Today we drive to Split but not before some of us were awakened by a jolt…At first, I thought someone slammed their room door but soon realized it was an earthquake; just like being home! Our drive started out uneventful, clear blue skies and no signs of wild boars crossing the roadways. This would change just as we started to enter one of the longest tunnels in Croatia, we had a few raindrops that would be followed by heavy rain, mudslides and minor flooding. Our driver,Dario, as usual, got us to where we needed to be safe and sound.

Once we arrived in Split, the sun was out and on we went to enjoy the day.

After a few photos and lunch, we met up with our Local Specialist who took us around the historic inner city. We admired the facades of Diocletian’s Palace, which today forms half of the Old Town of Split. We visited the city’s Renaissance and Gothic structures, Jupiter’s Temple, the Peristyle, and the Cathedral.

We have been to Split in the past so it was great to visit once again. I was eager to look at my photos from 2018 to see if any of the same A cappella singers were still in the group. Two of the men in the 2023 photo are in the 2018 photo as well!

Split, Croatia as a whole, is also a great stop for Game of Thrones fans. Our Local Specialists always pointed out where certain scenes took place to the delight of those who followed the show.

After a full day, we headed to our hotel to get ready for a traditional Konoba dinner along the Adriatic coastline where we would savor traditional Dalmatian flavors in a unique stone basement- a ‘konoba’.
Dinner will be a selection of seafood or meats accompanied by Dalmatian wines and typical live music.
And you know what happens when you take this group out, they sing, we sing, they sing we dance!

Did you notice who was missing? The film crew finally had a well deserved day off but it really wasn’t a true day off for them as they were editing footage at the hotel! It’s amazing to watch snippets on the bus of what they have been working on. Mia, Lottie and Kelsey (social media guru) stayed with us all day.

Another perfect day!

Before we reached town, we picked up Danny, our Local Specialist, for the day. Danny is known as “Ricky Martin” in the guiding industry though his singing ability is apparently not comparable. He was passionate and you can tell he is proud of and loves his country. 

This particular day, the van that drives the film crew was ahead of us and yes, they were busy as ever! We also had a quick roadside filming & photo stop for the always on the ready crew!

Once our walking tour ended, we found ourselves sitting in a restaurant trying to decide which of the many great options we should try. After much contemplation, the server suggested we should order the combination tray with a bowl of mussels on the side. I must admit it was a great idea as we enjoyed every bite of it. We were also joined by one of the local cats, who enjoyed every shrimp head I gave her, no photos unfortunately as I was busy peeling shrimp! And no meal would be complete without Gelato!

On our way back to the hotel, we would have a hidden gem stop, a Trafalgar favorite

Before the trip, I read the story behind everyone’s winning photo . I was particularly excited to meet the couple who got engaged during a Trafalgar trip. 
Never did I consider I would be attending the next big step, THE WEDDING DAY. 

Only a few people knew what was going on so we were very surprised when the wedding day was announced on the bus as we headed to dinner. Of course, the always ready camera crew was there!

Cassie and Kristen from the San Diego area have been friends for 28 years. They were the grooms women. Ashlinn got ordained at 7am on June 29 online from the Universal Life Church so she could perform the ceremony. 

We were perfect strangers looking forward to meet on June 24 and by June 29 we were one big family.

The wonderful Trafalgar crew traveling with us helped arrange the perfect celebration and perfect it was. What a memorable day.  
 Simply Beautiful ~ Simply Trafalgar

We head to the Dalmatian coast this morning where we will visit Dubrovnik, Pearl of the Adriatic. En route to Dubrovnik, we will made one more stop in Bosnia to visit see the magnificent Mostar Bridge. Our Local Specialist shared tales of the impressive 16th century bridge over the Neretva River, and the bridge keepers who watched over it in medieval times. Built by Sinan, the great Ottoman architect, the bridge was unfortunately destroyed during the war and has been rebuilt using age-old traditions.

We also watched Denis, a local young artist who creates traditional Bosnian jewelry and copper art; both are dying crafts. Denis has been preserving and reviving these traditional methods in his studio in Old Mostar.

These young men pass a hat around and once they collect €50.00, one of them will jump in the water from the bridge.

In the evening, we embarked on a sunset cruise that took us along the spectacular Dalmatian coast to one of the secluded bays where we enjoyed a delicious local dinner. Unfortunately, we could not see the old city walls due to sea conditions. Nonetheless, it was a spectacular evening.

After a good nights rest, we had a day dedicated to Dubrovnik, where a Local Specialist showed us around this charming city.

Tonight is the night for our Be My Guest experience where you Connect With Locals as you dine on local specialities. For this trip, we will be welcomed at a traditional tavern overlooking the Dubrovnik Hills and meet the Zlatovisce family for a wonderful experience. However, little did we know, we will be in for a great surprise and a first ever on a Trafalgar tour…..there was a wedding…see next post real soon!

