To 'Make it' to 34 Weeks

I have now been at Sunnybrook for about 8 weeks.  When I was first admitted, I didn't really believe, couldn't really believe, that I could be here this long and that Baby G would wait until this major milestone came.  I am so happy to be at 34 weeks because I feel safer, more secure, and relaxed.  The nurses keep telling me that I have done well.  But honestly, whenever they say that to me, I tell them that I didn't do anything special to get here and that I am just lucky to not have an emergency like so many of the other women here in the High-Risk Obstetrics unit.  That is how I feel.  Lucky to have a healthy baby.  I don't want to take away from the struggle of the other women here - who still delivered their babies early despite all their hopes for a different outcome.

I have learned to crochet and I find it very soothing and mindful. 

I even made a little wool hat that I think is very cute and perhaps Baby G will even wear it.  It's wool though so...itchy.  We'll see.  She can always wear a thin beanie under it.  That is what I do.

I am finding it more and more difficult to move around.  I am so big that I can't walk for long without getting uncomfortable, and I have been passing blood clots on again off again so I am very wary about pushing myself too far.  I have gotten greedy.  Now that I have gotten to 34 weeks, I want to get as far as I can. 

My belly is so firm because it is so full of baby!  I can feel her moving everywhere!  I will miss this so much when she is delivered.  One the other hand, once that placenta is out, I can go back to self-medication using chocolate with more impunity than I have now, and I can get my body back into shape after months and months and months of 'taking it easy'.  Taking it easy is really not my style.

I think that society needs to know what pregnancy can be like.  It is not a disease or a sickness - but rather a condition.  Sometimes it is a messy condition.  Movies portray it as humorous and awkward and it is those things.  But for those of us who end up in the hospital, we have no voice, and no identity in society.  There is no sexy movie about this journey.  It is still as if pregnancy, and especially a truly high-risk pregnancy, is a final bastion of the silence that surrounds women's health.  There is nothing gross or embarrassing here.  This is what some women (and don't forget their partners!) go through to have children. 

I am dedicating these posts in my blog to all of the women who have been through pregnancy.   And I also dedicate them to all those who have tried or who are trying, or who have lost babies, because it is all part of the same journey. 

As always, thank you for reading.

Leslie

Thankful

According to my Duoling app, which I have been using to practice my Romanian every day since I was first admitted to hospital, I have been here for 43 days.  Today is Canadian Thanksgiving and amidst the Facebook posts of cottage time, family gatherings, and delicious food, I have decided that it is time to reflect on what I am grateful for these days while I am here at Sunnybrook.

First of all, since I have to be in a hospital somewhere, I am very glad that is only a five minute drive from our house.  Alex is able to visit me twice a day.  The coffee he brings me from home sets the tone of the day.  Even though those morning visits are short, I look forward to them.  He then comes in the evening either straight from work or after he has first stopped off at home.  If he has no business meetings or pressing duties at the house (cat, chores etc), then we watch something on Netflix.  It is almost like being at home.  He also keeps me well stocked with greek yogourt, cottage cheese, fresh-cut flowers, and berries.  Bless him and his little cotton socks as Heidi would say.  My room smells like strawberries right now and I couldn't be happier about that.  Today's lunch was a turkey dinner of sorts. 

I appreciate the effort to make it sort of festive, and I snapped a photo.   Not my mother's home cooking by a long shot, but a kind gesture for those of us who are in the hospital over a holiday.  I admit that I ate less than half of it.  😕

I look forward to the check-ins from the nurses that take place four times a day.  I get to hear Baby G's heartbeat and get virtually constant reassurance that she is healthy and thriving in there despite my situation and the food that I get here.  I also have the added bonus of seeing her weekly on ultrasound.  I didn't realize how few ultrasounds were given to regular women with low-risk pregnancies.  

This morning, Alex came early in order to be able to be there for today's growth ultrasound.  The baby is now 4.6 pounds!  I am so happy and so relieved.  That is pretty big for High-Risk Obstetrics.  Now I just have to wait for her to continue to get fatter, and for her brain and lungs to continue to mature.  

After that, we went outside for some air. 

They don't let me leave the floor by myself so I am always grateful when someone visits who can take me and a wheelchair to the courtyard area behind the H-Wing.  There are some picnic benches and park benches, some green space and some flowers sandwiched between a parking lot and some of the older buildings that make up this hospital.

