Greetings from Croatia

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Hi

Some more photos, this time Croatia.

Our first stop was the Plitvice lakes national park . This is a very impressive set of limestone lakes and waterfalls and provided two days of great walking. The rain caught up with us for half a day there, not so bad as there had been flooding on the TV news every night but we never knew just where it was!

Then on to Split where we dumped the car. We had seen Split as just a "pass through" place but really quite liked it. It was Venetian for quite a while and the little alleys certainly have something of Venice about them - no canals or gondolas though.

Then we jumped onto a ferry to Brac, one of many Adriatic islands hung along this coast. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the outdoor cafes along the harbour side had to be visited ... it was really rather special. As visiting one island is clearly not enough, we are now on the island of Hvar. Guess what? The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the cafes are open ... oh, it is a tough life.

Before we left Brac, we enjoyed their October 1st party. Depending on who we asked, this marks the end of the tourist season, the beginning of the autumn school term or the October Russian Revolution,really it is just an excuse to have a party. Each year has a revolutionary leader theme - past ones have been Tito and Che. This year it was Lenin, everyone dressed accordingly. A procession was led by General Molotov to the harbour to meet the regular ferry from Split. On board was Lenin who then gave an empassioned speech making fun of Croatian and world politicians - or so we are told. As it was in Croatian, we take this on trust. As the ferry left, with its bemused passengers looking out of the windows, local dignitaries dived into the harbour and much liquour was drunk. All very fine, very strange and very good fun.

We have just a couple of day on Hvar, then on to Dubrovnik before we head into Bosnia.

Love Gill and Alistair

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