Category: Europe

For many reasons, Hvar was my most entertaining part of the trip.  I took the ferry from Split to Hvar which only took about an hour.  It was my birthday, so I was determined to make it a great day.

When I first got off the ferry I noticed a little boy with a fishing net catching things in the water.  As I got closer I realized he was catching sea urchins – and anything else that would fall into his net.  He explained to me that there was only one female in the group he collected – it’s the one at the top that looks different than all the others.

I arrived at my hotel fairly early so my room wasn’t available yet.  The front desk person told me to just hang out by the pool for an hour and my room would be ready.  I had a feeling this would be the case so I thankfully I packed a day-bag with all I would need to pass the time.

The lobby was on the 4^th floor of the hotel and you could see several islands from that vantage point.   The view was spectacular!  When I finally got to my room, I had an equally beautiful view and a nice patio to sit on to watch the boats go by.  The room itself wasn’t much to speak of.  It was clean, but it was stark and in need of a refurbishment; which I heard was in progress.

Once I settled in, I went to the concierge and asked for her recommendation for a nice place for dinner for my birthday.  She made some suggestions and I selected one – Gariful.  She then called and made a reservation for me.

The nice thing about Hvar is that it is quite a pleasant walk to the historic old town.  There is a very well-maintained pathway that runs along the coastline.  From my hotel to the old town was about a 15-20 minute walk at a leisurely pace.  As I made my way to the old town for dinner I walked past GIANT cactus plants.  A number of them were about to bloom and if I had to take a guess I missed them blooming by about 2 days.  The other type were blue agave cactus and they were also HUGE.  You cannot tell the scale from these photos but I stood next to one and they were much taller than me.  If I had to take a guess, I’d say they were somewhere between 8-10 feet tall!

The town is an inviting little sea town.  As I made my way to the restaurant the benches were filled with people just watching the sunset and the other people.  Hvar was excellent for people watching!  When I arrived at the restaurant they had a table reserved for me with a very nice view of the sunset.  I was already off to a good start and the evening only got better from there.

My waiter was the best waiter I had the whole trip.  You can tell that he took pride in his job and really made each person feel special.  I had experienced a lot of discrimination for being a solo traveler up to that point, so it was really refreshing to receive the same, if not better, service than the larger parties.

I decided that I was going to order some fresh fish for dinner but he told me I had to wait a bit because the boat had not yet arrived at the dock.  To pass the time, I ordered a light appetizer with a nice glass of wine by his recommendation.  Once the fish arrived, he walked me over to the table of fish so I could hand select my choice.  The Red Snapper looked amazing, but he went through each of the fishes and explained to me the positive and the negatives of each one.  I learned that Rockfish is actually the best fish to order for flavor but because it has such a large head the amount of yield is much less so if you are paying by the kilo you should go with something else.  At the end of the day I settled on the Snapper.  It was grilled to perfection and, without asking, another glass of wine showed up to my table.  Since it was my birthday, I definitely planned on having dessert.  But before I could even ask for the menu, a dessert and a glass of Champaign showed up – my favorite Champaign – Veuve Clicquot Rose!  At the end of the meal I was looking out at the boats and people and yet another glass of Champaign showed up.  My waiter said to me “What’s the rush?  Enjoy your day!”  I am certain that the concierge at the hotel told the restaurant that it was my birthday but the amount of service that I received went above and beyond.  For that I would recommend this restaurant to anyone that goes to Hvar.

Hvar fell sort of in the middle of my trip and I designed it to be my “down time” part of the trip.  You know, sleeping in, lounging by the pool, etc.   So, the next day I did exactly that.  I woke up a little later, wandered to the restaurant for breakfast, changed into my swimsuit and spent the rest of the day just hanging out by the pool.  That evening I headed back to the old town for a light dinner at a nice little place, Black Pepper, that I’d recommend to anyone.  It took a unique spin on traditional flavors.

