A farm outside Dubrovnik

We signed up for an excursion in Dubrovnik that would take us out into the countryside of Croatia, to a family farm where we would see a traditional dance and music concert.  Then we'd get some time to explore the city.

The area around the port was beautiful and I loved how light colored all the houses are!  They all have terra-cotta colored roofs.

The coastline is dotted with small towns right up against the water.

There were beautiful estates along the highway.

We passed some buildings that had been destroyed during the war in the early 90s.  It's so strange to think that this area had a war so recently, and has rebounded so quickly!

We saw this winding road close to the airport.

This language looks really difficult!

The house we were visiting was made out of old beautiful stones and had many additions over time.

We were greeted with music and singing by people wearing traditional Croatian dress.

That's quite a cork collection!

Another windy photograph!

This guy played this  3 stringed instrument with gusto, sometimes stomping his foot while he played.

After the music we went inside for lunch.  Maverick wanted Maddox to leave him alone!

Bread, cheese, meat, and wine.  It was delicious!

Later in the day we headed back to Dubrovnik.

Back across the Mediterranean

It takes a while to get from Istanbul back around Greece and up to Dubrovnik, so we had another day at sea.  Luckily for us we were further South, and the weather had calmed down, so although it was windy it was nice and warm for our day at the pool. 

Here is the view of the pool area from the upper deck.  This was before it got really busy!

We put our towels on some deck chairs when we went to breakfast to reserve them for later.  We had noticed people doing this during the first day at sea, and if you don't grab your deck chairs early then they'll all be taken by the time you get to the pool.  Maddox didn't want to stay with us, she wanted to go to the kids club- but Maverick wasn't allowed to go because he was only 2 (another reason MSC wasn't that great for us).  Maddox loved the kids club, and was always upset when we got there to pick her up.  Maverick wasn't too upset to have us to himself, but it still would have been nice to get some kid-free time on our cruise!  Definitely keep that in mind if you are cruising with kids under 3!

We got to the pool around 10, and brought Mav's toy cars.  He attracted some attention driving them back and forth across the benches.

We had forgotten his sunglasses, so he was happy to wear Maddox's.  This game kept him busy for a long time!  He did play in the splash pool a little bit- but since it was really early in the cruising season the water was still very cold!  I'd imagine in the summer it is wonderful!

In the afternoon we got Mdx back from Kids Club.  She had won this stuffed animal playing bingo. It is the MSC Mascot- named DoReMi.

Kids love free stuff!

We finished the day with some ice cream!

Next stop: Croatia!