Linville Gorge and the Blue Ridge Parkway, NC (United States)

North Carolina offers a multitude of options for connecting with the great outdoors, and many a weekend of our previous lives here saw us tramping, as the Kiwis call it, the length and breadth it. As we've been back in the States over a year now (!), it seems high time we revisit some of our favorite spots.

The old mountain chain that runs down along the east coast of the U.S. are the Appalachians (pronounced "a-puh-LATCH-uhns" for the yankees or foreigners out there), and the western part of North Carolina is in the section aptly named the Blue Ridge Mountains. People from around the country visit, making the 400+ mile stretch of scenic highway known as the Blue Ridge Parkway the most visited unit of the entire National Parks System annually. Highway is a bit of misnomer in the usual sense. The speed limit is often around 35 miles per hour and even that will slow to a crawl with traffic during the fall foliage season. The many overlooks do offer gorgeous misty blue views, and the winding road makes it very popular with motorcyclists as well. 

Just off the parkway, the Linville Gorge Wilderness Area lies inside the Pisgah National Forest. The Linville River winds through old growth forest before plunging as a series of waterfalls: an upper twin set flowing into a curving small gorge, then dropping again another 45 feet to the pool below. The trails around and overlooking the plunge basin are relatively easygoing, and recent heavy rains only further improved the whitewater effect. The river continues on with much more technical hikes along the upper ridge of the Linville Gorge proper and steeply descending the 1400 feet to the river below. Topographical maps and compass - and the ability to use them - are highly recommended as not much may be marked beyond the trailheads in this dense forest. There also be bears. Black bears, to be specific. We didn't see any, which was probably a good thing, as Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods has given me a few too many wayward thoughts along those lines... and we didn't have the recommended bells on. There was a colorful array of mushrooms in the undergrowth of this hardwood and pine forest. Unfortunately, the wet conditions that produce such fungi and the gushing falls had a downside. The low-lying rain clouds obscured views across the gorge and even sometimes a few feet in front of our faces. Hours of hiking on slick trails also made for a little unpleasantness, particularly when I succumbed to the inevitable belly flop in the mud in my typical bumbling style. The good news was we discovered our new rain jackets passed the downpour test!       

   

Washington, D.C. (United States)

We were in D.C. years ago, but I had adamantly vetoed the National Air and Space Museum since, at the time, it seemed like the only attraction I'd ever seen in my childhood trips to the nation's capital. My denial probably constituted cruel and unusual punishment for an astrophysicist and former Air Cadet. When work took Rich to Washington, it seemed like a good time to make amends.

The National Air and Space Museum is the country's most visited museum with roughly 8 or 9 million people annually oohing and aahing the world's largest collection of air and spacecraft. It's a madhouse inside, of course, but really, in these times of STEM funding under fire, who can begrudge kids of all ages getting excited about science?! The rockets and displays with gear from the Gemini and Apollo missions are always a big draw, and we really enjoyed the exhibit celebrating over 10 years on Mars. The high def images from the Spirit and Opportunity rovers are gorgeous, and the full-size replica gives you an appreciation for the engineering and design involved. 

Air & Space is only one of the 19 wonderful - and free! - museums that are part of the Smithsonian Institution. Luckily, our visit also coincided with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Each year, the institution highlights the cultural heritage of different countries by hosting performances, discussions, and demonstrations. This year China and Kenya were showcased in a massive camp set up on the National Mall. We watched a troupe from Fujian Province with marionette puppets, stepped inside a traditional pokomo hut, and tried Kenyan coastal and upland cuisine. In short, it is what all international festivals dream to be.

In what is rapidly becoming a bad habit for us in visiting big cities, we hit the art hard in D.C. Rich wandered into a private tour with a docent at the Phillips Collection, which he was still raving about the next day. The National Gallery of Art filled that impressionist hole in our hearts with a fine exhibit on Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas. A video montage loop at the Hirshhorn Museum questioned whether any art is new, and the juxtaposition of Christopher Robin from "Winnie the Pooh" and Mowgli from "The Jungle Book" in eerily identical animation clips blew our minds.

