Life & blog update: November 2024….was a much better month than October. Actually, it was a great month. I finally had some free weekends and a short holiday. We had a couple of fun days out and I got to rest and rewind and catch up with all of my duties and obligations. I even managed to watch a couple of Christmas movies.

We went hiking to the top of Učka mountain. There is a hiking path through the forest but it is mostly narrow and goes upwards and the terrain is very rocky. There are some wide and pleasant parts but most of the path was a bit demanding for our kids. However, we made it to the top! I was so proud of them. The views of Rijeka bay from Vojak fortress at the top of Učka mountains are breathtaking. You can see entire Rijeka town and the islands Krk and Cres.

My son celebrated his 7 ^th birthday in November. As usually we had several birthday parties. At home, at play room with his new school friends and we had our traditional birthday dinner at McDonald’s. He’s doing well at school. He enjoyed all of his birthday parties and birthday gifts. He’s into Pokemon cards now.

Kids went to several other birthday parties this month and we finally managed to have a couple of board game nights and see some friends too.

Another fun day out was a half day trip to Stara Sušica (pictured above). There is an interesting castle but it’s not opened to public. Kids in Croatia often go there on school trips. The main reason of our visit was to check out the new museum across the castle. It is a Large Carnivores Visitor Center which focuses on three big beasts that live in Croatia: a wolf, a bear and a lynx. The museum is small and very kid friendly. It’s got a lot of interactive elements and things that you can not only touch but also listen to and smell. This visitor center is a part of a larger conservationist project. When we finally finished with our visit to the museum, we took a walk around and found a new kids’ park at the base of a short, newly opened walking path dedicated to Frankopan’s noble family who owned Stara Sušica castle.

At the end of the month we went to this year’s first Christmas market. We went to Fužine. We’ve been several times there but never for a Christmas market. It was a windy and cold day and we came too early. There were hardly any people there. We had some mulled wine and hot chocolate and fritule (traditional Croatian sweet pastry). We walked to the nearby park with some Christmas decorations and hopped on the tourist train for a short ride. Overall, it was good to be out in the fresh air but our experience would have been much better if we came in the afternoon when the lights go on and when there’s music and more activities for the kids.

What else happened in November? I introduced to you my husband’s first published game Choconnect. It is a short, fun board game for all gamers and chocoholics. You can purchase it online at Philibert’s site here if you need an excellent Christmas gift or if you want to support a small business. I hope you’ll like it!

Blog wise, in November my yearly blog stats toppled down those from 2017 which was my most successful year so far. I didn’t suddenly produce any brilliant posts since all the extra views/visitors came from my old blog posts. That’s one of the perks of blogging for over 9 years! I guess a lot of blogs don’t exist anymore and my blog posts get ranked higher in search engines. So, my best yearly blog stats so far have nothing to do with me. It’s good I’m not taking it personally. Anyway, it is kind of nice that now 2024 will be my best year in terms of number of views.

All in all, November was a fun month with three days out, my son’s birthday and my short holiday at home. How was your November? What are your plans for December? We’re going on a family trip abroad! You’ll find out where if you follow my Instagram account. Also, feel free to join my Advent photo challenge on Instagram. Just share any festive photo, old or new and tag me and use #adventphotochallenge.

Published posts in November

Happy December!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

xoxox

Tanja