After dinner that night I made my way back to my hotel room and received an email that the culinary boat tour I was scheduled to take only had me on their list, so they weren’t going to run the tour for just one person.  I was pretty disappointed since I had booked this tour nearly six months in advance.  They offered for me to join another tour that had similar destinations but just didn’t include the culinary part of the trip.  Since I had nothing else planned I decided to take them up on their offer.

Suffice it to say, the boat tour could have been pulled from an episode of Gilligan’s Island.  I will most likely write a blog post just about this tour.  I did see the beautiful Blue Cave and met four really great women along the way, so it made it all worth it.

The next day was my last full day on Hvar so I decided to take the hike up to the Fortress.

Climbing the steps to the entrance was quite a feat but then the wandering shaded trail to the top made for an enjoyable stroll.  The fortress was built in 1282 and the Venetians strengthened it in 1557.  It is said that this Fortress saved the lives of many during the attacks from the Turks in 1571.

It was hot that day, so after the hike to the Fortress I spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach and the evening walking around the town just soaking in the beauty of the island.

Heading from Krka National Park into Split I knew I could take a scenic route which would take me through the town of Kastel Novi, where my grandfather was from.

Just outside of Kastel Novi I had a magnificent view of Split, the mountains, and the Adriatic coastline.

As I stepped out of the car I noticed a patch of poppy flowers.  These were some of my mom’s favorites.

I remember she always used to keep the poppy gift she received from making donations to the veterans that stood on the street corners around Memorial Day.

I made it to Kastel Novi and jumped out of the car for a quick photo and wondered how far away he lived from that very spot.   The town seemed very nice and was quite residential.

The main drag had every type of business you would need – a grocery store, laundry mat, bank, etc.  It seemed like a really nice place to live.

Split is where I would drop off my car and then take public transportation or walk for the rest of the trip.  Returning the car in Split was less than an easy task.  I parked in the parking garage attached to the rental return office and as it turned out, the actual car return location was a few blocks away from the actual office.   By the time I returned the car and then went to the office to settle my bill nearly 1 ½ hours had passed and I missed the opportunity to photograph the sunset in Split.  I was pretty disappointed, so I just wandered over to the closest restaurant that seemed to have a nice view.  As it turned out, it ended up being a nice evening because the weather was perfect, the food and wine were good, and the people watching was outstanding on a Friday night.

Since it was starting to turn dark by the time I finished my dinner I decided to do a little night photography.  I wandered over to a pier that extended out to the sea where I was able to get a nice panoramic view of Split.

As I walked towards the pier there were a bunch of adults sitting on benches playing music and singing.  As I approached the pier, I noticed that the entire sea wall was covered with young adults – probably in the 18 to 25 year old range – sitting and chatting with one another all while having some beers and smoking pot.  I’m pretty sure I got a contact high just walking past them but they just kept to themselves and I was able to get some nice photos.  I started thinking about these kids and those adults that I had seen earlier and figured that at some time I am sure that those adults were once those kids sitting on that pier; making memories and lifetime friendships.

The next day was the day I had been looking forward to for a very long time.  This was the day I was going to meet my cousin, Dusanka, and two of her granddaughters.  I hadn’t planned on meeting them until later in the morning so I slept in a little.   My apartment in Split was the most complete of all the places I had stayed thus far.  It was a real apartment with a living room, full kitchen, and a washing machine.  Since I was about half way through my trip I had accumulated enough dirty clothes to warrant doing a few loads of laundry.  I did not plan this in my itinerary, but it worked out great since it made it so that I didn’t have to do laundry for the rest of the trip.

Since I had a little time before meeting my cousins, I wandered around the local farmer’s market.  All of the produce and flowers were so fresh and fragrant.  It appears that the climate for fruits and veggies is ideal given the quality of the produce I saw.