Washington is also a fantastic place to see performing arts. For our indie buzz, the Source Festival was putting on 10-minute plays, chosen from over 500 nationwide submissions. The 6 plays in the series on mortality were alternately absurd and funny and moving with a cult, cancer, and the zombie apocalypse. "Dressing Bobby Strong," about a funeral director's assistant preparing the body of her unrequited first love, managed to be not at all creepy, deeply touching, and our favorite of the bunch. For a distinct contrast, we saw "Shear Madness" at the Kennedy Center. It's a murder mystery set in a hair salon. To explain more would ruin it, suffice to say it was hilarious, so much fun, and easy to understand why it's one of the longest running plays in the world.

As an added bonus, we saw an SUV double park and block traffic, thereby, pissing off the van behind him. The drivers got into a honking and shouting match, ending in the SUV driver trying to deck the other guy through the window. Unfortunately for him, the driver and passenger of the van were undercover cops, who hauled him off in cuffs in seconds!

Dubrovnik (Croatia)

Heading southeast on a bus from Split along the Dalmatian Coast brought us through the thin strip of land that belongs to Bosnia-Herzegovina and back into Croatia. We had that brief moment of anxiety when the customs officer walked off with the stack of passengers' passports before he returned. One German couple on a shopping spree didn't even realize we'd be crossing borders. They got a stern dressing down but were let through in the end.

Four and a half hours seemed a long way to go - European-wise at least - to just visit one city, but Dubrovnik is called the Pearl of the Adriatic for a reason. Before Napolean conquered it, the city was the center of the republic of Ragusa for nearly 500 years. Nowadays tourists from the cruise ships are the only ones swarming the city walls... and judging from the hordes when we were there, we dread to think what the flood is like in the actual high season. Nonetheless, the walls are very impressive. They run intact nearly 2000 meters around the old city, and as fortifications, were never breached during Medieval times. The buildings within, however, were razed by shelling during the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. Now the city walls offer impressive panoramas of the painstakingly restored, orange-tiled roofs - icons of the old city. The views of the sea are also superb. If any of it looks the least bit familiar, it's because medieval Dubrovnik doubles for King's Landing in HBO's Game of Thrones. Squeezing by groups on the walls, we had to giggle at overhearing Spaniards cut through the tour guide's historical spiel with, "¿Dónde está Blackwater Bay?" Not to get all fanboy, but there is a killing to be made on getting photo ops with, say, the severed head of Eddard Stark.

The entrance ticket to the walls also includes a pass through round towers, along bulwarks, and several fortresses. St. John fortress houses an aquarium and a maritime museum, and nooks here and there hosted small exhibitions of Croatian artists. Outside the city walls, Lovrijenac (or St. Lawrence fortress) is known for hosting theatrical productions. When we were there, the risers and staging we saw being constructed looked more in line with a fashion show or exclusive dance club with big spotlights and bars at the ready. Possibly, it was part of the celebrity hoopla overrunning the city.

One morning we brought our newly stamped Dubrovnik Pass to one of the most beautiful and important historical places in the city: the Rector's Palace. To our consternation, the entire complex was roped off for the wedding of some New York socialite and wealthy banker. We were furious! No one we spoke to - not the official tourist office who pitched us the expensive day pass, not even the people at the ticket counter at the Rector's Palace itself who had persuaded us the afternoon before to delay our visit until the following morning - had thought it worthwhile to mention the star attraction would be closed! The plaza outside was clogged with people craning their necks to look at the rich and famous. Although we'd never heard of the bride and groom, such names as Leonardo DiCaprio, Snoop Lion née Dogg, or Angelina Jolie were rumored to be among the guests. That might have explained why, at dinner the night before, Rich had seen a group of men with big cameras jump up from their tables to run lenses out and flashes going... so at least the paparazzi were in attendance!

Trogir and kayaking on the Dalmatian Coast (Croatia)

Once upon a time we went on a week-long trip kayaking around the cayes of Belize. While the setting was beautiful, and the stars at night glorious, the trip was plagued by rough conditions on the water, a constant and insidious swarming of sandflies on land, our poor physical training beforehand, and an utter lack of support from and for the guides. It culminated in what we like to call a "marriage-building experience" of capsizing a fully-loaded double kayak with a tall sail on it in the middle of a 13 km crossing. We survived, but never again, we thought...

