Kenya, Africa

On December 14th my Mom, Dad and I arrived in Nairobi, Keyna, Africa for Winter/Christmas break. Our driver (John) talked to us during the drive, and he told us that “Nairobi is the only place in the world with a National park in the city!” While driving I also noticed that the Kenyans drive on the other side of the road (and later I found out that Kenya is not the only ones in Africa that do this). There was also lots of traffic on week days. It is surprising, but you see people everywhere at all hours.

We arrived at our cottage called Saverine late that night. At Saverine a delicious breakfast was included. There I meet a great friend called Saverine. Her mom owned the cottage so it was named after her. It was so fun to find a friend to spend the evenings with.

One our first day we went on a relaxing coffee tour. The place was called Mbumi Coffee Estate. Here are some things we learnt on the tour thanks to David, our tour guide. We learned that it takes 20-25 years to make good quality coffee. It even takes 8-10 years to start getting coffee. Good quality coffee will produce heavier beans. There are two diseases possible for coffee trees such as yellow fever and rust. During the process of growing coffee you can see all the colors of the Kenyan flag; green, then red, then black.

Coffee was first made (invented) in a country close to Kenya called Ethiopia. There are many (by many I mean many) different grades of coffee (not like in school grades) like PB, AA, E, T, AE, AB. These growers focus on only the premium grades. There are also different roasts like light, medium, dark and french. At the coffee farm we walked around ND their 350 acres of land. Coffee beans look like a type of fruit, they have a sweet and sugary flavor before the berries are picked one by one by hand. Only the red berries are harvested.

And what I thought was the coolest thing to learn was that most Kenyans themselves don’t actually drink coffee and much more prefer tea (British influence). At the end of the tour we enjoyed a snack overlooking the coffee farm. My parents enjoyed a good tasting of coffee. Last but certainly not least we made our own coffee :-). My dad was able to roast his own batch of beans and take them home.

On December 14th we also went to the famous Giraffe Centre. We truly enjoyed the centre. We were allowed to take pellets for free and hand feed the giraffes. The giraffes where very sweet and gentle when we where feeding them, they would like one pellet at a time from your hand. Some people even put a pellet in their lips!

They would try to get the pellet from you with their long tounge. There where two main giraffes that we could interact with. One was a teen and the other was an adult. There was also a small expedition that was free to look at. There was a gift shop that was very dark (we got a wooden ornament of a giraffe in criss-cross). This was a great well-known stop.

The next day we went to an Elephant Nursery. It was called “The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust”. It is open 1 hour (11:00 – 12:00) every day. The first thing we saw was a cute little baby white rhino, it was less than four weeks old and the mother left it stuck in the mud. They told the story of him and how he was rescued.

Next we saw a group of (funny, silly and cute) elephants. The workers said that all their animals where orphans. They followed by telling a story for each and every animal. In total we saw 18 elephants. When the elaphants came the first thing they did was drink milk from large baby bottles.

All the animals were raised to be put back in the wild at age 8 to 10.

After that we went to a lunch spot called Boho Eatery. There they had cool cottages you could stay at, they were like huts biult on posts. I recommend the pulled pork sandwich.

Next we went to the Karen Blixen museum. The city we where in was named after her. We got a personal guide (student guide) that gave us our tour. I was never quite sure what made Karen Blixen so famous. I would recommend going here if you would like to know about the person who the town was named after.

For dinner that night (Dec.16) we ate at a restaurant called Carnavor. It was well known and super fun. The waitresess would walk around with a tray full of food and you would have to let them know if you want the food or not. Here they had lots of meat.

Even some crazy meats like crocodile, ox balls and ostrige. My favorite was the crocodile, my parents liked the ostrige most.

The next day we went on a tour of the Kawangware slums (VERY poor people). We did this tour with a shop that sells stoves and ovens to the slums. All of the sales people live in the slums. The brand was called Livelyhods.

We started of the tour by going to Livelyhods headquarters. We were the only ones on the tour and we started off by watching them have a meeting on their company to see who sold the most and who made the most money.

In the beginning I didn’t realize why we had to learn about their business and how much they sold because it was a tour on the slums not their business but then I realized that basically we are being put into their business for one day to see what it’s like to be in their business and go around selling to the slums. The slums we visited had about 150,000 people and the larger slum (biggest in the world) has about 250,000 people.

