Daddy, what do you two want for your birthday? I said, "girls, surprise me." They did.

[DFW]

They gave me and my wife four days in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Flights and fancy hotel with a view of the Adriatic Sea. Sixty-five is a special birthday (mine was in March, my wife's is in June), but still, this was REALLY going overboard. We leave in about 3 weeks.

I can't afford to take the time off.

I'm taking the time off.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I'm thrilled that you're taking the time off, my dear DFW!

Those birthdays don't roll around every day, and some people never get them.

I know you will have the time of your lives!

Enjoy! As another dear friend of mine always said: Live in the moment!

[DFW]

3. My dear Peggy, Hvala lepa!

i jedan čaj sa limonom molim!

(Gotta start practicing my Croatian again--haven't been there since the year we got married!!)

We intend to do just that!!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. I would greatly appreciate your translating these Croation phrases, if you would.

[DFW]

8. LOL!!

Hvala lepa (HVA-lah LAY-puh) means thank you very much

"I jedan čaj sa limonom molim (ee YEH-dan CHY sah lee-MAW-nom MAW-leem&quot ---"and one tea with lemon, please"

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. Ah, much better! I thank you! n/t

[sab390]

15. My only foreign phrase

Donde Es bano

[DFW]

31. Save that one for Acapulco

I don't think it will get you to where you want to go (not in time, anyway) in Croatia.

[Angry Dragon]

2. good parenting pays off in more ways than one

[DFW]

5. They were a handful, believe me

We paid our dues and put in our time, sweat and tears.

But we now have two happy, attractive, independent and strong young women to show for our efforts.

[smirkymonkey]

4. Wow, what a great gift! What wonderful daughters you must have!

That is really special! I hope you and your wife have a wonderful time! Don't forget to send pictures!

[DFW]

6. I'll charge up the digital camera!

I haven't been to Dubrovnik in over 40 years, and my wife has never been at all.

Looking forward to it!

*and yes, our daughters are kinda special

[BlueMTexpat]

10. Congratulations!

You have obviously been great parents! Enjoy your holiday!

[Maven]

11. Happy belated bday and what a great gift!

Take that time off and don't regret it for a second, either. Enjoy yourself. Post pictures!

[DFW]

48. Look for them when we get back! n/t

[longship]

12. Absolutely cool!

Eastern Europe would be on the top of my list.
I have heard wonderful things about Croatia. At the top of my list would be Prague, though. And yes, there would be lots of Mozart involved.

Have a nice trip!

[OregonBlue]

13. What amazing children you have. You must be very, very, proud. And Croatia, how cool is that.

[DFW]

41. There were plenty of hair-tearing incidents along the way, but, yes, we're very happy

They make us very proud indeed.

[DFW]

32. We've been to Prague twice already

It's only an hour and 10 minutes by air from here, and there are a couple of direct flights per day.

Neither if us has been to Croatia since 1982, and my wife has never seen Dubrovnik.

[OregonBlue]

81. So wonderful. My mother's family is all from Moravia and they have all visited but

few of my generation have. None of us was raised to speak Czech. Now I would give my eye teeth to be able to speak it. My mother could understand most of the Slavic languages. Not speak them well but understand them enough to get around. I am so jealous and again, what wonderful children!!!!

[DFW]

82. Well, most parents think their children are wonderful, and we're no exception:

Whether they're playing Bavarians at Oktoberfest here in Germany, where they grew up:
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

Or being good old "Murkin" women at New Year's:
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

We can only look back and say, "we could have done a lot worse."

[More_Cowbell]

14. Beautiful country

My brother in law, who used to travel a lot for work, said that Croatia was his favorite place. Gorgeous country and the people he worked with were so hospitable and wanted to soak up all the knowledge he could give them. You'll have a great time.

[DFW]

57. My first look at that area made me a fan for life

It was 1973, I was still in college, and a classmate told me she and her family were going to be in a place called Petrovac na Moru in July. I had no idea how to get there, and was on my student budget of about $15 a day. I had been playing with my college balalaika orchestra for a few years and there was a small group that also got together to play Balkan music, which just mesmerized me with its melodic mix of Turkish and western influences.

