Continuity fail

Retirement

Just for fun

So if you have been following this blog page, then you know that I have been keeping myself somewhat busy during my retirement by working as an Extra (referred to as Background or BG) in the local TV and film industry. As I've detailed before, a day on set can be paralyzingly boring, with most of your time spent sitting in "Background holding", waiting to be called to set. And when you do get there, your action might simply to walk back and forth, or sit in a chair in, of course, the background. You'd need to have a pretty keen eye to catch me, or I'd have to say, "in the Resident Alien kidnapping scene, watch for me in the RV".

But sometimes, you pretty much know that you're going to be seen in a particular set up. e.g. in the above scene on So Help Me Todd (Ep. 11),  the actors were right behind me, so I assumed I'd be somewhat noticeable in the final edit. Now normally, the directoral team takes great strides to make sure you're in the right place at the proper moment, and conversely, try to keep you from being in the wrong place. But when I got booked by casting for another day on So Help Me Todd, I didn't think much of it; BG often get cycled through shows, and sometimes they do want the same ones back, if they need what is referred to as "continuity".

This scene was set up as Todd and his mother watch mobile phone video of the actual murder itself, where the actor uses the knife to stab her co-worker. So I think to myself, "I'm not supposed to be a witness to the murder, then a courtroom lawyer the next day". This is the opposite of continuity; I really shouldn't be playing two different roles in a given TV show, let alone the same episode. I mention it to the AD, who quickly shuffles me to what he thinks is a less obvious spot, but it turned out that I was even more prominent on screen! Oh well. As we often say, "it's above my pay grade". Besides, only a couple of my friends who watch the show caught it; the average viewer would never have noticed.

Viking vs. Gate 1 river cruise observations

Travel and Leisure

Editor's note: I've written this for those that might be new to river cruising, and due to Viking's extensive marketing, that's probably the only brand they have heard of. I'm not a travel agent, nor am I affiliated with Gate 1, so don't really care who you book with, but for those where a few thousand dollars saved is a huge deal, I thought I'd jot down what our friends told me. I have nothing against Viking; if you're a huge fan and want to keep sailing with them, that's great. I've not written this piece for you.

David vs. Goliath

After our first trip with Uniworld on the Rhine, we got hooked on river cruising, and I started to do a lot more research into the different operators, routes and pricing options. Since she was a travel agent, and we received a special price for our first cruise, I didn't know a thing about this unique way of exploring Europe, nor was I aware of what existed out there.

Viking always shows up in your Google searches

I started Googling, and of course, one of the first hits that you will get is for Viking river cruises, even if it is a Google Ad. Sign up for the free brochures? Sure! Now we get a glossy brochure on our doorstep at least once a month... in fact one just showed up today! With so much money going into advertising, everyone knows who Viking is, but what about the other end of the marketing spectrum?

 

We stumbled onto Gate 1 because I subscribe to a travel discount page, Travelzoo. It's not a discount travel agency, but rather a way for tour operators, hotels, etc. to advertise and create promos without doing it themselves. We jumped on one great deal with Vantage for Tulips and Windmills, so we validated the usefulness of Travelzoo that time. But when a promo came up for a ridiculous deal for a Danube river cruise with Gate 1, we nervously pulled the trigger. We had no idea if Gate 1 was a legit tour organisation (of course they are), but with virtually no advertising, how were we supposed to know what we were getting into?

Anyhow, as I've written about in a previous post, Gate 1 has become our current favourite river cruise operator (vs. Uniworld, Vantage, and Emerald). While on our Gate 1 trip, we made friends with a couple from the West coast as well, and they recently returned from a Viking cruise on the Rhine. I have always been curious about Viking, so I asked them, "how does Viking compare to Gate 1?"

Disclaimer: I'm just the messenger here; I'm quoting their comments to me almost verbatim, then offering my thoughts vis-à-vis the Gate 1 experience that we shared with them.

