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Sunday, June 17, 2012

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

For our trip to Croatia, there were two places that we knew we had to see: Dubrovnik, the fortified city on the Adriatic, and Plitvice Lakes National Park.  The issue that arose in planning the vacation out was that the two highlights were about 300 miles apart.  We decided to fly into Dubrovnik, spend a few days there, and then take a couple buses up the coast to the city of Zadar.  We spent the night in Zadar and then took a bus the remaining two and a half hours to Plitvice Jezera.  After more than a day of cramped bus rides, we finally arrived and determined that the whirlwind travels were worth it.
We had two days to explore the 16 pristine lakes and the myriad waterfalls that connect them.  The beauty we encountered was staggering.
Fishing is not permitted, and schools of tame fish congregate near the shore.
We trekked around the park, seeing as much as possible.  Around every turn there seemed to be an even more stunning scene.
The largest waterfall, with a rainbow at its base.
Everywhere, there was a continuous rush of water over moss, around trees, and off of cliffs.
Croatia normally doesn't enter people's conversations when they speak of touring Europe.  Hopefully, after you've seen our trip to Dubrovnik and Plitvice, you'll be willing to vouch for the the beauty of the Adriatic's east coast.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian Coast


Back in June Emily and I took a trip to Croatia.
We flew in to Dubrovnik, on the far southeast end of the country.
Staying within the fortified city walls made trips to all the attractions very quick.
Walking up on the city walls gave us a great view all around "The Pearl of the Adriatic".
Here's the view from the wall of a beach that we hung out at for an afternoon.
We also launched our little kayak out of that beach.
The weather was great and we ate most of our meals outside.
During our three days in Dubrovnik we wandered around the great scenery and took in the views...
...obviously with much awe and reverence.
Another little trip we made was up the mountainside overlooking the city.  The cable car aided our expedition.
We found a trail with a bunch of switchbacks that took us down to the water's edge.
There was even a handy staircase that led into the waves.
Not a bad view from our private little ledge.
On the fourth day of our trip, we took a bus the whole way up the coast to Zadar.  During that nine-hour ride, we passed through Bosnia-Herzegovina's minute strip of coastline.  This is my only picture from Bosnia, as the time we spent in-country was maybe an hour and a half...the scenery looked a lot like the rest of the Dalmatian Coast.
 This gorgeous shot of mountains meeting crystal clear water is of a town called Makarska.  When we pulled into the bus station, we wrongly believed we were in the city of Split.  We were prepared to change buses, and got off at the wrong town.  The misstep proved to be fortunate, as Makarska was the highlight of the day.  We got lunch downtown and hiked around the harbor, waiting for our connection.
When we arrived in Zadar we were very tired and hungry.  A pint of Karlovačko and a batch Noah's Ark clams improved our spirits.


I'll follow this up with our trip to Plitvice National Park shortly...