Puppet Show For Kids

We woke up to Beli screaming GOOD MORNING everyone! Ok not exactly those words but you get the idea. We looked out the window and yes it is another sunny and beautiful day. And Beli is 21 months old today!



We had breakfast then headed out into the city. I think everyone had the same idea because it appeared the whole city of Split was HERE on Riva.



Soaking in the sun!


I saw women washing their laundry (do you see them, the blue towels on the upper right corner?) also men chatting over coffee, and Children playing UP DOWN UP DOWN.

One of the galleries. Free of charge!!

PIPO! PIPO! the kids were chanting at the puppets.

Beli enjoyed the full 40 minutes. It was a new and wonderful experience and stimulating without a doubt. I don't think she blinked once!

After the show.

Having lunch at Grandma and Grandpas. Hugging Grandma for her Birthday surprise gift.

Who said Girls couldn't play with dinosaurs?

Having some chocolate cake!



After lunch as we where walking to our car we saw this adorable puppy! Isn't he cute? Only 2 months old!

We had a nap and woke up energized to meet some friends over coffee!
I do hope tomorrow is another sunny and warm day. I can only hope.

How did you spend your day? Did you enjoy time outside? I am curious to know how it was on your side of the globe!

Friends learning Croatian at a Cafe

"And the rooster goes Cockadoodle Doo!," exclaimed Peter.

We all spoke English well, with the exception of Clementino who insisted we speak only in CROATIAN--after all, it was in taking our Croatian class that we met one another. And we were all living in Croatia yet didn't speak the Croatian language.

One evening after class a few of my classmates and I decided it was time we got acquainted. We agreed to have coffee at the Cafe Luxor, an Egyptian-themed Italian restaurant located inside the Diocletian Palace. The cafe was luxurious and from the moment we stepped inside, we were embraced by the friendly waitress and consumed by the warmth of the cafe's atmosphere. She took our coats and offered us a table, "I will give you a few moments to look through the menu," she said in a polite and sweet tone. We looked around at the intoxicating interior design. Directly above us was a ceiling that resembled a small portion of the Sistine Chapel with angels floating on white fluffy clouds. "I wished I had my camera," I thought. A big black piano sat in the corner of the restaurant as someone wooed us with Italian music.

Our after-class meet up was very international: Peter was Canadian, Clementino was from Italy while his girlfriend Visnja, was Croatian. John was American--from New York--and me, well, from Mexico. Quite a diverse group, right?

We ordered drinks and began a conversation in English but Clementino interrupted, "Govori Hrvatski Jesik. Speak Croatian!" Easier said than done and I could see it by the expression on every one's face that I wasn't the only one who was worried. This was only our 3rd class. I wondered how to say, "This place is lovely." But I was lost in translation. We all stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity with no one saying a word. Silence. Then we heard, "So Peter how are you adjusting to life here in Split?," Visnja asked.

"Well, I really like the city...," Peter answered, but he was quickly interrupted by Clementino who again shouted, "GOVORI HRVATSKI!" And after several more minutes of awkward silence, the strangest thing occurred.

John: What's the sound of a dog, in Croatian?
Visnja: Vau-Vau
Peter: How about in Spanish?
Me: Guau-Guau
Clementino: Bau-Bau

This was fun. Adults at a cafe in Croatia making animal sounds over coffee. Then I got the question-asking bug and got in on the fun. "What about a rooster?," I asked. Everyone got a cheerful glee in their eyes and took turns.

Visnja: Cucu-riku
Peter: cockadoodle- doo
Me: Kiki-ri-ki
Clementino: Keek-a-ree -kee

We roared with laughter as we exchanged other animal sounds. People at the cafe thought we were crazy and we gave them reason when we began to sing Old Macdonald with each of us sounding out animal sounds in our native tongue. It went a little something like this:

Old MacDonald had a farm, Ee i ee i oh!
And on that farm he had some dogs, Ee i ee i oh!
With a woof-woof here and a vau-vau there,

here a guau, there a bau, Everywhere a guau-guau.
Old MacDonald had a farm, Ee i ee i oh!

It was an exciting and fun evening although the natives thought we were intoxicated. But we didn't want to stir trouble since we wanted to return to this cafe. We said good-night and good-bye and promised to do this again--minus the animal sounds but we couldn't make any concrete promises. So the next time you encounter someone who doesn't understand English very well, and you need to communicate with them, try animal sounds, it works every time! I'm not sure how that will work out in an emergency, but it'll be fun finding out!

What silly things have you and your friends done while in public?

Making Lemonade With Your Kids

It has been raining consecutively for several days in Split, Croatia but I won't complain as my family and friends back in the States are under a cloud of below zero temperatures. So when the Sun came out on Saturday and not a single rain drop in sight, I told myself, "LET'S GO OUTSIDE!" Our daughter needed to have some fun...and Mommy too!

We drove to Rogoznica, Croatia about an hour 's drive from Split to visit my husband's aunt and cousin. Lora who is 5, was waiting anxiously for Beli. She put on her hat of "older sister" and took great care that Beli wouldn't go into the puddles of water on the sidewalk.

