Plitvic Lakes National Park was on the original list of sites added to the UNESCO World Heritage register in 1979. It is easily the top tourist destination in Croatia, drawing more than a million people a year to the series of beautiful lakes, interconnected with incredible karst formations and cascades. I'd never heard of it until Deb insisted we spend a few days hiking here. What a find. If I had this trip to plan over again, I just might base it around the...

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Dubrovnik is considered one of the best preserved medieval walled cities in the world. We arrived here late in the evening from Athens on a flight that is not listed on any web site we could find. Until our Turkish travel agent uncovered it for us, we were destined for a 20 hour ferry ride via Bari Italy. Sometimes experience does pay off! The main pedestrian avenue that runs through the centre of town is paved with smooth, polish...

I remember the first time I saw someone snort cocaine. I was at a Rolling Stones concert in Montreal in 1989 - fresh off "the Rock." Despite the fact that most of Jagger's and Richards' tunes were written about, or under the influence of some hardcore drug or another, it rattled me. I remember that scene more vividly than the still pimply-faced 45 year old Stones strutting around the stage of the Big O. I also remember the first time I saw someone inject hero...

What's worse? Meeting new friends and then having to go away, or meeting new friends and having them leave you behind? The girls and I have been discussing this today as we leave Mykonos on the high speed ferry to Athens. Our apartment in Mykonos is nestled in a maze of narrow alleyways rising steeply from the sea. On our first day here the girls made friends with a gaggle of neighborhood kids who are off school for the two week Easter holiday. Despite the l...

As a rule, I don't think you truly, fully appreciate something until you have to do without it for a while. After 8 1/2 months on the road, there are many things we miss that we paid little or no attention to while still at home. These are the things we'll cherish when we finally return. Easter, however, is not one of those things. I have always loved Easter, and, at least in recent years, appreciated how much I loved it. I loved it even when, as a child, it...