Every evening, as the light softened and the day slowly gave way to night, people in Zadar, Croatia, gathered at the end of the promenade to watch the sun go down, accompanied by the haunting songs of the famous Sea Organ and the glowing light show of the Greeting to the Sun installation. They take their gorgeous sunsets seriously in Zadar, and that alone makes the town worth visiting.

Dubrovnik, Croatia is undeniably beautiful. Nearly every blog post or review about it is glowing, and it is easy to understand why. Its setting on the Adriatic is stunning, the old stone streets are striking, and the famous city walls are among the most intact and impressive in Europe, perhaps even the world. Walking those walls and looking out over the sea and the terracotta rooftops was a memorable experience. And yet . . .

In early April, Carla and I had planned to spend three weeks in Turkey, with time in Istanbul, Cappadocia, and the coastal town of Alaçatı. It was one of the parts of this journey we were most excited about. Turkey offers so much history, culture, and beauty, and we were eager to experience more of it.   But over the past several days, we made the difficult decision to cancel that part of our trip. The reason is the war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran.