JamesandStaceyW

This was our last day in Hvar, so we decided to spend some time exploring the town and started by heading up to the old fortress overlooking the town. We grabbed breakfast and checked the status on the hotel pool – staff were hard at work cleaning up after Ultra. They had already drained the pool and were halfway through pressure washing the dirt away (there was lots and lots of dirt). Once entering the town, we stopped at the top of the Arsenal, a large building with a terrace overlooking St. Stephen’s Square. It is also home to the first public theatre in Europe – in the 17th Century or so, the working class citizens got fed up with being second-class citizens to the rich merchants and Venetians. Eventually part of the compromise to appease ... read more

Since we would only be allowed to use the pool today, we decided to maximize our use of it – it was also our first day to just sit back and relax, so it worked on both fronts. We slept in, a little, and headed up for breakfast. As with the previous hotels, Amfora’s breakfast was a full buffet with an assortment of teas, “pastries” (rice cakes), fruit, cheese, meat – literally a gigantic ham ready for slicing, cereal, eggs, sausage, bacon, mini-chicken franks, breads, salads, and waffles, pancakes and bread puddings. It was quite delicious. Stacey favored the eggs and this amazing chocolate bread that was just the right balance between hearty and sweet. James favored the sour cherry bread pudding and the cantaloupe. After eating, we headed out to the pool area. We managed ... read more

Today we visited the Plitvicka Jezero, or Plitvice Lakes. Thank you Meagan Wengrove to the tickets into Plitvice and for the hotel right outside the park! This national park was the original reason we wanted to visit Croatia. It is BEAUTIFUL! We spent the entire day here, and actually hiked some parts more than once. In total, we probably hiked well over 8 miles, well worth it. There are so many waterfalls it is unbelievable! By the end we almost felt “waterfalled-out” and some of the smaller waterfalls seemed more like babbling brooks, because the others are so spectacular.Plitvice is broken up into two lakes regions – an upper set of lakes and lower set of lakes, with the National Park’s largest lake serving as the boundary between the two areas. The book James bought prior ... read more

Thursday morning started with a continental breakfast, which we figured would be light pastries. Oh how wrong we were. James said it was the biggest breakfast buffet he had seen – there was a selection of cheeses and marinated veggies, meats, yogurt, smoothies, eggs, sausages, and hot dogs (every little kids dream come true – hot dog for breakfast), local pancakes which are like crepes with jam in the middle, and American pancakes. Additionally, there was a huge selection of breads and pastries with a machine that dispenses Nutella! Or something like Nutella. Espresso drinks are a huge deal in Croatia, so there is also a machine that makes a good cappuccino. There was also champagne set out for those inclined to start their day with a mimosa. Feeling stuffed and caffeinated we set out to ... read more