Sunset over the Adriatic is sublime. 

Sunday's News-Herald Travel section will include the last of my Croatia stories, written from my September experiences aboard the Romanca and on a few of Croatia's islands in the Adriatic . I shared that voyage aboard the 100-foot sailing ship with 12 others, some of whom you've likely seen in the videos and photos that have accompanied my blogs here and stories that appeared in earlier travel sections.

  The ship was chartered and the experiences organized by ROW Adventures, an Idaho company founded and run by Peter Grubb who helped escort us. You will meet him and some of the others in a separate story that runs on Sunday.  That was written because I always wonder what kinds of people take  trips like these and guessed that readers might wonder the same.  My shipmates  were a curious, outgoing, educated and well traveled bunch of people who helped to make the voyage very special. We laughed, played charades, talked food, exchanged stories, shared recipes and wine preferences, and even commiserated over sore muscles after especially challenging hikes. Only one of our number was of Croatian heritage, a fact which surprised me.

If you've been reading my stories, you know that I was amazed again and again over the treasures of Croatia - from its beauty and history to its food, people, wines and sea life. It was indeed a trip of a lifetime.

Dinner is served

A courtyard inside Diocletian's Palace in Split leads to a private home.

An old woman follows an ancient stone wall to her garden.