Then I suggested: How about if we do some fun activities kids?

Here is what we did!



We posed for pictures. Ok more like she was telling me how to stand like a ballerina. She kept telling me, "like this, you put THIS foot out, your right not your LEFT! Can you see why I am just smiling?


We played with Rex , a big, sweet and gentle German-Sheppard. I can tell she is going to be an animal person. She is not afraid of any animals.

And last but not least we hand-picked lemons.

I was in lemon heaven, if there is such a thing! The lemons smelled wonderful! We didn't let the kids pick any because the branches were thorny. To my surprise as this was the first time I was up and close with a lemon tree. I walked away with a few cuts. But this was just a small price to pay for having organic lemons in your lemonade!

And the best part about our day? Our kids took great joy in "sniffing" every single lemon. I guess to see which one smelled better?

Recipe for making home-made lemonade?

We had no 'real' recipe to speak of but rather we just kept squeezing the lemons and adding water and LOTS of sugar until it tasted just perfect.

After drinking glasses and glasses of fresh-squeezed lemonade we said our good-byes and promised to come back for more lemons and lemonade!

Roaring Fork Ratatouille

Weather forecast once again: pada kisa, lluvia, and more rain! This calls for a hearty stew!

I promised you I was going to prepare that spicy couscous a few days ago . But I have something even better!

My hubby found a recipe with polenta and spinach but I thought I would give it a twist. I read the ingredient list and I didn't have all the items but I didn't let this small detail discourage me from cooking. Did I mention it is raining?.. ..AND I am not feeling adventurous enough to run outside and jump in the puddles of water! Therefore I improvised and used what I had in the pantry.

Plus I have a great helper in the kitchen.


She is also improvising and thinking of adding kiwis into the recipe.

So this is what I prepared: couscous with spinach, roaring fork ratatouille. Sounds intriguing right? I found the recipe in The Best of Simply Colorado Cookbook I purchased several years ago.





Original recipe:

cooking spray

1 medium onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, diced

1 small eggplant, peeled and cubed

2 medium green bell peppers, sliced into strips

1 C. tomato juice

3T. dry red wine

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. dried basil, 1 tsp. dried marjoram, 1/2 tsp. dried oregano,1 tsp. salt

1 medium zucchini, sliced

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1/2 C. water (if needed)

Lightly coat large pot with cooking spray. Add onion, garlic and saute until tender (about 5 minutes). Add eggplant, peppers, tomato juice, wine and seasonings; mix well. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender (about 10-15 minutes). Add zucchini and tomatoes, cover and simmer 10 more minutes or until all vegetables are tender. (Add water as needed.) Serve on a bed of rice. ( I used couscous!)

My version didn't include red wine, bell peppers, nor tomatoes instead I used mushrooms and tomato paste with extra tomato juice.
The couscous, I prepared according to the directions on the box. I also added frozen spinach (I know, you are probably thinking weird! but remember, I am improvising).

In addition I prepared grilled red bell peppers topped with olive oil and garlic.



Despite the alterations I made with the recipe the stew turned out yummy.
We enjoyed our delicious, healthy and warm meal as we watched the rain fall outside our balcony window.




And what a beautiful view of the roaring waves crashing against the rocks!

Back To Where We Started

"Who beeped, did YOU beep?" asked the lady behind the counter at the Metro Store as my husband, daughter, and I walked through the metal detectors.

"What is she saying?" I asked my hubby as the lady was giving us the evil eye and shouting a command in Croatian. "She is saying one of us beeped and to please go through the metal detectors once again." Oh, OK. Sounds fair. So he went first, NO beep. I walked with Isabela BEEP.BEEP. Maybe it was her Medo? I handed her over to my husband. NO beep. Then I walked through alone. Again that annoying beep. My husband said maybe it's your purse? your shoes? I said maybe my belt. NO! I am not going to start taking off anything..I am not at the airport. PLEASE this is a shopping center.

We stepped aside after curious shoppers were staring at the crazy lady who was shaking her legs through the metal detectors and waving her purse insisting to her husband that she had no idea why she was BEEPING!

Then a security guy came over with his magic wand and asked, "who is the person in question?" You got to be kidding ME. He ran his wand through my right side, no sound then the left side BEEP, BEEP. I pointed to my belt, No. then he ran it through again and it was my sweater! He asked me to lift it up, LUCKILY I had an undershirt. And there on the bottom inside of the sweater was the culprit! It was that darn tag that read, "Please Remove Before Washing". I never did, I mean I never imagined in a million years that this was the reason for the warning about removing the tag. The security guy smiled and asked the lady behind the counter for scissors to cut the tag off. They couldn't find any. Imagine that!

After a half-hour ordeal at the entrance we proceeded to the counter to request a membership card. It is required to enter, sort of like Cost-Co except this is just for business owners. My husband pulled out all his paperwork but the lady only needed the business stamp. He replied, "but I don't have it yet, I went to apply for it today." She didn't care. I saw her face, and it said, "No stamp, no card."

SO all that harassment for NOTHING??????

We were back to where we started.....with no groceries!