Alex sleeps over on Saturdays, but all other nights and most of every day, however, I am by myself in my room.  I go for small walks after meals to help control my blood sugar, and very occasionally I hang out in the patient lounge for a change of scenery, but generally I stay in my room.  Yes I have plenty of books to read, and I do read them, and puzzles and magazines and, when all else fails, images for coloring and extra fine markers.  These things, combined with my newly-discovered ability to crochet, somehow pass the day.  Many people have advised me to enjoy this opportunity to rest, sleep, and read because I won't have any time to do these things after the baby comes.  The sentiment is well-meant, and I know where they are coming from, but only someone who had never been in the hospital for weeks or months at a time would say something like that.  No one would choose to spend her entire third trimester here.  I feel fine but what I am allowed to do is severely restricted.  I stare at the same four walls almost all the time and almost never see the sky.  It is a sacrifice I'm willing to make in order to give my daughter the best chance at optimal health when she is born, and Alex and I would do it again, and again.

There is a whiteboard in the room that never gets used for anything so I write the date on it every day, and add some goals and quotes. 

It helps me focus a bit and help me remember some of the things that I wanted to get done.  

32 weeks and 5 days.  Signing off now.  As always, thanks for reading.

Leslie

I have always used this blog to document travels and adventures, and I haven't been on in a while.  I had so much fun in Iceland, and spend the long days taking in all the sights, that I didn't even think about blogging about it.

Now I am on another, very different kind of journey.  And I find that I do have time, and I want to document that this is happening so that others might read about it, and also to allow me to look back and remember how lucky I am.

Alex and I are expecting a baby girl, and at the time that I write this, I am 32 weeks into the pregnancy.  I have also been in the high-risk obstetrics unit at the hospital for almost 5 weeks now.  The placenta decided to attach itself over the cervix, and as a result, has a tendency to cause bleeding of random severity and at random intervals.  They are keeping me here until I deliver.  I had friends who developed preeclampsia or had early contractions or other problems, and were hospitalized for some time before their babies were born, but I didn't know anyone who had had this happen.

I feel incredibly lucky to live so close to this hospital that has an excellent neonatal unit in case the baby is born so early that she needs a lot of special care.  I never thought that my own baby would be born as prematurely as I was.  When we first admitted (in the middle of the night - as always), I had a bunch of specialists come talk to me within the first few days.  Amidst the shock, daze, and psychological trauma of being yanked out of a normal pregnancy and into a hospitalized one, I met with anasthesiologists, hematologists, pediatricians, endocrinologists, and many residents as they had me sign documents for a C-Section and blood products, did tests to gauge my health, and established a baseline for our care.

I have now been here for five and a half weeks.  I was discharged once, and was home for one whole day sitting in the sunshine on the Poang and watching Homeland, and had one night back in my own bed.  But in the middle of the second night, I started bleeding again and had to return to the hospital.  I remember standing outside of the car and looking up in the darkness at the house trying to fix the memory in my mind because I knew that after this bleed I would be admitted and probably not allowed to go home again until the baby was born-and that could be weeks away.

There are 23 beds in High-Risk Obstetrics at Sunnybrook.  the unit is sandwiched in between the Birthing Unit for people having normal deliveries, and the Maternal Unit for the recovery period.  Twice a day, after lunch and dinner, I walk through the units.  I peek into the open doors of the vacant rooms and admire the large windows facing the outside, the tiny beds where babies can sleep next to their mothers, and the sheer space of the rooms - easily twice the size of mine.  I am incredibly lucky to be in a private room.  I have been in a semi-private and also a standard room for short periods of time.  If you are here a short time, then you can exist in those tiny areas cordoned off by curtains that blow open every time someone walks by to see your roommate.  Once the shock and trauma of being admitted to the hospital wears off though, the privacy of having our own space is irreplaceable.  In this small room, I can be myself, listen to music, have my own bathroom, have Alex sleep over on the bench, and also cry in private when I am sad, lonely, frustrated, or cannot sleep.

