Zahara's First Birthday Party

Zahara's first birthday has come and gone, but I can't let it go without telling you about our amazing day. When she first woke up, we filled her crib with "happy birthday" balloons and let her free. I wasn't sure how she'd react, if at all, but she loved them! She kept trying to bounce on them/hug them and then would giggle as they flew out of her reach.

We had a small party at home with some of Zoey's friends. This year definitely would not have been the same without the yoga babies. I am going to miss them so much when we leave later this summer.

I tried to reign it in and not go overboard with decorating. I made some simple bunting and spread the balloons around the house. We turned the living room into a play room by moving the coffee table out and layering down blankets and toys. It was chaos, but the babies loved it!

Every month for the past year I've been taking pictures of Zoey in the same outfit on the same blanket (thanks Aunt Katie!). I printed all those pictures out and hung them on a clothes line. I also added some of her memorable outfits, like the dress she wore at her baby naming and meet-the-baby party.

We had a simple barbecue with hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad and watermelon. The baby-friendly burgers were a hit.

I made simple, personalized gift bags filled with treats to thank everyone for coming. Don't laugh, but that blue plastic ball is actually a dog toy! Zahara loves it though.

Dan made the most amazing cakes for the party. He made one for everyone and a special "smash cake" for Zahara. Knowing how messy and enthusiastic Zoey normally is around food, we were sure that she would take the term smash cake literally. I even changed her into a different outfit thinking her party dress would get ruined. Wouldn't you know, this was the one time Zahara decided to act lady-like.

Everyone sang happy birthday to her--including all four grandparents via Google hangout--and then she very gingerly dipped her finger into the icing and into her mouth. Deciding that she liked it, she did the same delicate move again. Finally, I stuck her hand in the cake to let her know that it was OK. She kind of got the hang of it, but it definitely wasn't the reaction I thought it would be.

The best thing at the party was our photo booth. We set up a camera with a remote, put out some fun props and told people to let loose. We got some amazing shots! It's so easy to see why I love these folks.

Happy of happiest birthdays to my darling baby girl. We love you Zahara!

Tour de Harrogate

The years of planning, and months of decorating finally paid off last weekend when Yorkshire hosted the 2014 Grand Depart for the Tour de France. It is already being hailed as "the Grandest Depart," and Members of Parliament are recommending the British organizer for knighthood. The world's top riders cycled 118 miles from Leeds through the Dales to finally finish in Harrogate. And I was there!

It is amazing to see your town broadcast to millions of people worldwide. Harrogate really did itself proud. Everyone got in to the spirit. People painted old bikes yellow and hung them on top of buildings, outside their houses, and on light poles! Yellow; green; and red and white polka dot bunting blanketed the city. And volunteers knitted thousands of tiny jerseys. 

The stray was turned into a giant fan park with huge screens, live music, carnival games, and delicious food.

The finish line was right near Betty's--how fitting. There were so many people that Harrogate was hardly recognizable. 

We walked from our house to the finish line, passing a ton of cyclists who were coming directly from the race opening in Leeds. A couple of different friends were hosting barbecues, so we flitted in an out as we explored the events in town. We watched the actual finish from our friend's house who had a view of the stretch just past the finish line. It got to be too crazy outside (especially with Zoey on our backs), so it was much better for us to watch on the TV. 

I'm so proud of my little town. Way to go Harrogate!

Montenegro Day Trips

We used Kotor as our base for exploring other parts of Montenegro. The whole country is smaller than Connecticut, so we had plenty of opportunity to branch out. Here are three day-trips we took:

Lovcen National Park and Centinje:
I had read good things about Lovcen mountain--particularly that the drive up is gorgeous and the mausoleum at the top is worth a visit. We drove an hour out of Kotor up windy switchback after switchback only to have to turn around 3/4 of the way up. It was pouring so hard that we couldn't even see out the window. Getting out and walking around seemed pointless when we couldn't see two feet in front of us. It's a shame that we missed the famous masoleum and abbey, but at least we had a nice meal at Konak. I can imagine that on a sunny day this would be well-worth the trip.

Break in the rain in Lovcen National Park

Ulcinj:
When researching where to go in Montenegro, several people mentioned checking out Ulcinj (pronounced ool-seen), a beach town close to the Albanian border. Though small, it was supposed to be oozing Albanian charm. To get there, we drove an hour and a half along the "Montenegro Rivera." We got fairly lucky in that the massive thunderstorm that followed us to Ulcinj let up just long enough for us to poke around the town. It wasn't beach weather though, which was such a shame because the white sand looked gorgeous.