Around noon I met Dusanka and her two granddaughters, Tea and Nina.  They have another older sister Vlatka but she had to work that day.  Thankfully they brought along Tea’s best friend Antonella (Nella) who works at the airport and speaks very good English and was able to be our

translator for the day.  We wandered along the coast and stopped for some coffee and sodas while we caught up.   We each shared photos of our families and connected some more of the missing dots in the genealogy of our family.  As it turns out Dusanka in fact does have two Rottweilers and loves to cook and her youngest granddaughter Nina loves animals of all kinds and currently is taking riding lessons.   Dusanka brought me a few gifts from Kastel Novi – one of which was a magnet with a photo that showed the place where my grandfather lived.  She also gave me some other books about the town, so I can learn more about it.  All of her gifts were very thoughtful.

I feel like Dusanka and I are definitely kindred spirits.  She is a firecracker and a practical joker.   She speaks EVERYTHING that is on her mind and does not mince her words at all.  When walking past a bunch of police officers she was telling them to take a good look at her granddaughters and friend because they were single, beautiful, and good girls and would make good wives.  Then, at one point she asked me if I knew any Croatian.  When I told her that I only knew the bad words she started blurting all of them out one after another to test my skills.  It made me laugh and really reminded me of my Aunt Elaine; who would also blurt out those words on more than one occasion.   I really enjoyed my time meeting them and wished I had more time with them, but Nella had to leave for work and without a translator, the conversation would have been difficult.

After we said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways I ventured into the heart of Split which is Diocletian’s Palace.  It is a Roman emperor’s palace built in the 4^th century AD.  When Rome fell, it was abandoned and then over time it turned into a medieval town.   What was once the hallways of the palace are now the streets of today.  About 3000 people live within the walls of Diocletian’s palace today.

At one point I was taking a break in an area called the “Peristyle” which is essentially a porch that is surrounded by columns.  Anyway, I heard some amazing a-capella music coming from just around the corner.  It immediately brought back memories from my childhood.  The music was coming from

Diocletian’s vestibule which was the entry way to the private quarters of the palace.  Dusanka commented on my Facebook post about it and told me it was called Klapa music and is traditionally from Dalmatia – the central region of Croatia.  I enjoyed the little mini-concert so much that I ended up buying one of their CDs.

After I listened to the music, I bought a ticket to go into the Cathedral of St. Domnius and its out-buildings.  The Cathedral was once Diocletian’s mausoleum but was converted to a cathedral later on.

One of the one things you are supposed to do in Split is climb the bell tower of the cathedral – so I did.  It was 180 steps up, which sounds like a lot but because the views were so amazing with good places to stop and take photos, I didn’t even notice I had made it to the top – until the next morning when my legs reminded me I had climbed 180 steps the day before.  :o)

The next stop on my trip around the palace was once Jupiter’s Temple but then converted to a baptistry dedicated to John the Baptist.

I continued to wander around the palace and saw many amazing sites that I knew were historic but unfortunately didn’t know what they were.   The next time I am in Split I will take a guided tour of the palace, so I can learn more about its history.  I really feel like I missed out on a lot of important details.

I finished the day with a nice meal overlooking the palace while sipping some wine from the town where my grandfather was from; which supposedly are some of the oldest vineyards in the region.

At the end of the day, I feel like I barely scratched the surface of the city and definitely would like more time with my family.

Since I was lucky to have some good weather days at Plitvice I decided to head out early the next morning for Split.   I knew that there was another National Park on the way so I decided to take a detour and visit Krka National Park.

I arrived in a cute port town named Sibenik.   Krka is deep inside a lush mountainous area so you need to take a 30 minute ferry ride to the entrance of the park.

The ferry was very nice and the views were great along the way so I had my hopes up that I was going to be in for a special treat.  

Well, suffice it to say, this was my least favorite part of the trip.  Within 5 minutes of me being there I wanted to leave.  The park was extremely busy and filled with local teenagers all sunbathing all over the place and blocking the walkways taking selfies.  They had trampled all the grass down to just dirt and it was like 400 school buses all showed up at the same day and time.  Yuck!

