Quist World Tour

I just asked the kids what they remembered from today: Andrew got to charge his Nintendo 3DS, Natalie got adventurous and tried a sandwich she didn't think she would like--and she was right, she didn't like it--and Allison liked walking up another bell tower. I really expected Allison's highlight to be petting two cats this morning. This town is kitty heaven; cats roam everywhere, and Allison spots each one. Today we drove to Klis, a nearby town that has a medieval fortress. When we got there, we hiked up the steps to the entrance, where we found it is closed on Mondays. Fortunately for us, a tour group had scheduled a private visit, and the guy at the door let us come in anyway, with a stern warning that we had 45 minutes. Still had to pay, though.  Medeival Low-Flow Toilets  The Venetians reconstructed and added to it, as well as the Austrians. If it weren't for all the reconstruction going on in the fortress, this is the place that children could run around ...

Sleeping in is the greatest. Yes, it has a different meaning when there are 3 kids sleeping in one room, but 8:45 is very nice. We took it easy—a strong wind outside, breakfast, homework, and laundry inside. Eventually we ate some lunch too and ventured out into gale-force winds to explore Split . Last night I mentioned that from what I could tell in the dark, Split wasn’t so appealing. I take it all back. Before making the leap to the city center, we drove down to the beach, which is pebbles instead of sand. All three kids took off their socks and shoes and rolled up their jeans to wade in the blue-green water. The beach yielded an interesting mix of found items--a dried-up starfish, the front half of a plastic rhinocerous, and the plastic part of a hyperdermic needle (where was the metal part? where??) In spite of this array of debris (and it wasn't all like that!), it truly is a beautiful sight looking out over the water to the clay-tiled roofs on the island opposite us. The...

Snow yesterday, sunshine streaming in this morning. After a perfect breakfast--eggs, the European assortment of rolls, ham and cheese, granola, yogurt, mmm mmm, we waddled our way out to the car for the quick drive to Plitvice Lakes National Park. I have to tell you, this is something I've been looking forward to since the day I saw pictures on the park website, and the snow yesterday had me wondering if this was going to be a complete dud stop on our trip. No dud here. This park is gorgeous, and it's perfect for a family who has had a lot of city for a while. Sixteen lakes make their way from a high level of water to a low level of water, cascading and falling through forest and moss covered rocks. So lovely. We spent about 6 hours wandering around lake after lake, following paths constructed of thin wood planks. It felt like a fairyland, or maybe something out of Lord of the Rings . Add to that a boat ride across one of the lakes, numerous opportunities to stop for coffee or...