Croatia from Top to Bottom.

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Zagreb 23rd - 25th June

My Croatian trip started in Zagreb, it's capital when I finally got through a passport check. Listen up everyone, I never thought I'd say this, but Passport Control in the airport is a lot less hassle than trying to enter Croatia by bus. Anyway when I finally arrived after a long and arduous journey, things started to look up. My studio flat this time was fabulous and the host even better, so friendly and helpful. It even came with a small veranda for me to enjoy sitting outside, eventually when it stopped pissing down!!! Moving swiftly on to try and find some plus points. Unfortunately this didn't come in the form of culinary delights either!! A phrase I have used previously when it seems impossible to find anything Gluten Free is G.L.B's (Gluten loving Bast....you can guess the rest!). Wait, what's that ahead of me only a SPAR Premier supermarket. I didn't realise there was such a thing! 😊 So an hour later, laden with a Pataks mild curry sauce, rice, bread, cereal, milk and some meat along with a lovely bottle of red, I was all set for a curry and film night whilst the weather continued to let me down!!!!
The following day, the weather no better first thing, I decided to take a walk to the local Cemetery as it had been recommended to me in the Tourist Information as a nice place to visit, so I thought why not? It had been doom and gloom so far, so let's continue on that note. Well it was quite moving to see the family plots going back over a century, the sculptures throughout and the grave of one of Croatia's Olympic champions. At least that's what I guessed from the sculpted medals. From there I wandered to the oldest part of town where I found a garden full of vines. It was most bizarre and nowhere near big enough for serious production but I loved the thought that somebody might go that far for personal use. The sun at this point, put in an appearance and as I sat taking in the peace and tranquility from a viewing gallery of Zagreb's 'Old Town', I started to see the Croatian beauty coming through as well as working on my tan. The sun continued to shine and with this put a spring in my step to really explore given my limited time here. First stop the Croatian Museum of Naive Art. Rather childlike in its appearance but very detailed when up close, I enjoyed this small yet different gallery. Next stop something only Zagreb has; the Museum of Broken relationships. This museum is made up of the odd mix of people around the globe donating items complete with back stories about failed relationships. For example there was an axe. This was because a guy had taken an axe to his girlfriends furniture when she was caught cheating on him. There was a snoopy toy, ecstasy pills a cork and the metal top off a champagne bottle donated by someone from Cardiff to name a few. Personally it was totally wasted on me, but I was amazed by how busy it was and is a recommended feature on TripAdvisor. My recommendation - Don't bother!!! So moving on from there I visited some of Zagreb's parks including a Botanical garden. Much more interesting and refreshing to wander in the nice surroundings. I've enjoyed my quick visit to Zagreb but feel it hasn't got that wow factor like so many other places visited before it, had.



Plitvice Lakes - 25th-27th June 2015

My legs ache with pain and anguish, pain because of the amount of ground I covered and anguish for the amount of ground I didn't. It is a truly wonderful National Park with walking routes to suit all abilities. The scenery and it's natural formation are simply stunning. Nature at its best. However after working in the field of Health and Safety for nearly 15 years, some of it was bound to rub off. I love that they have created natural wooden paths not to impact the surroundings but unfortunately they are quite uneven, not very wide and it's hard to make out when they are stepped or not. I was very lucky on more than one occasion I didn't, have a very close encounter with the lakes themselves. Also it didn't help with the vast amounts of tourists (she says being one herself!!) especially from the less conservative countries pushing and shoving to get past!!! You know who they are! The top safety concern though, there are no railings which felt both liberating and very disconcerting all at the same time. If you do happen to raise your eyes from the precarious path for a glance you will be truly mesmerised by what you see. I managed my best breakfast view yet, on my trip, a bowl of muesli sat looking at the lake given this time my accomodation was just a bed in a nearby guest house. I love my pics of this place and it was hard to know when to stop taking snaps, but seeing, really is believing. I completed my 2 day break with a nice glass of Merlot and some local trout. Probably one of the ones I'd been starring at in the lake. Thats the circle of life for you. Oh well!



