Summer in Europe

With Alysia heading to college this fall. We want to take a summer trip to places we have always wanted to see. Croatia and Austria are the two on top of the list.

The logistics of visiting these 2 countries were complicated and required lots of planning. Our trip involves 8 flights, 3 ferry rides and 1 rental car. We stayed at 3 airbnbs, 2 hotels. Overall, it was one of the most enjoyable and surprising 2-week trips we have had in a long time.

In Croatia, we visited - Dubrovnik, Islands of Korcula and Hvar, and, Split. While in Split, we also visited Plitvice Lakes National Park. In Austria, we only had time for Vienna.

Dubrovnik, is dubbed pearl of the Adriatic with its deep history and amazing scenes. The highlight of the old town is climbing the Wall. Nowadays, old town is packed with tourists. Lots of cruise ships are docked here for shore excursions. Dubrovnik has become too well known as a consequence, high prices have followed. We enjoyed our 3-night stay in an airbnb.

Dubrovnik Pics

Korcula, is a quaint old town on a small island about 1.5 hours by ferry from Dubrovnik. It's the most populous Croatian island not connected to the mainland by a bridge. It's also claimed to be the birth place of Marco Polo. The island is known for its Posip Cara white wines, which is one of the best we had anywhere. We had a really relaxing 2 nights in Korcula in an airbnb.

Korcula Pics:

Next up, we took the ferry from Korcula to Hvar. Hvar another small island town with a party vibe, It's a place to see and to be seen. The harbor is lined with million dollar super-yatchs and all-night discos with youngsters from all over the world. We took walks along the island paths in the early morning when no one is around. It's an ideal setting for a relaxing getaway. We're glad spent 2 nights in an airbnb.

Hvar Pics:

After two nights in Hvar, we ferried to Split, Croatia's the 2nd largest city after its capital, Zagreb. Split has an interesting mix of old and new. The old town is near the harbor in a maze of historic buildings and alleys. We purposely got lost walking in the old town. Our most memorable dinner was at small local restaurant called Matejuska, it was one of the best meals we had in Croatia. The most popular ice cream shop in old town Split (#1 on Tripadvisor), if not in all of Croatia is called Luka. The ice cream is so good that on a daily basis, tourists and locals lined up 20 deep for an amazing ice cream in waffle cone for about $1.20. While in Split we rented a car and drove to Plitvice Lakes National Park. It's an amazing series of lakes and water falls. The turquoise water with koi-like fish waiting swimming in clear water. We spent 3 nights at Le Meridien Split.

Split Pics: Plitvice Lakes Pics:

In our opinion, Croatia is very underrated. Its amazing scenery, delicious food and most important of all, incredibly friendly people. Croats are some of the most friendly people we have encountered traveling in Europe, if not the world.

On this trip, we were able to squeeze in one place that we have always wanted to visit, Vienna, Austria. Vienna with is deep history for arts and culture, we weren't disappointed. The city's amazing architecture, truly reflective of the Hofburg empire in its glory days. We stayed at the fame Park Hyatt Vienna. The hotel is a former bank. The hotel's interesting past is shown in its opulence decors. For example, the swimming pool's bottom is designed with gold bar patterns because it was built in the same spot where bank's gold vault used to be.

The food in Vienna is very German, if you know what I mean. So we seek out Vietnamese restaurants knowing that Austria has a good numbers of Vietnamese diasporas. After a couple weeks of mostly Croatian seafood, we were hungry for some home cooking. We found 3 Viet restaurants, the first two were barely passable. But on the final day, we found a little place that was authentic as it could be, called VietThao, owned by a young Vietnamese couple whose wife is the chef who emigrated to Austria 14 years ago to join her Vietnamese-Austrian husband who has lived in Vienna for 35 years. We had a great lunch prior to leaving Vienna.

Vienna Pics:

On this trip, we discovered new places, learned new culture and enjoyed it tremendously. With the exception of the summer heat which we didn't like. We will definitely want to revisit these places in the shoulder seasons for milder weather. Until next time...trip.