Last week I set off on a short getaway to Paris and, to my delight, I was greeting by two clients! David and Angela bought at Mill Harbour last year. I’m looking forward to connecting with them when I return to St. Croix to see how they have transformed their condo.

My travel companion is a dear friend and past client, Gail. We have very similar travel interests, which include plenty of shopping and culinary indulgences! I’m certainly enjoying taking in the incredible architecture and construction while here too.

We are staying in St. Germain des Pres on the Left Bank, which is a lovely area in Paris. We have been peeking through gates to see charming landscaped courtyards with gardens, garages, and townhome-style construction.

The shopping is unbelievable as this is the fashion capital of the world. We have seen three-story Louis Vuitton stores on every few corners of ritzy neighborhoods, including the Fondation Louis Vuitton which is a spectacular and unique art exhibit sponsored by LVMH. The building was constructed in 2014 and designed by the world famous architect Frank Gehry. It is truly spectacular!

I have been wondering throughout what the square meter price of the retail real estate is, and how it might compare to that of Fifth & Madison Avenues in NYC. That has not been my intention to be shopping for real estate this trip! You can take the Realtor away from work, but you can’t make him stop thinking about real estate in every direction he looks!

All good things must come to an end, but aren’t we lucky that the end of vacation means returning to St. Croix?! But before we made our way back to reality, there were plenty of adventures (and great meals!) to be had in Croatia and Italy.

Split is the second largest city in Croatia. Though not as picturesque as Dubrovnik, you really need more than an afternoon stroll to take it all in. While wandering around, we saw this boat that looks very similar to the St. Croix to St. Thomas ferry! Being on the shore of the Adriatic Sea, there were many more impressive yachts.

Our final cruise stop was Primosten, an islet in the south of Croatia before spending four days in Venice. In case you’re wondering what two island guys do while traveling the Mediterranean….take in the beach and as much fresh fish as possible, of course! Sea bream and dorada, plus oysters, mussels, clams and octopus, were all on the menu. I had vongole, small, sweet clams, for almost every meal in Venice!

Ciao! Yassas! Bok! Mario and I are taking advantage of the slower season on St. Croix to take a summer vacation. We are on a spectacular Mediterranean cruise and I thought I’d share a few highlights. So far we have made stops in Italy, Greece and Croatia. Given that my mind is always on real estate, it’s no surprise that I am drawn to the incredible architecture, as are many.

Lecce, Florence of the South in Italy, is rich with Baroque architecture from the 14th century. It is all done with their own sandstone called Piense Leccese, or “stone of Lecce”, which was quite interesting. The houses are still inhabited from extended families since that time. We took a tour of homes, which included lunch in one Palazzo — Mario had to hold me back from sneaking upstairs! I asked why they open their house to private tours and the owner said it was to create an income stream to help defray the expenses to maintain their house.

Dubrovnik, Croatia is one of the most enchanting cities we have ever seen. There are walls that run almost 2km (1.2 miles) around the city. The wall system is intended to protect the city; however, the Walls of Dubrovnik have also been a popular filming location for Game of Thrones. A small 1-2 bedroom flat starts at 300,000€ ($335,000 USD) in the Old Town.

One more stop in Croatia and then we’re off to Venice where we’ll spend four days. Hope you’re enjoying the start to your summer too!