Well, memories fade over time, and the Adriatic Sea along the Dalmatian coast presents some of the world's best kayaking. Most people opt for the stretch outside of Dubrovnik, but Rich found a small outfit outside of Split that sounded like it would suit us. We were still a bit worn down from our colds, but we embarked outside of Trogir on a sunny day with equally hopeful outlooks. We were pleasantly surprised to find we were alone on the tour, and our private guide was an amiable local fellow who looked like a tanned Bradley Cooper and whose Croatian name sounded an awful lot like Dragon. Old Homestar Runner fans out there might appreciate how difficult it was not to herald our guide with the Trogdor song every time (He was a dragon-man!)... but I digress.

The conditions were pretty close to perfect. There was the lightest of breezes, and the waters were so calm! One morning especially was like a mill pond. Only our kayaks breaking the surface caused the gentlest of ripples. The limestone coast meant fewer sandy beaches but made up for it with incredible clarity underwater down 10 or 20 meters. The spot off of Drvenik Veli deserves its name: The Blue Lagoon. Boats appeared to hover over their anchors, casting sharply defined shadows on the seabed. The water was still a little on the chilly side, but it was a refreshing swim after a long paddle. It certainly didn't deter the early season holiday-makers renting small yachts.  The limestone also created interesting formations with cracking striations and tiny karst islands, making the region popular with rock climbers. Quite a few of the smaller islands were completely uninhabited (goats and water fowl being the exception), and Dragon explained the rows of olive trees we were seeing were from many of the younger generation coming back to replant what had been groves in their ancestors' days. Despite the idyllic atmosphere, we had to throw in the towel a tad short of our goal. Our poor health (battling colds, recovering from a recent wrist injury, and not being in great shape) was getting to us, and we were absolutely exhausted. The decision was for the best, and our disappointment was somewhat assuaged with delectable calamari at a gorgeously situated seaside grill as we waited for our pick up.

We had a very brief visit in Trogir itself before our final transfer out of the region. The historic town has an ancient harbor, the best preserved Romanesque-Gothic in the Cathedral of Saint Lawrence, and a satisfyingly medieval castle in the Kamerlengo Fortress. Too bad we couldn't stay longer!  

Split (Croatia)

From Plitvice, we drove the 3.5 hours south through the interior and east back to the coast. Split is the second largest city in Croatia, and our friends had assured us that we'd enjoy it. Upon arrival, we quickly understood why: Split looks and feels a lot like Barcelona. With the palm trees, stalls selling jewellery and other accessories, and umbrella cafés looking out to the boats in the harbor, the Riva seafront promenade could have been a stretch along Barceloneta or Port Olímpic. The arches and neo-Renaissance buildings of Trg Republike (or Republic Square) make it a ringer for Plaça Reial, and the wide, pedestrian street Marmontova ulica sporting shops like H&M, Oakley, and Zara could be Portal de l'Angel. There is even a Montjuïc equivalent in the forested Marjan hill on the western banks of the Split peninsula. In such environs, eating old favorites such as black rice with cuttlefish or carpaccio of cod and fresh anchovies made us more than a little homesick.

Split is an old Roman city with the Emperor Diocletian first bringing it to prominence in the fourth century. He built his retirement home here - a lavish palace/fortress complex and UNESCO World Heritage Site of local limestone and marble that still dominates the city. Three towers, the walls, and all four gates remain. Outside the Golden Gate (or Porta Aurea) on the north side, the statue of the bishop Gregor of Nin by famed Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović dominates. Gregor's toe has been rubbed to a conspicuous golden sheen by tourists for luck. In the maze inside the palace walls, museums and ruins intermingle with modern shops and restaurants. Diocletian's mausoleum became the Cathedral of Saint Domnius, and the Temple of Jupiter was converted into a baptistery. Guides expound on history and visitors rest on red cushions littering the steps of the grand open court known as the Peristyle. In the Vestibule with its open-air occulus, groups of men in black suits take advantage of the wonderful acoustics to perform the traditional Dalmatian style of a capella singing called klapa. The cool, underground cellars, which once stored wine and foodstuffs, may be recognizable to Game of Thrones fans from Daenerys storylines.