• 
  The clientele on Viking were much older than the Gate 1 crowd. As I've commented numerous times, we've met lovely people on all our cruises, and you will too, sharing stories of your day with others during evening cocktails and dinner. But sometimes the average age of the cruisers can slow things down, like evening port talks and loading/unloading coaches. Conversely, Gate 1 had a first-come, first-served bus policy; this meant that the faster, more agile folks got on and headed off without delay. With the somewhat younger demographics on Gate 1, we didn't feel like we were being held back/slowed down as much.
• 
  Food wasn't as good, especially breakfast; limited choices and repetitive. Didn't deal with food requests/allergies very well. Gate 1 had better variety and regional cuisine was superior. Gate 1 wait staff were very accommodating for my wife's allergies, even making sure she did not select certain items from the buffet. We especially liked that Gate 1 had at least one regional dish in each port; e.g. weinerschnitzel in Austria. In my comparison post, I commented that you're not going to get terrible food on a river cruise, but foodies might be disappointed by some lines.
• 
  Entertainment was not as good on Viking, likely due to age of crowd. We had a great entertainment coordinator on our Gate 1 cruise, and participation level from the guests was very high. While evening activities on board were limited, Gate 1 made the best of it with fun games like trivia and name that tune, etc. They even had some token prizes (e.g. local cookies and wine) awarded for the winners of each evening's event!
• Viking air proved to be problematic; extra charge of $150 to use our airline; Gate 1 did not charge for that. This is an issue I've read about with Viking on the FB group; the one time we booked our air with the river cruise operator (Avalon), they booked with our desired carrier and flight selections at no extra charge.
• 
  New ship (1 yr old) and clean lines which we liked. Booked a French balcony and liked it. Viking's ships are almost identical, so if you like the look, you'll not be disappointed on any of their ships. Their French balcony room is small at only 135 sq. ft., compared to a similar room with Gate 1 at 172 sq. ft. Gate 1 leases most of their ships, except the Monarch Empress, which from the video, seems quite nice.  You can look up other videos, photos and reviews of their other ships on Google too. Our Gate 1 ship has been retired, but it was fine (Cat B stateroom pictured). Gate 1 interiors have a more traditional design, but not busy (e.g. Uniworld). 
• 
  Tours were the same. Contrary to popular belief, you are likely getting the same local walking tour on Viking as you are on Gate 1. As we have seen in person, the local guides that show you around town are shared amongst most of the river cruise operators. i.e. when the local guide finishes with their Viking group, they change their lanyard and QuietVox, and head out with a different ship's group.

The above few factors led them to indicate that, "We won't river cruise with Viking again". Of course, one of the reasons why we like Gate 1 is because I am so cheap frugal, and you can get such great deals with Gate 1. Viking seems to always have a sale going on too, but if you delve deeper, it seems that their list prices are over-inflated by at least the cost of flights, as they almost always offer free air. I'm not saying you can't get a good price with Viking, but just don't get sucked in by the promo offer; tally up the final costs including room upgrade and deduct any air allowance. I like to use a per night rate to compare against others; you can read more on my math here. Upgrading to a room with a French balcony or their Veranda Stateroom will quickly escalate that seemingly great offer. 

If you are patient, you can likely find a deal with Gate 1 for desirable dates in the range of $200-240 USD/night in a French balcony room (sometimes far less). Virtually all the posts from cruisers who have done both on the river cruise FB group or the Gate 1 one will claim that they felt the value they received on their Gate 1 cruise was better than their Viking experience. I can't claim that, but given our other river cruises with Uniworld, Vantage and Emerald, which were all very similar, I'd be surprised if I came away with a substantially different opinion. Indeed, if I take all of our friends' comments above at face value, you get the same or better experience with Gate 1, but at a substantially lower price.

But Gate 1 has some noticeable differences that may or may not matter to you. For example, beer and wine are not included with lunch, as they are on all the other operators I can think of. Update: apparently they now include beer and wine with lunch. They also don't give free transfers to/from the airport unless you book your airfare with them (vs. say, Emerald who gives free transfers regardless). There aren't any free backpacks and travel document folios sent out before your trip, and you won't find reusable water bottles or tour books to take with you in your room (Edit: Emerald no longer offers backpacks and travel folios). Likely the biggest issue is the size of the fleet and lack of routes served. e.g. Viking pretty much covers every river itinerary you can think of, as well as providing (pricey) pre- or post-cruise extensions in cool European cities (that are not necessarily on the river's itinerary - e.g. Paris). Gate 1 does the Seine, Douro, Rhine, Danube, "Grand European", and Holland/Belgium - they also do extensions, but limited to the obvious nearby embarkation/disembarkation points. Regardless, if you would like to keep your river cruise budget in line, Gate 1 should be on your list for consideration.

