Come Rain or Shine

Recently, my aunt Sara commented on our blog and asked "How is the weather?" What a good question!! Weather has been playing a big role in our travels for the last few days. We had a couple of drizzley days, and then... a couple of serious downpour days! It rained really really really hard for two days. The first day, we made the most of it and drove to Montenegro... it was a warm and dry way to see some new territory and we bought ourselves a great umbrella in Kotor. The following day, our plan was to take a speedy boat out to a remote island called Mljet, which is a national park. However, we were awoken at about 6 am by the loudest clap of thunder ever heard, accompanied by torrential rain. This continued, on and off for the entire day. We were a bit stupefied as to how to work with it... and ended up just kicking around Dubrovnik, getting absolutely soaked to the bone. One can only hide in the doorway of a caffe jam-packed with tourists for so long before going nuts! So we just decided to embrace the situation, and headed out into the torrent with our hearty umbrella. It was very fun and very, very wet. There was constant thunder and lightning... and so much rain that the streets of Dubrovnik literally turned into rivers. It was quite a sight to see, and quite a thing to experience! Dubrovnik has many long steep staircases, which became amazing cascades of water, like the most glorious natural waterfalls. The main street at the bottom of all these stairs filled with a few inches of rushing water - so much water I couldn't believe it!

We have great pictures... but the connection here doesn't seem to be good enough to get them online. We'll try again soon!

And then!
A turn for the better! We had planned our trip such that during second half of our time in Croatia we would be travelling up the beautiful Dalmatian coast... swimming in the sea and generally enjoying a laid-back mediterranean vibe. This is harder to enjoy in the pouring rain! So you can imagine our joy that the weather finally remembered that summer isn't quite over yet and came back out to help us all dry up. Hoorah!

Yesterday was mostly sunny, and we celebrating by spending the day on the island of Korčula and the penisula of Pelješac... both beautiful places filled with amazing pebble beaches, crystaline acqua water, coves, tiny harbors, fishing nets... it's so beautiful and quiet. We are especially grateful for this calm and peace after all the busses and crowds and busy-ness of Dubrovnik.

Today was Really sunny, and we were so grateful! We drove a bit north today, and now we are hunkered down in the seaside town of Brela. We arrived late in the afternoon, because we kept stopping and swimming everytime we saw a nice looking beach. We couldn't stop ourselves! The water is just so clear you couldn't believe it. There are loads of fish in the water, and so we bought snorkels to watch them. I am not gifted in the art of snorkeling, but am slowly improving. Musty is crazy for snorkeling and can't get enough. Another nice thing about the beaches here is the special Euro-flair. The beaches are full of chubby Germans in their 70's wearing bikinis and speedos... ha! It's quite delightful. Beaches have excellent little changing stations so that you can change into and out of your suit - I think I'll suggest this to the city of Santa Cruz, it's very convenient and civilized. The Adriatic Sea is very salty, so you don't have to work very hard to stay afloat. That's really fun! A few lazy wiggles of your arms is enough to stay up. Also, when we get out, we are covered in salt! Really! My hair practically turns grey from all salt turning it white. It's amazing.

Tonight we are at a cute little internet post in Brela... just two computers, facing out toward the ocean. The air is cool, but not cold. The doors are wide open and outside people are enjoying their coffees and cigarettes... and someone is playing the accordian. It's so picturesque and great. Brela is a long skinny coastal town, and you can walk up and down the whole thing. Our plan for tomorrow is to wake up early, slather on the sunscreen, and get into the water! Swim a little... walk a little... drink some water... swim a little... walk a little further... you get the idea. After a few days of being cold and wet, we are looking forward to being hot and wet!