Blogs from Plitvice Lakes National Park, Central Croatia, Croatia, Europe - page 8

Here´s the scene: it´s 6:27 AM in Hvar and Dave and I are sprinting down the steep quarter-mile hill with all our belongings (including our left over groceries) in hand, attempting to catch the 6:30 AM ferry to Split. Dave is carrying both our big packs, one in the front and one in the back, as he insisted on being a gentlemen and sparing my back the extra stress as it had been out for a few days. So Dave is running with these two mamouth-size backpacks and I am trailing a few meters behind with the remainder of our items. A few things that should be noted about the situation: we are both in the same outfits we wore out the night before (although I switched out heels for flip flops), I have make-up running ... read more

We missed the new highway to Zagreb and traveled on the A1, which was the old route. It took us through some gorgeous valleys and past the Purecko lakes, which the road follows for over 20 km and where we stopped for a quick morning tea. The weather was so calm that the lakes were like mirrors and the mountains were reflected in the surface of the lakes as we drove along. The valleys were sprinkled with small villages half hidden in the green of the trees; all red roofed, three story high Croatian houses with a Swiss/Austrian touch, and their window boxes were overflowing with red, orange and purple flowers. Their roofs had that Swiss/Austrian/mountain-German tilt on the gables. Once through the main towns, there seemed to be thousands of hectares of trees. When ... read more

Croatia's reputation as a summer playground may be growing, but it is also a fine destination out of season, when you can visit its wonderful attractions in splendid isolation. Wandering around the sleepy hilltop towns of Istria or the beautiful Diocletian's Palace in Split can be much more rewarding away from the push and shove of the tourist crowds. Dubrovnik in November was warm and pleasantly sunny, while it was peaceful too. No jostling for position on the city walls, no waiting for a table outside the cafes in the old town. So the days may be shorter and you'd be well advised to take a coat but you'll have time to soak up the views of the Adriatic and space to admire the Venetian architecture. The highlight of an out-of-season trip to Croatia has to ... read more

Land of Beaches, Mountains and Tourists…Nope, It’s Not California Driving through most of Croatia, especially the Dalmatian Coast (yup, that’s right, this is where Dalmatians come from), you get the feeling that you are driving through a weird mixture of Italy and southern California. From tall craggy mountains lined with evergreens to cliff side villages filled with sunshine, you feel like you may turn the corner and see tall blond people drinking coffee at a nearby Starbucks. It just feels like California with a few differences. Much more like Italy, the major form of construction is bougainvillea houses with gleaming red tile roofs. Other than the still-being-built major highways, most of the roads throughout the country are windy two lane deals that vary in speed limit every 5 kilometers or so. People are much more ... read more

July 26, 2007 “Even that Little Kid is Doing Better than You” by Will After our getaway from Budapest we chose to take on a long drive through Hungary to the middle Croatia to Plitvice Lakes National Park. This destination was on our list to visit but it was some distance from Budapest. We just decided to go for it and take on the 7 hour drive and do it in one day. As it turned out Croatia has done wonders with their roads since the end of their war with Serbia 10+ years ago. They had a beautiful new toll road that essentially started from the border with Hungary to within 60 km of the park. We were zipping along…not as fast as all the BMW’s with German plates. They too were headed to Croatia ... read more