Counterpoint

I am not ashamed to admit it - I like McDonalds. Billions upon billions of customers agree, and have proven that Mickey-Ds is not a bad place for a burger. The same must be true with Viking; at last count, they have 80 longships servicing Europe's waterways. With up to 190 guests per sailing (which is much more than other operators), you end up with hundreds of thousands of guests per year! That can't be an accident. Their product must be good enough for guests to want to repeat their experience, and their model seems to work for those cruisers. As a first-timer river cruiser, are you going to have a great time on Viking? I would almost guarantee it. How can I make that assertion? It's because as a newbie, you have nothing to compare to. French balcony room seems a little small? Pfft. You haven't been in an Avalon Panorama Suite, so you don't know what that's like. You won't miss the free backpacks and water bottles that you weren't expecting anyways. Keep sailing on Viking, and you will continue to be blissfully unaware of the differences out there with other river cruise operators; there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Don't worry, be happy.

Which camera to travel with?

Travel and Leisure

Around 2018, I decided to try and improve my photography by upgrading my camera kit. Why did I need a new camera? I had a pretty good camera on my smartphone, right? At the time, it was ok (iPhone 5), and I also had what they used to call a "prosumer" camera - a softball-sized, all-in-one Canon that could go from landscape photos to ultra-zoom with a push of a button.

Canon SX10 IS vs. EOS M2 mirrorless

Even with its relatively small sensor, it could still take way better pictures than my iPhone, but I had heard about the new mirrorless camera technology that had brought DSLR-like capabilities down in size and price. A friend suggested that I look at the new iPhone X that had just come out, but I balked at the hefty price. Besides, nothing can come close to the optical zoom capabilities of a real camera lens (vs. digital zoom of an iPhone).

So I pulled the trigger on an Amazon bundle for a used Canon EOS M2 (already a 5-year old camera at the time) with an 18-55mm kit lens and a 22mm prime. The change in images was immediate; the skill of the photographer was not, however. I was so impressed with the pictures that came out of the M2, that I bought a 55 - 200mm zoom lens as well. The sensor on this camera is slightly smaller than a full DSLR, so effective full zoom is 300mm! Inexpensive, even for my Scottish blood, I had put together a pretty complete mirrorless camera kit for around $800 CDN.

What made the difference?

Any Google search will give you much more information than I'm prepared to detail here, but there are about three primary differences that make this newish interchangeable lens camera better than what I had: sensor size, ISO sensitivity and glass quality. I won't get into it, but it all has to do with how much light you can get onto the sensor, and how that light is processed by the image sensor. This mountain scene from Mount Revelstoke was shot at full zoom with my 300mm lens and image stabilisation; I could never have been achieved this with an iPhone without the loss of perspective and the mountain appearing flat.

The more light and the bigger the sensor you have, the better the photos you can take. With the ability to change lenses, the Canon can capture images that I would never have been able to with my iPhone 5 (which I had upgraded to a used iPhone 6 that same year). Low light performance is nothing short of amazing; where my old camera or iPhone used to struggle with grainy, murky shots, the Canon can replicate interior scenes without the need for a flash or a tripod. This dramatic interior church scene in Lisbon would have required a tripod with my old camera, and I'd never have tried with my iPhone. One of the reasons I bought a Canon mirrorless, is that it would work with my existing Canon flash, but I have found that it rarely gets used, as more realistic pictures can be captured without it.

Enter a new era of iPhone cameras

A friend gave me his iPhone 8 a couple of years ago, which has one camera with a fixed focal equivalent of 28mm; i.e. if you were viewing the image through a traditional SLR camera, the coverage area/zoom would be the same as a 28mm lens. When you "zoom" with an iPhone, you're not actually changing the focal length, but instead you are making the image larger by magnifying or cropping the existing digital image. However, new iPhone Pros come with three cameras, in 13mm, 26mm and 52mm focal equivalents (77mm on Max ones). But it's not just the different camera lens types, but the amount of photo processing done by the iPhone technology. After seeing some impressive photos from others that I know are only using their iPhones, I started doing some research, and realised that things had moved along quite a bit since the initial introduction of Portrait Mode. So after the bit of internal debate, and knowing that my iPhone 8 will eventually become unsupported (I figure that iOS 16 will be its final software version), I picked up a used iPhone 12 Pro. 

Travel capabilities and features

Any iPhone can take a decent photo in bright daylight, so why is it that I have been toting around a camera? Well, here are the things that I have found matter to me, mostly when travelling.

Field of vision: For anyone who has been paying attention to the numbers above, you will note that even with the iPhone Pro's three cameras, the focal range is still limited to 52mm, hardly a telephoto lens, as touted by Apple. This picture of the Decebalus rock sculpture was taken with my Canon at 83mm, and then cropped; a similar iPhone shot was far too wide to capture this detail. Since I don't fly with the heavier and larger 55-200mm zoom lens, it's not a fair comparison to judge the iPhone's lack of true telephoto capability. But often for buildings and architecture, you need a wide field of view and the iPhone's 13mm "ultrawide" lens is something that I can't replicate with my Canon - well, not without shelling out for another lens. Additionally, you can shoot in 16:9 frame format; with around 120 degrees of coverage, the ultrawide almost replicates one's actual field of vision (135 degrees).

Low-light: I deliberately did not do any post-production on this image of Budapest's Liberty Bridge and Statue (taken from a moving ship) to show how amazing the Canon's low light performance is. An older iPhone could never had captured this, but Apple's Night mode has pretty much put low light photography issues behind us. Yes, you could take night photos with my older iPhones by holding them steady, but for the most part, the iPhone decided how long to open the shutter for, and usually images were grainy. Now with all the processing power of the new phones, you don't necessarily need a tripod, and there are so many ways that you can use Night mode; I recommend that you watch a few Youtube videos or Google tutorials on the subject. I still haven't discovered all the ways that you can create unique photos with Night Mode on my iPhone 12 Pro.

Long exposure: Another feature that I use quite often is a long exposure, either for low-light shots as mentioned above, or capturing moving water. e.g. We were recently in Croatia and saw some amazing waterfalls, but you don't really capture the essence of them with a snapshot at 1/250th of a second. I was able to take amazing, smooth waterfall shots with my Canon, but I needed to use an Neutral Density filter to reduce the amount of light coming into the lens, forcing a longer exposure. But with the newer iPhones, did you know that you can use Live Photo to do the same photo effect? You still need to hold the iPhone steady or use a tripod of some sort, but who knew?

Weight/accessibility/ convenience: This is an obvious consideration; you can't take great pictures, if you don't have a camera with you. I found that the Canon's 18-55mm kit lens was the most versatile for travelling, but even in compact form, the combined weight is 495g; adding in the charger and extra batteries makes bringing along this camera not an insignificant encumbrance. Sure, when touring during the day, I usually have a travel bag (man purse) that I would put my mirrorless camera in, but if I don't need to take up the extra space, there's more room for snacks and whatever. In the evening, when out for dinner or taking in the evening sights, I don't typically bring my day bag, so those impressive night shots aren't going to get captured by my Canon anyways. She took this evening shot on the Stradun in Dubrovnik, because of course, I didn't have my camera with me. I will always have my new iPhone in my pocket, so this makes the burden of the mirrorless camera perhaps too much to bear?

My conclusion is that if you’ve got an iPhone 11 Pro or above (e.g. iPhone 13 Pro Max), and you’re not looking to make a living from your vacation pictures, then that’s probably all you need. So if I'm no longer going to travel with it, when will I be using my mirrorless camera and all it's lenses and pro features? Certainly long zoom environments will dictate using the 300mm lens, and nothing beats the clarity and image quality of the 22mm prime lens. And there is something about having a "camera" in your hand which puts me in a photographic frame of mind; i.e. I'm going out specifically with the purpose of taking pictures. And of course, where weight and space aren't an issue, I'll bring the full camera kit, to capture moments like this little baby chickadee that emerged from our bird house. In the end, the decision on whether to bring your professional DSLR or mirrorless camera along with you on your travels is up to you, but for my needs, I think I'll leave the Canon at home when my vacation travel takes me on the plane.

DIY hot waxing skis

Recreation

Way back when I was in high school, I had a part-time job at the local ski store, selling kit and also working in the shop. I did everything that the older guys didn't want to do, like mount ski bindings, tune and wax skis. I learned a technique at the shop to hot wax that was much faster, easier, and better for your skis than the traditional iron-on method. But before we get to that, we need a little history; this is a blog, after all.

I grew up in a small city, where you likely played hockey as your primary winter sport. Of course, I followed in my brothers' footsteps, and played hockey until I was about twelve years old. At that point, the kids were getting bigger, and I was not yet filling out to match. So instead of continuing to get mashed against the boards by some 150 lb. kid, I switched to skiing. With a serious ski hill nearby called Tod Mountain, all of us Chin boys pretty much got hooked on it, and would go up almost every day of every weekend.

There were two kinds of skiers that dominated the ski scene at Tod; the namby-pamby, short ski boys that spent their time doing tricks (remember ski ballet?), and the serious skiers who wouldn't dare putting anything less than 205 cms on the bottom of your ski boots. What good were long skis, you ask? Well, they were great for going fast - and that's what we did. Sure, you could still go through the moguls with some 210s, or get some serious air (above), but what you really wanted to do is "cruise", letting those bad boys run. Most of the guys I hung out with eventually moved up to 225s - yes, full downhill race skis - and used them for everything from cruising to powder, and even a little speed skiing.

One of the guys knew a cop, and we'd borrow a radar gun, and a bunch of us would slip into the spandex speed suits and really let 'er rip. We lacked a track that allowed for serious speed, and I topped out at 119 kph, if I recall correctly. The renamed Sun Peaks actually went on to host FIS Speed Skiing races for over two decades, down one of the steepest runs called the Headwall, normally a mogul run. Acceleration from 0 to 100 miles an hour occurred in 4 seconds! Around the top third of the the track, there was a roll, or a lip that could give skiers some air before getting to the steeper section further down; rumours existed of European racers who refused to start at the top.

  

I had left for the coast by then, and a group of us rented a cabin during the winters at Whistler, arguably North America's top ski destination. While skiing was still a passion, the... erm, nightlife had become as exciting as the daytime activities. But still, on Friday evenings, I'd get out the ski wax and give the slats a fresh coat before hitting Blackcomb the next day. As with most of my friends, I actually went to the dark side for a number of years, and took up snowboarding. I know - I became one of those guys. The photo to the right is from the Rockies, where some mates and I went cat-skiing (cat-boarding?). Whistler/Blackcomb is famous for huge dumps of snow, and snowboards rule on big pow days. But not long after, ski technology took a turn, literally. Shape skis came out that were much shorter, and with far more sidecut; they made what was once a difficult sport to excel at, into something for almost everyone. Virtually anyone could put on some shape skis and carve up some big turns on the corduroy; so I became a 2-planker wanker again, and have never gone back.

I even ended up in the odd recreational race; usually some sort of corporate event, where 1/2 of the participants end up snow-plowing their way down through the gates. The shot above is actually back at Sun Peaks, where the famous Nancy Greene used to have a fun race every year. Back at the coast however, we eventually gave up the cabin at Whistler, and skiing weekends tapered off. There would still be the occasional weekend up at Whistler for some corporate event, but after the acquisition by Vail Resorts, the experience up there has... changed. Ski technology changed too; underfoot widths went from 70mm to 90mm, then to well over 100mm! This gave skis more floatation in powder, like snowboards, and combined with "rockered" reverse camber, skiers who wouldn't dare venture off-piste were now seeking out powder in droves. Now a day at Blackcomb is an exercise in futility; lining up with the masses, while everyone charges off in search of the elusive powder run.

Sun Peaks: where are all the skiers?

Back at Sun Peaks however, things have progressed at a more leisurely pace; new lifts, better slope grooming and new facilities have been added over the years, making for a great ski experience, without all of the crowds at Whistler. And when there is powder at Sun Peaks, you can typically ski it for hours, not just one run. So we've decided that since there is the odd trip to Kamloops to see family anyways, we'd start skiing at Sun Peaks again. I've even hopped on the wide ski bandwagon, and picked up a pair of "all-mountain" skis that are (gasp) a mere 177cms long! Anyhow, here's the long-awaited time-lapse video of how to wax your skis at home.

This method requires the careful use of a heat gun/paint stripper. You need a bar of wax appropriate for the temperature in your region, and a ski cork (try Amazon). I prop up my skis on some blocks of wood on my workbench. I use a bar clamp to hold the ski brakes out of the way, but you can wax around them if you have to. Take your bar of wax and scrape a thin film along the length of each ski (in the video, it was very cold in the garage, so I was warming the wax with my gun to help spread it on). Then, starting at the tip, warm the wax with the heat gun, constantly moving it around so that no one area of the base gets too much heat at a time. As you see the wax melt into the pores of the P-Tex, smooth it in with the cork. When you are just starting, it may take a few strokes to get the wax smooth. After that, the cork picks up some warm wax on the edge, and you will find that alternating heat and cork will deliver a uniform application. Keep working down the ski, in 3" to 4" sections, until you reach the end. Repeat on the other ski. If you've done it properly, there is no reason to scrape any excess wax off, and there should be no "dry" looking areas of P-Tex.

That's it... you're welcome. Now get out on the slopes!

Croatia 8-day Itinerary and Tips (with links)

Travel and Leisure

(tapping on any picture will open the gallery view)

We recently returned from a river cruise to Eastern Europe with Emerald Waterways. Since the cruise itinerary was only going to be 8 nights, we decided to do our own, self-guided trip in Croatia before embarking in Budapest.

Based on suggestions from Rick Steves' website, we chose to start in Dubrovnik, and work our way north to Zagreb. We decided upon about a weeks' worth of travel, which prohibited visiting any of the islands, as that would have diverted too much time away from Rick's highlighted recommendations. I used Google maps to try and limit any particular stretch of driving to less than 2.5 hours, and so this is what we came up with for our itinerary.

Dubrovnik for 3 nights (5 stars)

As it was our first stop, and the highlight of Croatia, we made sure we had enough time to get a good taste of the Old Town of Dubrovnik. We booked an Airbnb in the Old Town area right off the Stradun, which meant that we did not have to hike up and down stairs every time we went out; yes, there were stairs in our building (no elevator), but many other Airbnbs will have you walking up dozens of stairs just to get to the entrance to your building.

Stairs are everywhere!

I wouldn't recommend the one we rented, as the height in the bathroom was limited, but would certainly stay at Igor's other suites in the building, e.g. this one. Given the historical nature of buildings in the Old Town, there are no traditional hotels inside the walls; if you need American-style hotels, you can find them outside the city walls. Arriving late afternoon on Day 1, we really only had time to settle into our Airbnb, get some groceries, and then get a bite to eat for dinner. We walked the Stradun down to the Konzum behind St. Blaise's Church, which is the best supermarket inside the walls. Our Airbnb host suggested Dubravka for dinner, just outside the Pile Gate, with great atmosphere and views of the Fort Lovrijenac and the walls. The food there was tourist-priced, and average; we would suggest it's a great place for an evening cocktail, but dine somewhere else. 

Day 2 was a full-day in Dubrovnik, and we wanted to do a little exploring to get our bearings, and decompress from our 14-hour travel day. We found that a self-guided audio tour was available from the tourist shop (just inside the Pile Gate, to the right, behind Onofrio's Fountain). For 100 kunas each, we were given a little audio device, some cheap earbuds, and some basic instructions with a small map. The English narrator was flat and uninteresting, and did not give any instructions on how to get to the next point of interest. A number of times, both of our units would reset, and we'd need to start over and navigate back to the point of interest that we were standing next to. We would not recommend this audio tour.

We ate lunch at the Tripadvisor recommended Pizzeria Oliva, but made the mistake of ordering "Pizza for 2"; we could have gotten by with just one pizza for the two of us. It was very good pizza, and we'd recommend going here for lunch. We met another couple from Ottawa, who we had a nice chat with and they gave us a dinner recommendation. That afternoon, we spent the rest of our time trying to get lost in the Old Town; we stumbled across the Buza Bar, which while being a neat spot outside the walls, we did not stop for a drink, as the sun was blazing on the terrace there.

City views from Lady Pi-Pi

That evening, we hiked up the 155 stairs required to get to Lady Pi-Pi for dinner, right beside the north section of the wall. We planned on getting there right around the time that the first seating was ready to leave, and we only had to wait about 20 minutes. Luckily we were seated on the top section, with views of the city; diners seated in the lower section will not have any views at all. Food was average and tourist priced (are you seeing a theme here?), so despite the views and unique atmosphere, we're not recommending this place.

Day 3 was our second and last full day in Dubrovnik, so we blitzed it; we bought the Dubrovnik Pass (250 kunas each; recommended) which gives you access to the city walls, and a number of other minor attractions. Tip: check the cruise ship schedule and find out when the bulk of the cruise passengers will be trying to get on the walls, and avoid those times; for us, that meant waiting until the afternoon when the ships had departed. We visited Fort Lovrijenac early in the morning, and there was almost no one there. We went to almost all of the other included museums etc., except the Archeological Museum, which we could not find, and no one seemed to be able to tell us.

Tip: we found out after, that it is tucked into an entrance at the Ploče Gate. In hindsight, we should have used the free transit that day to take the bus over to Babin Kuk, but we were running out of steam. Tip: before you start the City Walls walk, we suggest you download the VoiceMap app, and then the "Walls of Liberty" audio tour ($8.20).

We hiked the walls for about an hour and half, catching the city from many angles, and then we went outside the walls to catch sunset from Fort Lovrijenac. Unfortunately, the Fort was closed for a private event, so we missed sunset that evening. We went for dinner at Mea Culpa, which has a fun atmosphere, as the outside seating extends for about 3 old town "blocks". We both had pasta, and it was very good, with tourist prices; recommended. A little bit of strolling around the Stradun at night for some cool photos, then back to the Airbnb to pack up.

