Homeward bound

There's nothing better than rocking up to a random town only to fall in love with it and imagine yourself living there. We imagined Ethan playing on the beach with all of his friends after school, jumping in the crystal clear waters and having so much fun. There was an amazing mix of families, old men playing chess and young girls and boys playing football and eating ice cream. 

We stayed at Kastel Novi last night, what we thought was just a little airport town but happened to be one of our favourite places in Croatia.

After spending the morning in the pool at Tucepi, we left around midday for an hour and half drive to Kastel Novi. Ethan (and I) slept pretty much the whole way which was a bonus although we missed out on what terry called some epic views.

After arriving at our accommodation in Kadtel Novi, we went out to explore. The streets are cobbled and the buildings are all squeezed in together with beautiful old stone and window features. The old ladies sit on their porches watching the world go by. This really wasn't a tourist town which we loved. We really got the sense of real Croatia. 

We had our last meal out of lasagna and of course pizza which was delicious and strolled back along the seafront (grabbing an ice cream along the way) to our apartment. 

Another perfect day and ending to our trip. 

So in summary it's been a blast. It was relaxed, adventurous and exploratory. We got to see the main highlights of the country. Travel 8 cities in 9 days. Walked up waterfalls, swam in the turquoise seas, ate in some beautiful restaurants, explored some fascinating towns and watched our boy experience his first adventure. As our lovely friend Margherita would say 'great success!' 

A little bit of luxury to end Ethan's first holiday

We were so excited for today. I booked us a luxury apartment with a pool to finish our trip. I wanted Terry to really see Ethan in action in the swimming pool. It's surprising that swimming pools are actually quite hard to come by in Croatia. I guess primarily because their beaches are so spectacular that they aren't wholly required.

After department Mljet Island on the ferry, we drove up what is called the Maskarska Riveria. It's stunning. Mountains to one side and ocean to the other. We were headed for a small village by the ocean called Tucepi, and we arrived to a beautiful mountainside retreat complete with plush apartment and pool all to ourselves! 

We spent a few hours lazing by the pool, swimming and just admiring the view, and how perfect for those few hours life was. Ethan didn't sleep all afternoon so crashed at 6pm. Luckily we had a balcony so could watch as the sun went down on another day and the sky turn to a thousand stars. 

Trouble with having a baby who goes to sleep at 6, no tv or Internet, is that at 6pm you are pretty much stuck in that one place so we got the cards out and has a championship of rummy. It seems to be he only 2 player card game we know! 

Another fantastic day in paradise.