croatian dalmatian

a queen in her castle

streets of dubrovnik

laurel says:


dubrovnik is one of the most charming towns we have been to.  white washed stone houses, bright orange tiled roofs surrounded by 16th century fortress walls, all set against the piercing cobalt adriatic sea.  it is a stunning site to behold and when my parents and sister visited here many years ago, i am sure they had the place nearly all to themselves.  since then tourism in croatia has exploded- which is rather remarkable considering they have only been a peaceful country since 1995- and it is now a major stop on many a cruise ship route.  our first day in town there were 4 gargantuon cruise ships in the harbor, flooding the town of 30k with about 10k additional bodies.  the impact of mass tourism can't help but take away from the town's charm, particularly when the tour guides use megaphones to herd their guests.  from dubrovnik we headed up the beautiful dalmatain coast to the seaside town of split and it's famous island neighbor, hvar.  the sea is absolutely unforgettable with crystal clear waters lapping the rugged coastline.  however, most of the beaches are quite rocky and there is no surf whatsoever.  all told we had a solid time here, but croatia is no longer the 'undiscovered' gem that it was once.

split

the only costa ship still afloat- and it's parked in dubrovnik

churches of dubrovnik

dubrovnik skyline

looking out over dubrovnik

walking the city walls

emil says:

good food and a vibrant congenial attitude by the populace are maybe not necessities for a country to be a great destination, but they help, and croatia sports neither. as the crow flies croatia is approximately 250 miles from italy but the difference in food quality makes it feel like it is on the far side of the moon (dehydrated nasa space food would be an improvement). and the people are seemingly made of a bristly ex-communist tough-guy-in-your-face substance that makes even putin seem huggable.  dubrovnik however, with its charming castle-esque old walled town and brilliant orange tiled roofs, is a beautifully unique spot straight out of the proverbial fairy tale.  but it is visitable in a day, which is also a problem because if a charming town is located on the water and is a good one day trip than behold/enter the mother of all evils "monster cruise ships". the fastest way to destroy quaint and charming is with a cruise ship of 4000 people arriving hourly. that said, the hundreds of miles of rugged coast is seriously stunning and the country is teeming with little uninhabited islands (1150 in total) and microscopic fishing villages that seem to go unvisited and undisturbed. miles and miles of rocky beaches with not a boat or living soul to be seen. so bring your own food, your own friends, and don't come during cruise ship season and this place is a gem.

guarding dubrovnik

the adriatic sea

hvar harbour

hvar town

ragazzi italia

tony bennett looking dapper in capri

  

lake como

venice parking lot

too bad these things cost 80 euros for 20 minutes!

firenze's finest

emil says:
ban enormous cruise ships and italy might just become the best destination around.  but watching four carnival cruise ship monstrosities descend on venice like a pack of locusts within a span of 15 minutes and it's hard to feel the amore.  i swear italy is everyone's 'first vacation' with bright hawaiian shirts and gilligan hats for all to enjoy. that said we were ecstatic to see several of our friends here, and food & friends are what this country is about.  great to see my buddy rock klinefelter from amherst (the h is silent) who lives near venice. just awesome to see rick and eryn & amy and paul who let us crash at their villa in tuscany for several glorious wine-infused days. and fabulous to hang with cayman and vanessa down on the amalfi coast in capri, and thanks too to tony bennett for joining us for lunch.  it's really not about the number of tourists that stress me out in italy, but rather the 'ratio' of tourists to locals. venice and florence are not big towns and they are blanketed by tourists of all kinds. it's difficult to get near the duomo in florence.  h&m, zara, mcdonalds too have managed to squeeze out many locally owned smaller boutiques (clearly a global trend), killing a lot of the local flavor (clearly a global trend).  but enough about the negative...the food is just disgustingly amazing. my tee-shirts and jeans feel like they have shrunk numerous sizes. the pizza in napoli is from another stratosphere- i don't care what hip new pizza spot in sf opened by some dbag with an imported oven from italy. the vina de la casa for $8 a liter is plentiful, unpretencious and plentiful. the handmade pasta dishes are like ambrosia from the heavens, replicated perhaps at campagnolo in nyc but at 10x the price and with 20x the attitude. love me some italy, but has to be done with friends and in smaller cities with fewer my-first-vaction.com members.