Road trip to Mostar (stop in Počitelj) enroute to Split (3.5 stars)

Day 4 was the start of our road trip; we grabbed a taxi to the Hotel Rixos to pick up a car at Sixt. Tip: use Uber instead of the normal taxis, if you want to save a few bucks. Second tip: Use Oryx for rental cars, as they are not only cheaper, but they do not charge a fee if you want to take the car out of Croatia. e.g. Since we were headed to Mostar, we had to pay a 22€ surcharge for each day of our rental! Despite this, using a car is the easiest way to get around Croatia, and for the most part, driving was easy. Third tip: book your car as early as possible to secure the best rate.

On the way out of Dubrovnik, we drove the narrow, single-lane road up to one of the lookout points for some photos of the city. This was in lieu of taking the tourist cable car to Mount Srd, which saved us 200 kunas each. After some brief photos, were were on our way to Mostar, based on Rick Steves' recommendation.

We should have stopped at Ston

Here's one of our/my first mistakes; we were using Maps.me to navigate, as it does so without requiring a data connection. However, I did not check the button that allows you to use toll roads, so we were sent the slightly longer route. This turned out to be a bonus, as it sent us through the fortress town of Ston. We didn't have time to stop to explore, but in hindsight, I would have used Ston as a stopover, rather than spend the extra hours going to Mostar.

On the way, we stopped at the medieval town of Počitelj to check out the little village and take the brief hike up to the ruins of the fortress. Note: the rocky steps leading up are very uneven and would not recommend this for folks who have trouble with walking, or during periods of rain. We arrived in Mostar, and parked at the lot that most tour buses use. There you will find public pay toilets (0.50€ if I recall correctly) and you pay 1€ at the Campanile Café for parking (although they didn't take my plate number, so I don't know how they know who has paid or not). It was a short walk of about 5 minutes or so until you get to the old town street that takes you down to Stari Most, the old bridge.

The narrow pedestrian street was very cool, and the main attraction, Stari Most was stunning. Despite the light rain, the street was packed with tourists, so after grabbing some sandwiches, we ducked into the Museum of War and Genocide Victims. It was a depressing reminder of what happened in this area, and while not recommended for everyone, it gave us good historical context. After a couple of hours exploring, we were back to the car, continuing the drive to Split. This is where we realized that our Maps.me directions were avoiding toll roads, as we were sent down some dodgy, gravel roads. 

Once we corrected that issue, the guidance had us staying on the higher speed motorways. We chose another Airbnb in Split, based on the fact that they had parking available on site, as well as a washing machine. It was a delightful, little, self-contained, studio cottage, only a 5-minute walk to the East Gate of the old town area (below).

After getting settled, and starting a load of laundry, we walked down to the lively boardwalk area for a bite to eat, and stopped at the first busy restaurant. We should really have done a Tripadvisor search first, as this place Piccolo, was terrible. Cash only too, so something to ask about before you sit down.

Day in Split (4 stars)

Day 5 was a full-day of exploring in Split, which was very interesting. While Split itself is quite a large city, the old town, walled area is quite small. The extraordinary complex of Diocletian's Palace takes up a good portion of this city area, but you need to pay to go into the buildings that make up the palace. The Split City Museum was closed when we were there, and so we were a little disappointed visiting the sites.

We would have preferred if there was one flat fee ticket, that allowed you to see all of the things inside the city walls, rather than having to pay for each one individually. There are guides available in the main square of Diocletian's Palace for tours, but we chose to explore on our own, visiting the blue tourist placards placed around the old town area. That evening, rather than make the same mistake for dinner, I looked up a Tripadvisor recommendation, and we went to Bistro TOC to try and get something different for dinner (not an easy thing in tourist Croatia). We were disappointed again, and would not recommend it. 

Road trip to Zadar enroute to Plitvice Lakes (4 stars)

Day 6: Back on the road to Plitvice Lakes. On the way into Split, we noticed an impressive fortress on the outskirts of town. We looked it up, and Klis Fortress seemed like it deserved a visit. There is a free parking lot about 120m or so past the main entrance; it is an unmarked gravel lot on your left, across the street from the school's concrete football pitch. Entrance to the fortress is around 10€ each; we wandered around the ruins (which had been used extensively as Meereen in Game of Thrones) for about an hour or so, and it was worth the stop. We got in the car just before it started pouring, and hit the motorway to Zadar.

