Day 11-13: Barcelona

Day 11: Made it to Barcelona

We made it to our final stop of the trip. We were both so exhausted that we didn’t do much the first night. All we did was check out the Barcelona Catedral.

And attended an impromptu opera. We could hear this lady belting it from far away and had to go check it out. We ended up in an alley where this lady was using the acoustics to her advantage. 


Day 12: Fat tire bike tour and Tapas for days

Both of us were dragging so much, we unfortunately don’t remember a whole lot from our bike tour. But we saw a lot of beautiful and some kind of crazy buildings in Barcelona.

Their legislative building 


Where we could have paid to see a real Opera... 


And Gaudi’s never ending Sagrada Família. He must have been one crazy guy. They say this should be finally done in 2026. Sounds like we will need to plan another trip to see it fully completed.


We enjoyed a post bike tour siesta by the rooftop pool.


Then, went out for Tapas. It was such a fun place. We were having trouble deciding what to order, so our waiter Hector asked us if we wanted him to do it for us. I thought kelly was going to say no for sure, but she immediately told him she trusted him implicitly. I was so shocked. It made it even more fun. Every time a dish showed up, it was a new surprise. We drank rioja and had such a great night.  


Three of the six dishes he brought us, we would have ordered on our own. The other three were total surprises. This veggie purée one turned out so good, and so did this pork with some delicious sweet sauce. 


The squid steaks were actually really good to, but niether of us would have ever ordered this in a million years. I was so glad he stretched us on this one. I still am not sure if I would be brave enough to order it again. 


We missed a couple dishes because we were having too much fun diving in. It was a great night with great food, great wine, great date, and even a limoncello and herb liquor digestif. 



Day 13: Paella Cooking Class and Last day

We last minute decided to do a lunch time cooking class. It included a trip to La Boqueria market and then learning to make pinchos, sangria and most importantly paella. 


He talked us thru how he picks the seafood for the paella. 


Then, we just wandered around enjoying the views.




Our first lesson was making pinchos, which sounds like it is basically  anything with a stick it it.  The one we made was bread with tomato rubbed on it, EVOO, sea salt, manchego cheese, various meats, and a blistered Parton pepper on top. Yummo!




After enjoying the appetizers, he started putting us to work. Half the group cleaned the seafood... cleaning the calamari seemed like the worst of all the jobs. He got real personal with that octopus. 


I was so happy I volunteered to do the mixing together part, it was so much better. 


I was expecting making paella was going to be more like risotto, where you stir and add water, and then repeat for like 45 minutes. For paella, you just put the rice in make sure it’s all in the broth and walk away. So much better! While the paella finished cooking, we learned the traditional Barcelona sangria recipe. 


After we all had a sufficient amount of sangria, the paella was ready!


And was so delicious! We were so glad this was the way we had paella here. Fresh off the burner. We’re already planning how we will make it at home!

Well, that’s it. Our trip is over. We’re sad it’s over, but also so excited to get home to this Moosey guy. 

Final thoughts: In the words of Anthony Bourdain, “It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.”

Day 10: Bosnia and Herzegovina

 It was raining like crazy, so we decided to take a day trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of the interesting parts of the drive was learning about the unusual borders of Croatia and Bosnia. We crossed the border three times to get there and three more times back. For a little perspective, the red arrows are the borders we crossed. First, into Bosnia. About 20 minutes later, we went back into Croatia. Another but more, back into Bosnia. The three places we visited were Počitelj(black box), Mostar (the red pin) and Kravica Falls (the black X). 

This is a stretch of the extremely small Bosnian coastline in Neum.  

Our first stop, Počitelj, had its earliest documented mention in 1444, but they think it was probably built by a Bosnian king in 1383. It was an important settlement over the years to a Hungarian king, the Ottoman Empire, and the Venetians.  It lost its importance after they can under Austria-Hungarian  rule, but sustained most of the damage in the war between 1992-1995. It lays in pretty much rubble now. 






The views from the top were breathtaking even with the overcast. We were thinking it was actually meant to be seen that way, misty and eery.


As we drove through the countryside, we saw a lot of buildings that looked similar to this. They were often alongside houses that had been rebuilt. It was a reminder of how it hasn’t been that long since their civil war. 


I had seen pictures of the bridge in Mostar and a little information from Rick Steves, but we didn’t really know what we had in store for us on this trip. The first of which was the crazy shenanigans of professional divers hurling theirselves off this enormous bridge for money. We arrived just in time to see this guy take on the cold water. You can see the small guy swimming along. Our tour guide said the water is very cold and dangerous. We didn’t join in on the funding. It felt weird to pay for someone to risk their life, but everyone says they are professionals and not to worry, supposedly. 


The view of the town and the water color. We were told the color comes from all the copper in the area. 


At the end of our walking tour, we went into the most beautiful tea and coffee set shop. Kelly told me later that I was not supposed to take pictures. I do feel bad I broke the rules, but they were so ornate and unique. The tour guide told us that you could tell if you were welcome or over stayed your welcome by the set that was used to serve you in the morning. 

