Magical Mljet Island

I'm starting this blog from the small lake at Mljet island. It's emerald green and sparkling in the sunshine. There was no one here when we arrived an hour ago by car ferry but it's starting to build up with others enjoying the surroundings. The lake is so inviting. It calls you in every few minutes to cool you off. Even Ethan loves it. All those swimming lessons were worth it! He absolutely loves the water.

I'm now writing the blog from our balcony in Korzukari on Mljet. It's one of only 4 houses in this little remote village and has stunning views of the ocean and the mainland. It's also fun to see all of the village children jumping into the crystal clear water and laughing at each other splash. What a special island. It kind of feels like Jurassic park, without the dinosaurs of course.

Ethan again was amazing, just took it all in his stride. After getting up at 4am to catch the 7am ferry, we travelled for 20 minutes on the island to the national park. We put him in the carrier to visit the lakes and he loved it. Plodding along with Terry and looking all around. He was fascinated by all of the butterflies and flowers. We took 2 boats trips in the park also and he was giggling away when the wind was in his face. Too cute.

We swam this afternoon again and chilled on the beach, although this particular beach was stony so a little hard on the back, although some do pay a lot of money for hot stones massages! 

Ethan fell asleep at 6pm so after lots of food given to up by our host, and my homemade bruschetta, we just relaxed and watched the sun go down on another successful day in Croatia. 

Dubrovnik in all its glory (and rain!)

Ethan woke up at 6am this morning and I knew that terry had just spent the hour before that trying to keep him from waking up. He seems to get extremely fidgety in the mornings! I decided to take him outside onto the loungers and give him a bottle.

It was so peaceful, just a beautiful warm sunrise, birds tweeting and me and my boy. Bliss. I didn't want it to end.

The hosts at the apartment were amazing. They just loved Ethan so off he went on a garden tour to smell the flowers as we packed up for another day.

The drive down to Dubrovnik was 3 hours. The scenery was out of this world.; mountains, forests and old houses with terracotta roofs. We stopped along route to have a break, let Ethan stretch out and make some necessary local produce purchases. We went into a local shack on the side of the road and picked up some olive oil and lavender honey. Ethan even tried a bit and reached out for more (he's super greedy now). 

You have to travel through Bosnia when going to Dubrovnik. Border patrol just let us straight through the EU exit (guess we have that luxury for just 2 more years :(). We thought it was strange to not have to even show our passports. Some border patrol! The coastline in Bosnia is pretty much the same as Croatia with just a different flag! 

We arrived at our accommodation in Dubrovnik at midday. It was seriously hot now, around 39c so we let Ethan sleep in our air conditioned room. He slept for 3 hours! Luckily we have a beautiful balcony with stunning views! 

It was a good idea to relax in the apartment so he could rest up and get ready for some more adventures! Unfortunately or maybe fortunately the heavens opened and the rain cooled everything down. We saw some epic lightening too! We took the bus into the old town and spent a few hours being spellbound by its beauty. Such wonderful architecture and history flowing through a majestic city. 

Ethan again eyeballed our ice creams so I caved in and gave him chocolate, this was his reaction after I wouldn't give him a fifth lick...

The sunset this evening has been the best yet. Off to bed now as we have a 4.15am wake up call before we are off to a mystery island! 

Plitvice dreams and Sinj relax

This morning, Ethan decided to wake up at 5.30am. At the time I was desperately trying to get him to close his eyes again but he wasn't having any of it and in hindsight he did us a favour.

We arrived to the gates of the national park at 8am and it was still a cool 25c so much better for a hike in the park. We were glad of the bit of cloud in the sky too as we prepare ourselves for a 3 hour hike with the baby Bjorn (definitely not a hike for pushchairs!). 

Once in the park, we were greeted by lush waterfalls everywhere, stunning blue lakes and the sounds of birds and butterflies. It was dreamy. 