I just grabbed a map and saw the easiest way to get there was to go by train down to Bari in southeastern Italy and get a ferry across to Bar in Yugoslavia. This part was in Crna Gora, which translates out to "Montenegro" in Italian, or "Black Mountain" in English. I was harassed by a gang of Italian kids in Bari trying to swipe what little money I had on me, and when I finally found the port and the boat going across to Yugoslavia, I stayed there for hours in the hot sun rather than fight off the Junior Thieves of Cantabria convention.

I couldn't afford a cabin, so I sat up on a hard floor all night with a bunch of friendly Albanians who were blown away that an American tourist actually knew the word "Sqiptar" ("Albanian" in Albanian). They spoke some Italian, and we communicated that way. The next morning, we landed at Bar, and I had no idea how to proceed from there. I got off the boat, and stared at the towering Balkans above me. There was this fabulous Balkan folk music blaring from a loudspeaker maybe two hundred meters from the boat landing, so I went up there. It turned out to be a hut which was the bus depot. Never having even heard Serbo-Croatian before except in unintelligible folk song recordings, I asked in Russian if I could buy a ticket to Petrova na Moru. They understood, smiled and sold me a ticket, and told me when the bus was leaving. Numbers in Serbo-Croatian are similar enough to Russian that I had no trouble understanding them. There was a bored cop sitting with a cup of hot something, which I was not too subtly staring at (having had no breakfast). He lifted the cup and and asked if I wanted "čai," which, thankfully, is the same word in Russian. I said "da," which he understood. He directed me to the ticket office, which also sold snacks, and I shelled out a few dinars, which I had thought to buy in advance, for a cup of tea.

So, here I was, for the first time in this new country, sitting with this glorious view of the mountains on one side and the sea on the other, listening to this wonderful folk music I had only heard second hand in college, waiting for a bus to take me over a spectacular mountain coastal route to Petrovac na Moru. In about five minutes, I was thinking to myself, I could REALLY learn to like this place. If you had told me that less then 20 years later, they would be slaughtering each other like crazed barbarians, I would have called you out of your fucking mind, because who would want to start a fight living in a wonderful place like this?

[The Wielding Truth]

68. You are a lucky guy. Are you a pro writer? You should write more about your life

It reads like a novel. Happy birthday and best of lucky on your amazing vaca.

[DFW]

71. Actually, I do write some

I have written for The Nation, and even done a novel. In case you're curious: https://www.amazon.com/Time-Cellar-Marc-Emory/dp/159967971X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493754820&sr=1-1&keywords=the+time+cellar

I got some nice reviews, but the funniest one was when some pro literary critic said something like "the author's passion for fine vintage wine shows through on every page." THAT took the cake. I can't STAND the taste of wine, and never touch the stuff. Obviously, I know nothing whatsoever about vintage wine, either. I looked stuff up and tried to imitate what I thought a serious wine lover would think like. The most fun part was writing the dialog of a 21st century wine nerd and physics wannabe who accidentally pokes a hole in the space-time continuum and finds himself chatting with a retired Thomas Jefferson in the year 1818. I drew my knowledge of Jefferson from a variety of sources, one of which was a book by Thom Hartmann, for which I duly gave credit at the end of the book. He returned the favor and talked for over two minutes on his program about my book (!!!).

[mahina]

69. Wish I could rec this post for the greatest. Thank you for it, and congratulations!

Happy birthday to both of you, and congrats on the generous loving kids.

[More_Cowbell]

72. What an adventure!

And yes, its people have suffered through a lot over the years.

[sab390]

16. I got a wallet

And had to hint I needed one.

[WinkyDink]

17. If you are a fan of "Game of Thrones": Dubrovnik is

Last edited Tue May 2, 2017, 12:25 PM - Edit history (1)

where Cersei had her Walk of Shame.

[DFW]

33. Never seen it

But if the city hasn't changed too much in the last 40 years, I can imagine it is the perfect setting for that kind of filming.

[onecaliberal]

18. YES, take the time.

husband and I were to take a trip to Paris, this spring. On November 30th he had a massive stroke. I'm lucky that he is still here with me, but we won't be taking that trip. He's only 57.

[DFW]

34. That is a cruel twist of fate.

I'm in Paris nearly once a week for work, so it's more like an office to me than a vacation destination, but I have no work connection to Croatia, so I never get down there in the course of my job.

