Booked: Cyprus in 2 weeks!

One of the best things about living in the UAE is its physical location - there are countless places we've never been within a few short hours (by plane).

I stumbled on some airfare to Cyprus that was just too good to pass up.  So we're going for 5 days! Lately we've really enjoyed keeping our trips more flexible, and road tripping through the picturesque locations.  It worked really really for us in Croatia and France, so we're sticking to that format for Cyprus too.

We've got our plane tickets, a car, and Phoebe is confirmed for boarding. That's pretty much all we need these days.

Image courtesy of PDX International Studies

Travel: Croatia - Plitvice Lakes

I've been dreaming about visiting Plitvice Lakes for 20+ years and when we went to Croatia in May I basically designed our entire trip so we could start there.  Aaaaand then I came down with a stomach bug for the first 3 days of our trip.  So we skipped about half of the park because I just couldn't deal (which turned out to be fine since half of it was closed due to flooding anyway).

Brought a packed lunch (bread, meats, and cheese) and enjoyed it on these big elevated platforms

The walkways were built to preserve the park - you can see everything without actually touching it

One of the hundreds of mini falls.

Even though we didn't see everything, it was still beautiful and I'm really pleased that we went.  Looking through my photos, I realize I was so busy ohhh-ing and ahhhh-ing that most of my memories are mental snapshots instead of digital ones.  And while that may not be very exciting for the blog, I think it's a good thing for me. ;)

Maybe one day we'll go back to see (and maybe even photograph) the rest of it...

Travel: Croatia Sneak Peek

We're still in Croatia and loving every minute of it.  The water is cool and crystal clear, the sun is out and the temperature is perfect, and the people are very friendly.  We're drinking cheap beer, great wine, and eating lots of seafood, smoked ham, great pasta, and gelato.  So basically, we're in heaven.

There have been such gorgeous views that span as far as the eye can see.  I've been trying to capture the full majesty of what we're seeing, but it's hard to capture something that takes a full head span from left to right (for me anyway).  So I've been sharing a lot of Snapchat videos(heathmo.grizz), and I think I've used the Panoramic feature on my phone more in the last 2 days than in the last 5-6 years combined.

But here is a tiny sneak peek:

Driving from Split to Dubrovnik

Steven prepared breakfast on the patio in Dubrovnik (I have such an excellent husband).

That's it for now - we're off for a swim in the turquoise waters!

Booked: Dubai, Scuba, and Croatia

Fun news - I'm heading back to Dubai for a 2-week trip and then Sven and I are heading to Croatia for a little over a week.

Turns out that Steve and I have both been dreaming about Croatia for decades.  I became entranced when I was about 10 when I saw a PBS special on Plitvice Lakes.  And Sven's grandpa is from Croatia so it's always been on his bucket list.  So when the opportunity came up, we both jumped at the chance.

Plitvice!  Image from PopSugar.

So in a couple weeks I'll be happily soaking up some much-needed time with Sven, seeing friends, and finishing my scuba certification in Dubai.  Then we'll spend the week of our anniversary in Croatia.  Perrrrfect.

Based on what I see online, I'll probably take a photo that looks just like this one.  (Image from onestep4ward)

With all the humdrum (and wallowing) lately, I've forgotten what awesome things we're still doing and planning.  And this trip is definitely one of them!