Blogs from Central Croatia, Croatia, Europe - page 5

Leaving Sibernik yesterday morning, we headed for Plitvice Lakes National Park, which is one of the oldest national parks in Southeast Europe and the largest national park in Croatia. In 1979, Plitvice Lakes National Park was added to the UNESCO World Heritage register. The national park was founded in 1949 and is situated in the mountainous karst area of central Croatia, at the border to Bosnia and Herzgovina. The protected area extends over 296.85 square kilometres (73,350 acres). Each year, more than 1 million visitors are recorded. The national park is world-famous for its lakes arranged in cascades. Currently, 16 lakes can be seen from the surface. The lakes collectively cover an area of about two square kilometres (0.77 square miles), with the water exiting from the lowest lake forming the Korana River. We arrived at ... read more

My grand plan was to get to northern Italy by the second Saturday in June to be available to start another month of summer camp like I’d done the summer before. This meant I had about 5 days after leaving Manchester to do a bit of traveling. When I was planning, I decided I’d like to spend time in Slovenia, because I’d only driven through a sliver of it the summer before. It was also conveniently pretty close to where one of my favorite Italian host families lived in Friuli, so it would give me the option to meet them again. The way the flights worked out best was to fly from Manchester to Zagreb, so I had a chance to visit the small capital of Croatia that I’d last visited 9 years earlier with high ... read more

About a day before I leave wherever I am, I’ve started booking my hostel for the next place. At the start of this trip I was looking for clean rooms, social areas, close to the town, etc etc, but my booking criteria has changed completely. It is now this: Air Conditioning! It doesn’t really matter what else is at the hostel after that. Hostelworld reviews say - “There were rats in the kitchen!!”……. My thoughts… “Did someone say free breakfast?!” So I booked by hostel (with air conditioned room) at my next destination, which is Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. I took the 7 ½ hour train journey from Budapest, which had little air conditioning and no drinking water – even to buy - and arrived at my hostel a sweaty yet dehydrated mess. Incidentally, this ... read more

The train from Split to Zagreb was comfortable but had no dinning car like the Orient express so we feasted on half a roasted chicken and fruit bought from the market in Split. Zagreb is a quiet and peaceful capital to wind down in after our trip. After a fabulous roasted lamb dinner we sat on the grass in the park and listened to an open air concert, one of the Zagreb Classics series. Yesterday, We spent a pleasant hour in the botanical gardens and was fascinated by the huge water lillies. See if you can spot the frog.... read more

Started out foggy but soon cleared to a 30 degree sunny day. Drove back to Plitvice Lakes and did the top Lakes section again but in reverse which also included some new tracks and waterfalls. Had a better time yesterday as there were hardly any other people and we could take our time. After that we drove to a nearby water hole on the river that exits the Lakes. Branco our Air B&B host had suggested this place as a good swimming hole. What a place. Just stunning. Water was about 20 degrees but so refreshing. Had lunch there too. Back to local restaurant for dinner in the evening. ... read more