sailing adventures in croatia

from istanbul we flew to croatia where we embarked on the sailing portion of our trip. how many times had i been on a sailboat? zero. pete took sailing lessons on lake merritt in oakland when he was a kid and some classes at university. jenny took sailing classes at university. and someone was willing to give us a boat for seven days?! just kidding...we had a ringer. andrew sailed tall ships around the world for many years and had his own boat until recently. so three captains and a scientist sailed off into the adriatic sea to soak in the beauty and history of the dalmation coast. our official duties were captain (andrew), engineer (pete), public relations (jenny), and steward (me). after a night in romantic trogir (world heritage site #2), we set sail. 

 the well worn stone streets of trogir

 quaint, narrow "streets"

 one of the entrances into the walled portion of the city

(note the shape in the alcove above the
entrance - by night it is a neon UNESCO sign)

the boat dock and trogir tower

(our boat is three from the end)

happy hour scenery from our boat

the first stop on our sailing adventure was the town of milna on the island of brac. we were traveling during the shoulder season so milna was very quiet, but quite lovely.

 the town of milna

 a pretty seaside church

 i bet it is cheaper than santa cruz... who needs a roof?!

 the stone from the island of brac is quite famous - 

it was imported to build the white house in d.c.

 our trusty captain

our next stop was the island of hvar in a town called stari grad (world heritage site #3). we went for a nice hike to a vista over the city and had dinner at a small outdoor cafe. the food in croatia is nothing to write about, but the ambiance here was perfect. 

 stari grad and the stari grad plains

 pete, jenny, and andrew from our lookout perch

 the town of stari grad was full of cuteness...

our dinner spot in stari grad

our third day of sailing took us to the other side of hvar island. we were told this would be the busiest stops on our island tour. it was definitely more lively than everyplace else so we were happy that it was a slower time of year. the town of hvar lies below an old fortress, so we had a nice opportunity to get a long walk in while we were in town. 

our approach to hvar town

dinghy parking in hvar. getting in and out of this 

arrangement is always interesting...

more steep, narrow "streets" through the town

the entrance to spanjola fortress. i loved the slanty door

overlooking hvar from spanjola fortress

overlooking hvar town - what a beautiful day!

pete and jenny waiting for andrew and i to stop taking photos

the happy crew

our next stop was the island of vis. on the way there, we stopped for an open sea swim in 80 meters of water. the water was warm and diving off the bow was great fun! pete and i put on masks and snorkeled around for a bit but there was absolutely NOTHING in the water. i am pretty sure that the adriatic sea is blue because it is mostly dead. sad. 

we had two days in vis, trading in our sailboat for scooters instead. andrew lost his drivers license before the trip started and pete forgot his on the boat, so jenny and i had to be the "renters" of our two scooters. imagine this scene: melissa driving a wee scooter for the *very first time* away from the very public rental agency with pete on the back. terrifying. i made it down the street, through a stop sign, and up a slight hill before pulling over and making pete drive the rest of the day. (until i had to return it.) we had a lovely day cruising around the island and seeing some quaint villages and beautiful beaches.

vis town

 the other end of vis town - this was our view from our anchorage

scoot-ing around the island

the town of komiza on the other side of the island

 our lovely picnic lunch spot

 resting on the beach before climbing back up the steep hill

 this great cove used to be a cave until the roof collapsed
 

when we saw this i was so happy pete was driving - 

the edge of the road was a bit abrupt...

(remarkably, we did see this truck driving around later)

we made it back to trogir six days after our adventure began, even with some questionable sailors at the helm... 

pretending i know exactly what i am doing...

 our trusty friend, marioli

fort ord and the pajaro dunes

my kiddos from the student oceanography club at the monterey bay aquarium had a field event on saturday at fort ord. we were helping the bureau of land management and return of the natives replant a hillside with native plants. our kids were incredible and helped to plant over 1,000 plants in three hours! we even had a harp player keeping us entertained while we planted! 

this was my first time in the fort ord national monument...and it was amazing! we were seemingly in the middle of nowhere among beautiful oaks and rolling hills. i think pete and i are going to have to come back to this place soon... 

a sampling of the baby native plants we were planting

our planting location. never underestimate the

abilities of forty 11-13 year olds!

our planting entertainment. i'm not kidding. it was awesome!

 the beautiful mossy oaks on the drive into the site.

the oaks were covered in moss - until you got beyond the fog line.

the rest of our weekend was spent at the pajaro dunes with pete's extended family. his family has been getting together on president's day weekend for over forty years! in addition to the beach, this year we had the olympics and a four month old to keep us all entertained... :)

 beach treasures for a nerd - pelagic barnacles on drift kelp!

this kelp must have been floating around for awhile
before being deposited on the beach.

