July 5th 2009 in croatia, europe, family, food, kaitlyn, michael, shannon, thomas, tyler, vacation
after we packed up our house in zagreb, we were off to otok rab (island rab). this would be our last big bang before leaving croatia altogether.
one tower of nehaj fortress
on our journey, we decided to stop at nehaj fortress above senj. we’ve driven by it often on our way to the coast but had never stopped. i was excited that we finally got to stop. it was really cool both outside and in. there is a lot of history with this fortress and i would recommend stopping if you’re in the neighborhood.
otok rab, village of rab
our apartment was only one off from the sea which we could sea a bit of from our balcony. the balcony had a big table and double swing which were great in the morning and at the end of the day to just relax. the downside was a tiny kitchen and sitting area. no microwave which i neglected to notice in the fine print description. we didn’t spend a LOT of time there though…mostly out sightseeing or swimming.
since we were going to be on the island for 10 days…it was a fairly laid back holiday but there was a lot to see. this was the destination of our second ever trip in croatia and now it would be our last. i would have 10 days worth of blogs…that would be a killer…but i’ll try to hit the highlights.
gemischt (and kaity) at the loggia
the first day we had lunch at a little spot we had tried before. it was in the town loggia. it’s open and breezy which was wonderful. our waiter was a total jerk. we had enjoyed learning croatian while living there but after we had started out in croatian the waiter basically insulted us repeatedly on our accent our grammar and usage and it was really off-putting. he kept coming back to try and joke/insult again but we tried not to acknowledge his existence unless we had to have something. the food however was very great as usual. (i love the mediterranean diet!)
agava plant
the flora on rab is very interesting…the agave plant in particular. it looks like a gigantic aloe plant but i’ve been told it’s not related to the aloe family. guess that’s a question for wikipedia…
we spent a lot of time at the beach along the south side of rab. it’s pretty much a concrete walkway/beach that borders the sea. it’s a busy spot all day long and it’s nice to just take it easy. there are a couple of cafes along the boardwalk which are nice for a break. there can be several topless sunbathers which we were used to at that point.
kaity in the water
kaity enjoyed snorkeling with michael’s equipment since he stayed at the apartment and didn’t join us. she had several good finds. there was a huge boulder sitting in the shallow water which the boys enjoyed hanging out on after getting out of the chilly water.
thomas at the beach
tyler at the beach
the bright sun warmed them up quickly. it took me forever to finally take the plunge as the water was pretty cold. i eventually headed back into town to buy the kids some water shoes. there are a lot of sea urchins in the water and kaity already had one altercation with an urchin the last time we were in rab and it took a year to get rid of the spines in her foot. none the less….we like this little beach area.