[onecaliberal]

37. Make some wonderful memories and enjoy!

[panader0]

19. Very cool DFW. Kids will make your eyes well up.

Please share your photos with us upon your return. Have a blast and
congrats on such wonderful daughters.
Oh yeah, along with the photos I would like some background history
of Dubrovnik, I love learning.

[DFW]

35. Look up "Ragusa" and you'll be on your way! (see edit)

Last edited Tue May 2, 2017, 04:22 AM - Edit history (1)

*edit

I forgot that there is stlill a town in Sicily today called Ragusa.

The Ragusa I meant was the Republic of Ragusa (today's Dubrovnk) that lasted for 550 years starting in the year 1358.

[GoneOffShore]

20. An excellent birthday present. Enjoy!

And Happy Birthday!

[Chimichurri]

21. Liberal family values at its finest.

[DFW]

49. We definitely put two young Democrats into the world

Last edited Tue May 2, 2017, 09:42 AM - Edit history (1)

The elder one lives in New York City. After Hurricane Sandy, she volunteered to help clean out flooded houses around the New York area. It was cold and wet, and she didn't really have the time to spare, but she did it anyway. She works for a struggling U.S. clothing chain, says it's a challenge, and she's always up for a challenge.

The younger one went to Law School in the USA. During summer breaks, law school students are expected to clerk for judges or intern with law firms, or something like that. Instead, for her first summer break, she joined the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in Sierra Leone (!!!). She nearly died from some infection she picked up in Senegal, somehow beat it off, returned alive, and went on to have a fairly spectacular career (so far!) in the Frankfurt arm of a NY law firm, became their youngest partner ever at age 31 this year!

No Republican "taker states" mentality there!

[mnhtnbb]

22. What a wonderful surprise!

Enjoy it. Never been to Dubrovnik. Just back from two weeks in France, though, and although it was stressful due
to some medical issues with my husband, I'm glad we did it because I'm not sure there will be another trip like it. (He's 74 and I'm
66 and travel has become a lot more challenging.)

Yes, take the time off!

[DFW]

42. I hope the medical issues didn't spoil it for you!

I run down to France about three times a month, thought I rarely get outside of Paris any more these days. Usually just down in the morning and back home in the evening. The countryside has some wonderful diversity. I hope you got to see some of it.

[mnhtnbb]

56. We traveled by train from Paris to Strasbourg to Lyon to Bordeaux

and back to Paris.

We had tour guides to follow the wine route in Alsace and to explore the Medoc and Saint Emilion/Pomerol regions of Bordeaux.
These were all areas we didn't get to when we honeymooned in France almost 32 years ago and had a car to drive around the country for
a month. Our other trips to France over the years have mostly been just to Paris, with an occasional stop in Aix en Provence to visit friends.

[DFW]

58. The first place I ever saw in Europe was Aix-en-Provence

Some old girlfriend of my mom's was running some program for 16 year olds to spend a month with a family there, and so I went. Many nice memories of the Cours Mirabeau!

[iluvtennis]

23. Nice...congratulations and glad you will take time off to honor what ur kids did

[ornotna]

24. The DFW girls are awesome

Other than that, hope you guys have a great time.

[DFW]

46. The whole story was posted a month ago:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1018940906

[ornotna]

78. That was great.

You are a blessed man. Thanks for the wonderful glimpse into your story.

[DFW]

79. There are a lot of blanks I didn't fill in

But like you said, it was glimpse, and that was all that was intended.

[Yavin4]

25. Sounds like the plot for "Taken 4"

Liam, is that you?

[DFW]

47. Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone! n/t

[ancianita]

26. Dubrovnik! Fucking awesome! Ain't no "overboard" about it! Your kids love you! Love them back!

They've proven they KNOW what parents do!

Be gracious. This is THE big "We Love You."

It's great, isn't it.

[DFW]

43. We do!

We know we have raised some special girls. This is just one more confirmation of that.

[NBachers]

27. You'll be there at the perfect time - When I think of Dubrovnik, I think of hearty food.

Like others here, I'd love to see some pictures when you are able.

Happy Birthday!

[DFW]

50. We'll take them!

And I'll post them!

