Written by Mary 9/22/20:

Well we left about 18 days ago and are already getting used to the Croatian way of life. We’re in our third house (heading to our 4th at the end of the week) and some things that shocked me in early September are now becoming expected... There are stray cats everywhere! When we first got here we wouldn’t let the kids touch any of them. Now we’re learning which are friendly and they’re actually darling. I’ve befriended our neighbor who is a local (surprising in this highly tourist town) and she and her Parisian neighbor run a ‘cat ministry’ where they feed around 30 stray cats daily! The kids are in heaven and excited to help! I’m finally getting used to the laundry and hang drying everything on drying lines. Hang up those towels bc the kids are in and out and in and out and then in and out of the pool again! Feeding the kids has been interesting... many of our American staples are not found. No mac n cheese, no peanut butter, no ranch (surprise), no tortillas, no salsa (poor andy)! Fortunately we’re practically in Italy and pizza and pasta are regulars! It also took me a few tries to understand the system of weighing produce at the grocery but I figured it out after the clerk turned me away and told me no that weighing and labeling was up to me before I made it to the register. We're also getting used to visiting the market every day for food. As a mom who depended on amazon fresh, it took me longer to convert to the European lifestyle! I think one of my favorite parts of Croatia so far is the stark old meets new! Our current town has a beautiful marble boardwalk that lines the beach that seems relatively new but you’ll stumble into an a 1475 monastery (today on my run), or an old structure made of limestone (Croatia is solid limestone) and concrete leading into an old cave or stairwell likely abandoned for centuries. Some things are so old it’s peculiar how they're still standing! Another item that has been blowing our minds is the topography! Now that we’re in Bol, we feel that we’re in Colorado sometimes. There are pine trees everywhere and even right up to the ocean! The scent of the air is a beautiful salt water and pine tree mountain mix. Did you know most Croatians have enough olive trees to provide them with enough olive oil for one year? Olive trees and vineyards are EVERYWHERE. We stumbled upon some local Croatians offering wine tastings (basically out of their basement) and as thrilled Americans, we immediately bought two bottles. We regretted not tasting it firsr bc it ended up down the drain. As andy would say - ‘life is too short to drunk gross wine’. Especially when the grocery sells it for $4 (again feels like Italy or France). There are tourists everywhere and it’s fun to hear German, Dutch, French, etc regularly, but there are really no Americans. Since being here, we’ve met two. All for now, miss you dearly, MT