Venture Finley: 2015

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Pula Croatia & 13 years of marriage

On June 8, 2015 Daniel and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. We we fortunate to have Marylou and Jim staying with us, and took full advantage of this luxury by planning a trip to Pula Croatia for 4 glorious days. Daniel and I have only left our kids twice overnight in our entire marriage. This was definitely an opportunity we were extremely grateful for. It was a bit nerve wracking for us to board a plane and fly out of country from our 4 children. We kept looking around, thinking we were missing some people! But once we arrived in Croatia, we were able to relax and enjoy ourselves a bit!

I have not had a drink in 3 years. However, it is not every day (or every decade!) Daniel and I take time for ourselves like this. So I decided to indulge in a local brew with my amazing husband of 13 years.

Pula is situated at the southern tip of the Istrian peninsula on the Adriatic Sea and is the area's largest city. Pula is known for its winemaking, fishing and shipbuilding. It is also home to many ancient Roman buildings, including the well-preserved, magnificent amphitheater.

Daniel and I had the opportunity to take a bus down to Kamenjak National Park, a nature preserve in this area. We rented bikes and spent the day riding the trails and hitting some of the most beautiful, rocky beaches we have ever seen.

The first thing we noticed was swim suits are definitely an option! Beach goers of all ages were gracing the beaches in the buff! Families were just hanging out as naked as can be. Daniel and I found this interesting as we saw one particular family, a young teenage girl completely topless hanging out with her mom and dad on the beach. I personally could not fathom doing this myself!

There were not a tremendous number of people on the beaches which Daniel and I particularly enjoyed, as we are not fans of big crowds. We very easily found our own little spaces on the craggy rocks overlooking the turquoise water. It was an extremely hot day and the water was gorgeous. Quite a few people could be found jumping off the cliffs on the rocky coast. We had an amazing time biking this gorgeous nature preserve, and hopping beach to beach. Towards the end of our day, I was brazen enough to embrace the culture and strip down to the buff myself on the beach, and jump into the Adriatic. Daniel says he was shocked as I guess I have always had a bit of "prudeness" to me. I told him, "I have had 4 children and made a full lap around the world. I have stressed about my health and fitness for years, and after 2 years in Germany I have not had the same level of rigor in this area as I have in the past. I am 36 years old, and I am finally comfortable with myself, imperfections and all!"

The food was absolutely amazing. We ate trifles, a local delicacy, along with all kinds of other delicious catches from the sea. I could eat seafood and fish all day every day. The food was amazingly fresh and incredibly cheap!

I must say our little second honeymoon after 13 years of marriage was well worth the wait, and honestly one of our most favorite places we have had the opportunity to visit in the last 2 years.

Roman Gate, Pula Croatia

Colossseum

It was a hot day!

Where all the brutality took place

Renting bikes and cruising the beaches

Gorgeous rocky beaches!

Daniel taking a dip

Daniel doing as the europeans do.

More rocks

Finding some shade

This boat was anchored with people just swimming

Anchored and taking a dip

Croatians

Bike riding

This was left over from WW2

Reminded us quite a bit of Arizona landscape

Our own personal beach

Clear blue water

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Keukenhof, The Hague Holland/St Vith Belgium

A few days after we got back from Turkey, Daniel drove to Frankfurt Hahn Airport to pick up Marylou and Jim for a Spring time visit!

One of the biggest things on my bucket list and places to see while living here are the tulips in Holland in the Spring. Keukenhof is one of the largest flower gardens in the world. It has over 7 million flower bulbs and covers almost 79 acres! The absolute best time to see the tulips is in April.

The kid's favorite part of the gardens were its playground, petting zoo, and tree maze. The highlights of the visit were Liam's chicken round-up, Rowan getting head butted by a goat, and Patrick seeing the pigs mate. Liam could not stop chasing the chickens. He was actually really good at it and not afraid to get down and grab them. He asked one of the attendants if he could keep the chickens he caught. She said, "No, the chickens live here." Since our trip he has not stopped asking for a pet chicken. Rowan went in for a photo op with a goat and the thing turned around and head butted her! Patrick went over to check out the pigs and got a first person view on how piglets are made. We also all tried the fresh herring. It is all locally caught and served raw with onions. It is delicious!

The tulip fields that dot the country side along the North Sea are absolutely incredible. It looks like someone spray painted brightly colored lines along the countryside.

Marylou and Jim made this 5 hour journey with us. We spent the night about 45 minutes south in the capital of Holland, The Hague. From what I have read, some of the most prosperous as well as some of the poorest neighborhoods in The Netherlands can be found in The Hague.

We ate dinner in at a local seafood stand down by the beach. The best part of the meal was the sunset on the beach. The food was all deep fried and to be honest, we have all had much better! The freezing wind was whipping off the Atlantic, however from the car it was a beautiful night with an incredible sunset.

The next morning we all piled in the car and headed home. We took our time.

Our first stop was at The Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial. Here lies the soldiers that helped liberate The Netherlands in 1944-1945.

It was a gorgeous Spring day so we decided after our drive through the Ardennes Forest in Belgium to make a pit stop in St. Vith Belgium. St Vith is a medieval town at one time was part of Luxembourg. It was almost completely destroyed during World War II. We had a wonderful meal at an outdoor cafe before heading home to home sweet Weilerbach!