After a little bit or planning the day we stopped and everyone (including us) had a snack. There was this pancake bread (chapati) and tea. Then we started the tour. On the tour we had 2 people who worked at Livelyhods walk around with us. It was very interesting to see the slums and how they lived. During the tour we got to see what a slum house looks like inside. Each house was basically a metal she’d which was extremely small and there was no kitchen and no bathroom – just the bed.

While my parents continued talking with the lady that let us into her house, I went outside to hangout with some local kids and we played some fun games. They seemed like even though they were very poor, they were still very happy. They were always smiling and having fun. We heard “hello, how are you?” With a smile and wave so many times. People would just yelled out to us.

The next day (Dec.18) we did a beading (bracelet making) class. The organization we did it with was called Spinners Web the workshop is Weza4life. Here we were taught to make jewelry (bracelets, necklaces and earings). It was a great experience. We found out that the women that worked there all had AIDA. We also learnt that it was a non-profit business and they used all the money to buy school books to help kids go to school. At the end we got to bring home everything we made, plus my mom and I bought a few extra things from their shop.

For lunch that day my mom, dad and I went to a restaurant called Arbor Place. Like most places here, we enjoyed lunch outside in a beautiful garden. From here I remember the great spring rolls, My refreshing strawberry lemonade and my scrumptious Arbor Burger (I definitely recommend).

Later for dinner we went to a restaurant called Tailsman. Here I loved their idea of having a fire-place for every table. As the sun set, it got cool. So, each person who wanted a little portable frog fireplace, had one brought to them, to keep warm. So cozy. Here I got homemade mozzarella, miso soup and a sushi platter. Good place, but not favorite. It was a place with a lot of expats and tourists.

On the last day in Kenya (Dec.19), we started off by going to a place called Langata. Langata was a few little shops that where all connected. There was also a bank and a food stand which we did not try. It was fun but there where no special memories taken.

Later in the day for lunch we went to a Tea Plantation on our way to the airport. During the plantation we learnt that Kenya is the 3rd biggest exporter of tea in the world.

Kenya is the number 1 biggest exporter of tea in Africa. Our guide’s name was Fiona and she owned the farm. She inherited it from her grandfather. On the farm there were 35 acres of land. We took a walk trough their forest and saw many monkeys who liked avocados and bananas of course. After the tour we enjoyed a 3 course buffet (very delicious) on their front yard. For dessert we enjoyed handmade ice cream from their cows in flavors chocolate and vanilla.

Over all it was a great experience with a great lunch.

Paris

My Mom, Dad and I arrived in Paris on the 8th of November in 2018. We took a taxi to our Marriott hotel. When we arrived we were hungry so after we settled in to our room, we headed down to the Marriott VIP lounge (my mom travels a lot). We were a little disappointed when we didn’t find many snacks there. After about 15 minutes our friends from Baltimore showed up. We then all headed down the street to a dinner spot, a cute little French bistro. There I got foie gras with quince paste, almond bread and a small salad. Time passed by as we chatted and caught up with our friends. Before we knew it, it was 10:00 PM. So we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep.

The next day after breakfast (a basic croissant with eggs) my Mom, Dad, I and our friends headed down to the catacombs of Paris. The bones were piled up and looked awesome. It was AMAZING how many bones there were. We walked in the tunnels for about 45 minutes and only saw a small portion of the tunnels.

We then started our adventure from Paris to Reims. It is the area known for Champagne and about an hour away. We arrived and checked into our apartment. Then, we all walked the city a little and found a place for a snack. We all had croque monsieur, or as I call it a ‘ham and cheese sandwich.

After lunch we returned to our Airbnb for some play time. That evening my parents had a chef instructor come to our place and cook us all a classic French dinner. It was perfect to be able to play ‘at home’ while dinner was being prepared. It turned out to be so good as well.

After the champagne house we went to a great little French Bistro called Cafe du Palais. We all had a classic French lunch in a place with a lot of French style. They made some cute plates for the kids. I ate pasta in a funny face with cucumber eyes with half a grape in the middle for the pupil, a big slice of tomato for the mouth, half a cherry tomato as a nose, cut salmon sprinkled on top and dill for hair.