I think that at this point, I may be the veteran here.  The HRO unit, like I said, is sandwiched in between places where women have 'normal births' and stay for a day or two or three.  I don't think that people even realize that when they are walking through the HRO unit to get from one area to another, they are walking through a place where women like me are essentially living out the final days, weeks, or months of their pregnancies.  Some women are here because they have placenta previa like me, or their water broke extremely early, or there is something else that is deemed risky enough that they could have an emergency at any moment and if and when they do, it is safer to be here because the team can respond in seconds.  We will not have the normal experience of feeling contractions, waiting, and then going in to the hospital for giving birth.  We will not even have the experience of waiting at home for our planned C-Section.  We have to be *here*.  The psychological impact of knowing that you could be fine one moment, and then in an urgent situation the next moment, is difficult.  Some people do get discharged from time to time, or sent to another hospital once they are past a certain number of weeks pregnant, but I also know that many, many women deliver here.

The vast majority of the time, I am stable and coasting.  I never really had any fantasies about the miracle of giving birth.  I am so incredibly happy to have a healthy baby growing inside me.  This is something that I never thought I could ever have.  I am so grateful, excited, and happy.  I always looked at the birth process as a necessary step to get me from the wonderful pregnant phase, to the happy with babe in my arms phase.  I am however, very sad to have to spend my entire third trimester spirited away in this little unit.  Every single pregnancy is a miracle, and I loved walking around feeling so lucky that I got to DO this.  I wanted to be celebrated, loved, and to coo over baby items in shops.  I wanted to nest and prepare the nursery.  I had to cancel my baby showers, massages, and other pre-natal rites of passage.  Now my only function is to be in the hospital, grow this baby day by day, be incredibly glad that when I go to bed every night, she is one day older, and be grateful that I had another day without bleeding.

Bleeding.  A week ago, I did have a significant bleed.  Faster and heavier than a period.  I wasn't afraid because I knew that this was why I am here.  The nurses had told me enough stories about bigger bleeds so that when it happened to me, I knew what to do.  Within seconds, three nurses were in my room and I was on the baby monitor.  Within one minute, the doctor fellow was there.  I had an IV put in, and I was taken to the birthing unit where I would get continuous monitoring and a dedicated nurse.  After being in HRO for so long it felt strange to get moved to a different room and watched over by staff I had never met before.   I spent four hours there before I was sent back when the bleeding stopped.  It has been back to business as usual ever since.  Knowing that I could go another five weeks until my planned C-Section, or ... not ... is a strange feeling, but I am getting used to it.  The baby is now big enough that she will do beautifully no matter what.  I definitely have fewer nightmares now than I did before.

I will sign off now being grateful for another day feeling her strong kicks and listening to her powerful heartbeat.  I have half of a cheese sandwich that I may or may not toast, and that I may or may not eat as my evening snack.  Life in the hospital.  What can you do?

As always, thanks for reading.

Leslie and Baby G.

Oh boy I just discovered that I never published this post from almost two years ago!  Ah well better late than never.

Yesterday, we had a lazy morning and early afternoon lounging around the hotel.  After multiple trips to the Hospitality Desk, and much discussing, we booked our day excursion to Tulum tomorrow.  I am very much looking forward to the experience, and the zip line and cenotes that will give us a rush and round out our whirlwind Yucatan experience.

We took a taxi to the town of Playa del Carmen in the mid-afternoon.  After visiting quite a few beach towns over the years in Thailand, Cambodia, and elsewhere, I was very impressed by Playa.  The public beach is long and white, with lots of beach bars, locals, and white sand.  You will never lack for a place to sit and enjoy a  drink or a snack while along the beach.  One block away from the beach, the tourist strip of 5th Avenue sparkles with upscale shops, local souvenir chains, coffee shops and restaurants, and it is LONG!  Everything was lit up for Christmas and very festive.  Despite the many Starbucks franchises, we enjoyed an afternoon espresso at a Coffee Stop operated by a British Ex-Pat who had married a Mexican woman.  He even gave us some nice recommendations for dinner in the area.  We walked along the Avenue, dodging street hawkers selling the gadget of the moment - which is some kind of waterproof case for your cell phone, and men dressed up in animal costumes like some kind of Mayan warriors.  We made our way to a very friendly restaurant called Los Aguachiles and had some very nice tacos, and Alex enjoyed some banter with our server Sergio.  I think that the fact that most of the patrons are locals, and that most of the staff don't speak English, is a good testament to the neighborhood.  It is nice to walk through a tourist area where locals also go to enjoy shopping and food, and are not priced right out of their range.

