I have to admit that both Ashley and I loved Croatia. The scenery, the people, the food and most of all the company made our visit to Croatia one of our favorites stops so far. Of notable interest was the crystal clearness of the water. Every body of water we saw was crystal clear. You could see straight to the bottom every where you looked including the lakes at Plitvice. That brings up the scenery.....every time we turned our head we saw majestic and breathtaking scenery. From the vistas over the ocean to the countless waterfalls in Plitvice, every view was a good one.
The people we met were also of notable interest. We loved our landlords across the board, and most of the tourists we met were friendly also. The food was also yummy, mostly Italian but we also had tasty pork roast.
Things that only interest me....
- Music I listened to. Did a lot of jamming on the bus rides including Tad, Sugar, Wolf Parade, Guided by Voices, and the Microphones.
- Books I read. Not much reading this time around....but I did read a chunk of the India guide book, along with some short stories.
Finally, we met up with the Pic and Dianne today, good to see more family.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Sobes, Zimmers, Camera, and Rooms
We have been staying primarily in sobes, or rooms within a private home. Basically they are rooms to let by the owners of a house, and this is a budget travels (basically what Ashley and Michael demand) preferred lodging in Croatia. Our first sobe was in Zivogosce, and our landlord seemed gruff when negotiating the price. However once we agreed to stay there, Ervin and the landlord became fast friends.....drinking shots of homemade grape brandy and checking out the nude beach. He advised us on activities and travel along with sharing grapes from his arbor shading the front porch. We also had lovely Czech companions in our sobe who shared a delightful traditional Czech meal with us.
Our next sobe was near Plitvice in Bobin Potak. The walls were paper thin and over-sexed Germans stayed with us the first night. The second night we ran out of hot water and had no idea how to get more until early in the morning when some new Germans assisted us. But these new Germans also assisted themselves to our toothbrush covers. Once this occurred, we made a hasty exit.
Tonight we are staying in Northern Croatia at Milanska. The apartment is the nicest of all and and our landlady is wonderful, even doing our laundry Tomorrow we go our separate ways and Ervin and I head to Slovenia.......
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Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Waterfall Park
Yesterday we went to the most wonderful park you can imagine... Plitvice Lakes Park. It should be called waterfall park. The park is immaculately maintained (i.e. clean toilets) with breathtaking views of waterfalls. The well marked paths and boardwalks led past hundreds of waterfalls pouring into Disney water blue lakes and ponds. The park was surprisingly crowded for the low season but was a wonderful Croatian sight. See flickr for pics.
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Sunday, September 10, 2006
life on the road
We have been living on the road for 45 days now I thought I had finally gotten used to living out of a backpack...We bought this cool security mesh stuff to lock around one of our backpacks to keep all our important stuff and all these electrical gadgets in when we are in hostels, etc...Michael's huge backpack doesn't fit in it,so mine gets to be the one locked up all the time (the first time we backpacked through Europe, maybe 6 years ago, we didn't even have a lock for our packs! Now we have this whole complicated security system!) Anywho...It is kind of a pain in the arse b/c to get all the stuff in when need to lock up, I am constantly having to take stuff out of my pack, then lock it up, dig through it when I need stuff, etc...it just doesn't stay in the orderly fashion I would like.
Well...after 45 days one would think I would be used to it. And I thought I had, as just yesterday I was bragging to Lynn and Ervin about how I used to get so upset about having to take stuff out of my pack and it getting all disorganized b/c mine was the security pack and how now I was a seasoned traveler and that kind of stuff didn't even phase me anymore! Well, when we got home last night I couldn't find my washcloth in my pack! And I totally freaked out and went on a bender to Michael about how he doesn't understand how hard it is for YOUR pack to be the security pack and how all my stuff gets jumbled up in my pack, etc. Totally deflating my veteran backpacker cockiness!
P.S. I found my washcloth about 30 min. later
Aches and Pains
Throughout our journey we have gotten a few aches and pains here and there. For instance, I hurt my back in Hungary. Nothing serious as the pain went away pretty quickly, but it still hurt. We have both gotten our fair share of bruises, which is surprising since I hardly ever bruise.
Anyway, right now we are suffering from our two most serious injuries. Ashley slipped and fell on some algae by the coast and banged up her butt. It was quite amusing to watch it happen, but I can tell it really hurts. As you can see from the picture, I have been bitten by something on the arch of my right foot. We think it was a sea urchin, but we are not really sure. It hurts to walk but appears to be getting better.
Anyway, right now we are suffering from our two most serious injuries. Ashley slipped and fell on some algae by the coast and banged up her butt. It was quite amusing to watch it happen, but I can tell it really hurts. As you can see from the picture, I have been bitten by something on the arch of my right foot. We think it was a sea urchin, but we are not really sure. It hurts to walk but appears to be getting better.
We're off on the road to Dubrovnik...
Friday morning, we got up ready to trek to Dubrovnik for the day. The road runs alongside the coast and on the the mountainside, so we had a beautiful drive. As we were coming around a bend, Michael was flagged over over by a guy in uniform who gave him a ticket for 300 kuna (about $55) because he didn't have his lights on. We saw lots of other cars without lights, but none had an Avis sticker on them. We were excited to find that our route took us through a 20 mile stretch of Bosnia, but most disappointed when we were waved right through the checkpoints without even a stamp on our passports.Dubronik is a walled sity, with no cars allowed in the Stari Grad (old city). it was crowded, touristy and hot. The cobblestones are polished by the millions of tourists who walk over them. We had a picnic lunch in the square and filled our water bottles from the big fountains before tackling the wall. You walk up many steps to get to it and then you see some of the most amazing scenes. It's hard to decide whether you should look into the city or up the mountains or out over the clear blue Adriatic. The walk is long (and hot) but not as crowded as the city. As you go, you can look down and see people swimming on the rocks. It was an enticing sight and we wished we had brought our swimsuits. The entire route seemed to be uphill, but we finished after about an hour. It was nice to go down (instead of up) some stairs, find the fountain to refill our water bottles and to eat some gelati.The ride home was uneventful, but we did time it so we could see the sun setting in Bosnia. Dinner was pizza in Gradac and finally "home" to Zivogosce.
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