Oink Oink, We'll Be Pigs!

On Saturday evening, Nick, Joe (his dad) and I returned from a wonderful 10-day trip to Europe. The main purpose of the trip was to visit Joe's paternal & maternal relatives in Croatia; however, we tried to see and do as much as 10 days would allow. We had such a fantastic trip, and I especially want to thank my svekar (father-in-law) for acting as our fearless vodič (guide)and translator!

Wednesday, August 5th

Waiting to board our Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt in Logan

Thursday, August 6th

Exhausted after flying all night here Nick is filling up somewhere in Germany. Following this, we ate our 1st authentic German meal at Burger King.

Friday, August 7th

Salzburg

Saturday, August 8th

Dinner with Joe's cousin Nada. Nada was so much fun and became our travel companion for the next several days.

Sunday, August 9th

Zagreb

Monday, August 10th

Dubrovnik

Tueday, August 11th

Plitvička Jezera

Plitvička Jezera

Wednesday, August 12th

Pašman



Zadar


Thursday, August 13th

Three generations of Priselacs! Visiting with Joe's uncle Yanko near Zagreb- I can see the resemblance!

Friday, August 14th

Driving to Munich

To visit Annette & Christian, who prepared us an authentic German feast!

Jacob & Martha helped :)

Joe & Nick loved this car in our hotel's parking garage in Munich

Saturday, August 15

I think even Nick is sad to drop of our Citroen Picasso at the Frankfurt Airport

What a great trip! Now, back to reality...

Victoria's Soxret

I haven't had to pay for underwear in a long time. So, after receiving not 1, but 2 free panty coupons in the mail while we were away, I popped into Victoria's Secret during lunch to redeem my complimentary undies. As soon as I walked into the store, I saw the following display:

Pink Hat haters Beware

Now women can pick up some Sox gear, while bra shopping. My guess is that all those "real fans" who freak out when they see a pink baseball cap, probably won't be too thrilled about the Victoria's Secret branded Red Sox shirts with glitter and hearts. I didn't buy a shirt, but think they're kind of cute. As a woman, it's nice to have the option of buying a t-shirt that was designed with your figure in mind.

When You Hear the Word 'Heiny'

Do you think of the color green, or a rear end?

I have to go with the latter; however, the folks at JanSport disagree.

My company is putting together back-to-school supplies for The Home for Little Wanderers, and associates can help by purchasing specific items requested by The Home. My request slip asks that I purchase a green JanSport backpack. I figured a green backpack would be simple enough, but this request is proving more difficult than I thought.

I expected JanSport to offer packs in the ROYGBIV variety, with a couple of "rose" and "turquoise" colors thrown in for good measure. I didn't expect a list that included Blue Paisley Skull and Fiji Orange, but not green. There's not even a hunter green or an emerald. The closest I can find is something called heiny.

heh... heh... you said, Heiny...

Not to make a stink, but isn't heiny a polite word for butt? And if heiny were a color, I'd at least expect it to resemble something that could be a skin tone that wasn't found on Mars.

Should I buy this pack? I think it might be too green, but I'm having trouble locating a more subtle shade of the JanSport variety.

This is one tough case to crack.

Trying Not to Judge a Country by its Bathroom

One thing that has impressed me about Croatia is that no matter if you're at a fancy restaurant, a gas station off the expressway or in a small cafe in a village the rest rooms are immaculate. We've spent a ton of time in our mighty Citroen, and have had a lot of WC breaks; all of the facilities have been "dobro." (That's good to you and me.)
Meanwhile, we just stopped in Slovenia. The area had a cute little cart that sold baked goods and little bottles of Cockta. (Cockta is a Slovenian soft drink that tastes like Red Bull.) The WCs were in a little building off the side of the main area and a rusty door opened to a hole in the floor. I don't mind squatting over a hole; however, the area surrounding the hole was half an inch thick in caked dirt, urine and other unsavory substances. As I squatted over the hole, I thought that if my shoes slipped and I fell down into the sludge in some cruel twist of fate that no amount of soap would be able to cleanse my skin.
Thankfully, I made it out without incident and wondered if the men's room was as gross as the women's. I didn't even get a chance to ask, because while walking back to the car I heard my father-in-law tell Nick, "I found myself trying to piss faster just so I could get the hell out of there quicker. Holy sh*t."
Unlike Germany, Austria and Croatia, I can't say I enjoyed my "visit" in Slovenia.
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Fahrvergnugen

Well, we landed in Frankfurt safe and sound and we're currently en route to Salzburg. My father-in-law had arranged to rent a high-end BMW for our trip since we're going to be spending so much time in the car. We'll be driving from Frankfurt to Salzburg through Slovenia and then all around Croatia to Munich and finally back to Frankfurt on the 15th. All Nick could talk about was the opportunity to drive on the Autobahn in the BMW. Fast forward to present time where we're now stalled in traffic in a French minivan, because Sixt Rental Cars told us that luxury rental vehicles are not allowed to cross into Slovenia due to high rates of theft. Nick is the only one who drives standard (we're stalled again and getting flipped off outside the airport parking lot) and he hasn't driven a standard car since 2002. Wish us luck!!
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