We also stepped into the restaurant called Oh La La by George - which is the number one restaurant as decided by Trip Advisor.  We were greeted by a friendly man who told us that they were fully booked until January 5th!  But he took Alex's email address in case their was a change.  He had a European accent, and detected Alex's accent.  It turns out that he is also from Romania so that was a pretty neat little moment in the evening.  Perhaps we will get to go there, perhaps not.

We walked back to the taxi shop, and went down to the beach near the terminal for the Ferry to Cozumel.  There were plenty of tourists and locals there, just hanging out, even though the nightlife had clearly moved to 5th Avenue after the sun went down.  There was a group of young men singing away and laughing and sort of dancing as one of them played very nicely on a guitar.  It was very nice to see that kind of joy.

Xcaret Bienvenuto!

Alex and I decided to take a trip this winter, and so we bit the bullet and booked an all-inclusive trip to Mexico along the Mayan Riviera.

We have been here for a day and a half out of our 5 day holiday and I have to admit the the hotel and all-inclusive experience has some real positives.

Even though it was high season, and everyone is supposedly travelling around now, we were able to whip through the airport with no difficulty, and flew to Cancun in 3.5 short hours on Westjet.  The arrival in the Cancun airport was every bit as crazy as I remember.  You get solicited by taxis and tour companies from the moment you arrive, and we had to fight through a huge crowd of tourists to find and get to the Westjet Vacations rep. in the taxi area.  After finally checking in with the Westjet people, our minibus arrived, and we got shuttled to our hotel - the Occidental Grant Xcaret, just south of Playa del Carmen.  We arrived in the dark and in a drizzle, and it was difficult to get a real feel for the place.  But it was clear that the primary architecture is of a tiki bar variety, since we could smell the reeds that make up the ceilings of the main lobby.

Everything was decked out with Christmas lights, and it felt very tropical and welcoming.  Even though we arrived late, Alex assured me (a relative newcomer to the all-inclusive experience) that we would be able to get some dinner.  The buffet came through for us, and we were even able relax by one of the many bars before going to sleep.

We woke up the next day to the lovely yellow sun in our window, a lovely view of treetops, and the colours of Mexico that I was so much looking forward to seeing.  Our resort is quite large, with multiple small buildings where the rooms are, multiple pools and restaurants, and a small but smartly laid out beach area.

It is situated right next to the Xcaret Park and is really very much in a jungle setting.  I like it.  We spent the morning dozing on a swinging beach bed for two, and then dunked in the water before heading to the smaller buffet restaurant that is on the beach for lunch.

Not much to report since the afternoon was really much of the same, only this time we hung out by the pool.  For dinner we tried the much-touted and highly popular Seafood restaurant.

To be honest, the buffet is pretty good and we didn't really find the restaurant much better-except for maybe the cerviche.

Korcula to Mjet

After a slow morning, we began the 5 hour sail to Korcula.  There was not much wind so we went under motor, and got to enjoy stunning views along hhe way.  The landscape remained very beautiful, and I am still amazed at how sparsely populated the land is considering its location in Europe.  We arrived in Korcula Town in the afternoon, and had enough time for a swim in the shadow of the old walls, and then a nice hot shower at the Marina, before we started a walking tour led by Teo.  He took us away away from the marina, and after one small turn, we were immediately wrapped up in the lovely narrow streets fo the city.  He pointed out a good coffee shop, and also a nice place to buy wine and jewelery.  He then led us to the Massimo cocktail bar at the top of the medieval tower on the eastern wall.  Massimo can only be accessed by steep ladder, and the top was packed with happy internationals drinking cocktails.  My Massimo signature cocktail was better than I expected, and I was very, very happy when we came down and walked through more of the old town.  There are many narrow streets that run east west, and they are designed that way so that a breeze can be channeled through the city on hot days.  I thought that was so clever.

We caught a taxi cab up the mountain to have dinner at a local farmstead.  The wine was so so and I am fairly certain that it was watered, and the food arrived so slowly that we didn't leave until almost 11 pm!  But in my opinion, the real winners of the night was the smoked ham appetizer, the gorgeous fresh grilled sardines of which I ate at least 5, and the frisky cats that were very, very keen on those sardines.

