Split, Croatia

We had one full day to explore Split. Having been before, I wasn't that excited to return, knowing it would be crowded and hot. I was just excited to use it as a jumping-off point for our island adventures. But we ended up really enjoying our short time there. It helped that the NYT had just published 36 Hours in Split so we had a lot of recommendations to go off of. It also helped that the weather was perfect and that it wasn't as crowded as I feared. 

Nana and Pops did the city right and went on a guided tour in the morning while Pete and I saw the sights on our own with the kids. 

We didn't go up the tower on our last visit and thought that would be fun. The entrance ticket included a few other historic sites. The tower and Saint Dominus Cathedral were the highlights.

The oldest surviving Medieval wood art in Croatia- part of a choir pew in the church.

Up we go! 

View over Diocletian's Palace

Strange religious art in the treasury

I loved returning to the Vestibul, where men were showcasing their voices and the acoustics of the open-roofed, dome structure.

Nana and Pops took the kids to a tiny church.

These guys brought back fond memories of little Jude loving them at age 4 and Maeve being absolutely terrified.

After a Croatian fast food lunch, we went home for some downtime and all took glorious naps. 

With our second wind, we caught a city bus out to the Mestrovic Gallery, home to works by the sculpture of that name. 

The promise of a trip to the beach across the street and silly poses helped keep the kids going. 

Our first glimpse of that dreamy Adriatic Sea

It was too cold for swimming that late in the day, though Maeve attempted it! 

Nana and Pops walked to a church that contained more works by the sculpture.

Out to eat at Restaurant Adriatic. 

Trying a local specialty

Walk back to town for more gelato

Trogir, Croatia

We had a wonderful 10-night trip to Croatia with Nana and Pops at the end of June. After smooth travels, we hopped on a local bus that went up the coast to the village of Trogir, where we spent a few hours exploring before taking a taxi into Split, our home base for the first 3 nights of the trip. 

It had been 5 years since we'd last been in Croatia and it was great to be back! 

We made ourselves comfortable at this cafe and the grown-ups took turns drinking beer/playing cards with the kids and exploring the town.

Old town gate

We had a great first dinner out in Split on the roof terrace of the Seven Sisters Pizzeria.

Followed by the first of many gelatos at the same place we got gelato with the kids and Welters 5 years ago. 

June 2023

Another crazed June with the end of school year-, wrapping up work for summer-, preparing for travels- madness. 

Jude's last baseball game

Date night on a beautiful evening at Bam Boa on the Amstel

Allegra's art party spectacular

Our last meeting of the Let's Sew group at school. I learned a lot of new embroidery tips and skills from the talented Elizabeth, who is sadly relocating back to the US.

Pete's homebrew competition-winning beer, "Pete's Catharina Sour" was ready for its grand debut at Gerrit bar in Uithoorn (he brewed it with the breweries in early May). Some of Pete's coworkers joined us and the brewers to try it. The verdict is that it isn't as good as the one Pete made, but is probably more palpable for a larger audience. The beer will be on tap at Gerrit, Naekte Brouwers (Anna Kerk) and at Arendsnest in the Jordaan! Arendsnest was one of the first places we explored when we moved to Amsterdam. It is a beer bar with 50 Dutch beers on tap. I am really proud of Pete that they will be serving his beer there! 

Pete chaperoned Maeve's final field trip to the zoo and we attended her end of school year Bug parade (our Black Widow spider was a little shy). Jude celebrated his knowledge of ancient civilizations as an Aztec priest in the class wax museum. (Yes, in the final weeks of school, both kids required homemade costumes). 

Maeve's exploratory project this year was gardening and it really flourished!

Grateful for the effort other parents put into the bug picnic. We made pigs in a blanket and called them worms.

I left for Paris for one night to visit Amelia and the next morning, Nana and Pops arrived! 

Pete took the kids on practice bike rides in anticipation of biking to school (we are fair-weather bikers so it had been a while!) 

Off to school!

Sophie threw Fred a fun surprise party on a boat on another beautiful summer evening (June was full of them- breaking records for sunny, warm days!). 

I had way too much on my plate but was convinced to stay out for another drink. The promise of a ride home in a friend's bakfiets convinced me to stay for what was a very memorable time (Pete missed the fun while at his homebrew club meeting). 

The next day was the last day of school, followed by the annual post-early dismissal hang in the Bos, and then the end-of-school-year staff party. Pete's band (Nelly Wilsons minus Adam and plus our Dutch neighbor, Sander), had been practicing for a few months to play the event. They invited other staff to join them for songs of their choosing and it was all very well received. I crashed the party to watch them play and enjoyed seeing all of the hard-working teachers getting to celebrate. 

And then we were off to Croatia for 10 days with Nana and Pops, home for a day, and then off to the US for a 3+ week trip home!