Scott was invited to speak at the Croatian National Math Congress at the University of Croatia in Zagreb in early July 2008. He would be the guest of Petar Mladinić, professor of Math Education there.

We had been back from California only a few months and were missing the bike touring we had done there. The idea of a bike vacation was very attractive to Scott. I was more attracted to the idea of visiting Venice (before additional flood damage occurs there) and was especially attracted to the idea of arriving to that water city via ferry from across the Adriatic Sea.  These visions of a vacation are incompatible unless you have 2-3 weeks in addition to the conference obligation (which we didn’t) but I set out to see what I could plan.

We booked the flights for the only two week period available to us and only then learned that the ferries from Croatia to Venice were already booked for the appropriate dates. Then I investigated a car trip throughout the country and tried to convince Scott that touring by car would be fabulous. We ended up with a combined bike tour and bus tour of the country! In this we were aided generously by Ante Mladinić (Petar’s son, and the Croatian translator/publisher of Sketchpad). Ante’s suggestions led to the trip below.

June 22, 2008

We are off on another of our adventures. This one feels more seat-of-the-pants than I would like but the ideas are clear. We will explore Dubrovnik and take ferries to the islands off-shore, working our way north from island to island staying overnight as the spirit moves us. We know we have to climb on a bus or train at some point and head for Zagreb. I was unable to learn much about the ferry schedules from the web or guide books but I did note that individual islands were small and had few roads suitable for riding on our road tandem.

June 23, 2008

We arrived in Dubrovnik and were met by a driver from Hotel Berkeley (!) where we had reservations for two nights.  This is a modern Scandinavian-décor small hotel (with dining room) near the wharf. It was evening and we took a bus to the walled city and walked the narrow alleys.  We ate in the Gunduliceva Polajana in the walled city and walked back to the hotel. It was dark and relatively poorly lighted, but there were lots of people out and we felt safe.

The built wall rises straight from the Adriatic waters and the harbor up 50 feet or more, giving attacking ships an impenetrable barrier. The wall is broken by openings for defensive action and topped by a walkway with periodic defensive towers.

June 24, 2008

We had closed the blinds and this kept out all light – we overslept and missed the free breakfast. While Scott put the tandem together, I went in search of breakfast and encountered our first Konzum grocery store. These come in all sizes from supermarket to small convenience store and are all over the country.

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