![]() Thursday weather forecasts looked like a possible break in the rain, so we booked ourselves on an excursion though TripAdvisor to Plitviče Lakes, Croatia's oldest and most visited national park, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. When the day arrived it was clear that the break wasn't going to happen - so we dressed for rain, brought our umbrellas, packed a lunch, and set off to our pick-up location. We joined two other couples (one from Pasadena, and one from Toronto) and our Petros tour guide, Matija, in a comfortable van for the 2-hour drive. During the ride, Matija engaged us by sharing important history on the Balkan countries that made up the former Yugoslavia. It was clear that he had a lot of pride in his home country of Croatia. We drove through towns that only less that 30 years ago were the center of the Croatian War of Independence - most of the buildings were newly refurbished, but a few were still left in ruins or had obvious bullet holes in them as a reminder of the conflict started by Slobodan Milošović's attempt to impose Serbian rule on the rest of the Balkan states. Our first stop was a small town called Rastoke where two rivers converge, fueling several water mills, and creating a series of beautiful waterfalls. But this was just a preview of what we would see at Plitviče Lakes. We jumped back into the van and headed for the National Park. The weather was foggy and damp, which actually had a positive side - the crowds at this place can be oppressive at the height of the season, but today we sometimes had the trails entirely to ourselves. The trails weave through a series of lakes that have been formed by a rare geological process caused by the presence of limestone that dissolves and coagulates - resulting in the creation of a series natural dams as the river flows downhill. The process creates lakes and waterfalls everywhere you look. Our first hike took us on log trails through the lower lakes. ![]() Then we hiked to the upper lakes and stopped for lunch before heading back to the van. The fog and the mist created an other-worldly affect that convinced us that our guide wasn't exaggerating when he said that the place is amazing year-round and in all types of weather. It was well over a 20,000-step day. We were damp and tired and the van was quiet on the 2-hour ride back. We followed our guide's advice and headed for Restoran Vinodal close by the drop-off point where we splurged for an elegant meal of Croation cuisine with a modern twist before heading back to the apartment on the tram. We finished the day watching an episode of "House" on TV - thankful that they had left the original audio and used Croatian subtitles!
1 Comment
Deborah Baye
11/20/2019 06:03:45 pm
Just received this today 11/20/19 ... Wonderful
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Use the "Next Post >>" Button at the bottom of each post to step through our story chronologically.
Countries
All
Archives
March 2023
AuthorSNancy McCabe & |