One Last Update From "The Honeymooners"

At last we are home and feeling rested after a busy fourteen days of globe trotting. We saw and did a lot plus had many laughs along the way. We moved around quite a bit but enjoyed five days/nights on Hvar Island to recharge our batteries. Travel in Europe or for that matter any international destination can be a challenge because nothing works like at home. We hope there will be much more traveling in our future as we have much to see, do, and experience together. We promise (each other) to become better packers to lighten our load and make it easier to move around. We have lots of funny stories that involve getting from "here to there". We both managed to get stuck in a train station turnstile (separately) ~ our baggage contributed to this awkward situation. Another time I (Tim) tripped and fell over backwards while wearing my 44 pound backpack. Julianne has a (another) nickname for me ~ "her little Junebug" as this is what I looked like laying on the ground, on my back, legs and arms waving and looking for help to get up.

Here are a few pictures from our last days in Paris. The first picture (from bottom to top) is obviously the Eiffel Tower ~ the unique thing is that the picture is taken from the window of our hotel room. It was a nice sight to see each morning and night. The second photo from the bottom is taken on top of the bell tower at Notre Dame Cathedral. We climbed 400 steps to the top but the view was worth it ~ just us and a few gargoyles. The next three are at the Louvre Art Museum. The first is outside near the pyramid made (more) famous in the movie the Da Vinci Code. The next one is of me (Tim) and some goddess. Finally, there is a picture of PJ getting up close and personal. The last photo is being posted to show who did all of the heavy lifting ~ oh, so typical!

That's it for this adventure ~ we'll let you know where we'll be off to next (and when). By the way, if you don't know this already ~ you can click on any of the photos to see a larger image. I suggest you do that on the one with me hauling the luggage to see just how hard I worked ~ ha!

Farewell to the city of light and love ~

That would be Paris. We apologize for the sparse updates these past few days. We have been in a dead run most of the time to see as much of Paris as possible. We went to the Louvre Museum to visit the Mona Lisa and other great works of art then ventured to the Champs Elysees for some shopping and walked the length of it to the Arc de Triomphe and ascended to the top for a view and a few photos. Before the day/night was over we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower for a moon lit view of the city and were there for the crazy light show that occurs every night. On Saturday we went to Notre Dame for a tour and a hike up 400 steps to the top of the bell tower. Again much walking as it is the best way to see Paris. We ended the day with a fabulous dinner complete with four waiters and too many courses to mention. Finally, we took in the show "Lido" which started at midnight and lasted nearly two hours. The show is famed in Paris and is similar to Las Vegas shows. We were exhausted by the end of the show and limped back to the hotel. We were up early today to pack, have some breakfast, and are heading to the airport in a few minutes. Sorry that we don't have time to put up any pictures from our stay in Paris but will do so either tonight or Monday after we get some rest. Bye from Paris!

On to our last stop which will be. . . .

Okay, we only have a bit of time as it is nearly 7:00 AM Thursday and we are leaving Hvar Island on a catamaran at 7:30 to return to Split, Croatia. We will have some time for a walk about the old town before heading to the airport to fly to. . .

Here are two pics before we go from our visit to the Blue Cave. We traveled about 1.5 hours by BOAT to get here then got into a smaller craft to enter the cave. You need to duck as you pass through the opening to avoid hitting your head on the rock formations. Once inside the view is quite unusual. The cave walls go beneath the surface of the water but not to the ocean floor. The blue lighting occurs at a certain time of day when the sun hits just right and reflects back up into the cave. We also went for a swim in another cave "The Green Cave" which was also very cool.

Okay, we've got to run. You will hear from us again (maybe tomorrow) from our next and last stop.

Hvar, Coatia ~ Our Island in the Sun

When we last updated you we were in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Since then we traveled by rental car up the (most) beautiful Croatian coast to the town of Split. On the way we ventured into Bosnia~Herzegovina to make a pilgrimage to Mejugorje (the site where the Virgin Mary is to have appeared to several school children). The weather was extremely hot that day and we both feared heat stroke from the long, rugged climb to the top of Apparition Hill.