Later in the afternoon, we all took a taxi Uber to the Independent Wine Festival. At this Independent Wine Festival there were many many different wine vendors crunched in the busy room. It seemed like our parents enjoyed this stop more than my two friends and I. The stands had free wine to give you as a tasting. The wine makers would tell you the story of their vineyard and their wine. They also hade a few stands without wine. Like meat (salami), cheese, dried fruit and nuts.

Sunday morning our friends had to leave us to return home. My family stayed another day. We did return to Paris and checked into our hotel, then braved the weather to try to visit the Palace of Versailles. Not only was the weather not good, but it turned out to be the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War I. So, the Palace was closed. It did look pretty spectacular from the outside though.

The great thing was that we looked for a place to get out of the rain and entered the Palace Horse Stables. With no time extra, we were able to enter the rare performance. It was crazy how they riders could make the horses dance. It was like the horses knew ballet. We learned that they only do the show for 4 weeks, once a week each year.

This trip was very fun and my family and me really enjoyed it.

Poland Day Adventure

On 24-25th of October My dad and I drove to Poland from Lithuania. The trip took some time for only one night, but it was good to see another country. Also, my mom’s side of the family has some Polish heritage. They don’t use the Euro there, their money is called the “Polish zloty” and one zloty is about 0.25 euros.

Before we left Kaunas,we went to a cute and cosy breakfast place. The place is called. We had mini panckes, eggs and a snack of bread.

We drove about 3.5 hours in the middle of the day. We arrived in city of Bialystok. I had to try and select a place for lunch with my dad, but he won and we were on the search for perogies.

We found a Polish restaurant near our hotel. The place was called Restaurant Babka. We got 2 types of perogies and the flavors where delicious (they both had bacon on top). One was wild boar and the other was deer. We also tried a “Hot pocket” that was breaded dough with bacon and mashed potatoes inside. Last we got a pig heart with a side of mashed potato and col slaw. While lunch was good, I think that my dad enjoyed it more than I did.

After lunch, we walked around the old city. We didn’t go inside, but walked the grounds of the Branicki Palace. It was a stunning building that does have tours, but also now part of the university.

For dinner we went to a restaurant inside our hotel, it happened to be the best restaurant in the city. We stayed at Hotel Cristal and their great restaurant was cleverly called Restaurant & Bar Cristal. It was very fancy food. We had a starter of pumpkin soup, buffalo tartar, and a few big chunks of foil gras. Next was a gnocchi with steak and a goat cheese salad. And as a last we had a musherum soup. (We where too full from lunch still for desert.) We loved this restaurant and would love to go back to it.

In the morning, we enjoyed a massive buffet brunch at the hotel. It is so much fun to try small bites of so many things. I really enjoyed the waffle station and fresh juices. However, there was a fitness competition in town and the super fit girls kept looking longingly at my plates of waffles and pancakes :o)

We then headed back north to Lithuania for one last night and the end of our October trip.

Latvia, Riga

On 22 of October My dad and I drove up to Riga (Latvia) from Vilnius (Lithuania). The drive was about 3.5 hours of pretty flat countryside.

For lunch we went to a non fancy lunch spot which was a sushi spot called “Tokyo City”. Tokyo City had good sushi but not great. It was also a little expensive for what they served. I would give Tokyo City a 3 star rating.

That afternoon, we returned to our Hotel Spa. We both had an hour message to get relaxed and then swam in the large wave pool. While ‘fancy’ I must admit that I’m not yet into it. I found it a bit weird.

For dinner we went to a medieval dinner place that was very cool. All the waitresses were dressed up in olden day costumes. The restaurant had candles and the felling of an olden day restaurant. I was a little disappointed with the main meal that we ordered, but the starter of soup was very good. This restaurant is called “Rozengrals”. The experience was great. I would give this restaurant 4 stars.

The next morning we decided to see the city of Riga. We went to the top of St. Peters Church. Built in the 15th century the top of the steeple is 123 meters. At the top we were not very happy, because it was very cold and just started to hail. I started to open my umbrella at the top and almost turned into Mary Poppins and blew away.

Soon later we, went on a free Riga tour. it was very interesting, but it was raining, and a quarter through the tour our umbrella exploded because of the wind. It was funny how it just flew into a bunch of pieces. The tour was given by a nice local man and he shared the highlights of the city. It was interesting to learn about how the Russians held control of the country for most of the last century.

