Good Morning from Munich Airport, where Ken and I are on a 4.5 hour layover on our way to Split Croatia for another Backroads bike trip. Many of you followed our Tuscany trip last year, (for those that are new to my blogs you can see that blog on my TravelPod home page, along with our other amazing trips...Vietnam, Bruges, France, Austria, etc). and hopefully this one will be as memorable.  

We were torn on doing another Italy trip, perhaps along the Puglia coast, but after speaking to the Backroads team, thought the combination of biking and boating sounded too good to pass up. So, here we go!

As the norm, Ken and I were focused on getting our work affairs in order to feel good about going off the grid for 10 days. We have both decided there is never a good time, so all we can do is get as much done as we can and then just go. I would love to think we are indispensable, but in reality...no one is. So, the work will get done, it just puts more of a burden on our colleagues. So, apologies and thanks in advance for those of you picking up our slack. 

Our first leg from Houston to Munich was in first class on United, nonstop. We have gotten very familiar with the service so nothing different. Food, wine, ice cream and sleep. We did watch American Sniper, which was jarring in many ways. It definitely showed the realities of what our troops have to deal with and shows how much it affects them and their families. While it was difficult to watch at times, on the plus side watching Bradley Cooper for 2.5 hours is never a bad thing. 

Our time in Munich was spent hanging in the Lufthansa lounge and taking a quick nap on the lounging chairs next to the gate. After a quick flight to Split, Croatia we picked up our little rental car and navigated to the Le Meridien. It looked a bit dorm like and we have since learned it is 40 years old and during the Serbian war was taken over by refugees. It was totally renovated in 2006 and now is quite nice. Our two room suite overlooks the Adriatic Sea with MASSIVE yachts. Can't even imagine what one of those goes for.  

We took a nice walk on a path along the sea and came back to have a glass of Croatian wine over looking the water. In our short time here, we have come to realize how proud the Croatians are of their wine. I had read the book "Judgement in Paris" about when the US beat the French wines in 1976 (great book by the way). Mike Grgich, immigrated from Croatia and was the winemaker for Napa's Chateau Montelana one of the wines that won. He now has his own winery in Napa and has opened another in Croatia, just north of Dubrovnik. I hope to taste one of his wines on the trip!

After a nice glass of Croatian white wine, we went to the hotel restaurant and enjoyed a casual dinner of seafood stew and a cold plate of cheeses,meats and anchovies. Of course I see you all wrinkling your noses at the anchovies, which we associate with nasty little fish in a can. Well, these are not those. They were wonderful little fillets in olive oil. Not salty, but very fresh tasting. Why can't we have those at home?

Then it was off to bed...and ready for some good sleep before the National Park tomorrow!