When we arrived in Split we were too late for the Catamaran that would take us to the island of Hvar where we are staying for five days. We hung around Split for a few hours, had a terrible meal, and caught the last ferry of the night ~ finally arriving to the island at 10:30 PM. We took a taxi from the town of Stari Grad to Hvar Town. We are lodging at a small hotel called Villa Nora (www.villanora.eu). When we staggered into the hotel with all of our baggage we felt like celebrities as the owner and his daughter greeted us with hugs and champagne. Everyone in the hotel restaurant applauded us since they had been waiting all day for our arrival. The owners knew we were on our honeymoon and had spread the word. The flowers in the room must have been the "give~away".

Here are a few more pics from the last couple of days. The pics are of us having dinner (complete with Grapa) at the outdoor restaurant "Lucullus" in our hotel. The next is us out and about near the harbor in Hvar Town and the last is a view across the harbor with the old fort in the background.

Tomorrow we are taking a boat excursion to visit the "Blue Cave" and hopefully will have some fantastic photos to share about that. We will also go for a swim in what is known as the green cave. Both are island/rock formations in the Adriatic and are supposed to be two of the most incredible sights in all of Europe. We will also visit the town and beaches of the island Vis. Our excursion includes lunch of grilled tuna, salad, and wine while at sea. Okay we are off to dinner as it is nearly 10:00 PM Monday night. We need to be up early for our boat excursion. We are here through Wednesday night and move on to our last destination Thursday.

Before we go ~ here's a word from The Bride ~ what a wonderful adventure and experience to share with Tim. He has done A LOT of planning for this once in a life time honeymoon. I am so spoiled. Thanks for following along with our travels ~ we miss you!!

P.S. When looking at the raw seafood pic [which doesn't do it justice] I'm wondering how I could have eaten that and live to tell about it........hmmmm, must be love.

Greets from Dubrovnik, Croatia

Being the geography buff [NOT!] I had to look at a map to see where Croatia is compared to Italy.

The train took us to Bari, Italy for one day where Tim lined up a personal tour guide. We toured Castle Monte, a Cathedral, Alberrobella [pic by the water spicket in the village of Truli - stone cottages] and small fishing village before eating lunch of various RAW seafood......hmmmmm, don't need to go back for octopus, sea urchin, nokki, mussels or squid anytime soon - refer to one of the new pics for a small sample.....yum????? We boarded an overnight ferry to cross the Adriadic Sea to Dubrovnik Croatia - absolutely beautiful scenery, weather and friendly residents. Looking into the Adriadic is like looking into a freshly cleaned aquarium. The last two pics from this post come from the balcony of our hotel room (The Dubrovnik Imperial Hilton ~ thanks AGAIN Petey).

We rented a car so not sure where Tim is taking me next. Maybe I should have watched the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles??????

Okay, now it's my turn to get in a word (edge-wise). I have to mention that our glamorous train travel was anything but as it turned out to be an InterCity train. With me as tour guide "extraordinaire" we got onto the wrong car (number 1) and had to navigate through 14 cars while the train was moving (and with our baggage) to get to our couchette (sleeper car) ~ Arrrrrgh! Globe-trotting is not always without a hitch or two. I do know this however, when PJ said "for better or for worse" she must have meant it. We are still together and happy as can be ~ yeah!!!!!

Ciao, for now. We'll be back in a day or two from our next stop.

Ciao from Italia

After a brief stop over in Paris on Sunday morning we boarded a flight to Venice and have been enjoying the sights, food, and canals here. Sunday evening (as exhausted as we were from the long journey) we attended mass at the Basilica, San Marco. We ended the night with two fishbowl sized Mojitos at our hotel's rooftop (Sky Bar) bar overlooking Venice. Our hotel is the Hilton ~ thank you Petey for your help with this.

Here are a few pictures from our stay in Venice. They are of our transport from the airport to the Hilton, our first gondola ride, and hanging out together on the Rialto Bridge. Tonight we board an overnight train to . . .

...but I'm still in shock that we are in Venice! The little sneak made it appear that we were staying in Paris. Funny! I really wonder where we will end up next ~ but loving the adventure. Tim is keeping all the details of our next stop a secret so will need to wait until boarding the train...