Zadar - 27th-28th June 2015

Just a quick overnight visit to Zadar whilst on my way to Pag. It's a nice place to visit if your looking to relax and enjoy the sea and top up your tan given its coastal location. Luckily I was!! 😊 It's quite small in size but a little built up, I walked the length of it in 45 minutes. Slight miscalculation on my part about how far out my accomodation was going to be! It does have an 'Old Town' though but again is really small given it takes about a 15 minute walk end to end and there's not much left. Although Zadar is not a destination I believe is well known on the Tourist map, it certainly is equipped to cater for us Tourists but it's all centred around a Beach holiday rather than a vastly cultural experience. Saying that and you know I like the bizarre and quirky by now, it is the only place that has a 'Sea Organ'. It's not much to look at but quite cool that the sea plays a tune as waves lap into it. On the surface it looks like a set of steps but there are small blowholes located just behind them. The force of the wave determines the note played. It did sound a little bit like me on my recorder back in the day!! It also has a 'Greeting to the Sun' art work on the floor that emits different colours at dawn and dusk. Needless to say I saw it as a blue disk late afternoon. With the sun shining I needed to rehydrate so I stumbled across a little bar with views out to sea. I was quite thirsty by now so went through the 3 new strongbow flavours before leaving. Tip. Elderfower not much flavour. Red Fruits not as good as Dark Fruits. Apple with Honey - Superb! I felt it would be rude not too and headed back to cook some dinner as I had booked another little apartment, before heading to Pag.



Pag - 28th-30th June 2015

The place in Croatia known as a clubbers paradise. Unfortunately for me I left my glow sticks and whistle at home so felt I couldn't possibly partake being so ill prepared. 😊 Luckily though, I discovered Pag had so much more to offer including 1. a time capsule ( I'll return in 2064 to see what's in it) 2. some famous cheese - sampled at dinner, 3. a Salt Farm - I took a walk over to an old monastery with fantastic views of this and visited an exhibition about it. I didn't realise salt could be so interesting! 4. Pag Lace. There is a museum dedicated to this and it was amazing to see the intricacies of some of their designs. 5. fab accomodation in the form of a little apartment with great views over Pag Town and surrounding coast. It really is a little gem of a place to take in some of Croatia's natural beauty without hoards of tourists. I would most definitely come back as its so relaxing although it is a really small place with Pag Town, centred along a harbour. The 'Old' historic centre is quaint and contains 8 places of interest which can all be reached in about 10 minutes. There are numerous small pebbly coves to relax by the waters edge and take a dip if you so fancy. That's if you like an ice bath! I did dip my toes and that was refreshing enough!! 😉. With the sun high in the sky and having been quite busy previously, I felt now would be a good opportunity to relax and soak up the sun. There are some top beaches located around the coast of Pag but given all the bus rides recently I decided to stay in my immediate surroundings. This allowed me time for a quick Manuel mani and pedi in readiness for a slap up traditional meal of Octopus Salad followed by Chicken in a Swiss Chard sauce with grated Pag Cheese with polenta and veg.



