Beautiful, beautiful Brela

Two days ago we pulled into Brela, a little spot on the Makarska Riviera... looking for a room to rent for the night. We weren't sure how long we'd stay, maybe one or two nights. Well, Brela worked its magic and two nights turned into three! Brela is a sweet little seaside town with 6 kilometers of pebble beaches, sand beaches, and rocky swimming coves. The weather has been great, we found a great little studio apartment with a balcony and a view of the ocean, and Musty found his favorite restaurant of the whole trip. Since arriving, we have walked, swam, sunbathed (with sunscreen of course!), and eaten. That's pretty much it. For two days straight.

Musty and I tend to be pretty active travellers. We like to explore and learn and investigate and see new things. But at this point in the travels, we were needing a break, and anyway, Brela is just such a great spot that we were compelled to sink in and enjoy it for a while.
Here are my toes facing out to sea. Ahh... The water is a bit chilly at first, but its quickly comfortable.

Here I am with a mouthful of tomato... snacking on some veggies. The whole Euro beachgoing scene is fantastically fun, as I've mentioned. Tonight at dinner we met the first Americans here in 3 nights. Mostly there are loads of Germans, lots of Polish and Russian folks, Croatian vacationeers, and quite a few Brits. While I am putting on sunscreen, the Euro bathers are slathering on copious amounts of glistening suntanning oil... gradually becoming darker and darker and darkeer. It's quite a phenomena! There are beach chairs and sun umbrellas for rent, paddle boats for rent... and an occassional jet ski out past the swimming boundaries. But most of all, the folks here just lie around in the sun, getting as tan as they possibly can.
The pebble beaches are actually pretty fun, although it can be a bit tricky getting in and out of the water. Most people wear those funny little water booties. The pebbles are super smooth and round and they sink out from under you with each step... you can spot the locals because they are the only ones walking down the beach without lurching precariously with each step. Musty decided to kick back on a beach chair and amuse himself by tossing pebbles out at sea. ahh, such simple pleasures.

Just a bit more than a week left of our vacation! We could have rushed and squeezed in two more spots, but instead, we let ourself take a vacation from vacationing! Tomorrow we will get up early (that's what we always say!) and set off for a long drive north to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Pretty much everyone says it's amazing and beautiful and very worthwhile.

hope you are all well at home!
love amey and musty