Ethan did brilliantly and was fascinated by everything around him and all of the noises of the water and nature. Pleasure to see his little face all inquisitive. 

After walking and taking a boat ride back to the car, we travelled for 2 hours to Sinj, a rural Croatian town which literally has zero tourists for a chill out afternoon and evening. It's so quiet here, just us and a huge garden and balcony overlooking Split. 

We've truly been spoilt with accommodation so far. Ordering in a pizza tonight and having an evening with the doors open, the fresh air coming in and enjoying the time with my little family. Loving it. 

Pag Island on the day we became non Europeans

So as I was mid dream at 3am last night I was awoken to the thought that the UK may have decided where it stands on being part of the EU. Ironically being in bed in Croatia, I watched the next few hours unfold to a victory for the leave campaign. 52% to leave versus 48% to remain. A sad, sad day for us as we class ourselves as Europeans and are proud of it. The thought of coming out of the EU makes us both feel claustrophobic and disappointed that we live in a country that chooses to not integrate but to separate, to want to quit where it could improve. It's shameful and I woke up in tears with the worry of what is to come. Complete financial instability and no future easy movement within Europe for our children.

This made the day start off very slowly. We didn't leave Zadar until the shock wore off around 10am. We had a free day today, in other words I hadn't planned anything so we had a little look on the map and decided the island of Pag looked quite interesting! 

So off we went, Ethan asleep in the car already to Pag. It's one of the largest islands in Croatia accessed by a bridge. We spent the day driving around the island, stopping off for ice cream

And drinks and sneaky dips in the Adriatic Sea. Paradise. 

We ended the day at Pag Town beach where we relaxed before driving up to our accommodation by the Plitvice National Park. We gave Ethan the choice between mine or Terrys ice cream to try. He ended up trying both and decided he liked Terrys the best as he was constantly eyeing it up and moaning when terry had some! So funny! 

We stayed in a beautiful apartment in the Croatian mountains last night near to the national park. It was so peaceful and lush full of gorgeous vegetation. Idyllic way to spend an evening. Ethan and I went to bed early and ended up taking up the whole bed so Terry spent the night in the single. Mumma just loves snuggling with her bubba! 

Finding a beach gem and sea organ in Zadar

We had a unintentional lie in this morning.  It wasn't until 8am that we woke up and started the day. That's pretty late for the three of us these days! The lovely host in Sibenik organised a travel cot so Ethan slept well alone and in return this meant Terry and I could sleep without the constant fridgeting between us. It was blisteringly hot at 9am as we left the apartment, already 36c. We hopped in the car with plans to head on the coastal road to Zadar.

The drive was stunning. Through mountains and we views of the surrounding islands and beaches on either side. Gorgeous. We saw a sign for Pine Beach Eco Resort along the route so decided to take a random detour to see if it was worth a sneaky stop off. We were in luck! The resort offered day passes which gave entry to a beautiful sandy beach with pine forest surrounding it so lots of shade and just perfect for Ethan (and Terry!). You could also use all of the facilities like Kayaking, beach yoga and so on. It's like their version of centre parcs! 

It was ideal so we spent a few hours chilling out and testing out Ethan's beach skills! He was a little dubious of the water at first but soon warmed up and started splashing. Very sweet! 

After making up some baguettes in the car (cheese and marmite of course!) we were back in the road to Zadar to another air bnb apartment. This apartment is fantastic. Everything you need! It's also only 5 minutes to the centre of Zadar. After a little nap we ventured out to explore. 

Zadar is wonderful, just been nominated as European City 2016 and we can see why. It's clean, vibrant and historic, and with some really unique additions such as the amazing sea organ (makes wonderful songs as the waves hit the steps) and a light show. Well worth the visit. 

Ethan's been a trooper yet again. He's amazing. He stayed up until 9pm again watching the world go by as we chilled out and ate pizza in the old town.

Another fantastic day in Croatia.