[joeybee12]

28. I want to adopt your kids

Enjoy!

[DFW]

44. I don't THINK that works

But we'll remember that if we ever get tired of them (don't hold your breath).

[Hekate]

29. Many warm smiles to the whole family from out here in SoCal looking at the Pacific...

BonVoyage

[DFW]

45. I grew up looking out on water, too

It was just a small lake in Virginia, but I always wanted to be near water ever since. That's why we go to Cape Cod every summer.

[Freedomofspeech]

30. Wonderful...Enjoy...

My friend was just there and loved it.

[DFW]

51. I haven't been there since 1974

But I hear it's still a special place.

[LittleGirl]

36. Happy Birthdays! DFW and wife

Have fun in Croatia. That was where I was told to go for a beach holiday! Cool. I hope it's nice and warm in 3 weeks! We were in Rimini Italy on the first week of May last year but it was still chilly. Sunny but chilly!

cheers!

[DFW]

39. We were there for a beach holiday 35 years ago

It was on a tiny island called Ilovik, south of Mali Lošinj. This time it will be more to see the city and surroundings. For our beach holidays these days, we make the 4500 mile trek to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

[LittleGirl]

65. ahhh

Cape Cod is another lovely place to have a beach holiday!

[politicat]

38. If you read fiction at all...

There's a book out last year about a one step from this world fictional medieval Dubrovnik -- Children of Earth and Sky, by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's a really good plane read, if that's your thing.

Dubrovnik was at least as important as Venice for the creation of the modern world, being the place where the Mongols, Western Europe, the Rus, the Mediterranean financial interests and the Arabic world all met and managed, somehow, to coexist. That as much of it survives as does is a serious miracle.

Have fun!

[DFW]

40. Thanks for the tip. I both read and write fiction!

Part of my first novel was historical fiction, though blended with some twists not usually associated with the genre.

I'll look for that book!

[spooky3]

52. Have a great time!

[DFW]

53. Thanks! We intend to! n/t

[AllaN01Bear]

54. dont argue , just go and enjoy yourself.

[DFW]

55. Argue? We learned a long time ago not to bother

Last edited Tue May 2, 2017, 09:44 AM - Edit history (1)

The younger one was the highest paid working attorney in her field in Europe before she was made partner (at age 31!). Others got the deals, but she was the one who did the nuts and bolts work. Her firm occasionally sends recent Harvard and Yale Law grads to their Frankfurt office, and they often leave her office in tears because she chews them out for imprecise work and faulty German. She has no patience for snotty kids coming over, waving their Harvard diplomas in her face, expecting her to bow down in reverence. She is extremely thorough, and arguing with her is usually futile.

She is not someone with whom one starts an argument lightly. We're going!

[pablo_marmol]

59. Be sure to take the MJQ's 'Three Windows' with you:

[DFW]

60. But I haven't spent a night in Tunesia yet n/t

[pablo_marmol]

80. !!

[IronLionZion]

61. I've heard Croatia is a wonderful place to visit

I'm so jealous.

That's an excellent birthday gift. Have fun!

[steve2470]

62. Very happy for you!!!!

You have awesome daughters, and you deserve every bit of this, my friend!

[forgotmylogin]

63. I had never heard of that location, but WOW.

The search also said it was a film location for Game of Thrones.

I hope you have the greatest vacation ever!

[DFW]

73. I've been before, but my wife never has

She came with me to a small Croatian island called Ilovik in 1982. I had been there in 1974 with my brother. A friend from France had recommended it to me as a secret tip.

It was a big secret, alright. When my brother and I got off the boat from Mali Lošinj (which only stopped there every 2 days), there was...NOTHING. No hotel, no hostel, just a couple of houses in a small village. We just said NOW what have we done to ourselves? a small girl, maybe ten years old, came up to us and asked in a perfect Noo Joisy accent, "oh, you guys are Americans?" Totally flabbergasted, we said yes we were. It turned out hale the inhabitants of the islane had emigrated to New Jersey decades ago, and sent their kids to Croatia every summer to not lose the culture. Of course, a 10 year old kid from New Jersey was bored out of her freakin' mind stuck there for ten weeks, but those kids DID all speak fluent Croatian. She said, you guys will need a place to stay, follow me. So we did. There was one woman who was in charge of placing tourists, and all the families on the island took in boarders on a daily basis foe extra money. The woman of the house we were to stay in came up to take us to her family's house. Speaking no Croatian, I asked if she spoke Russian. Nyet. Italian? No. French? No luck. German? "Natürlich, ich komme aus Stuttgart." As a young girl, she had landed there as an art student looking to paint some idyllic scenes, and married one of the men from the island.

