Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik, Croatia

After dealing with the hotel issues the first night, Dubrovnik was like a dream. Everything was so beautiful. The first day Dad and I walked around the Old Town and checked out as many indoor sights as we could since it rained the majority of the day. For lunch we split a delicious pizza, drank some wine, and had some Tums for dessert. (Frequent heartburn is another one of the fantastic things my father and I have in common besides our unique singing style.) By the third day the rain was finally gone and we took a gondola ride up to the top of a mountain and stepped out to an most amazing view of the entire city. The last two days of our stay in Dubrovnik we drove further out of the Old Town and found a hotel right on the coast. We were also fortunate enough to get upgraded to an awesome room with a view of the water. It even had a pull-out couch apart from the bedroom and a door that closed between the two. If you ever slept at my parent's house, you would know that my father sounds like a motorcycle circling your head during the night. Shockingly (and very thankfully) I did not inherit my father's snoring. I can deal with the singing and the heartburn, but I'm almost positive no one would be able to handle a woman that sounded like that at night. Needless to say, the door was a huge plus.

My favorite part of the trip was the time we spent on the coast. I walked down to the water early in the morning and got prime seating on top of one of the huge rocks. My friend had given me the new Long Island Medium book, There's More To Life Than This before I left the U.S. and I sat outside all day reading it in the sun. Going from winter hats, snow, and the view of mountains to bathing suits, sun, and the view of the ocean was quite a nice and welcoming change. I sat on that rock for hours pretending I was enjoying the view and some good reading with my mom. When I was little she would always tell me the best way to take a picture was with your eyes and your memory. That way no matter where you were you could always close your eyes and still see that picture you took. So every so often I would look over at the chair on my left, close my eyes and she would be sitting quietly next to me reading her book in her green and blue floral one-piece.

My seat in heaven for the day:

 The view:

Found it necessary to match my toes with the ocean:

View from the top of the mountain on the water side:

and then the non-water side:

What it looked like out the window at our first hotel:

Our first night out on the town:

View from the gondola:

View from the second hotel with the super fantastic upgraded views:

*Please note all the photographs on this blog are from my outdated, cracked, beaten up iPhone so excuse the quality.

Road Trip to Croatia

When we weren't sipping an Aperol spritz, or napping between meals, Dad and I were driving. We drove a lot. A lot. After leaving the rally we had to drive our friends the four hours back to Munich to the airport, and then turn back around and head south to Croatia. The drive from Munich to Croatia took roughly two days. Naturally we had to stop numerous times so Dad could nap and I could refill on Milka bars and Fantas. I justified the disgusting amount of soda I consumed with the fact that they do not use high fructose corn syrup (poison) in European soda.

I learned a lot during those hours of being in a confined space with my father. 

1. The radio stations really don't offer much when you are in a car for that many hours straight. Except for the Macklemore song, "And We Danced."  I really enjoyed that song, even though it shockingly only played twice in the two full days we spent driving down to Croatia. Every other song on the radio played about 156 times.

2. I get all of my singing talents from my father. I noticed this when I would attempt to fall asleep and a song he liked would come on. He never knew the lyrics, maybe just one or two lines, but he would sing the entire song. Actual words would be replaced with 'boop beep bop da doo's' and pitch would be replaced with squeals or low octaves. It was like listening to myself sing a song. 

3a. If you attempt to eat Milka bars in the car when you are tired and then fall asleep you will wake up with melted chocolate all over your black jeans. It will not look good. 

3b. If you think this will not happen when wearing floral leggings the next day, you are still wrong. It appears that it doesn't matter what color pants you wear, you will look like you soiled yourself if you try eating candy when falling asleep.

At the end of the first full day of driving we pulled into a sweet little town in Slovenia, just north of Croatia. We went into the first few places we found to stay and had no luck finding a room. Finally after another 20 minutes of driving we found an amazing little hotel on the top of a mountain a few miles out of town. The place was adorable and after putting our bags in our room we had an amazing dinner. The next morning we woke up and I walked around the vineyards taking photos before we got back into the car for Day Two of driving. We arrived into Croatia pretty late that evening just as it was getting dark. I had looked up apartment rentals before we left the U.S. and thought I had come across a real gem. However, it was not. I spent about a half hour searching for the place alone in the dark because Dad had to stay in the car as their were no parking spots. I finally found a few people who attempted to help me. The sweetest nun came over to help me but I quickly realized she spoke no English. I could tell she was trying to help as much as she could but we didn't get too far. Once I finally found the location I realized quickly why it was so cheap and Dad and I checked into a hotel instead. I felt pretty defeated, but the rest of the time spent in Croatia definitely made up for it. 