I was super hungry – which, if you know me, never helps – and there was only one option for food and there were 300!! orders ahead of me.

Anyway, since I had made the trek up the river, I figured I may as well move away from the entry gate and see if it got better as I moved along.  As far as I can tell, the only worthwhile part of the park could be seen in about a 45 minute boardwalk loop around one giant waterfall; which admittedly was beautiful. 

At the start of the loop I passed by a small church dedicated to St. Nicholas.

As I continued on, I started noticing some of the smaller things about the park.  There were some pretty interesting flowers; which I think were a type of water orchid or iris.

Fluttering around were these bright blue butterflies or aphids.  I tried to capture them with the camera but they were too quick!

I walked passed a guy laying on his belly and photographing what looked like just some murky water.  At closer look, I realized he was photographing a bunch of tiny frogs who made the loudest sound; far larger than you would expect for their size.

One of the last things I noticed along the boardwalk; which everyone else walked past was what seemed like just some overturned dirt.  Having just learned about how wild boars root for truffles at the base of oak trees, I realized I was looking at a recent foraging from the boar.  It took all the control in the world to not leave the boardwalk and start searching for more truffles!  On that note, I decided to leave the park and continue my trip down to Split.

I have dreamed of going to Plitvice National Park for many years and I have to tell you, it did not disappoint.

It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  The water was so clear and blue.  It was hard to believe that it was real.

Over the course of the two days that I was there, I saw many busloads of tourists come at 9am and hike the entire park in about 5-6 hours.  At this pace, I feel that those travelers really missed out on the purpose of that park – to essentially stop and smell the flowers.

Plitvice to me seemed like a place you had to just absorb into your being.  The tranquil sounds of the waterfalls and the winding boardwalk pathways were so peaceful. 

Plitvice has 16 cascading lakes and basically you attack the park in two waves; the upper lakes and the lower lakes.

The routes for the hikes are somewhat hour-glass shaped.  Both the upper and lower lakes meet at the boat dock in sort of the middle of the park.  Since I didn’t have much time the first day because I stopped in Rastoke, I decided to do the upper lakes first at the recommendation of the park ranger.  After about a 20 minute walk from the parking lot to the boat dock, I took a short boat ride and started heading up the path for the upper lakes.

I arrived at the park at about 4pm and I felt like I was the only one there.  All the tour buses had left and moved on to their next destination and it was all left just for me. 

Since the lakes sit at the base of a canyon, the light wasn’t very good for photography, so I mostly enjoyed just strolling around the paths for the day.  It was a good decision to go to the park that first day though because then I had a good idea for what was in store the next day.  Sometimes the maps are deceiving so this was a good way for me to get my bearings as I knew the next day I was going to hit the park hard.

My hotel was located just outside of Entrance 2 so it was less than a 5 minute car ride back to the hotel.  The room was simple but did the job for the two nights I was there.  The best part of the hotel was that they had an on-site home-cooked restaurant.  You could order one of about 10 different meal plans in the morning and then in the evening when you arrived back from hiking the park all day, your meal would be ready at the time you specified.  This was the best option; way better than having to get back in the car and forage around for food at nearby towns after hiking all day.  (My phone clocked me in at about 17 miles of hiking while I was there for the two days.)

The next day I had the whole day ahead of me, so I took my time and started at Entrance 1 which was just about 10 minutes away from the hotel.  I got there early to try and beat the crowds and it paid off – for a little while….

We had rain overnight, so all of the falls were running at capacity and some were even bubbling up onto the boardwalk.

You are greeted along the Entrance 1 path by the largest waterfall in the park; appropriately named “Veliki Slap” translation:  “Big Waterfall”.

The photos are a little deceiving and it is hard to tell the scale of these waterfalls.   Suffice it to say that some were just 2-3 feet tall and others were 50-100 feet tall.  Big Waterfall was the largest at 255 feet tall.  On average, I would say most of the falls were between 30-40 feet tall.  Here is an example of the scale.  Here is the same location of Big Waterfall taken at 2 different angles.  Do you see the bridge with people walking across it?

