CroCRAYtia

How do you write about one of the most amazing trips of your life?  Some might call it magical even.  It's 5 of your favorite people in the whole world from 5 different locations, with ridiculous connections and flights, who dreamed about and planned this trip for well over a year, and got along the entire time because we're all funny and laughed at every other word and because everything went well and worked out better than we could ever have imagined.

I don't mean this stuff in a bragging way, but in a factual way.  It's rare to have experiences like this - you know the type of trip/situation I'm talking about, right?

I have over 1,000 pictures from the trip, along with everyone else's, so I'm not really sure how to pick what to post or how to divvy this up.  But I'll try my damndest.

The four pals we met in Croatia landed in Dubrovnik on Friday and went straight to the island of Korcula.  We're sad we missed this "quaint fisherman's island, home to a specific wine, grk; two of the actual sandy beaches in Croatia; a cuty patooty farmer's market with fresh fish, produce, and lavender; amazing waterfront dining, and the birthplace of Marco Polo!" (This is all from Meredith's description.)  You can evidently stroll the entire town in less than an hour, and they all definitely meant to do this and check out the vineyards but accidentally imbibed on the beach instead.

Beach time!

We, however, flew into Dubrovnik on Saturday afternoon/evening and had a night to ourselves before we met them on the island of Hvar on Sunday afternoon!

Dubrovnik all lit up.

Octopus salad!  Yummm.

Shrimp, grilled squid, and fresh fish!

Finally made it to Hvar after a death-defying bus ride over mountainous cliffs without railings and a driver who texted the whole time.  Cool.
Beautiful scenery!

Friends together at last!

Drew's sporting a new deep-V for the trip.

I have a lot more picture sorting to do and I almost threw my computer out the window this evening in the process, so bear with me on these sporadic posts!  Plenty more beautiful water pics and stories to come.  Now I shall go take deep breaths and calm down :)  Goodnight!