Our journey to Sarajevo was unbelievable; the scenery was beautiful, the sky was blue and unless you knew it, you would never know it was a country under siege for four years. I will never associate Sarajevo with any war in the future. Sarajevo is nicknamed the ‘Jerusalem of Europe’ due to its rich religious and multicultural heritage. Although our drive from Croatia to Bosnia was a long one, it was broken up with some very interesting events along the way. We crossed 2 boarders; the first one was to leave Croatia and the second one was to enter Bosnia. At the first stop, all 30 plus of us on the bus had to get off the bus and go to the booth with the border patrol in the middle of the road to get our passport checked. About 500 feet later, we had to give our passports to the Bosnian border patrol and he took off with them while we waited in the bus. We learned how to say a few Croatian words along the way and we even stopped at a gas station for a quick bite and pit stop! We watched a couple short documentaries about Tito and the role Richard Holbrook played in the Dayton Peace Accord. The most special moment for me was when the crew played a video of all the Prizewinners winning entry. All I can think of is how proud my mother would have been seeing her photo on display like that.

After arriving to our hotel, we had a quick shower, got back on the bus and headed out looking forward to a delicious Bosnian meal. Before dinner however, Jay and I were photographed and interviewed in the courtyard of one of the mosques. The camera crew were all over us and people were watching probably wondering who we were. Certainly a memorable trip this will be. As we were enjoying our meal, 3 local musicians serenaded us and started out with a little dancing , it soon poured out to the streets while the camera crew documented the event. We would later learn that we were the first group to start “dancing in the street.” The party would continue on the bus too. I know the music and singing was loud because people on the streets were looking at the bus as we drove by.

After a good night’s sleep, we met up with our Local Specialist, Samra, who was 7 years old during the siege. We walked through the tunnel, which allowed food, war supplies and humanitarian aid to come into the city, and people to get out of the city. Samra and her mother escaped from the exact tunnel and after many days and nights was able to make their was to live with her uncle in the USA till the war ended. We learned about the city’s centuries-old religious history reflected in its beautiful synagogues, mosques, and Orthodox and Catholic churches. After our tour, the Trafalgar crew invited to join them at a local establishment that specialized in one of Bosnia’s favorite dishes, Cevapi and it was truly delicious.

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After a full day, we headed back to our hotel to pack up and prepare for tomorrow’s ride from the Dalmatian Coast to Dubrovnik..another exciting day ahead of us!

Exploring Zagreb June 25th

We started our day by taking a ride on the city tram and then we got on the shortest funicular ride in the world to get to the upper city.

Our first outing as a group was led by Harry, a Local Specialist from Zagreb . He talked about to the city’s rich medieval and religious history. He took us to the majestic cathedral on Kaptol and St. Mark’s Church, with its vividly colored tiled roof. We strolled around the 17 -century Ban Jelačić square and enjoyed the panoramic city views from Strossmayer promenade.  We visited Zagreb’s patron saint at the Stone Gate and wandered through the Old Town and visited the farmers market. 

Since we arrived a couple of days early, we found a nice bench to sit and relax while the rest of the group used their free time to shop!

After our sightseeing, we headed out for a delicious meal of regional specialities with magnificent views of the Croatian countryside. I could not believe how beautiful and green it was, it was simply amazing. After lunch, we visited  Kumrovec village where Josip Broz (Tito) was born.

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And see Zagreb did we!

After breakfast, we packed up and headed out. We knew we were Europe for sure when all the churches we wanted to see were covered in scaffolding….We walked till we dropped in the 39C/102F temperature. We took a break in a little cafe that had a mister then off we went till we came across a beautiful yellow building that turned out to be the Croatian National Theatre. We wandered in and discovered they had tickets available for that night’s opera. Of course had to buy them as they were the best seats in the house, well actually, the second best as the box right above us is apparently where the President would sit when he comes to the opera. We shared our box with a wonderful couple, Ruzica and Robert. She spoke no English but way more than I spoke Croatian, nonetheless, we got on just the same. Her husband, Robert, spoke really good English which he said he learned when he drove a cab!

After the opera, once again , we knew we were in Europe when we walked into a restaurant at 11pm and got served a nice hot meal BUT still no Croatian food! After dinner and to the point my Fitbit couldn’t sync, we took a taxi back to the hotel to dodge the rain at 130am, way past our curfew and slept till 9am.

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Saturday Morning

We had to go back to the city center to check out the Asian Street Food Festival. Once we got our 10,000 steps for the day, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the welcome reception for the official start of our Trafalgar tour.

Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia

Let’s do this!

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Our initial goal was to create a “blog” to share photos and updates of our current trip but once we got started, it morphed into back tracking to trips from years ago! We’ve had so many fun and great memories over the years that we decided to add links to our past adventures. Towards the bottom or last page of certain trips, you will find a link to photo albums on Shutterfly associated with the trip.

We hope this new format works better without filling up your inbox with multiple emails with large photo files!