Split - 30th June -2nd July 2015

What can I say after the tranquility of Pag, I was blown away with the sheer size of Split and the volume of tourists. It was nothing like the the small quaint area I had imagined it to be. It was completely built up and there was certainly money here, which hadn't really been prominent anywhere else in Croatia to date. On the way in, I passed a Porsce, Volvo and Mercedes showroom and when I arrived, to what I imagined to be a small port and bus station, there were 4 huge cruise liners a railway station, bus station and harbour all teaming with people. Once I'd finally got over the initial shock I grabbed a taxi and made it to my accomodation. It's probably my least favourite even though it was named "Be Happy" but it was clean, quirky and the host went above and beyond with the information provided, even giving me a quick guided walking tour of the area, so I'd be ready and poised for my sea kayaking adventure the following day. Early next morning I had fresh figs for breakfast which were gorgeous and then I set out to the meeting point. Guess what, within 5 minutes, I was lost! It's those bloody maps!!!! Luckily I asked this guy coming towards me who was really helpful and took me to the exact address and it was nice to chat to a local. When we arrived there I still had plenty of time so managed to take a stroll through the Old Palace area. It was amazing. Tiny marble streets with high walls with every nook and cranny filled with old stone, shops, cafes, restaurants but none of them had opened yet and there was only a very small number of people milling about. So I did whatever any self respecting tourist does, took loads of pics before they became filled with strangers. 😉 It quickly became time to make tracks and get ready to meet the group for the sea kayaking tour. I am beginning to feel like a V.I.P. or the warnings about me have reached Europe far and wide, as again it ended up with just me 😊 This was music to my ears as I was accompanied by a nice young man who was now going to share a Kayak with me. This meant I could now get away with the least amount of effort. It was great fun, luckily his English was superb compared to my Croatian. We kayaked about 7 miles in total, stopped to snorkel and sunbathe on a little beach and then he recommended a fab little place for lunch where I had Squid Ink Rissotto. It's quite off putting seeing a plate of black food as this usually symbolises its burnt but luckily in this case it was really nice. The weather was hot, so hot I needed a new pair of flipflop's for 2 reasons really, 1. It would be an opportunity to get rid of the dodgy tan on my feet from my walking shoes, 2. My feet were cooking and needed to be cooled. So after some retail therapy, my new flipflop's on, I celebrated with a trip up the Bell Tower for perfect views of Split. On the way back I grabbed some homemade Lavender and Apricot ice cream. All in all a productive day but seeing how vast Split is from the Tower, I believe I have barely scratched its surface. This is one place that needs more time to explore but for now it's onto the island of Hvar for a night.



Hvar - 2nd-3rd July 2015.

With this being Croatia's biggest island I was bound to get some transport mix up with the ferry and the right port. Typical, but once all sorted, arrival in Hvar town was fabulous. Its only takes an hour from Split by catermaran if you get the right one! 😉 Which I managed too, in the end. Its one of those places that mixes tradional style with the modern with its small narrow streets filled with bespoke gift shops and artwork. I found it similar in many ways to Positano on the Amalfi Coast. It has a classic large main square, a number of churches and a 6th Century Town Fortress. With the sun beating down and the sweat pouring out of me, I still decided I must get up there, for that all important view. It was so worth it. After all those bloody steps my feet needed some TLC. So I plonked myself down on a little jetty and soaked them in the refreshing bluey green water. It was lovely, I even had my own little aquarium show as the water was so clear. This is definitely a location I could stay at. After a change of top and abit of lippy I headed out for a few drinks and some food. First stop "Cafe Bar Anna" obviously, for a Singapore Sling and a catch up with the 'Cowdry's'. Moving on I found a great place with good WiFi, fantastic food in the form of fresh Tuna steak with a Cherry Brandy sauce followed by a local dessert of fresh figs, Brandy, cream and almonds and seriously great wine constructed from 2 different grape varieties grown locally in Hvar. The great thing about this meal, I had company at dinner with the Sweeden family. 😊. It was a really lovely evening and as I left, the sun was dissapearing and the harbour lit up. It was jaw droppingly beautiful. Back at my room it was still really hot and I noticed there was a ceiling fan. Thing is, being short sometimes things are slightly out of reach. I stood on the bed and reached for one of the two cords. Next thing I wobbled and the cord was now in my hand!!! Oh fudge!! Anyway the fan hadn't turned on so it obviously wasn't the cord for that. It was however for the main light. Trying not to panic I tried the main light switch on the wall but there was nothing doing. So with lights out in Hvar it was time to move on.