The next morning, we had coffee at that coffee shop, and then had a whirlwind trip through the city in search of wines and gifts.  We were sorry to not have more money to buy all of the jewelery in that store (red coral, lapis lazuli, onyx and gorgeous silver).  But we were also sorry to not have more time to shop for a shirt for Alex.  Luckily, Teo tells us that we can find that more easily, and of better quality, in Dubrovnik.

We then departed again, and Teo prepared a real Croatian goulash for lunch which we ate, with red wine from the winery the first night, in a secluded bay that we had all to ourselves.  Well actually, there was an italian family who left almost immediately after we arrived.  I guess they didn't want to share the bay.   :)  We spent the afternoon swimming and diving off the anchored boat, enjoyed a snack of proscuito and cheese, and then made our way to the small village on the island of Mijet.  We bypassed the main marina, and instead drove right up to the private restaurant.  We were the only sailboat there, and we joked about the commute into shore.  The island of Mijet is covered with trees and is like a jungle.  The national parks were created to protect two species of tree, and the lusy green colour was nice to see since so many of the islands to the south were more barren and rock.

That night we enjoyed an excellent meal that started with oysters.  Fresh squid, and plenty of wine later, we were in a perfect position to the enjoy the local hooch of fermented honey and lemon, or herbed grappa.  As the level of drink in the bottle of grappa became lower and lower, the carob in the bottle announced itself (shall we say) more and more prominently.  There a lot of laughing last night, and somehow we all made it safely across the narrow gangplank that we use to get to the boat.  

This morning, we had a very nice coffee after I took a short dip in the ocean, and then Teo led us up the mountain along a 200-year old path of stone built by the villagers.  At the top was the village of Prodzura.  This village now only as a few families, and the community is quite isolated when it is not tourist season.  Teo pointed out various wild herbs, and we tried wild blackberries, grapes, and figs off of the trees.  At the top of the mountain, there is an old cemetary with beautiful views.

We are now floating in another small bay enjoying an afternoon of swimming and relaxing after a lunch of arugula salad with fresh cheese.  The water is so clean, safe, and deep, and it is just the right temperature.  Soon we will sail a short 15 minutes to the village, and enjoy what I am sure will be another lovely dinner with local cats begging for fish.  Speaking of fish, I have learned a lot of about different types of fish on this trip.  One of the passengers, an Italian woman named Michaela, knows a lot about art, and FISH.  Every evening, she says "I would like a fish" and I think that will be the moto of the trip.  Michaela prefers  fish that live deep and among the rocks  Tonight, I plan to have one of these rock-fish, and will enjoy every bite, because they cannot be found in Canada, and are difficult to find even here.  Divers have to go down in scuba suits with oxygen tanks and fish for them with live squid.

As always, thanks for reading!  

Leslie

To Middle Dalmatia

We drove from Dubrovnik to Split making four stops on the way.  We first took a dip in the sea just a few kilometers from Dubrovnik.  The beach was rocky and full of families.  We did not stay long because it was very sunny and we were not allowed to stay in the shade unless we paid for the full-day rental of a lounge chair.  It felt good to swim in the water.  The tempeature is warm but not soupy like it is in East Asia, and it is so clear that you can easily see the tocks at the bottom and the small fish without goggles.

We then began an unplanned driving adventure.  We thought that it would be a simple thing to find a restaurant for lunch but as it turns out, this is not the case.  There is a long stretch that includes a 5 km stretch through Bosnia where there is very little in terms of tourism, and we could not find a place to stop.  We even tried stopping at a tourist bureau to ask for directions to a winery.  We did eventually find it but not before driving about 20 minutes out of our way.  When we arrived there, my concerns were confirmed because the restaurant only prepared food when there is a recommendation.  We did eventually find a wonderful pizzeria in a beach town about 45 minutes further along the way.  Olive trees grow everywhere in this region, and we saw several roadside stands selling it.  Tired but no longer hungry, we decided to make one more beach stop before arriving in Split.  This turned out to e an excellent decision because the rocks were smaller, and large pine trees arched over the beach providing plenty of free and comfortable shade.