After admiring the tea sets, we watched a video about war time in Mostar. It was sobering to see the destruction they lived through during the war. It was heart breaking to watch the footage of this beautiful bridge being bombed over and over until it fell into the river on 9/11/93. It was rebuilt near the end of the 90’s. 


A stone on the end of the bridge. 


We had time to take in what we had just learned and try some local food. We sat down at the perfect time to get to experience the Call to Prayer. We were very close to the Mosque and could it hear it so clearly. It was beautiful. 

Another couple pics of Mostar

This building is still in rubble surrounded by restaurants and shops.

Our tour guide rearranged our trip in hopes we could see Kravica falls without rain. He did it! We saw the sun for the first time as soon as we arrived at the falls. I threw in a few different vantage points. From far above...

From the top, one side of the falls right before it makes it descent.


And from the bottom


With a standard waterfall selfie of course...


Along the route to and from Mostar, there were protected waters just for oyster and mussels farms. The rock looking things in the water are where the farms are. These bays are specifically for this and motorized watercraft are not allowed. 


Bosnia and Herzegovina was a great surprise. We almost didn’t do it and are so glad we did! Next and last stop, Barcelona!

Day 7-9: Dubrovnik

Day 7: Made it to Dubrovnik

After a slight hiccup at the airport of a nonexistent flight, we made it to Dubrovnik. Instead of the nonstop one hour flight, we had to fly to Munich, sprint thru the airport just in time to make it to our plane before the doors closed. So you know... similar amount of stress. 

One thing I can tell you for sure is Dubrovnik is not made for rolling suitcases. But it is great for a bootie workout. This is a portion of the 150 stairs we will do to get to our apartment every day from the main square. 

Our first Croatian meal was at a cute little place right by our apartment called Lady Pi-Pi. Our apartment host suggested it and she was right. It was the perfect place to start the trip. 

Who doesn’t want a plate full of seasoned, grilled over an open fire, meat (and fries). 


When we started eating dinner there wasn’t any wait to get in. Half way thru dinner, we found out it was a hotspot. People waited in line for a long time to eat in this place. Kelly says she had the worst seat in the house because this whole line was staring at her while we finished up. Which was hard to rush, did you see that big plate of meat? We had to take our time on that...

Our home street looking down. We were able to adventure a little before we called it a night. 


Day 8: Walls and Kayaks

Thanks to the renovations going on near our apartment, we did not have to fear sleeping in too late. Which was great because we got up on the Dubrovnik fortress wall before it was too crowded. And we were so lucky to finally have a sunny day!!  We made sure to make the most of it. 

I think we could show a thousand pictures of this place and not know which one is our favorite. Here are a few to get the idea.






And of course the standard fortress selfie.


I can’t get enough of the color of the water


So many different colors of blue. Here is the bay that convinced us we should do the kayak tour. Black water bay from game of thrones if you were curious. 


This isn’t us, but it was about to be. 


And then it was us! Here’s the first stop on the kayak tour, a hidden cove and beach. 

This is where we held snorkel gear. Yes, that’s right. We were too chicken to get in the cold water. We had every intention of snorkeling when we took this picture... I promise. 


Our second stop was a cave on the island of Lokrum just off the coast of Dubrovnik. Right before entering this cave, we saw our first fully nude beach. Lots of naked old guys hanging around, pun intended. I apologize (or you’re welcome) for no pictures. 


Then, we headed back home with gorgeous views of the city walls. 


We had achey legs from all the stairs and now achey arms from kayaking. What better way to medicate our weary bones but with a Croatian wine tasting: 3 whites and 3 reds


Day 9: Rainy birthday 

We lucked out with a sunny day before, but my birthday had lots of rain. It wasn’t the worst thing though. We have been traveling for 9 days. We needed a relaxing day. I finished a book. Kelly got a much needed nap. It was glorious. During one of the breaks in the rain, we adventured out to Buza Bar. It was this hidden bar on the rocks outside the walls. There isn’t even a restaurant sign outside of the entrance. I poked my head in this little alley...

And imagine my surprise when this is what I found. 


Quite the birthday surprise indeed. A little rosé on the rocks (no I don’t mean ice in my drink). We were out on the rock wall. It was so cool!


It was so pretty out there. We would have stayed for hours had it not started raining again shortly after. 


At the next break in the rain, we headed for a local winery. Unfortunately, it started to rain again and after 30 minutes of walking turned out to be closed (learn from us: don’t forget to check hours before you head on this time of journey). But it did have some pretty views along the way too. 


A quick improvisation and we were at the Dubrovnik Brewing company hiding out from the rain. 




For dinner, we decided to try a Bosnian food restaurant, Taj Mahal. The potato and spinach pies were so good. I think they called it burek. I already want to go back and have more. 


The final and most important activity of the night was to take our cold, wet clothes to the laundry mat and dry them. I had such an amazing birthday so this really is saying a lot... the very best part of my day was having clean and, most importantly, dry socks and undies. Here I am proudly carrying a duffel bag full of dry clothes up 150 steps. 


Goodnight Dubrovnik. You are even prettier at night when all the lights turn on and most of the daytime tourists leave. This was our last day with you because tomorrow we will spend our last day in this area in Bosnia and Herzegovina.