Dubrovnik - 3rd-6th July 2015

It's funny how Dubrovnik has been on my 'Places to Visit' list for I don't know how long and when I got there, I felt it wasn't all that I'd thought it be. Whenever anybody mentions Dubrovnik it's always the photos of the old walled town with nothing else really getting a look in. To my surprise the City of Dubrovnik is quite vast, with the 'Old Town' making up a very small area. My accomodation was in the part called Gruz. It overlooks the main harbour where the cruise liners pull in and gives a great view of the surrounding islands. It's a view you can't get enough of and I just kept drinking it in from my balcony. 😊 I arrived late afternoon on the 3rd. My host was fantastic, supplying a map, bus information and a pocket guide on Dubrovnik. I decided to do the 40 minute walk into the Old Town as I was itching to see it. First thing, the walls - they have to be walked!! So off I went, having fantastic views of the internal and external surrounds of this unique area but for, as nice a view as I got, it just wasn't standing up to what I'd previously seen. The walls themselves are a terrific feat of Engineering and Design however I didn't really feel their historical significance when being sold ice-cream and cocktails on them. On the way into the 'Old Town' you are bombarded with all sorts of tours on offer including, walking, kayaking, sailing etc and all at a fairly high price. Inside the walls some of the streets are narrow and quaint but the area has been modernised and completely marketed towards naff tourism including a parrot stand rather than the historical interest. However, they did have a really good Pharmacy after I got bitten alive and ended up with one rather swollen leg!! Now I really was itching. Itching to get a bus, back to base for me to stare at my view. The following day when I was in Mostar, it allowed me to think about what I wanted to do with the time I had left in Dubrovnik. Given my lack of enthusiasm over the 'Old Town', I decided to give that a wide birth and take in a walk around 'Port Gruz' situated just in front of where I was staying and continue around the coastal area of Babin kuk to reach Lapad Beach. Part of this walk is marked as the 'Setnica Walking Trail'. It was beautiful and definitely gave a different dimension to the City of Dubrovnik. On this trail, tucked away was a cave, which believe it or not I met a couple from Maesteg in. Typical four weeks of not meeting any other welsh people and the first time is in a cave!! 😊 Although in our defense, it was a rather nice cave with a bar fitted out in there. Apparently when the hotel owner was building his place they discovered this cave with Stalactites and Stalagmites and so he decided to make a feature using the natural layout of it. It was lovely to go in and have a cool down before venturing back out into the gloriously hot sunshine! I continued along the coast until reaching Lapad Beach. There I found a great little spot just where the sea was lapping in, for me to soak my feet and crisp up. All in all I enjoyed my time in Dubrovnik and would recommend a visit. I would like to return one day around a Christmas time to see if it has anymore of that historical charm to offer.



Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina - Day Trip 4th July 2015

My day trip to this place was filled with trepidation and fear as to what to expect. Now, I really don't know why!! It is nothing like the devastation I imagined it to be, granted there's still a few bullet holes in some buildings but I've seen worse places! I had a real lovely day and completing passport control in minutes, it begs the question, is it Croatia we should be worried about travelling to? I expected to see quite a barren place with shacks. What I actually saw was a place with good infrastructure, plenty of greenery and an historic town with a recent history of change. It was lovely to wander the pebbled streets of Mostar and learn about how they are resurrecting an area that was damaged in the early 90's. Even better I had company in which to do it. We were a small group of 13 on this particular outing and once we had been taken on a short historical tour we were left to our own devices. Myself and a guy named Eugene from Italy explored the ancient Mosque and minaret which gave fantastic views of the area. We even ended up with what I like to describe as a 'Mosque Off' with two of them either side of the water competing in prayers at 1pm. Can't wait to see how this compares with Istanbul. We then took in some lunch including a large glass of local "Black" wine and a Turkish coffee. 4 hours later I was still bouncing off the walls given I'm a decaff only girl at home. It was a fairly long journey to get there and back, (about 6 hours in total) but definitely worth it, if only to dispell any misconceptions I had. I would definitely recommend a visit here and am sorry now I didn't get to see Sarajevo aswell. I felt perfectly safe but not sure how well this is promoted in Britain as a tourist destination, given I couldn't get any currency for it there. Good news though, they accept Hungarian Kuna and Euros, it's really cheap and it's something abit different. 😊

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