The old town is tiny with only a few restaurants to choose from. This was definitely our worst meal of the trip (we ate at Terra Promessa). Outside of the old town, we had fun spotting quirky attractions along the boardwalk, like this 6D movie theater! Not only did you get 3D glasses, but the chairs moved, rain spritzed in your face, and there was a bubble machine. I was pretty tempted to try it.

On the way back to Kotor we took some pictures of Sveti Stefan, the exclusive island where rooms start at 950 EUR. There was also a brief moment of sunshine, so we pulled over at the nearest beach (Petrovac) and ran in the water. Again, Zahara loved it!

Sveti Stefan

Lake Skadar
Our final day trip was to Lake Skadar, where we took a two-hour boat ride. It was absolutely gorgeous! The boat ride was a little slow--I think an hour would have been enough time--but the scenery was lovely. Zahara had a great time playing with the other passengers and watching the wildlife fly by. After our boat ride, we had a delicious (and huge!) lunch at Konoba Badanj in Virpazar. I still can't get over how fresh all of the fish is in this country.

We drove straight from the Lake to the airport in Dubrovnik, taking the ferry across the Bay of Kotor. It was a wonderful trip, despite the weather. I can't believe that was our last trip before we move back to the States!

Read more about this trip:
Kotor
Bay of Kotor Towns
Dubrovnik in a Day
A Day in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Kotor

We decided to stay in a small apartment just outside of Kotor (in Dobrota) for the remainder of our trip. Initially I wanted to stay near Budva--the main beach town, but Kotor offered better accommodation for the three of us. We stayed within walking distance to Kotor and had a small "beach" in front of our place. It was very rocky, and pretty cold, but Dan and Zahara made the most of it between rain storms.

Kotor is a beautiful walled town. I have seen a fair amount of walled cities, but I've never seen walls like these. They are practically vertical! It took us over an hour to go almost all the way to the top. We stopped short because the trail got a bit more precarious (loose rocks) and we needed to feed Zoey. It is definitely worth the time though; the views were fantastic!

We took a two-hour boat tour around the bay. It was open to others, but we were the only ones who joined that tour, so it ended up being just us. The boat had a lower deck with windows below the water. You couldn't really see anything (nowhere near as clear as Scotland), but Zoey loved it anyway. And the captain even let Zoey drive!

One of the best things about Montenegro is the food. It is not vegetarian friendly, but thankfully we eat fish. We easily ate an entire school in our week there. The fish can be prepared in a number of ways, but it is always very fresh--usually it was caught that day. The two best restaurants we ate in in Kotor were Galion and Bastion. The first is pretty swanky. It's right on the water, has white table clothes and fancy waitstaff. The second is pretty much the opposite. It is small and a little grungy, with kind of unprofessional waiters. But the food in both places was amazing. At Bastion they brought us a platter of fish from which to chose, and you couldn't smell a thing. The eyes were completely clear. But the best part was that the waiter actually took Zahara to play while we were eating! She was right next to us, but it gave us a little break.

Galion

Fisherman cleaning mussels

If I had to do it all over again, I think I would stay in Dobrota again. It was a perfect base for exploring the area.

Read more about this trip:
Bay of Kotor Towns
Dubrovnik in a Day
A Day in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Bay of Kotor Towns

After an amazing couple of days in Dubrovnik and Bosnia, we headed across the border once more to Montenegro. We decided to base ourselves in the Bay of Kotor and take day trips exploring other parts of the country. Since the whole country is only the size of Wales, it can easily be seen in a few days.

Perast

Kotor is only a couple of hours away from Dubrovnik, but we took most of the day exploring small towns along the way. The scenery is absolutely stunning, and each town has its own charm. The history of the bay is fascinating. It is deep enough to host cruise ships, but at its narrowest point, the Verige Straight, it is only 1/5 of a mile across! Those ruling the bay were able to protect their territory with a variety of clever defenses, including cannons posted on either end of the Straight, and a chain streching across the mouth of the bay (just like Game of Thrones!).

Our first stop was Herceg Novi, a small town at the mouth of Kotor Bay. We explored the 14th century Forte Mare. It's small and not in great condition, but there was a former prison cell filled with interesting graffiti.

Ship graffiti on prison walls

We stopped for lunch in Morinj at a restaurant recommended by our Rick Steves guide book. Konoba Čatovići Mlini is a bit hard to find and doesn't really cater to vegetarians, but the setting could not be more beautiful.

We followed the bay around to the next town of Perast. Montenegro gets an average of 6 days of rain all June, and unfortunately we got most of them. While it kind of ruined our beach days, at least it made for dramatic scenery.

This post is getting too long already, so I'll tell you more tomorrow.

Read more about this trip:
Kotor
Dubrovnik in a Day
A Day in Bosnia-Herzegovina