Croatia: Split

July 1 - 5, 2014

Leaving London was sad, but the blow was definitely softened when we landed in Split to begin a month of summer travel before completing our adventure back in California. There is a big difference between traveling and vacationing and on the spectrum of tourism, we have ridden closer to the former all year long. We agreed from the beginning that Croatia would be different.

Croatia has been on our list since the beginning because it is where Joe's paternal grandfather (and thus last name) came from. We had also heard nothing but glowing reviews of how beautiful it is, especially the beaches.

Requests for Croatia
Joe: Zagreb and Split
Sarah: no travel on my birthday

We picked the Radisson Blu resort in Split because it offered everything we were looking for: ocean views, private beach access, a spa, and multiple restaurants. Even though our official honeymoon was our Scandinavia trip with Manicia last August, this was our chance to take the lay-on-the-beach, room-with-a-balcony vacation that so many couples take to relax after their weddings. We sprung for the ocean-view balcony and were surprised by an upgrade from that to a suite worth twice as much on arrival.

bed looking onto part of the wraparound porch; a huge bathtub in the background

the easiest way to guarantee a smooth morning: Jack and Jill sinks

sunset panorama from the balcony

corner of the balcony

lounging

We spent five days in Split and we are not ashamed to admit that we only actually left the resort property on one of those. It was kind of like being on a cruise: everything we wanted was onboard.

Two full days were spent lounging on the hotel's private section of the beach. Joe was excited to swim in the Adriatic Sea and I was excited to finally get some sun after 10 months of scarves, pants, coats, and boots. The water was warm and unbelievably clear. The beaches were extremely rocky, which sucked, but we could stick to the hotel's platform (which was where the bar was anyway) if we wanted to avoid the rocks.

MA dissertation research, Croatian beach style

I was so excited about getting out in the sun that I (stupidly) ignored Joe's advice to put on sunscreen and ended up burning the entire front of my body. The view was too beautiful and I didn't want to turn over to get my back, so instead I got burned ankles:

When I showed this picture to Alicia she said that the sun was trying to give me a birthday present. I remarked that the sun must hate me. "No," she said, "it was just too enthusiastic about giving you a tan!"

Our evenings were spent eating dinner on the deck with this view:

Afterwards we would take advantage of the darkest sky we've had in ages to watch the stars come out and try to find satellites and constellations.

On Friday, my birthday (and fourth of July), we finally left the cocoon of the resort to explore Split proper. This walled city and sea port welcomes cruise ships while still maintaining its old world charm. We ate as a restaurant called the Chop House for lunch, which was yummy and we would recommend to people visiting the town.

This period of downtime was exactly what Joe and I wanted to ease ourselves out of London and back into the life of nomads for the month of July. This couple's retreat was beautiful and relaxing and perfect. Anyone looking for an alternative to the traditional beach spots in Hawaii and the Caribbean - Go to Split! The Dalmatian coast is gorgeous and the food is delicious. (Bonus: many of the filming locations for Game of Thrones are in Croatia, particularly King's Landing, the House of the Undying, and Marin.)

London: What I'll Miss

We have left Croatia and are now in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Since I don't want my last London posts to overlap too much with our current travel posts, I've gotta get this one out ASAP.

Right about the time I was drafting my post on homesickness, one of Joe's friends asked me what I would miss about London when we return to the States. At the time I grumbled/growled "Nothing. There's nothing here that I can't get better at home." I was, clearly, in no mood. But since then I've been thinking about it and I've come up with some things about my life in London that will change when I return to San Diego.

Stopping at Costa Coffee for a treat after class before I get on the bus going home.
This simple activity became part of an established routine on my two days of class each week. On days when the weather, the darkness, or the distance from home were weighing on me, this stop was something to look forward to. On days when I was feeling excited about living in a big, bustling city, this stop was part of a pattern that proved I had created a new life in London.

Public Transportation
Although I missed having a car occasionally, overall I really enjoyed using public transportation to get around London. The busses especially offer a low-stress way to get from place to place; instead of gripping a steering wheel and anxiously trying to make the most of every traffic light, once I boarded the bus I knew that my travel time was out of my hands and I could just relax. Since I don't really enjoy driving and I'd spent the two years before this commuting almost an hour each way for work, it was a relief to be able to read on my commute or even just take in the view. Busses allowed me to see a lot more of London and get a better idea of the jigsaw puzzle that makes up this elaborate cityscape. Whenever it was reasonable, Joe and I always chose busses over the tube for this reason.

our local bus at our neighborhood stop

busses in Trafalgar Square, Big Ben in the distance

My Abel & Cole delivery/Graze snacks
Having fresh, organic, in-season, local, and healthy food delivered to our door every week was awesome. Our Abel & Cole boxes pushed me to try new things as a cook and Graze gave us healthy snack alternatives to candy and chips. I know we can sign up for a CSA at home and that Graze actually exists in the USA also, but I'll miss the British versions.