That evening we went to a fancy place for dinner which was a sushi restaurant called ‘The Catch’. We got a bowl of rice with tuna and avocado, A plate with toro (tuna) Tuna sushi, Some rolls, a yummy lemonade, Tuna and avocado dish, Miso tuna, Shrimp salad and fried brocoli. I always talk my Dad into getting toro, it is the fatty belly of the tuna. It was delicious. By the time dinner was over, the rain stopped. We enjoyed a 20 minute walk home through the city, parks, and shopping.

20181023_182248 — rice, avocado and tuna

That is where our trip ended.

Lithuania From Izzy’s Perspective

On Oct. 20, 2018 my father and I left to the Baltics, we started in Lithuania. It was a Saturday evening when we arrived. That evening my father and I had a food tour planned with a company called ‘Small Group Food and History Walking Tour’. During the Small Group Food and History Walking Tour we used the transport of walking, it turned out that we were the only ones on the tour. During our walk we saw this cool wall decorated with artworks for people around the world who have a connection with Lithuania.

One stop was, a fancy-ish restaurant. What where we got fish, basil, potato, little shavings of cheese, cooked crunchy lettuce, strawberry, egg with smoked eel and cool black bread. We also learned about black bread. It was so delicious. Plus a side of multicolored peppers and dips to go with it. We also went to other stops like an old grocery shop. At the old grocery shop they had a large cheese and charcuterie plate ready for us, again with the black bread. The last stop was going to be some sort of fancy desert place but instead we went to a popular cheese shop with their local cheese (tasted like parmesan) and a few crazy ice cream flavors. Like their aged cheese flavor with fig.

The next day we went on a free walking tour. Right before, despite being cold, we went to an ice cream shop which was great. It was called Soprano. I give it 5 stars.

The brand of this tour was Vilnius Free Walking Tour. The first thing we saw was a cool walk way. It looked like this. During the tour we learned some cool things about the city and the architecture.

This is an old church that we saw and learned about. It is St. Anne’s Church with bricks from 1500s.

Fact: It is Lithuania’s 100 year anniversary a few months before we arrived. They were all celebrating a hundred years of being their own country after separating from Russian control.

At the end of the tour my father and I asked the tour guide to give us a recommendation for lunch. She gave us a few different recommendations. The one we ended up going to was great. We over did it by ordering way too much food – but we had to try the many different (potato based) dishes.

Fact: Potatoes were first introduced to the area because of their pretty flowers. Only after some time did someone finally decide to eat the odd thing growing below ground.

This is a view of the city during sun set that we saw. We saw this view from the Gediminas Castle Tower (originally part of a castle constructed in the 15th century). In this view we also saw the hill of Three Crosses.

We had a road trip around the country and despite being really cold, we stopped at the “Hill of the Crosses”. They say that there are 100,000 crosses. However, to me, it seemed like there was over a million.

That day we arrived in Kaunas. We had a really run ‘tiny house’ for our stay. It was perfect for the two of us. We walked about the city for about 2 hours and saw the Kaunas Castle (built on the Nemunas and Neris rivers in the 14th century).

For dinner we ate at Uoksas, it was a fancy 6 course menu. The evening was my favorite from our week trip. For a starter we both got a dish with mini loaves of bread and butter. After that we got an amuse-bouche from the chef. It was a fried twig, that tasted like a chip with barely any flavor. To drink I had a fancy homemade sparkling lemonade. Then we got a couscous, fish and crunchy onion dish. Next was another amuse-bouche with was a circled cracker with basil dip on it. Next was 2 fish ‘bitterballen’ with a jelly jam on top. Served on a plate filled with pine needles. After that was a fish platter with a creme underneath. Next was a nut thing with meat on top and a white creme to the side. For dessert we had an artichoke ice cream with meringue on it and sticky jelly on the side. The next dessert was a pumpkin with pumpkin sorbet inside and mascarpone with candied fruit and candied carrots stuck in. All served on a plate with autumn leaves.

For our last night of the trip, we drove back near Vilnius to a resort town called Trakai. There, the highlight was the Trakai Island Castle on Lake Galve. The first stones were put in place in the 14th century and the major work was completed in 1409.