Fast forward to 1982. I had told my wife about the island, and she though it sounded like a cool place to visit. We once again took the arduous route--overnight train to Rijeka, ferry across to Cres, bus down to Mail Lošinj. Now things got complicated. Not a room to be had on the whole island and no public transport to anywhere. One tourist worker asked what our problem was, and I said we were trying to get to Ilovik. He said he knew someone who would take us. It was a small boat with a nasty looking old man and his nastier looking wife, but we had no choice. We agreed on a price, and off we sailed, so to speak, toward the Island of Ilovik.

About 100 meters from the shore, the old man wanted to be paid, so I paid him the agreed-upon sum. He then said that was for me, and my wife had to pay again. I was furious, but my wife was pregnant with out first child, and we had been on the road for 2 days. What could I do? I paid (after seriously contemplating tossing the guy and wife overboard--which, I found out afterward, would have made me a local hero, as we were far from being his first victims). It was about 8 PM, and we got off the boat with our stuff and asked about a room. "Did you reserve?" I said no, since when were we supposed to reserve? Oh, since about 3 years ago. Oh crap.

So here we are late at night on an island with no rooms and no transport to anywhere for 2 days. My wife is at the end of her strength, and says she'll sleep on the grass if she has to. The village political commissar, a sort of part-time sheriff, was summoned. Before Tito had broken with Stalin, he had gone to Russia for some political training and spoke some Russian, so I could communicate with him. A nice old guy, he was more like the Rabbi in Fiddler On The Roof than a cop. He said there might be a solution, and we should follow him. We grabbed our stuff and did. In a part of the village I didn't recall seeing 8 years before, was a small square. It was where the over-80 crowd, who didn't take in boarders any more, gathered to gossip every evening. They were all there on their benches gabbing away. The sheriff explained our plight, and asked if one of them might not make an exception and once again take in this young married couple. All but one couple said no. One couple said they might have considered it, but we had no way to communicate. They had never been to America, and spoke no English or German, and we spoke neither Croatian nor Italian. I said, hold on there! Italian? No problem. Per forzo! Possiamo parlare italiano senz'altro! This far up, Croatia had been part of Italy before World War One, and these people all spoke Italian as kids. So they said OK, and our vacation was saved. We met a German journalist there who later became station chief in Moscow for West German News Radio. We remain best of friends to this day.

We anticipate somewhat smoother travels and far more fancy accommodations this trip, needless to say!!

[lillypaddle]

64. Wow, what a great gift

Mom & Dad did something right with those kids. Go & have fun, take pics for us here on DU, please.

[DFW]

74. There WILL be pics!

Don't doubt it!

[onetexan]

66. congrats!!

The time off to celebrate your BDs are a wonderful way to have quality down time with your spouse and decompress. You have great kids. I hope mine will be just as thoughtful!

[DFW]

75. I'm sure they will be

We don't have a monopoly on great kids--just the best there ever were

[niyad]

67. you and your whole family are the best, DFW. we look forward to lots of pics from

that lovely trip.

and, of course you are taking the time off!!

an early happy birthday to your lovely lady, and kudos to your amazing daughters.

[DFW]

76. Thanks, Niyad!

Pics promised!!

[robertpaulsen]

70. Congratulations!

Travel is always good for the spirit. Your daughters are very considerate. I hope you and your wife have a wonderful time. I'd really love to see some pictures when you come back!

[DFW]

77. We will take pictures, and I will post some

If travel is good for the spirit, then my spirit should be on great shape. I am in a different country almost every day for work. Yesterday I was in Hannover. Today I was in Brussels. Tomorrow: Barcelona, Thursday: Paris, Friday in Frankfurt. One of THOSE jobs, as a border guard once commented. The four days in a row in Croatia will be something of a marathon of immobility for me.

[shenmue]

83. Cool