So, if you've been following the blog, you know that our dear friends, Chuck and Jean met us in Dubrovnik and sailed with us up to Trogir. We've spent the past 10 days with them, touring the old towns of the wonderful cities along the way. Both Chuck and Jean are history buffs and have enriched our experience here by providing insights and color to the old towns, cathedrals, monasteries, and castles.

They left yesterday, and so Ken and I having the day to ourselves...did what, left to our own resources we do...we rented a car and Captain Ken transitioned into designated driver Ken, and I became the 'nagrivator'. Armed with our guidebooks and map, we set out on a driving trip, stopping at the 'sights' and venturing off the path to find treasures off the beaten track. We drove north along the coastline, to Sibenik. (Sibenik itself is a very modern city, with a preserved old city. However, the city was built by the Croats rather than the Romans or Venetians, and has a totally different feel: as narrow as the streets are in most places, these are narrow, narrow, narrow, with steep steps up to little neighborhoods.This is a whole different Croatia.) This is where the locals holiday. The coastline is gorgeous. Perhaps it is because the breeze has picked up but we saw hundreds of sailboats actually sailing....probably because they had no direction in which to go and could just take advantage of the wind...WHAT A NOVEL IDEA! We drove past fig orchards, olive tree orchards, wind farms, fish farms, and Croatian holiday resorts, sans the frenetic energy of most resort areas. Down by the Adriatic were 'camps' which were actually what we call campgrounds. Up along the road were not hotels but 'apartments for rent'. Families walked along the road, in beach attire, going down to 'beaches' which were not exactly our idea of beaches....mostly built-up sea walls with pebbles. Being an east-coaster, I think we are totally spoiled with our fabulous white sand beaches, but as our friend, Jackie said about the Greeks, they hate having sand on them...and prefer pebbles. Go figure!

So, today, we had the opportunity to see the other side of Croatian life.