As we walked to the car, I thought the whole situation with the metal detectors was funny. Yes they asked me to lift my sweater, which I felt I had no choice if that was the only way we could buy milk and cheese at a discounted rate. I told my husband, "what was I going to steal, their 3liter bottles of laundry detergent?"

He said, "yeah lets take our money somewhere else, sorry Metro but today you won't be getting our money!"

Instead we shopped at Lidl.

Have you ever had any "incidences" with metal detectors?

Los Tres Reyes Magos (The Three Wise Men)

Today is my fourth day of exercising (rigorously) and eating healthy: which means NO CHOCOLATE, do you know what that means for a choco-holic? Torture..........but I learned from my friend Nando said that his trainer told him about a study that allows you to eat a small piece of dark chocolate. Because of its cardiovascular benefits, it is actually recommended along with your exercise plan. My sister also suggested green tea and fish oil capsules. I really want to put my best effort forward because I feel a change in my attitude. Veo todo de color rosa. A saying in Spanish that translates to, The world is perfect as is. So Dark Chocolate welcome to my world!

It continues to rain so I will exercise indoors.

Then......midway in my work-out.... I was inspired to cook..something about a cloudy, rainy day makes you think about food.

Don't get me wrong, I do cook but I call it Baby Cooking-meaning it is bland food. And I say bland because there are no jalapenos. Here is a little fact about my eating habits. I eat EVERYTHING spicy. OK not everything but you get the idea. So that is why when I say I am inspired to cook it means Adult Food-the kind with many spices and sabor!

I found one of the cooking books we received as a gift for our wedding. That was three years ago and just today I will open it for the second time. It is in Croatian therefore I should understand the basics right? or I can ask my mother-in-law since today is a national holiday and she won't be working: all the shops are closed.

I will see what recipe looks interesting in this recipe book.

How does Pikantni Kuskus s Povrcem sound? I think it means : Spicy couscous with vegetables? Well that sounds healthy enough..now the directions..WOW 2o ingredients and only 7 steps! Hmmmmm.. I better pull out my Croatian-English dictionary because this will be require some translation.



She thinks she can help with the translation.


My little helper searching in her pantry. I had to create this special drawer of empty containers because she kept opening the refrigerator door so this is the alternative.

Half-an-hour later..........



Beli was running around playing Peek-A-Boo!



Then we received a phone call from my mother-in-law to go have lunch at their home.

Will have to postpone preparing this recipe for another day. And so much for my inspiration.

Hubby's brother also returned from his business trip in Italy and has a surprise for us. When we arrived mi cunado (brother-in-law) explained to us as he opened a huge paper bag and started pulling out gifts for everyone "since today is January 6, El Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos, or The Three Wise Men, these are just small presents on my behalf that I brought back from Italy".

I know about this special day because we also celebrate it in Mexico. I guess I didn't realize they did the same here in Croatia. I really didn't connect the dots. Did you?Now I understand the reason for today being a National holiday.

Opening one of the gifts.

I am sorry my readers but I will prepare that recipe sometime soon. I promise!

Now I must go make cupcakes with Beli and her new gift.

A travel memoir

My love for traveling began my first year in pharmacy school when my two closest friends and I traveled to Spain in 2002. I thought to myself, "I will never stop traveling". Must be something about the adrenaline rush, new food, new faces, etc...

Before graduating from school I embarked on yet another amazing journey: Australia,WOW is all I can say. I had quite the experience and learned something very important about myself, that I could adapt anywhere. I also disvoered I had a passion for photography. I spent a week in Tasmania, Christmas in Fiji. This prepared me to consider the idea of living abroad. And here I am now, living across the globe in Croatia.

And since it's the start of a new year I thought how appropriate to begin thinking about traveling and remember the reason I am living abroad. To embrace my new culture and in the process you guessed it, to take pictures, lots of them!

I will be editing this post periodically as I share with you the new places I have visited. And if you would like to share your journeys, I would be more than interested to hear about your travels, special places you have visited.

Did you know that Italy, Slovenia, and Austria are less than 10 hours away by car from where we currently live? Now, there is no excuse for me not to visit them right?

I am off now to start planning our next trip.

Just a quick update: our first road trip destination: Italy:Pisa, Florence, and the Tuscan countryside! read about it here and here and here.

I will be awaiting your travel stories!

Beginning of 2010

The new year began with fireworks at the Spaladium Arena where my husband and I attended the Ministry of Sound party. I had a fun time dancing to house music but my feet were hurting by the time we decided to go home.

With Sasha, member of the Croatian Band TBF and hubby's childhood friend. He hurt his neck and hence the brace as he was preparing for an upcoming event scheduled for January in New York City. Doesn't he look a bit like Andrea Bocelli?

By the time midnight arrived we welcomed the new year and decided we are getting a little old for techno music and called it a night. Or maybe we wanted to be around family and our daughter instead of an arena full of strangers?

So we headed back to my in-laws and continued our celebration there.

Happy New Years to my family and friends and many thanks to all my readers and I hope 2010 is just as eventful and fun as 2009 was.

Wishing you best,

Elisa