the ponte vecchio

the duomo

sippin a spritz in capri

where's wolmut in pompeii

the last bite of real napolitano pizza in naples

the real bellagio...waayyy better than vegas

venetian traffic

the grand canal

girlfriends in tuscany

laurel says:
oh italy, how do i love thee?  let me count the ways.... honestly if italy was not a significant threat to me fitting into my j brand jeans, i may just consider moving here.  this trip to italy was especially bene because we were able to meet up with so many of our dear friends throughout the country.  after a few blissful days living la dolce vita in belagio on lake como (side note- no george clooney sightings were had.  sad face.), we caught up with emil's college buddy rock and his lovely girlfriend in venice.  though sadly, i must report that both venice and florence have been absolutely taken over by mass tourism.  unless you want to hang with folks fresh off a cruise ship and/or blindly following an umbrella holding tour guide, i suggest you steer clear.  our next stop was tuscany where we got to live out our 'under the tuscan sun' fantasies by staying in a gorgeous villa courtesy of our good friends rick and eryn and new friends amy and paul. many a glass of wine were had at our sprawling wine country estate.  so much so, that i was barely able to attend our wine tasting in adoreable multipuciano the next day.  thankfully, we discovered that consuming massive amounts of handmade truflled pecorino cheese is a sure fire hangover cure (who knew?).  huge grazie to our friends for inviting us to their stunning vacation home, it was an absolute treat!  from tuscany we mozied over to the amalfi coast to meet up with our buddies cayman and vanessa in positano.  i absolutely loved this sparkling seaside gem. the highlight of our time here was our day trip to capri where we happened to be lunching in the company of mr. tony bennett.  of course we could not resist a photo op!  our last stop in italy was a quick trip to pompeii followed by a delicious napolitano pizza at the original pizzeria in naples- also known as the place that compelled julia roberts' character in 'eat, pray, love' to buy fat girl jeans.  noted.  which returns me to point #1 about moving to italy.  ciao!

wine tasting with friends

the boys

amalfi coast

gorge positano

pompeii with mt. vesuvius

sunset in capri

swiss cheese

the matterhorn above zermatt

best crédit suisse office around

zurich

old bridges of lucerne

our fellow hikers

these cows live better than most of our citizens

they love their ricola (matterhorn in background)

zermatt cemetary

st. moritz lake

surfing the river in bern

overlooking bern

laurel says:

switzerland is like a little utopia.  perfect villages in perfect mountains surrounded by perfect lakes with perfect trains to get you around and perfect people that speak 5 languages, perfectly of course.  sometimes the perfection is overwhelming and you want to see a tiny flaw.  but from what i could tell, this is a country with few imperfections.  the only drawback, is that the beauty comes with a price.  it is by far the most expensive spot we have been yet.  it even broke us down to the point where we stayed in a hostel- the first one in our 9 month journey (and hopefully the last!)  once we got over the sticker shock, we bought a swiss rail pass and used it to bounce around from one gorgeous place to the next.  we started in bern, the capital "city" population 125k.  from there we headed to zurich- a place that has been voted top city in the world for quality of life 7 years running.  and it was easy to see why.  a beautiful city on the banks of a river surrounded by mountain scenery with a cool restaurant scene.  emil was about ready to apply for a job at credit suisse hq.  from there we bounced to lucerne, our fave stop of the trip.  stunning beauty and one of the best museums i have ever laid eye on- the fantastic sammlung rossengart which features the private collection of one of picasso's dear friends.  from lucerne we took the scenic golden pass train to interlaken for some great hiking.  next stop was zermatt, another highlight of the trip. there we spent a couple days hiking in the shadow of the majestic matterhorn and enjoying the down to earth vibe of the 365 day a year ski town.  a trip on the incredible glacier express train brought us to st. moritz for our swiss finale.  this town was a little too aspen like, but beautiful nontheless.  switzerland is an absolute gem of a country and barring antarctica, is the most beautiful place we have been to.  a visit here is an absolute must, just make sure you don't eat your weight in cheese like i did.

lucerne

training thru switzerland

hiking interlaken

emil says:


things i knew about switzerland prior to the trip...the good:  cheese, chocolate, and watches;  ....the bad:  history (who can honestly be neutral during ww2 when you are in the heart of it add to which not allowing many thousands of jewish people to cross the border from germany) and bad hot chocolate (swiss miss hot cocao contains partially hydrongenated oils...now why is that necessary?). the people of switzerland are a bit on the dry and stoic side but nevertheless besides antarctica this is the most physically beautiful place i have ever laid eyes upon. 70% of the country is just ripling with mountains. it's severely and beautifully underpopulated. most of the cities are located on at least one river or one lake and some like interlaken or zurich are just surrounded by presitne waters. each city and town is truly physically mesmerizing.  the train system is like no other.  when a train is 2 minutes behind schedule it is deemed 'delayed' on the giant departures board (the long island rail road isn't deemed late for 2 days). lucerne is home to one of the top museums on the trip (including those in paris). zermatt is what all skiiers wish their home ski hill looked like.  no big lodges, no giant condos dotting the landscape. just b&b's all over and quaint family run spots making bratwurst and pouring cold shneider-weisse, and year-round glacier skiing to boot.  (also home to the most picture-esque credit suisse office on the planet.  al alperin, you gotta upgrade).  the 8 hour train ride from zermatt to st moritz winds through mountain pass after mountain pass that really is too beautiful to attempt description. besides turkey and sri lanka, switzerland has been the best surprise of the trip.

ski house in zermatt

condo free ski town of zermatt

matterhorn at dusk

emil getting artistic

the glacier express

st. moritz