For dinner we ate at our hotel; Apvalaus Stalo Klubas. The restaurant was a pretty fancy place where we were the only ones dining! The first thing we got was an amuse-bouche (a small one bite gift from the chef) which was very good. For a starter we had mushroom soup. The soup was delicious, it was a creme soup. Then I had a fancy mixture of vegetables. While my dad had an asparagus and smoked eel dish. (The smoked eel was really good). Then we got a salmon and cream plate. For dessert I got a dish called “the snow ball”. It was a big cotton candy ball with yummyness hidden inside. My dad had a dish called “river side”. The “river side” was chocolate rocks with granola pieces.

Berlin, Germany Sight Seeing

On October 5th, my mom, dad and me left to Berlin, Germany. We took a 6 hour train ride over to Berlin from Amsterdam. The day we arrived we went on a food tour called Secret Food Tours Berlin. The tour was excellent! We tried local foods and learnt about the history of Berlin. The diner kebab was my favorite stop. It was the first stop and it was great, it was juicy and fresh. There where a few different kebabs passed around but I love the kebab that I got. There they also had a version of Cola but it was called Fitz-Kola (pronounced, fits-cola). It was like a normal Cola, but less sugary.Our next stop was a delicious restaurant called BlechBlinderBar. Here’s the link https://www.blechbilderbar.de/. At the BlechBlinderBar we ate a very good flatbread (pizza) with onion, bacon, etc. The pizza had a thin crust. The stop after that was a small and quit busy shop. The shop sold nuts, dried-out fruits and fruits covered in chocolate. Later, we tried German Currywurst’s at a food vendor. Our tour guide said that usually you are either a currywurst fan or not. I was in the middle though. Most liked it. If you are in Germany then I recommend that you try the currywurst. It doesn’t matter so much where as most places selling currywurst are similar.Last, we we stopped at a place with very good schnitzel. Our tour guide also had a local dessert with him that he shared with all of us. But I will keep the type of dessert a secret in case you ever do the tour 😉

The next day my family and I went to an “Oktoberfest”. It was more of a carnival but it was still fun. My favorite thing at the Oktoberfest was a game where you buy coins and then you drop them in a box and eventually they push more coins and prizes off the board for you. Here’s a picture of my mom and I all dressed up for “Oktoberfest”. (Barely any people where dressed up. We all learnt that Oktoberfest is really mostly celebrated in the southern part of Germany.)

Luxemburg Road Trip

On Friday September 28, 2018 I left from school to go on a road trip to Luxunburg. The day after that I had a race for my school cross country team. In the race on the U12 squad, I did 3 kilometers and the U14 squad did 5 kilometers. Of course I was on the U12 team, meaning age 12 and under.

While we were in Luxemburg we stayed at Novotel Luxemburg. I would give Novotel a 5 star rating. Because they where a great host and allowed 60 crazy kids into their hotel. They also allowed us to use half of their restaurant for our pasta dinner. In the Novotel we had to meals including dinner and breakfast which where both buffets.

The rooms where cleaned and a good size. Although it did get a little hot in my room with me and my 2 roommates. We tried to turn down the temperature, but it didn’t get cooler and it stayed too warm.

Later on (after breakfast) we took a 25 minute ride by our private team bus over to a forest for our race of 3 kilometers. It was a great day and perfect weather. I enjoyed my run and met my goal.

After that we drove for 2 hours over to a lunch spot. Where we had lunch. Then we drove 3 more hours and arrived at school at 8:00 PM.

Iowa, Ames

On August 4, 2018 my family and I flew into Iowa, Ames and my dads parents (my grandparents) where there to pick us up. (All my grandparents and all of my cousins on my mom’s side live in Iowa). We stayed with my dads parents for two days. The night that we arrived we went to a restaurant called The Great Plains Sauce and Dough Company which is part of my top 2 favorite restaurants in Iowa.

Here’s a link to Great Plains (http://greatplainspizza.com/.

Two days later we went to my other grandparents house (my mom’s parents house) for two days. The first day there my grandma, my mom and I went to get our nails done at a place called Crystal Nails. My grandma said that Crystal Nails is her favorite place to get her nails done. I give Crystal Nails 3 stars because the lady who did our nails cut my mom’s nails to short, and did not plan well because she did the fastest first (me), then the second fastest and last she did the longest (taking of gel off then putting on gel). I was done and had to sit and wait too long. On our way back we went to an ice cream place that had rolled ice cream called Sweet Swirls Rolled Ice Cream.

Here’s the link https://www.sweetswirlsrolledicecream.com/.

Later in the week when we were with my dads parents we finally went to my favorite sandwich spot called Down Town Deli.