 wing feathers of a gull. there were a lot of dead

birds on the beach - seven birds, five species. :(

 a little plover

 a group of sandpipers hiding in the beach wrack

best sandcastle ever! some creative kid used the

plethora of washed up shells and crab carapaces

to decorate his/her castle. the walkway was even

paved with shell fragments. winner!

istanbul (part 1 of turkey, croatia, and bosnia)

in september pete and i spent two weeks in the turkey/croatia/bosnia area with our friends jenny and andrew. our first, very brief, stop was istanbul, turkey. we arrived late on thursday and flew to croatia early saturday morning - so we had a lot of ground to cover in a very short amount of time!

stop #1 - a delicious breakfast overlooking the sea of marmara in one direction and the blue mosque in the other. breakfast is the most difficult meal of the day for me with all my food limitations, but i had so many options here i could hardly contain myself!

pete and jenny enjoying breakfast overlooking the sea of marmara...

while andrew and i take photos of the spectacular view of the blue mosque

stop #2 - the hagia sophia. once a cathedral, then a mosque, now a museum - the hagia sophia is beautiful and full of history. the scale of the place is hard to judge once you are inside, but rick steves told us that the statue of liberty could do jumping jacks inside the hagia. that gave us a pretty good visual! many of the mosaics from the christianity-era were well preserved because when the hagia sophia was converted to a mosque they were plastered over rather than destroyed. it was neat to see the christian and islam religious stories and symbols side by side. to get to the second level of the museum you walk up a stone ramp that is approximately eight feet wide, twelve or so feet tall, and gently sloping. we were trying to figure out why the ramp was made like this when pete had a flash of brilliance - the ramps were made so you could ride your horse up there!  

 islam meets christianity inside the hagia sophia

 candelabras provide light to the lower floor;
natural light flooded the upper floor

 pete learning about the hagia so he can tell us all about it

 looking across to the blue mosque from the hagia sophia

an example of the intricate tile mosaics from the christian era

stop #3 - the underground basilica cistern. the cistern was used to store water from a forested area outside of istanbul but was forgotten about for quite a long time. the underground cistern is filled with roman columns and other artifacts, including a medusa head as the base of two columns. 

columns in the cistern

medusa head base on one of the columns

stop #4 - the spice market. chaos meets beautifully arranged spices, teas, and turkish delight. the rows and rows of goods were a feast for the senses.

tea offerings

spices abounding

just outside the spice market was a mosque and the ritual washing area  

stop #5 - topkai palace. the palace was the home of the ottoman sultans for over 400 years. the extravagance was impressive - particularly the tile work in the harems. the treasury draws a big crowd - and for good reason. two of the most impressive pieces in there included a bowl FULL of uncut emeralds (some nearly as large as my fist) and two solid gold candlesticks that weigh 100 pounds each. 

the footpath leading to the harems

beautiful tile work in the harems

even the exterior of some buildings were covered in tile 

(i think there are four different designs in this photo)

part of the palace complex

stop #6 - the blue mosque. because we were in istanbul on a friday, getting into the blue mosque required a bit of careful planning. visitors are not allowed into the mosque during prayer times, which on a friday include morning, noon, and evening. waiting to get in gave us a chance to rest for a bit before continuing our istanbul blitz. like the hagia sophia, the size of the interior of the blue mosque is hard to judge - but it is big! the main features are a number of large domes and columns that are all ornately decorated. unlike most christian churches, there are no pews in the mosque - just a bare floor in the main part of the mosque for the men and a side area for the women. the dress code for visiting the mosque is strictly enforced - no bare shoulders, knees, or head for women.

inside the blue mosque - looking up at the main dome

me in my headscarf next to one of the pillars for scale - they were huge!

stop #7 - the grand bazaar. we walked through the grand bazaar area on our way back to our apartment. by this point in the late afternoon, we were all tired and feeling a bit jet-lagged. the bazaar overwhelmed all of us to a point of exhaustion. 

lanterns in the grand bazaar

stop #s 8 & 9: dinner and drinks. after a short refresh, we headed back out into the city for dinner. most restaurants do not serve alcohol, and in fact, it is quite difficult to find a bar in the historic area of istanbul. upscale hotels are the best place to find a bar and we managed to find one with spectacular nighttime views of the blue mosque and the hagia sophia. we could also see a whirling dervish performing at one of the restaurants...it is safe to say that a career as a whirling dervish is not in my future. i got dizzy just watching that man! 

jenny and andrew and the blue mosque

the hagia sophia at night

istanbul was certainly a whirlwind, but we managed to see most of the highlights in our action-filled 24 hours. and we crossed world heritage site #1 off our list for the trip (six more to come!). 

next up - sailing in croatia!