August 17 A miserable Island, a grand hotel, and a mountain.

 We left Dubrovnik and headed West along the Dalmatian coast.  Our next destination after Dubrovnik was the town of Sibenik which is an hour west of Split, and a small island offshore from it.  We had reserved two nights there, and it was to be our total vacation spot.  Nothing scheduled except swimming in the Adriatic Sea, snorkeling, soaking up the sun (or shade in my case), and enjoying the cool breezes.  

We were instructed to meet the red van at a little restaurant there.  We were supposed to call them when we got there and the van would be there shortly.  We parked in the middle of the street outside the restaurant because there was not a single parking spot, and as we got out of the car, the red van pulled up beside us to unload some people.  He told us to follow him, and he led the way to a dusty parking lot between two buildings in a remote part of town.  He loaded our luggage into the van and took us to the little pier.  There he handed our luggage to a man on a boat with the name of the hotel on it.  He boarded and had a 10 minute ride (it was a slow boat) to the island.  We checked in and went up to our room.

That day my stomach didn't feel quite right, but it was a nagger, not anything serious.  We unpacked and went down for dinner.  They had monkfish on the menu, and I ordered it because I have never had it before.  They brought a little appetizer, and it was tasty, but it just didn't appeal to me.  I had to force it down.  When the monkfish arrived, I took one bite and had to excuse myself to go up to my room.

WARNING!  Graphic description.

I had diarrhea and I felt on verge of throwing up.  So I took 2 Immodium tablets, which almost invariably is all that is needed.  I went back down to join Liz, but as soon as I sat down, I knew it was useless.  I told Liz I was going back to the room and go ahead and enjoy her dinner.  I found out later that she enjoyed mine too.  She said the monkfish was delicious!

I went back to the bathroom, and then went to bed.  I had a fever, my stomach hurt, and I hurt just about everywhere.  A while later, I went to the bathroom again, and I took another Immodium and went back to bed.  Later, I took 2 more Immodium.  It didn't work at all, so I gave up on meds.  I napped, and went to the bathroom over and over and over.  By about 1:30 in the morning I was getting empty and I went to sleep hoping to get a good night's rest.  

Next morning, I sat up in bed and drank some water, but I still felt miserable and had a fever.  So, I told Liz I was going to lie down again.  I did and slept all day.  That evening I woke up at about 8:00 and we talked and watched some videos and stuff.  At 10:30 we both went to bed and neither of us thought I would sleep.  But I slept until 7:30 in the morning.  Finally, I felt like my fever had broken, although it came back briefly a couple more times that day.  Sadly, it was time to check out and go home, so I lost my chance to snorkel and swim in the Adriatic.  I hadn't eaten anything the day before and had a piece of bread that morning, but I felt weak as a baby as we got back on the boat to return to terra firma major.

This is looking back at the island.  We had stayed in the yellow building just to the left of the triangular mast of the sailboat.  It had beautiful sandy beaches between the piers, and I am sad I missed them.

Here we are going back to retrieve our car.  The boat is what they call a "displacement hull", meaning it can't get up on a plane.  It has to displace all the water around it to move forward.  Modern boats mostly have enough power to push up over the water and plane along on top of it.

I was very careful that day, and drank lots of water, but not much food until evening.  We drove to Rijeka where Liz had reserved us a room in a hotel right on the waterfront.  I took another nap, and woke famished.   I ordered monkfish again that evening, and it truly was delicious.

I took photos in Rijeka, but they are not on my phone anymore.  Why does this happen?

After we ate, we changed into swim clothes and went down the stairs to the edge of the water.  The water was somewhat choppy, which made it a bit uncomfortable getting into the water and swimming.  The concrete steps had little barnacles, seaweed and a few limpits growing on them, and we both slipped getting in and out.  Liz cut her hand, and I wrenched my back, but we enjoyed our dip, thoroughly.

One day along this long trip, Liz said a funny thing.  "The line between casual clothes and underclothes is hard to find here."  It is true that Europeans are more casual about exposure, so why not?  It was not uncommon on those hot days to see women shuck their blouse and tie it around their waste.  A bra is probably more modest than many bikini tops.

Liz called her cousin who lives in Rijeka, but he and his family were on vacation in Slovenia.  So we weren't able to meet up with them, but we let them know we will be back with Liz's brother and his wife in a couple of weeks.

Next morning I ate a hearty breakfast.  What a joy to be able to eat!

Then we headed for Slovenia and the Senior Conference.  That last border crossing was not too bad, and then we drove up into the mountains.

The road from the Karst Region of Slovenia up to Bovec is not a major thoroughfare.  In places it is barely wide enough for two cars to pass.  There are switchbacks and sharp curves, steep inclines and stretches where you can smell the brakes of people who don't know to not ride their brakes on the downhill stretches.  In spite of all that, it was a lovely drive.  The views are incredible.  

Liz took some photos while I drove, so I will try to retrieve those later.

This is the view out of our hotel room in Bovec.  These are the Julian Alps where Earnest Hemingway had his adventures as a WWI ambulance driver (see "A Farewell to Arms".)

This is the view from the other side of the hotel.