Blogs from Croatia, Europe - page 14

The train travels SW from Vienna and is on one of the oldest railway tracks. It also has a dining car complete with white linen tablecloths. A first for us. The views are similar to a fairytale book, displaying castles and historical homes tucked into the lush hillsides. The train rises up towards the southern end of the Dolomite mountains. We envision what people were seeing when they travelled this route on the Orient Express. We are not quite sure what to think entering the city of Zagreb, CROATIA. It is the absolute opposite of Vienna’s sparkle and sophistication. The following morning, the coffee house cashier informs us that we need to pay in cash, and they accept no credit cards or euro’s. That leaves us without the ability to pay. But they say no problem, ... read more

"If you could show the cabbage that I planted with my own hands to your emperor, he definitely wouldn't dare suggest that I replace the peace and happiness of this place with the storms of a never-satisfied greed." A quote from Diocletian, stated when he was begged to return to the throne. (Aurelius Victor, Epitome de Caesaribus39.6) Diocletian was born around 244 to a poor family in what is now Croatia, and worked his way up the ranks in the Roman army. He became Emperor in 285, after defeating a rival in battle. His reign unified the Empire, and he eventually decided to appoint three other rulers, dividing responsibility for the empire among them. This arrangement is called the tetrarchy, from a url=https://en.wikipedia.or... read more

We had decided to spend a long time in Split (10 days) so we could visit islands with day trips, rather than haul luggage and pack and unpack several times. This decision has worked out well! We are in an inexpensive, but newly renovated apartment very close to the beach and the beach restaurants, and a 10 minute walk to the ferries. Our first Island trip was to Hvar, and specifically Hvar town, an island and town popular with the jet set. Unfortunately, it is now popular with the older cruise set, and the town is much too small to comfortably handle even one ship, along with all the boats and ferries from the mainland. Hvar town boasts the oldest indoor theater in the world, but we couldn't visit it. There was an interesting model ship ... read more

In the 1960s, films were made of the German author Karl May's "western" novels, featuring the characters of Old Shatterhand and Winnetou, a Native chief. They were filmed in Croatia, which was thought to look like the American West! From the clips, it seems that May was sympathetic to the Native cause. Much of the filming was done in the Plivice National Park, our destination on Thursday. Here's a clip if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yTfdy9TKt8 The park was founded in 1949. It was fought over during the war, and landmines are still thought to be found in remote locations in the park. Much of the infrastructure was destroyed in the war, and this gave the area time to recover from over use. "The national park is world-famous for its lakes arranged in cascades. Sixteen lakes can be ... read more

With Kevin’s 60th birthday looming I decided that to mark the occasion we needed an adventure. I started scheming and decided to book a cycle trip as this is one of his favourite ways to see new places. We had briefly visited Montenegro a few years ago while on a cruise with Steve and Cindy and loved it and said at the time it would be a great place to explore more one day. I was able to get time off for Kevin and keep the whole trip a surprise until a few days before we left. The cycle trip was 7 days and would include Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro. We ended up crossing the various boarders several times gaining many new stamps in our passports. After a flight delay we were picked up at the ... read more