We arrived in Split at around 8 pm and had no trouble finding our Airbnb.  Our hostess' partner Ivano met us and helped us carry our bags upstairs to the lovely little apartment with a fully-stocked kitchen, laundry, and even a common area.  Ivano then gave us fresh peaches from his garden, and then showed us where we were locatd on the map, as well as directions to the old city, and other major tourist destinations.  Alex and Ivano enjoyed swapping stories about living under a communist regime, and thenhe left us to explore.

Dioclesian's Palace, which is perhaps one of the most important destinations in Split, was only a short walk away, and it was easy for us to find our way there and explore the lovely small alleyways.  The old city of Dubrovnik was Medieval, but this palace was built during the Roman Empire, and is in excellent condition.  There is clean and crisp drinking water flowing from fountains all over the place, and live music in every corner.  We enjoyed a beer in a lively square, and then Alex and I shared an octopus soup in a secluded courtyard that was gracious enough to stay open until 1 am.

The next day, we walked through the Palace again until we got to the base of the park area at the top of the city.  This is not a natural park as one would expect but has manicured pathways going through the trees with the biggest aloe plants that I have ever seen.  Some people even carved their names into the leaves of these big plants.  We were very hot by the time we got to the top of the hill and we were very pleased to find a restaurant up there with cold beer and lemonade.  After cooling down a bit, we then walked down again and had lunch near the marina.  That night we went out for dinner at a very nice place tucked away in another secret courtyard.  I admit that I find food expensive here, but it is hard to argue with fresh fish that is unlike any fish you can find in Toronto.

Vali and Alice left to begin their ride home, and Alex and I made our way to the ACI Marina to meet up with our G Adventures group.  Eventually, our skipper Teo found us, and led us along to the 52-foot sailboat that at this moment, is still our home.  Teo is a native Croatian who grew up on the Island of Vis.  After our orientation meeting, we were off to the island of Sorta (pronounced Sholta).  This is the closest island to Split, and is smaller than its big brother Brac.  Teo brought us to an Agri-farm, which in this place is like a homestead where they prepare all of the food and wine themselves.  We had the most wonderful lamb that was prepared under a bell called a peka.  The bell is buried in ash and the meat was so soft and delicious, and was washed down with as much rose and red wine that we could drink.  There were also fresh olives, homemade bread and tapenade.  We were very happy upon our return that evening.

The next morning, it was very rainy and we had to make our way to the island of Vis through a heavy downpour with winds and big waves when we were in the open sea.  We all got a memorable introduction to the powers of the sea, and I was very glad for the ginger tablets that I bought as an afterthought.  We were under motor most of the time because it was too windy to sail, and we were at the mercy of the waves and heavy rain.  Teo did put up the sail at one point, and he navigated us calmly and expertly.  Once the sails caught the wind, the boat then flew towards Vis and we were at a pitch of 45 degrees!  All of the cabinets in the cabins have latches, and we had to put everything away securly to avoid things flying all over the floor.

Sometimes it was a little bit scary to consider how steeply we were pitched, and still rising and falling on the waves, with the rain pouring down and seeing lightning in the distance, but Teo has been sailing for his whole life and he was never concerned for our safety with the exception of asking all of us how we were feeling and whether we were feeling seasick.

After about 4 hours, we finally pulled into the Vis harbour.  After hardly sleeping the night before because it had been hugely hot with noisy fans, and then surviving the crossing from Solta to Vis, we all fell asleep in our cabins for a couple of hours.  It was a very, very sweet nap.

Vis is Teo's hometown, and he was able to secure a mooring for us in a semi-legal spot because he knows absolutely everybody in town.  Actually, everywhere we have been so far, Teo's friends have saved us parking spots.  After my nap, I went for a swim and then had a lovely hot shower.  That evening, the group went out for dinner at a restaurant in the harbour.  I had a lovely fish soup on Teo's recommendation that went a long way to settle that feeling of gentle swaying feeling that I seem to have all the time.  After our dinner, we spent some time debating where to go next, and a teenager ran out of the nearby ice cream shop and tried his absolute best to convince the group (of mostly women) to come into his establishment.  He even went as far as bringing out a cup of the delicious stuff that was flavoured with nutella.  In the end, we went to the only bar in town for a drink and a gander at the local colour.  The Bejbe Bar (prouounced baby) played some solid 80s music and served questionable cocktails, and was full of people.  Alex was happy because it brought him back to his youth in Romania.  We ended the night by walking along the shore to take a look at the Franciscan Monastery that is featured in many photos of this island.

In the morning, we woke up to fresh croissants from the bakery that had been picked up fresh by Teo along with fresh fruit.  In fact, There is always fresh fruit and crusty bread and coffee to be had, and in the mornings there is cereal and yogourt.  Teo takes excellent care of us and even prepared us an exquisite lunch on the boat as we traveled from Vis to Hvar.  Rather than docking in the marina, we dropped anchor in a secluded bay near the village of Milna.  We had a relaxing afternoon of jumping off the boat and swimming, and just generally lounging around.  I have a feeling that this bay will turn out to be one of those secret and special places that G Adventures always seems to bring you too.
For dinner that night we went to an outstanding restaurant and four of us shared a very special fish.  Apparently this fish is only found at certain depths and at certain distances from the shore.  This fish has a big mouth with pointy teeth and eats whatever it can scrape off of rocks.  I think that it is safe to say that I will probably never find this fish in Toronto.

After dinner, we explored the Medieval town of Hvar.  Or, I should say, we took a taxi to the town and were blown away by how absolutely stunning it was.  There is Renaissance architecture mixed with Venetian buildings, all looking down on a stunning bay.  The problem is that it is overun by drunken young Europeans every single night.  There was hardly any room to move around the throngs of nubile twenty-somethings getting more drunk by the second.  It is too bad in a way because it is not an easy thing to find a nice place for a coffee and to enjoy the scenery.  We made our way to a 'Jazz Bar' which really just turned out to be a windowless club with loud hip hop music.  Ho hum I thought to myself.  After a while we caught a taxi back to Milna, and then Sophie texted Teo that were were nearby.  Teo is so lovely that he had borrowed the restaurant's boat to be able to shuttle us back to the boat after our foray into Hvar (it is no surprise that he did not want to come with us...).  When he pulled up to the shore, a group of drunk girls charged past us and begged him to take them to their catamaran.  He only agreed to do it after they told him the name of their skipper.  It was a good thing that he did that because they had no idea which boat in the bay belonged to them!  It was actually a bit tricky to figure out our boat as well...

This morning I went for a morning swim, and then we had a leisurely morning enjoying our breakfast.  Teo returned from town with another batch of fresh pastries, and we then began the longest journey of the trip from Hvar to Korcula.  Teo made us another delicious lunch on the boat, and we are now approaching the town.  I am looking forward to this town because it has such an excellent reputation for food, beaches, architecture, and art.  Teo also tells me that this is where people can buy good souvenirs, and wine to bring home.  I think that I will sign off now and bring in my laundry, and prepare for our walking tour that will precede what I am sure will be another excellent meal at a family homestead.

As always, there is so much more that I am sure I have forgotten to mention.  And Croatia is the perfect mix of old and new.  I am enjoying this holiday very much, and I am also particularly happy to see how much Alex is enjoying it too.

Thanks for reading!

Leslie

From Beantown to Dalmatia

It may be a strange thing to combine Boston with Croatia, but that is exactly what I seemed to do this time.  A few months ago, Alex and I booked a weekend in Boston, and we then promptly forgot all about that when we booked our sailing trip from Split to Dubrovnik.

So last Friday,  I brought our luggage to the airport, and locked it in storage.  And there it stayed until we picked it up on Monday evening.

Boston was wonderful.  We began by flying with Porter Airlines, and we not only go to enjoy the new tunnel that runs from the mainland to the terminal, but also the complimentary coffee and shortbread cookies in the lounge.  After a short flight, we were in Logan International Airport and enjoying a lovely reunion with John and Kathleen Lamb.  It was such a delight to return to their beautiful home after almost 16 years.  The photos of their beautiful children, including the incomparable Sarah Lamb, have now expanded to include beautiful grandchildren and wedding photos.  Alex and I were grateful to enjoy coffee in their lovely garden, and we took full advantage of their Museum of Fine Arts memberships.

