Overlooking the island of Hvar is a fortress built in the 1500s (see placard below). From our hotel, it was only about a 10 minute walk to the base of the hill upon which is sits and then a leisurely 30 minute hike up paved switchbacks to the top. I Read more…
On Monday we put Dubrovnik in our rear view mirror and headed for Hvar, a wonderful Island whose awkward pronunciation is directly proportionate to how beautiful it is. The bus we took, which in retrospect had no rear view mirror, forced us into Bosnia briefly and then back into Croatia. Read more…
Besides waling the city walls we took some time to wander the streets of Dubrovnik. Not surprisingly, there’s something vaguely Venetian about them – or perhaps to my untrained American eye all European cities are equally unlike American cities. They’re old, narrow, exquisitely detailed, and best of all they beg Read more…
After the conference closed we spent our first day walking around Old City Dubrovnik, which is surrounded by some massive walls. If you want more info on them, here’s the wikipedia link. The walk is only a little over a mile, but there’s lots of stairs and backtracking. Here’s a Read more…
In April of 2019, we were lucky enough to have my work bring me to Croatia during Sarah’s spring break – which meant she could keep me company (and plan our trip that follows here). The first few days here were consumed mostly with work that I won’t bore you Read more…
Our final stop before returning to the lovely 120-degree heat of Palm Desert was in San Luis Obispo, a small college town that is very nice but honestly not much for photo ops. I took a picture of this sculpture because I didn’t want to come home empty-handed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Yep, Read more…
Of the 6 or 7 wineries (vineyards?) we’ve been to in Napa, this one is probably our favorite. The setting (a nice big deck with couches) was beautiful, the staff was super friendly and the wine was both tasty and affordable. In truth, it’s perhaps in a tie with Castello Read more…
On our way home, we stopped for a night in Napa for the second time in our young marriage. We began our day at the only duplicated stop (V. Sattui) because their deli is that good. We did some tasting because we were there (and had a 2-for-1 coupon) but Read more…
On the morning of our 3rd wedding anniversary, Sarah and I hiked to Eagle Lake which, outside of Hawaii, has got to be the most beautiful spot I’ve ever been. We had no idea what we were getting into… just saw lots of cars parked by the road and like Read more…
Rather than take you day by day, I’m going to split Lake Tahoe into two posts; one for the time we spent on/near the water and one for the time we spent hiking. This one is about the water. On the first day of the Tahoe leg, the lake was Read more…