Quick and Easy travel to what Americans often call "All over the world!"
London to Dublin takes about an hour and costs about $60. I booked trips to Paris less than a month in advance twice. I booked a two week trip around Spain about three weeks ahead. Flying to Croatia was direct, cheap, and took about 2 hours. If I didn't like the flight times/prices at one airport, there were 3 others to chose from. We travelled to Scotland exclusively by train (Paris and Brussels, too) and it took only a few hours. Oh, and no time change (or really minor ones) means no jetlag on arrival. Priceless.

Downton Abbey & Sherlock
I may have had to watch ALL other television on Hulu, but I got Downton Abbey and Sherlock before all of y'all and it was awesome.

Sherlock pub quiz team, We're Bringing Reichenback

The novelty of actually living in a world-recognized city, among history. (I go to Regent Street for the Apple Store...)
There were definitely moments throughout the year when we'd realize that we were living among history. No, we didn't hang out in central London much and it took until nearly the end of our time in London to actually do the touristy things. But I can't explain what it feels like to make plans with a friend and realize that your commute there means you'll be getting out a London Bridge tube stop or walking across Tower Bridge to meet up. Euston Station (which is what J. K. Rowling was actually picturing when she wrote the King's Cross scenes in Harry Potter) was my tube station for school. We went to Baker Street mostly for the Chipotle. My T.K. Maxx store was in Covent Garden. Oh, and we could see the London Eye from our neighborhood every day. Besides the recognizable names and sites, there is just so much to do and see in this metropolis. When we arrived, it was exciting to sign up for Time Out and the Londonist and try to make plans to do and see as much as we could. The posters on the sides of busses and in the tube were like big signs that said "OPPORTUNITY." I also feel like living in a big city meant that we were more willing to travel further for the things we wanted to do. We both hope that this translates to a willingness to use public transportation (though limited) in San Diego when there are things in downtown that we want to do but write off as being too far to drive.

Apple Store on Regent Street

Charlotte Street, one of our favorite places in London 

Tower Bridge, 9 pm, June 2014

Cider, cider, everywhere
I don't drink beer and I don't always want wine or a cocktail, but I do enjoy cider and for once in my life I could get it pretty much everywhere we went. This made tagging along with Joe when he wanted to drink craft beer much easier. Beer bars are much more likely to have cider than they are to have wine. Remember Cider Tap, the partner to Euston Tap? It was like these twin businesses were designed for Joe and I.

Reading like it's my job (because it's my job)
I may not have enjoyed everything we read for my master's program, but I did enjoy being back in school this year. I miss teaching and am looking forward to getting back to it, but getting to spend a year reading out of my comfort zone has been good. These last few months especially have been fun because I have finally been able to choose my reading based on background and research for my dissertation. Re-read the Hunger Games (twice)? Yes, please. Read the Divergent series and the Matched series and the Handmaid's Tale all as research? I don't mind if I do. Oh and the Giver and Lord of the Flies and a whole bunch of other literature that I enjoy every minute of, because it's my job to do this. It's research. I love it.

Exclusive time with my husband
And finally, the best thing about this year has been the time that Joe and I have had together. Some people thought we were crazy to move abroad during our first year of marriage, but trial by fire has worked for us. Back home we worked opposite schedules and lived in different cities for almost half of the time we were dating; our tiny London flat, flexible schedules, and intense travel have pushed our relationship to a new level. We joke that we've condensed three or four years of marriage into one. I know that going home doesn't mean that this necessarily ends, but the re-introduction of friends and family into our daily lives means that our alone time will be naturally diluted and going back to work means that I won't be able to stay up until 4 am because I want to eat dinner with Joe when he gets home from a closing shift at 2:30. This year has been intense in a lot of ways, but it has also given us the flexibility to spend a lot of time together and I will always be grateful for that. Over and over again throughout the last year we have agreed that this adventure was the right choice for us and we are so, so glad we did it.

