Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Croatian Honeymoon Adventure! It begins...

So I know you've been waiting for this.
No I don't. That's stupid.
Why would you be waiting for my Honeymoon? That's absurd.
I'VE been waiting for this. All year. And it's finally here. We're in it. Right. NOW!


When people asked Ryan and I where we went on our Honeymoon, (since yes, it's been 9.5 months since we said "I do.") we were met with some very puzzling looks when we replied that we hadn't gone anywhere. Yet. These puzzling looks turned to wide eyes and slightly furrowed brows when we told them where we would be going: Croatia!
"Why'd you choose Croatia?" was the usual response that would follow. Sometimes it would be a more excited, less-skeptical "Oh! A friend of a friend of a friend of mine went there and said it was fabulous!" We liked those responses.


The truth of the matter is that Ryan has been practically everywhere and I've been nowhere. Okay that's not true. I've been to many of the cosmopolitan cities in the USA, Canada, Mexico, the Carribean on a cruise with my family when I was 12, and Paris. I don't think I could list the places Ryan's been to on this blog. It would become a completely different post.


At any rate, when deciding where to take our Honeymoon, certain ground-rules/criteria were laid.
Number 1: This was Ryan's thing. As he told me after about 6 months of dating (yes, we had a relationship check-in and the "M" word was brought up. Ah! Scary!), "Jessika, you know how every little girl dreams about and plans her wedding? Well every boy (Man? Maybe it's just Ryan... haha!) dreams about and plans his honeymoon." In my mind it made sense. So I got to have my dream wedding if he got to have his dream Honeymoon. Not only did it seem like a fair exchange, but a win-win situation for both of us.
Number 2: It had to be a place Ryan had never been to. As stated before, Ryan's been all over the world. This trip needed to be a new experience and adventure for both of us. He needed to be able to cross another country off his long list.
Number 3: It had to be in Europe. This was actually my teeny-weeny stipulation. There are so many places in Europe that I want to visit. And we had to narrow down the playing-field somehow.
Number 4 (and most important!): We had to win. And by "win," I mean we had to have the most unusual, crazy-amazing Honeymoon ever. A co-worker of mine is going to Iceland, Paris and Prague for his Honeymoon so I don't know that we actually accomplished this one but we like to think in a small way we did for the budget we have. 

So with this crazy criteria (yes, we are a bit intense about this thing), we started looking. One day I was looking at Jetsetter.com and they had a package titled "Sail Croatia." The photos blew our minds. Croatia?
This is Croatia?!!!!


We started researching and found that not only was it beautiful, but it was everything we wanted: Amazing food (think a mix between Greek, Italian and Turkish food focused on fresh fish, lamb, figs, olives and wine), great beaches, crystal clear water, vineyards and olive groves for days, nature unspoiled. Did I mention amazing food? A paradise for the foodie. And the temps at this time of year typically range between mid-seventies to high eighties.




DONE. Croatia here we come!

So that's probably more information than you wanted.
But we couldn't be happier with our choice. And with all the craziness of this year, we are also really grateful that we waited this long to take our Croatian Honeymoon Adventure. It's been something to look forward to - the proverbial dangling carrot if you will. It's been something we've both needed after a long season of dancing, health struggles and hard work. But it's something that we're both prepared for and able to enjoy. The days that followed our wedding were a blissful haze. Another way to put it: slap-happy and exhausted. There's no way we would have had the the energy, mentally or physically to really enjoy this trip. And to be honest, we were both a bit depleted when we got here, but there's nothing like salty sea breezes, hot Adriatic sun and delicious Croatian food and wine to replenish the heart, mind, soul and body.


There is much more to come.... in this Croatian Honeymoon Adventure as well as our life together. And you'll be hearing lots more from both realms. For now I've posted some of my favorite funny photos from the trip.
Many more posts to come!
I promise!

Cheers!

Jessika

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