Blogs from Central Croatia, Croatia, Europe

Dear All Greetings from another entry on this amazing little adventure I've had travelling through Croatia. I was initially planning to write this one up on my time in the Plitvice Lakes together with my write-up later on Zagreb, but I loved this place so much that I felt it deserved its own little entry. I can certainly see why Croatia is the most visited of the former Yugoslavian countries, it certainly packs in some stunners in its small, and rather unusually formed, area. And I wasn't even planning to touch upon the Croatian hinterland east of Zagreb called Slavonia this time. It is certainly true what they say, that the more you travel, the more you want to see. I'd been excited during this trip about the prospect of visiting Bosnia nextdoor on another trip. ... read more

I was greeted at the airport in Zagreb by my friend Andrea. Andrea usually spends a couple of weeks in Croatia in June every year. We stopped by her apartment in Zagreb to drop off my luggage and headed into downtown Zagreb. Trg Bana Josipa Jelacica The first stop was Ban Jelačić Square, the central square of the city of Zagreb, Croatia, named after Ban Josip Jelačić. The square has a statue of Ban Josip Jelacic, a Croatian lieutenant field marshal known for his military campaigns during the Revolutions of 1848 and for his abolitions of serfdom in Croatia. The square is also a place that Drea’s family visited a lot where her parent would sit down and people-watch. Her brother also got drunk one time and swam in the fountain in the square with his ... read more

We're a little behind with this post, and Maggie has yet to send us the photos to accompany it, but we wanted to get the Croatia port experience recorded as the MV World Odyssey arrived in Malta today already. (Bonus: Thanks to Maggie's Uncle Brian, you can track the ship's travels on the website www.cruisin.meif you'd like to follow their route!) Maggie spent a few days last week in Croatia, putting into port in Dubrovnik. After her experience in Cyprus, she was bound and determined to make the most of her time by getting out into the country. Soooooo....she decided to take a road trip! She arranged to rent a car in Dubrovnik to drive 5 hours to the Plitvice Lakes National Park in central Croatia. It would be a long driving day (10 hours round ... read more

May & November First heygo tour was in May a beautiful day of blue skies and wonderful colours of the lakes, second time in November - A wonderful relaxing walk with Andrea around Plitvice Lakes National Park, set around a collection of 16 lakes which are all interconnected and cascade into each other, from the highest point at 636 mts to 503 mts, and grouped together in two sets: 12 Upper Lakes and 4 Lower Lakes. The name Plitvice means shallow basin, as the waters create these hollows in the limestone, although the depth varies from 1 to 47 m. Plitvice Lakes National Park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. The autumnal colours of the trees was wonderful giving amazing reflections in the crystal clear waters. Hoping to return with Andrea in the winter ... read more

Croatia's North East is comprised of 3 administrative subdivisions (zupanije or counties, in Thailand provinces), Zagorje, Varazdin and Medimurje. In the very top bordering to the east to Hungary, to the north-west to Slovenia with about 30 kilometers of Slovenian territory separating it from Austria, lies Medimurje, Nenad county of origin, with its capital city Cakovec. Despite being the smallest Croatian county by size, it is the most densely populated one (excluding Zagreb itself). There are slopes of the Alpine foothills in the north-western part of the county, the Upper Međimurje, making it suitable for vineyards. The south-eastern part of the county, the Lower Međimurje, touches the flat Pannonian Plain, which stretch into Hungary. The flat parts of the region are also largely used for agriculture, which mostly includes fields of cereals, maize, pumpkin and potato, ... read more