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On our last night in London, we had a get-together at BrewDog Camden (our favorite local spot) for one more evening of fun, games, and socializing with all of the wonderful people we met in our 10 months living there. The night was emotional and surreal and we feel incredibly lucky to have spent this year making so many new friendships that we hope will last a lifetime. Since I don't have many pictures to go with the above post about what I'll miss in London, I'll include pictures from our Going Away party too.

with Emily playing games

Jen, Sherwin, Tammela, and Laura (the other side of the table)

with Rebecca

Tammela & Fabian

with Kieran

Tash, Anneste, Nicolo, and Jimmy

Ineta & Nicolo (plus Jimmy)

The Making of Harry Potter

First off: Croatia is amazing. We've been here for 5 days and I can't wait to share pictures.

But first there's a little bit of London business leftover that I want to get on here before too long. We may have left London on July 1, but seeing as we don't have anywhere else to call home just yet, I'm still going to write about London.

One of the last major items on our London List was the Warner Bros studio set tour of the Making of Harry Potter. We dropped several London sights off our priorities in June, but this was non-negotiable. We finally booked our tour on June 16 and we travelled to the studio in Leavesden in this super-touristy converted double-decker:

The studio could have gone only two ways: boring/lame and totally awesome. Unsurprisingly, it was the latter. Now, after ten months of me taking and posting LOTS of pictures of Joe with beers (that all look exactly the same even if they taste totally different), it was Joe's turn to take pictures of me being ridiculously excited about every new set and prop. As we entered the building, I even warned him: I might cry.

The cabinet under the stairs was only in the queue leading into the sets. No, the real tour starts BIG.

The doors to the Great Hall! I don't know what I expected, but I was shocked over and over by how HUGE the sets were and how REAL it all felt. Plus there were all kinds of details that I'd never noticed in the films, like the fact that every one of the torches in the Great Hall is in the form of one of the four house animals and every statue is different.

Two of the house tables were left set for a meal and there were costumes from each house around the room, including Cedric Diggory/Robert Pattinson's Triwizard Tournament uniform, Harry/Daniel Radcliffe's first Gryffindor Robes, and costumes for each of the teachers at the Head Table.

Beyond the Great Hall were several other sets including the boys' dormitory, Gryffindor common room, the kitchen of the Burrow, Hagrid's hut, the Potions dungeon/classroom, and Dumbledore's entire two-story office.

the underside of Harry's invisibility cloak made of green screen
so that it could be graphically enhanced in post production

the entrance to Dumbledore's office; the password is lemon drop

This area also included an abundance of props, including all of the horcruxes, dozens of wands, Molly Weasley's family clock, the doors to the Chamber of Secrets and a few Gringott's vaults, and many paper items. I was struck by the fact that Rita Skeeter's The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore is a real-life paperback book.

Beyond this area is an outdoor space between studios that includes some of the larger sets. The Night Bus, Hogwarts Bridge, and both Privet Drive and the Potter's house from Godric's Hollow are in this area. There is also a stand where you can buy Butter Beer, one of only two locations in the world.

The next section of the tour includes architecture, art, blueprints, and animatronics. The animatronic Buckbeak was moving the entire time.

The last section before the most amazing store I've ever been in was the model of Hogwarts used in wide shots of the school. It was magical.

This year has been fueled by Harry Potter all along. The paper I wrote that gained me entry to UCL was about the series. The Harry Potter conference I attended in Scotland in 2012 made me confident I could handle moving to the UK. Throughout our travels we have collected multi-lingual editions of the series as well as a special British edition. In Edinburgh, we visited the cafe where Rowling wrote much of the first books. It should come as a shock to no one that we were inclined to buy wands or that I proudly sport my Ravenclaw shirt (the House to which I was assigned by the Sorting Hat on Pottermore; Joe is a Gryffindor mostly because I say so).

Charlie and Bert joined the Order of the Phoenix! They also met their idol, Fawkes!

the Elder Wand

The details on the wands were one of our favorite parts of the tour. Every character's wand is totally different - unique in color, shape, design, and even weight. Even Fred and George Weasley, whose wands are sold as a set, have completely different designs. Molly Weasley's is very practical. Narcissa Malfoy's is highly decorative. Sometimes the design is reflective of the character, but sometimes it isn't. For someone like me who loves personalization and detail, this was just one more feature of the films for me to love.

I love this series and the movies that helped bring it to life, so being on the sets was somewhat surreal and overwhelming. Even Joe was impressed with the tour and the authenticity of everything we saw. I didn't cry, but I could have. A big Thank You to my colleagues at Diego Hills who gave us this gift for our wedding last year - it was an amazing day.

Just one more, for the road: