My first massage in years… (part seven)

After a peaceful first night at The Duke Suites, Bill and I had a breakfast date at 8:00 AM in the Clubhouse restaurant. The night before, the butler had asked us when we wanted breakfast. We kind of shrugged and said “8:00 AM”. We were told they would escort us to the restaurant, which is right next to where The Charles Restaurant is.

Breakfast at The Duke Suites is a lavish affair. They brought out coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, yogurt with fruit and granola, Eggs Benedict, bread, cold cuts, vegetables, smoked salmon on whole grain crackers, and pastries. It was quite a feast. Naturally, we couldn’t eat everything they brought out for us. But compared to our breakfasts in Mons, it was really very decadent.

There was one other couple having breakfast. They had been in the restaurant the night before. We later saw them checking out, after we went for a walk in what had started out a sunny day and then turned into a stormy one. We got pretty wet in the sudden hale storm and I had neglected to wear a jacket. I did manage to get some nice photos on the walk, before it got rainy and haled all over us. The rainbow photos alone were worth getting caught in the weather.

We had a couple’s massage appointment at 1:00 PM. At The Duke Suites, guests can reserve the spa room for two hours, so it’s totally private. They have a Finnish sauna and a jacuzzi, as well as an outdoor lounge area for when the weather is nice. I brought my own robe with me, because I’ve found that hotel robes don’t always fit me right, and I know that when I bring my own, it will be clean and cover everything. Bill used a hotel robe.

A very friendly lady named Tina greeted us and gave us each massages individually. There are two tables, but I guess Tina was the only therapist on duty on that day. I went first, and really enjoyed the hour of attention to my sore muscles. Tina did one thing that blew my mind. She pulled my legs gently, which felt almost like aligning my spine. I mentioned to her that I liked that, and she made sure to tell Bill.

While Bill got his massage, I enjoyed the whirlpool and the sauna, and once I got good and wrinkled, I sat and waited for Bill’s session to end. I brought a bathing suit with me, because I didn’t know what kind of facilities they had and I wanted to be prepared. It turns out the bathing suit wasn’t necessary. The spa truly was totally private. So, if you go to The Duke Suites and use the spa, just know that all you really need is your robe and maybe some slippers… and if you get a massage, a pair of underwear. I was actually relieved that she didn’t ask me to don a pair of spa panties, because again, they don’t always fit properly.

After our spa appointment, we went back to the room and enjoyed the delightful chocolate cake the restaurant gifted us the night before. There was a bottle of champagne in the minibar, which was included in our room rate, so we drank that…

Since it was later in the day, we decided to have dinner in the Clubhouse at 7:00 PM. The Clubhouse is a much less formal setting than The Charles restaurant is, although the suggested dress code is business casual. It occurs to me that jeans are usually not kosher in golf clubs. I don’t remember if Bill wore jeans, but no one said anything about it if he did.

I had a steak sandwich for dinner. Bill had truffle linguini with shrimp. We shared water and a rather expensive bottle of wine. Yeah… lots of drinking on Sunday. But at least we got a walk in, right?

*Another fruit cocktail waited for us after dinner…*

After dinner, we stayed up a little bit later so we could digest things. The TV was controlled by a tablet, which also controlled the lights and curtains. It was all very high tech. We had programming in Dutch, German, French, and English!

Soon enough, it was time to go to sleep. Mondays can be pretty quiet in The Netherlands. We were told a lot of shops are closed on Mondays there. That’s true in Germany, too. But we had plans to drive around and see the area. More on that on tomorrow’s post.

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Chasing lakes and waterfalls in Aus-cro-slo-aus… part seven

As I mentioned in a previous post, Bill and I gave serious consideration to trying for a visit to the Krka National Park on Sunday. It was located within a two hour’s drive of where we were staying in Croatia, and we had nothing else planned. But when we went to try to buy online tickets for the park, they were all sold out. I suppose we could have shown up at the park and tried to buy a ticket on the spot, but that would have been a risky proposition, given how far away the park was from our accommodation. We were also considering this plan BEFORE we knew how tired and sore we were going to be on Sunday morning.

What we ended up doing was buying tickets to go back to the Plitvice Lakes on Sunday, only we planned to enter through entrance 2, which is on the other side of the park. To be honest, when we got back to the house late Saturday afternoon, I wasn’t really wanting to go back to the park on Sunday. Duje, the Croatian caretaker, had suggested it. But Saturday evening, I was just really tired, stiff, sore, and hungry. Bill cooked, which put me in a worse mood, not because he’s a terrible cook, but because I had a real craving for barbecue and would have preferred takeout. I love and appreciate Bill very much, but sometimes he’s makes productions out of things that don’t need to be overthought… or overwrought.