On Saturday we took the T to the museum, and got to see the Hukosai exhibit.  There were many people there enjoying the lovely landscapes and animals painted by this Japanese master.  Following this, we walked to Quincy Market and enjoyed fresh oysters on the half shell in North America's oldest restaurant.

On Sunday, we were picked up by Alex's friend Mircea and his wife Deyra, and we drove to the coastal town of Gloucester for lunch.  After the most delicious mussels I have ever had in my life, we then walked along the shoreline and passed an American flag every 10 feet.  God forbid you forget where you are for even a minute.  But I have to admit that the red, white, and blue is a beautiful flag and it had a nice visual impact.

After the town of Gloucester, we drove to the smaller coastal village of Rockport.  Rockport is a darling little town full of artist shops, bakeries, and places to get an espresso or saltwater taffy.  We enjoyed a strudel on the waterfront, and then walked through some nearby trails to view a lovely little quarry with water like glass.  Rockport was such an unexpected treat and I am really glad that we got to spend our last day in Boston enjoying the coast.

We flew back to Toronto, and had time for a quick visit home before returning to the airport to catch our flight to Rome.  Terminal 3 was an absolute zoo because a severe storm had wreaked havoc with flights, and our departure was delayed by 3 hours as the plane waited for its co-pilot to arrive.  Eventually however, we did get off the ground, so to speak, and then had a nice flight to Rome.

The airport in Rome was a total fiasco.  There had been a fire at FCO a couple of weeks earlier, and that, combined with another storm that caused various delays, led to a rather disorganized and annoying experience.  We landed in terminal 2, and then had to walk to terminal 3 to check in to easyjet.  Ok no problem.  The line at easyjet was crazy so that we got ushered up to the front in order to drop off our luggage an hour before the flight's departure.  From there, we were told to go back to terminal 2, and make our way to gate H.  As we were speedwalking towards the security are, we were stopped by airport security who, after finding out when our departure was, gave up on asking us for documents and ushered us along.  We got through passport checks, and security, and were then on our way to find gate H.  We did find gate H (the furthest gate of course), but from there could not see any evidence of our flight, or find any people to ask.  Eventually, one of the display screens showed the departure list and we saw that our flight had been changed from gate H to G03.  No problem we thought; G ought to be right next to H....we then had to ask someone to learn that to get to G03, you have to go to H10, and then catch a shuttle bus to G03.  We made our way to H10, where we just missed the bus and had to wait another 10 minutes.  To make a long story short, we did make it to gate G03 to find a long line of people waiting to be checked through manually by a single, sweet-natured attendant.  On the plane at last, we finally relaxed.  Our first glimpse of Dubrovnik was of hills of scrub and trees, and lots and lots of ocean.

Alex's sister Alice and her husband Vali picked us up from the airport, and we then drove to a supermarket to buy some groceries to prepare at our B&B.  Our rooms are in the home of a local family, and is in the hills directly above the Old City.  It is very unique and interesting how the homes are built up the hillside, and there are terraces with trees all the way up!  We all found ourselves wondering how they got the dirt up here, or whether they simply carved the living quarters out of the hill itself.  We cooked up sausages and pork chops, and added a tossed salad and some crusty bread.  We stayed up chatting well into the night enjoying the cool breeze and lovely night view of the old city.

This morning, we made a simple breakfast, and then walked down into the stunning labyrinth that is the old town.   Dubrovnik's old city is walled complete with a moat and drawbridge, and is so picturesque that it is the filming location for some of Game of Thrones.  We walked up and down stone steps, and strolled through the plazas with flagstones so buffed by centuries of feet that it shines.  As you walk through the old city, you see succulent plants growing in cracks in the stone walls, and hear scratchy clarinet scaled being played from behind barred windows.  The residents who live here keep their entire lives within their doors in order to maintain the austere and Medieval appearance of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is the walled city.  We stopped for beer and lemonade, and then walked on to enjoy a seafood lunch with wine and espresso.

I am now sitting back on the terrace of Biba's guesthouse, and looking over the red ceramic roofs of Dubrovnik.  There seems to be a storm rolling in.

Tomorrow, we hope to leave early for Split.  I know that Alex and I will be back here for one more night at the end of sailing trip with G Adventures, and I look forward to seeing this city again.

As always, thank you for reading!

Leslie