Here’s a link https://www.downtowndeliames.com/. I give Down Town Deli a 5 star rating. If you go to Down Town Deli then I recommend if they have their cheese soup on the menu, then definitely get it.

The week after that my mom and I went to the Iowa State Fair to watch Jim Gaffigan (who is a comedian).

The next day my family and I went back to the Iowa State Fair for a whole day of fun. The State Fair is a very fun place that I would recommend going to if you are in Iowa in the month of August, there is so much to see and do.

On our last full day of Iowa all of my grandparents and the family of my uncle came down to a farm owned by my dads parents. At the farm we grilled out hamburgers, sausages and marshmallows. We also got to ride four wheelers.

Here are some of my favorite things about Iowa. Corn dogs,

Iowa State Fair, Down Town Deli, Great Plains, bacon, sweet corn, pork tenderloin and BLTs.

I love Iowa!

Vienna

On June 22, 2018 my family and I took a plane to spend 2 days in Vienna. We went to Vienna to selabrate my great uncle’s birthday.

On Friday (our first night) we went to a restaurant called Plachutta Wollzeile (https://www.plachutta-wollzeile.at/.) Plachutta Wollzeile has yummy food and a good verity. I give this restaurant 4 stars.

Saterday evening my family, my uncle and my cousin all went to a Buddhist center to celebrate my great uncle’s birthday.

The next day (Sunday) my family and I took a horse carriage ride around town. After the carriage ride on our walk home we stopped by an old restaurant called griechenbeisl. Here’s the link http://www.griechenbeisl.at/page.asp/lang%3Den/24.htm. The restaurant opened in 1447. My favorite part about it was the adografts. The man that showed me the autographs let my use a big stick to point at the autographs and didn’t let others use it. He also let me pour a beer from a 1447 tap! I give this restaurant 4 stars.

Croatia

On July 4, 2018 my dad and I left (Greece) to spend 11 days in Croatia. My family and I meet up with some old friends (arriving from the US) for lunch in Sibenik. Then we drove up to our house in Srima. Our Airbnb (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms19618016?location=%C5%A0ibenik%2C%20Croatia&adults=4&children=3&guests=1&home_collection=1&s=iRDl-vmh) was perfect and the hosts were great. For our first night there we enjoyed a fresh homemade Croatian dinner cooked by our hosts.

A few days later we took a break from swimming in the pool, we rented a boat to take us around. We saw a few other islands and swam in totally secluded spots. My dad went diving for sea urchins and brought us back a tasty treat of super fresh urchins.

One of the other days we took a ferry ride out of Split and into to Brac and did a food tour. There, we learned a lot about the history of the island and that they just got running water 40 years ago! We had a great snack at an old olive press. Were we enjoyed olives in several ways. Then we continued the tour and had fantastic Brac lamb chops. We wrapped up the day by swimming on the beach.

For one day we headed down to the water organ in Zadar. Here is a link for the water organs (https://www.zadar.travel/en/city-guide/attractions/19-04-2007/sea-organ#.W2LDSVqxWfB.) While we were in Croatia, the croats had 2 matches in the World Cup. They won both games we watched with the locals, but ended up losing the championship match. Croatia ended with second place.

Once the week was over we drove down to Split for a few days to see family. On the way we went to Krka National Park: (http://www.npkrka.hr/) where you can go swimming in the waterfalls and on beautiful (but busy) hikes. The floor underneath the water of the waterfalls is quite rocky but the water is fresh and clean. If you go and want to swim then I recommend bringing water shoes.

In Split we got to really enjoy the city. The city is defined by the Diocletian’s Palace. On our last day of vacation we went to the top of Diocletian’s Palace or the belltower (https://www.sirena-booking.hr/.) The palace is a very popular place to go in the city. This statue is very popular in Croatia. If you touch the man’s foot they say that you will have luck.

On our way back we stopped at the Bacvice Beach and there we went kayaking and my cousin went on a jet ski.

Croatia is simple and beautiful, but also can busy and loud. Split is a great place to go if you want to visit beautiful busy beaches or small towns.

Did you know that the Croatian people call their country Hrvatska?

In many words, they have a mark above certain letters. When you see the mark, that letter is followed by an ‘h’ sound. So, Brač is pronounced “Brach” and Šibenik is “Shibenik.”