Croatia

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October 15th 2007

Published: November 30th 2007

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DnA

Going to Beli

We spent 23 relaxing days in Croatia. First stop, the tiny village of Beli on the island of Cres. The perfect escape from civilization. Croatia had just entered the "off season", but it was totally on for us! We stayed in the idyllic Tramontana Pension, where our two lovely hostesses, Nina and Anna, served us nightly meals and served us cold beer. Our only choices were "meats, fich, or squids", all fresh and local...the way we should all eat! We were the only ones staying in the pension, so Dave was able to beat his tabla to his heart's content. We rented out the only apartment, which was great as it had a kitchen. We gathered groceries in the nearby Cres Town, and we were set. The best thing about Beli were the abundant hiking trails that criss-cross the northern part of the island. Each day, we were able to choose a new hiking trail that took us through mossy woods, boulder-strewn meadows, and the occasional labrynth. The people at the Beli Nature Center have done an outstanding job in marking and maintaining the trails. You could pick and choose a hike anywhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours. We ran

Adriatic Sea

into more goats than people in both the town and the trails. We did have one scary moment on a trail marked "difficult" , which should have been labeled "death trap", but with Dave's calm and easy manner, we managed to scale a few hairy cliffs.

From Beli, we headed south and stopped at the Krka National Park with was beautiful. Mossy, flourescent green with wonderful waterfalls and easy trails.

Next stop, Dubrovnik, for another 10 days of doing whatever we pleased. Dubrovnik is a great place to just sit back and relax. The Old Town, surrounded by a wall, is shiny and white with beautiful marble tiles paving the maze-like streets. The Adriatic is never far from your 360 degree view, which gives the air a light and salty taste. We took a ferry over to Lokrum island one day for a great hike. We sunned at the nude beach, and marveled at the peacocks that inhabit the island. My only wish was that it would have been a tad bit warmer so we could have bathed in the briliant blue water. Croatian accomodations are really cool in that most budget options are at peoples houses, which

Beli from afar

really allows you to get to know the people. We had the priviledge of staying at our lovely Croatian Mom Kate's upstairs' apartment. We had three bedrooms, a porch with an ocean view, fully equipt kitchen, and washer and dryer all to ourselves...virtually unthinkable on a budget in Europe...but the reality in Croatian off season.

All in all, we loved Croatia. The landscape's beauty speaks for itself, however, the country's charm brought through by it's warm and friendly people, is what made it a memorable experience.

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