We drove directly to the free parking lot in Zadar, but it was a gong show. By the time we got there, it was full, and the rain had made small lakes everywhere. However, after scoping out the area on foot while she drove around slowly, we came across someone leaving and managed to park on dry land. We used a free, self-guided walking tour we found on the web to explore the old town on our own. 

It is a great old town area, with a Roman forum and many other historical sites; you could easily spend a couple of nights here. However, with another 2 hours of driving ahead of us, we said goodbye to Zadar and set out for Plitvice Lakes. Our destination was Zrinka House, a Tripadvisor recommendation that did not disappoint! Rooms were large and well appointed, free mini-bar, and comfortable bed. I had done another Tripadvisor lookup for dinner in the area (Grabovac), and Old Shatterhand came up as the top place. They serve a massive hamburger (not a traditional American-style) that required a knife and fork to eat, which was just what we needed after 5 days of the same style of Croatian meals; highly recommended.

Plitvice Lakes Hike (5 stars) and on to Zagreb

We started Day 7 with a fantastic breakfast where Zrinka described all of the items on the buffet. She also included supplies to make sandwiches and provided bags to takeaway these and other snacks for the day hike. This is another one of Rick Steves' don't miss Croatian attractions, and we agreed - it was one of the highlights of the trip.

There are 8 named routes around Plitvice Lakes, but it is really only 4, with the other 4 being the same but just running in the opposite direction. We chose parking at Entrance 1, and we recommend route C (don't bother to buy the map), which will give you views of the falls as you walk towards them, rather than having to turn around often to see them. It also avoids the lengthy and somewhat uninteresting walk around the Kozjak lake; you take the boat across one way, then the shuttle back. With many stops for photos and a sandwich break before taking the shuttle back to Entrance 1, our hike took about 3.5 hours.

On our way out of the area, we took the recommendation from Zrinka's daughter to stop in Rastoke, a small town only 20 mins away. We found a storybook spot where waterfalls cascade down right beside the village's old buildings and houses! After taking some photos, we continued on to our final Croatian destination of Zagreb. After dropping our car at the Sixt location in the centre, we grabbed an Uber to our Airbnb. Jelena's place was an amazing apartment only 100 metres from the edge of the Lower Town area; the only drawback was the pub downstairs played loud music well into the night. Tip: always travel with earplugs; they may only be required for one or two noisy spots, but you will thank me later. Our host recommended a few choices for dinner; we selected Market Street Food as it was close to the Airbnb, and we finally got a great meal in Croatia!

Day in Zagreb (4.5 stars)

Even though Zagreb is the large, bustling capital of Croatia, the city has upper and lower Old Town areas that are worthy of visiting; there's good reason that it’s another one of Rick Steves picks. Again, we used a self-guided tour to help us discover the sites and history, and we could easily spend two days here, but by this time, we were eager to stop having to pack and unpack every couple of days. For dinner that night, I took to Tripadvisor again and found KAI Street Food, which was hard to find, but worth it!

It is just off Ban Josip Square, on the Southeast corner; across the street from the Tourist Information Centre and East about 20 metres, there will be an alley entrance where you will find KAI. After a full day in Zagreb, we packed up and headed to Budapest the next morning to catch our river cruise.

Other tips and things about Croatia

We're not big breakfast people, and that's why Airbnbs usually work well for us. We pick up some local baking, some fruit and yogurt, and we're usually good to go. However, we found that Croatia's version of croissants were a far cry from Western European versions; instead we bought a loaf of bread to make toast. Unfortunately, toast is apparently not a thing for Croatians, and not a single Airbnb we stayed at had a traditional toaster!

Another small irritation is that they also don't use bar soap or supply wash cloths (face cloths); there was always liquid body wash available, but never wash cloths. I had planned on the soap issue and brought my own bar soap, but she would have liked face cloths to help take her makeup off etc. It always took a few times for us to get used to the fact that light switches were outside the room; e.g. the switch for the bathroom would be on the outer wall, not in the bathroom. But this is common in Europe, as is the issue with no wash cloths.

There is no tipping required in Croatian restaurants; as such, we found service pretty much wherever we ate to be lacklustre, with the exception of KAI Street Food. Most restaurants take credit cards, but we did encounter two that did not, so be sure to ask if that is the only method of payment you have available. Smoking is still very much a thing in Central and Eastern Europe, so if you want to sit on the patio, expect to be surrounded by smokers, especially in non-tourist restaurants.