As you continue along the path for about 15 minutes, you come across them most iconic photo from the park that you see on all the tourism websites.  It is exactly as it seems and even more breathtaking in person.  From this vantage point you can see three of the lakes cascading into one another.

The color of the water was breathtaking.  Depending on the depth of the water, it went from clear to sort of any icy clear blue to this sort of blue-green bold color.

I promise you that these photos are not doctored to make it look more vibrant than it actually was.  This is the real deal.  Also, if you look closely, you can see fish swimming in almost every photo I took of the water.

I read that there were lobsters in the water and it wasn’t until at the end of the day while I was waiting for the ferry back to the parking lot that I finally saw one.  They aren’t big and I don’t think the eating type, but it was definitely a lobster.

My parting thoughts about Plitvice is that no photo ever created could ever do this place justice.  This is one place you just have to see in person and store it in your memory bank for many years to come.   …or in my case, until January when I get to see it again on my way to Slovenia!

As I drove from the Istria region to Plitvice National Park, I stopped at a small little town for lunch named Rastoke.   It was a quaint little town that had a very German feeling to it.  There really wasn’t much to see or do there but it was a worthwhile stop to see the waterfalls that ran through the middle of town.

On my first full day in Croatia, I hopped in the car and drove down to a town called Pula.  Pula is only about 45 minutes south of Rovinj and most famously known for having the 6^th largest Colosseum in the world which dates back to 27 BC.

It amazed me at how accessible the Colosseum was in comparison to the one in Rome.  There were no restrictions on where you could go or what you could touch.  This Colosseum still holds summer concerts.  I think that would be an amazing experience.

Originally, I had planned on heading to the Kamenjak National Park after Pula but the weather was sort of touch-and-go all day.  So, instead, I decided to just stick around Pula a bit longer and see what else there was to see.  I saw the Arch of Sergii commemorating the 3 brothers Sergii.  The Sergii were a powerful family of officials in the colony and retained their power for centuries.

Next I stopped at the Temple of Augustus.  It was built in honor of the first Roman emperor.  It is estimated that it was built between 2 BC to 14 AD.

Pula seemed like a big city to me in comparison to the charming town of Rovinj.  There was definitely some old world charm like the guy that I think makes a living just looking out the window staring at tourists and heckling the restaurants below.

I landed in Croatia in the capital city of Zagreb.  My first impression of the country was that it is the cleanest place I had ever been, anywhere!  The restroom was meticulously clean and after I finished using the facilities, someone immediately walked in and cleaned it again.  All of a sudden I realized where all my compulsive cleaning habits came from; it must be in the genes.

The airport was very modern and the people were very friendly.  I picked up my rental car and placed bets on myself on how many times I would kill the manual transmission throughout the trip since it’s been a few years since I’ve driven stick-shift.   At the time of this blog, the count is currently at two.  The first time was nearly immediately after renting it when I pulled over to put my new SIM card in my phone.

The first stop on my trip was to the town named Rovinj.  It is in the Istria region which is known for its food and wine.  It is about 3 hours from where I landed in Zagreb.   The highways in Croatia are easy to navigate and in fantastic shape.  The rest stops are some of the cleanest I have ever seen and all of them feature either a restaurant or bar.

When I arrived in Rovinj, there was a big school baton twirling competition going on in town so the city was very electric and there were lots of people on the streets.

My room was very close to the main area of restaurants and shops and just about a 2 minute walk to the sea.  It was very clean and most importantly, on a very quiet side street.

Overall, I loved this little town.  It has so much charm and ambiance.  Everywhere you turn there is a scenic view.  The old town was incredibly beautiful.  The way the coast is shaped in sort of a circle, you can see the city from all sides.

I hope you are enjoying the journey.  Our next stop will be in the town of Pula…