We woke up on Sunday to warmer temperatures and clearer skies. I knew I wouldn’t need to bundle up like I did on Saturday. And I also knew that I would not be walking all over the park. Instead, we walked to the boat area closest to the entrance and just sat down on a bench. We listened to the wind and the waterfalls, and watched people set off on the massive hike we did on Saturday from the other side of the park. I watched ducks beg for food, and people rented boats and paddled around. Maybe we should have rented a boat, too, although we were both really sore.

Just sitting at the park, sipping Croatian beer, talking to each other, and enjoying the natural beauty was enough. I realized that Duje was right. It is worth it to spend two days at the park. Maybe it would have been better to do two shorter walks over both days instead of the super long one on Saturday. But, again, I didn’t have a concept of what the park was like until we went there. If we ever go back, I might plan differently. I want to go to the Krka National Park first, though. Check out this scenery…

This video was made by drone. I’m sure the park forbids drones, just as they are forbidden at Plitvice.

I’m sorry we missed our opportunity to visit this park on the Krka River. But now we have a great reason to visit again. We still got some beautiful photos on our second day, too. Have a look.

The boats where people are taken to other parts of the park. We knew that if we got on one, we would be committed…

It was almost lunchtime, so I decided to have a Croatian beer… As you can see by the first photo, Bill was amused.

Some people were rowing. We didn’t see anyone doing this the day prior.

We only stayed at the park for an hour or so, then went to get lunch at a local roadside restaurant I kept noticing. I took a few parting shots before we made our way to Vila Velabita for hearty, authentic Croatian food.

We probably should have gone to Vila Velabita on Saturday, as they had the kind of food I was craving after our long hike. I am glad we stopped on Sunday, so I could try smoked chicken. Bill had sausages made with beef and pork. We finished with an espresso for him, and locally made brandy for me.

Monday morning, we awoke to a glorious sunrise. I’d had a look at the forecast for Slovenia and figured it might be the last we’d see of the sun for the week, so I took some pictures. We loaded up the car, cleaned up the house, and Bill went over to Duje’s house to hand off the keys. While he was giving the keys to the caretaker, Bill mentioned the Jung book he found, which was inscribed by Duje. He told Duje that he was also a student of Jung’s. Duje smiled and said, “You’ll come back next year.”

Maybe we will… I wouldn’t be opposed to it. Croatia is officially wonderful. Below are a few parting shots of Croatia.

Stay tuned for part eight.

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Celebrating 14 years in Ireland! Part ten

Because the weather turned tumultuous, we decided to stay in yesterday and simply watch the sea. At one point, Bill went out to the grocery store to pick up more supplies– toilet paper, eggs, bacon, and some laundry detergent. The cottage has a washer and dryer, so we were able to do a load of laundry.

I watched a little Irish TV and found a channel called Forces, which was airing military themed shows. I was a bit surprised when Hogan’s Heroes came on. That show aired before I was born and I never got into the reruns. I have to admit, it was a bit weird to see it yesterday in Ireland, especially since the premise of the show seemed so ridiculous. It reminded me of a war themed Gilligan’s Island.

For those who don’t know, Hogan’s Heroes is basically about a bunch of allied forces who were being held in a German prisoner of war camp during World War II. The Germans in charge were portrayed as buffoons and the “prisoners” easily got around all of the trappings of prison life. Basically, they were running an underground operation to help Americans at other bases fight the Nazis.

After a couple of episodes of Hogan’s Heroes, I turned off the TV… but not before running across a channel where women were being really boring. I couldn’t help but notice that a lot of what I was seeing was actually British television, which reminded me too much of American TV minus Dr. Phil.

Bill and I spent most of the day sitting around, enjoying each other’s company, listening to music, and watching the waves. I gave some thought to getting dressed and visiting the pub next door, but decided against it when I got a load of the weather.

I’m not sure what we’ll do today. It’s our last full day in the Sligo area, but it’s cold and stormy this morning. We even had a little bit of snow last night. It may be just another leisurely day for us, by the wood stove fire as we watch the surf. It changes so much by the minute it’s a show in and of itself.

If there’s one thing I do know, it’s that we’ll have to come back to Ireland again… perhaps at a time of year when there’s more sunlight and warm breezes. Here are photos I captured during our lazy day.