On a bus trip from Ljubljana to Rovinj, nearly a week after our very brief introduction to Croatia, my memories of Zagreb are already fuzzy. We were immediately comfortable in our new and modern apartment (Cylinder) near Jelacic Square and in the heart of the pedestrian only old town. With only one true full day to soak up the sights, we had to meander with purpose.
Within about 1 year of our desired departure date, we began taking a serious look at de-cluttering our home. This was all in the interest of preparing for an eventual move, if necessary. We were still hoping that we might be able to rent our home partially furnished, so that we would not have to store all of our large furniture pieces, but it seemed apparent that some sort of storage was inevitable. We had originally planned on using one of our attic rooms to store ALL personal items (besides the furniture), but due to the tremendous heat upstairs for about 2-3 months of the year (i.e. 115 degrees), we were concerned about potential damage to our belongings. The thought of all our photos melting would be a disaster! We decided to take all documents and small items of value to my parents home in Los Angeles before we left, but had obviously accumulated, much, much more.
I try not to negatively judge cities, and to embody the spirit of Pollyanna, a girl who made a game of finding the good in everything. In some ways, travel has taught me this life lesson more than anything else. However, when I first began traveling, and had a 4 month backpacking adventure in Europe in 1994, I had not yet learned how to maintain an “optimistic” eye. I made lists of not only the best things about my journey, but also the worst (something I try not to dwell on now). Back then, Athens was at the top of the list for my LEAST favorite city, a decision I came to after only one day of visiting. I am embarrassed by my quick judgement, and so thankful to have had the opportunity to revisit and reevaluate this city from a more mature perspective.
The true purpose of our trip to Greece was to join up with our friends, John and Luisa. They were on a month-long honeymoon in Greece (where John’s family is from), and we decided it was the perfect time to crash their holiday! We met up on the island of Paros, where we rented a beautiful house near Piso Livadi, directly across from postcard perfect Logaras Beach, for five nights. As soon as we disembarked from our ferry, we were welcomed with the sight of John and Luisa waving their arms to us from beneath a windmill. They had been gifted a car rental for the duration of our stay, giving us the freedom to repeatedly exclaim “we can go anywhere!”.
Mykonos was not our first choice for a Greek island stop. It has the reputation for being an expensive party island, favored by gay people. We certainly don’t have a problem with either description, but didn’t want to be crashing anyone’s party with two children in tow. However, I ended up finding a $50 flight from Rome to Mykonos, which was less than flying to Athens and then ferrying or flying from there to another island. Although I was the only one of us who had been to Greece before, Mykonos was new to us all, and suddenly made the most sense. Months ago, I started to research places to stay on the island and was truly shocked at the inflated prices. I quickly realized that staying in Mykonos town was not a financial option and eventually settled on a cute hotel with a pool in Kourfos (near Ornos beach) for $150 a night (a deal by Mykonos standards with breakfast included). The place ended up being an ideal stop. Continue Reading…
I have a confession to make. I have never purchased travel insurance before. All of the trips I have made have either been in my youth, too short, or without children, for me to even consider shelling out the funds for protection. Thankfully, I have been lucky, and have not gotten sick, had to cancel travel plans, or have anything of great value, lost or stolen.
As an adult, I am not so foolhardy to believe that I am immune to illness or accidents. Dan had an emergency appendectomy a couple of years ago, that cost us about $10,000 out of pocket WITH medical insurance, and triggered our current life insurance plan. We know how essential it is to be covered for catastrophic events that could not only change the direction of our finances, but also have a devastating impact on our emotional wellbeing. As mentioned in a previous post, keeping our children safe and healthy is of utmost importance.