Ahhhhhh, Brela

Welcome to Brela, Croatia.  We were trying to remember just how many times we've visited here in 3+ years, and our best guess has it at 8 or 9 times.  It's not that we have skipped the rest of the country (been to Dubrovnik twice, the island of Korcula, Paklenica National Park to name a few others), but we always come back here.  Much of Europe has discovered Croatia, but we've been fortunate to typically visit in May and September and miss the crowds.  Brela was introduced to us during our first week in Sarajevo, and we've paid it forward to all of our friends here and anybody lucky to visit us in September or May. 

 This is where we stay, about 70 steps up from the beach, in a large home with apartments owned by Matko Raos.  There are side by side 2 room apartments with a shared patio, typically we share the other apartment with friends, (Hamric's, Stalker's, Spinner's, Starkey's, Falsetti's) come to mind.  Matko has been a great host over the years, and we highly recommend this spot should you be in the mood for a Croatian beach vacation. 

 The view of "our" beach from Monkey Face rock (more on this later).  We imagine the beach has a name, but have fallen into the habit of calling it our beach.  Makto's place is about 2.5 miles from the center of Brela, connected by a wide path ideal for jogging or biking.  If you look real closely between the two trees, you might spot a small beachside bar that we've been known to frequent. 

 Alma relaxing on the beach, photo from south to north.  Clear, clean, warm water.  Gently sloping beach. Talin has honed her swimming skills here, Alma has learned to swim here.  As long as we're here, we will keep coming back.

 This is about as close as Rose gets to actually being in the water.  Talin, on the other hand, rarely spends any time out of the water. 

 The leap from Monkey Face rock.  The girls usually supply a countdown, and then dad jumps.  Notice Talin on the adjacent rock.  She had scrambled up to relieve Jim of his sunglasses.  Jim has lost two pairs jumping off this rock (Rose subsequently recovered one)  We have jumped off this rock on every visit, day and night, various states of clothing.  The depth of the water in the landing area is deeper than it appears.

 Alma posing in the Adriatic.  Spinner boys and Talin in the background.  The water IS this clear. 

 AM view of Monkey Face rock and our beach from the patio.  The day typically starts with a breakfast on the patio, then we hit the beach about 10AM.  Lunch back on the patio, then the afternoon on our beach.  With the exception of bike trips to town for provisions (bread, beer, bananas), we usually do not venture more than 500 yards from our beach. 

 Talin, and a perfect skipping rock.

 Welcome to Pirate Bar and Beach, 500 yards from Makto's place.  This is where we eat dinner, drink suds, and watch the girls play on the beach. 

 View of Pirate Bar from the beach.  The girls eat cevapi (sausage like national dish of Bosnia), Rose experiments with the menu, Jim eats squid (fried and grilled).  A beer or two is also consumed.

 Talin and Alma on Pirate beach.  They play before and after dinner.  Rose and Jim park at the picnic table. 

 View from our table at Pirate Bar looking at the beach.  No idea as to the origins of the "Pirate" name (restaraunt is actually called something else, name does not come to mind though), but we think one of us may have termed the place based on the "plank" visible on the left. 

Had to include the a picture of the tree.  If you google Brela, you are bound to see this image.  More importantly, come visit us, we will take you here.  

Pocitelj

We're back.  Experimented with another blog only to learn many of you were unable to view.  Then, we got lazy.  Missing from this site are our travels to Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic last Christmas, our massive snow storm in Sarajevo this Jan/Feb, a Spring Break trip to the Italian Alps, and many other shorter trips that we should be documenting here. 

So welcome to Pocitelj, a UNESCO World Heritage site, located right here in Bosnia and Herzegovina about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Sarajevo.  Colleagues of ours from work arranged for us to stay at this 15th century fortress this past weekend, once a key strategic site during both medieval and Ottoman times.  It now functions primarily as a tourist spot and an artist colony. 

If you're interested in the history from a Bosnian perspective, check out this link:
http://www.bhtourism.ba/eng/pocitelj.wbsp

Mosque and Watch/Clock tower in the background.  Bell from the Clock tower was melted during WWI to make weapons.   Much of the site was damaged during the Bosnian War, while repairs and rebuilding began in 2000.

 Same structures, eye-level view, and at sunset.

 View of the Citadel from rebuilt defensive wall.

 View of minaret from the building we stayed in. 

Talin and Alma standing near the bottom of Pocitelj.  Talin's prized possession from the trip, a replica dagger that has her swashbuckling all over our house.

Path leading to the Citadel.  As we explored the tower, we discovered it was not "kid" friendly, as one could easily crawl out of any of the windows.  Bosnia has a different standard for access to historical site, the benefit being up close experiences, the downside being a bit of danger from time to time.

View of the site from the Citadel, looking down upon the Neretva River.  The road you see takes us to the Croatian coast, where we will be visiting this upcoming weekend.  

A side trip to Kravice waterfall.  Bosnia's tallest waterfall at 30 meters.  A wedding ceremony on the banks was about to take place just after sunset.

Who could resist a dip in the cold, fresh waters?  The girls and Rose.  To their credit, the girls did walk with Jim to the other side.

We're off to Croatia later this week, look for a new blog soon.