kind of had to change into our bathing suits in public.  Since there weren't really many people there, it didn't matter, did it?  After changing and slapping on some sunscreen, we went down to the swimming hole connected to the sea by a little cave.  Mom, what did you think of this?  I thought it was pretty astonishing.

Laura: I agree.  The water and the setting were beautiful.  And you could see peacocks flying--and though I'd seen peacocks before, I'd never seen them fly.  Plus, you could hear them screaming.

Alison:  When I got into the water--which I really didn't do for awhile because it was so cold--I really wanted to climb the rope, which you'll see in the picture below.  It was near the cave, which was connected to the Adriatic Sea.  And you could tell that the water was like 25 feet deep.  The depth of the water dropped extremely fast.  First you were up to about 2 feet, then 5, and then 15.  By the way, almost all of the beaches in Croatia are rocky, so you always need to wear water shoes.  Now time for the rope story.

Alison:  So, as I said, I wanted to climb the rope, or at least swim to it.  Luckily, I am a pretty good swimmer and got there in about 5 minutes.  Unfortunately, my water shoes were from Wal-Mart, which, if you live in America, you will know that sometimes their quality is not the best.  Pretty much that meant that one water shoe kept falling off.  I did not know whether my water shoes floated or not, but when I got to the rope and was trying to climb it, I noticed that my one shoe fell off, so I kind of freaked out because the rocks are very sharp and if, by accident, I stepped on one, I could really cut my foot.  But for the 4 seconds I panicked, my shoe floated to the surface.  The rope was very fun, though a little less enjoyable because of my shoes.

Me climbing the rope; see the cave to the left and my Dad and Caroline to the right

Laura: After swimming, we hiked up to the fort high up on the island.  This fort was built in the 1800s, first by the French during the Napoleonic Wars and then later by the Austrians.  The hike through a forested area, as well as the views of Dubrovnik's Old Town, were lovely.

View of Dubrovnik from the fort

Dubrovnik Days: Day 1, Arriving and Parrots

A post by Alison and Laura

Laura: Last weekend the five of us--including my sister--drove to Dubrovnik, a medieval walled city in the southernmost part of Croatia.  Dubrovnik is probably the most famous place in Croatia; many Mediterranean cruise ships stop there, and people from all over the world have commented on its beauty.  The nineteenth-century poet Lord Byron, for example, called it "the pearl of the Adriatic."  We now understand why.

Alison: Our apartment--which had WiFi (I was happy about that)--was really nice and old.  It was inside the walls of the city.  From our room, Caroline and I had a view of a big church and a cat (the cat was more important, of course).  We got some well-deserved sleep after the long drive and were ready to start our first day in Dubrovnik.

Alison: Since we were already inside the walls, there wasn't that much walking to do to find tons of cool old buildings, cafes, souvenir stands, and...parrots.  Caroline and I were watching these people who had a lot of parrots.  The guy saw that we were interested and put one bird on each of our arms.  

Then gradually the man put more birds--one by one--on Caroline and definitely started attracting a lot of people.  Finally, he took the bird off of me and put it on her.  

Obviously, he was doing this to attract more people because Caroline is six and looked cute with those birds, but as time went on, she was not too pleased about having four or five birds draped around her body.  The man was trying to get people to put money in his bucket.

Laura: As Alison's tale and the photos just showed, there were too many tourists--and too many people trying to make money off of the tourists--in Dubrovnik.  It's been nice living in Croatia NOT in tourist season and going to places off the beaten path.  But our sense is that it's always crowded in Dubrovnik (it's not even high season yet).  It was very strange to hear as much English, not to mention Japanese, Chinese, German, Italian, French, etc., as we did there.  In Rijeka, we almost never hear any English unless it's being spoken to us.

Alison: Yes, there were definitely way too many tourists for me.  Even Rijeka, which is considered "small," drives me nuts with how many people are around.  I'll be happy to go back home where there are no crowds.

Laura: Despite all of the tourists, souvenir stands, etc. in Dubrovnik, the city is nothing short of spectacular.  The Old Town, which was where we stayed, is surrounded by thick medieval walls.  We walked the walls and enjoyed beautiful views of Old Town and the Adriatic Sea.

Looking at the Stradun (Dubrovnik's main promenade) from the city walls

Walking the walls

Alison and Aunt Kathryn on the walls

Another view from the walls

A view of Old Town from a road outside of Dubrovnik

It's hard to tell from these photos, but during the Homeland War in the 1990s, Dubrovnik was bombed over and over again by Yugoslav troops.  You don't really see much evidence of this now, except that many of those orange tiled roofs had to be replaced.

Laura: While Alison kindly did a bit of babysitting in the afternoon, the three adults headed off to a few sites.  We went to a Franciscan monastery, an old pharmacy (700 years old and still in operation!), a 15th century synagogue (the first Jews in Dubrovnik were fleeing the Spanish Inquisition), and a gallery called War Photo Limited.  The gallery showed moving and deeply disturbing photos of the wars in this region in the early to mid-1990s.  One exhibit--on the systematic killing of over 7,000 Muslim men and boys in Bosnia over the course of a few days in 1995, in the worst genocide in Europe since World War II--was especially difficult to view; I eventually left because I couldn't deal with it any more.

Alison: I might want to note that while Mom, Dad, and Aunt Kathryn were gone, Caroline was dancing to her favorite selection of Korean pop music as recommended by Greta (our tutor).

Alison: Come back later for Day 2 of Dubrovnik Days!