Luckily for me they have entertainment at some of the rest stops in Europe. (Dad liked to stop at almost every one for a nap.) This had me occupied for a good 15 minutes. For the record this is not easy to do this in sneaker heels.

View of the sunset as we entered into Slovenia. 

 View in the morning from our hotel room:

A beautiful church we passed by on our way out of town: 

More entertainment at the rest stop in Austria: 

Lunch on the river. (Notice adorable chapel behind my head) 

South Tyrol, Italy

South Tyrol, Italy

The 8th Eggentaler Herbst Classic Car Rally 

I'm not really sure where to begin explaining this part of the trip. How do you explain a German car rally to someone who has never gone? It's almost impossible. However, I feel pretty passionate about the word impossible. In that I passionately don't like it. It's like that quote, "It is what it is." I get that it can make sense sometimes, and I get some things really are...what they are...but I really dislike that quote. I mean think about it, it's a ridiculous saying.

Getting back to the point, a German car rally is extremely difficult to describe. I will begin with explaining that my father has an old car that he keeps over in Europe. (This is normal, no?) It was his first car in high school and after it broke down he put it into storage. A few years later he sent it over to Germany to have the engine fixed and it has been there ever since. My father and I actually actually participated in this same rally last year. (Click here to see that one!) It was his first time driving the car in 40 years and it was probably one of the coolest things I'll ever do in my life.

The rally isn't a race, it's more of a competition of accuracy. Each participant receives a book the first day that maps out the next three days. The first day is just an afternoon ride but the following two begin around 8 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. Once you arrive to the starting line each car (there are around 60 old classic cars) has its' own departure time and you follow the directions in the book that (thankfully) are mostly translated from German into English. Sometimes the signs you are following lead you to a parking lot where you have to go in between cones during a timed test. (These are usually dirt parking lots in the middle of nowhere that you get lost trying to find.) You have to make it between the first two cones in eight seconds, and then the next two in sixteen, and then in exactly one minute and nine seconds through the last one. This is not easy and there are a lot of these kinds of tests throughout the rally. Then you have to drive at exactly 35 kilometers per hour for about 4.3 kilometers. Needless to say there was no cruise control. This is also not easy. In fact, I'd say that nothing is really easy about the rally except the cocktail hour at the end of each day. If we could get points for how many Wodka* tonics we consumed due to stress and anxiety from any of the tested parts of the day I would have gotten us to first place. However, the actual driving during the rally each day that doesn't involve testing is absolutely amazing. You are driving in an old car through the Alps in Northern Italy. I mean, it's pretty damn cool.

The place where the rally participants stay each night is also absolutely stunning. It is overlooking the mountains and has a full spa with a pool, sauna, aroma rooms, and a gym. (I actually made it into the gym for 12 minutes during my stay!) Each morning you serve your own breakfast, which was always chocolate cereal, eggs, a chocolate croissant, and a cappuccino. After finishing breakfast I'd go back and make an entire sandwich that I would wrap up in napkins and keep in my jacket pocket in case I got hungry, which I always did about 45 minutes after breakfast.

While driving through the windy mountain roads of Italy we also got little breaks. Coffee breaks were my favorite. The best one was on top of a mountain. We took a gondola ride to the top where there was a restaurant that served everyone a little cake and coffee. The view was absolutely insane. 10,932 feet above sea level. Insane.

The final day was the best one. We woke up to a few inches of snow so the morning part of the rally was cancelled. I ventured to the spa, and then ate a delicious lunch and prepared for the afternoon drive. You had to prepare for each day because there was a lot of math involved in figuring out exact times for each trip. I never would have predicted in high school how frequently I'd be using that velocity equation. My  dad insisted we put the top down for the final day because it "looked cooler," so despite the snow and arctic breeze, we did. That was our best day. We got the most points out of any other day which of course made the Aperol spritzes and Wodka* tonics taste even more delicious that night. It was the perfect end to the rally.

The next morning we packed up. After wrapping some sandwiches to go, we said goodbye to Dad's 1939 BMW and began our two day drive south to Croatia.

*wodka = vodka in German for those of you who couldn't figure it out. I can not tell you how many times I ordered a vodka tonic and was looked at like I had just spoken Chinese so I figured I'd explain. 



This was the rainbow the first day. It poured all morning and then this came out. Call me Theresa Caputo but I was pretty convinced it was Mom saying hi:

View from the window:

 

Dad standing proud with his baby:

A few of the other cars:

 

Some views from the car:

Driver and copilot shot:

View from our hotel room:

10,932 feet above sea level:

One of the coolest German women I know at the final night rally party: