Croatia (Days 20-22)

Croatia is the answer to the "Where are you headed next?" question. I'm really enjoying this much needed break away from everything. Yes, I check FB once every other dayish (still the main contact point for the girls living in my house next year...holla!). Yes, I do take snaps throughout some days when I'm doing cool/fun/interesting things. BUT I'm not being constantly bombarded or reminded of life. It's a lovely break, that has allowed me some much needed philosophical reflection (sorry Danielle).

We spent a little under 48 hours in Croatia and much of that time was dedicated to one specific site, Plitvice Lakes National Park (Recomended by my friends Mackenzie and Ben). So this will be another unconventional post.

Style note: Yes, I've worn my windbreaker/rain coat almost everyday. It has been soooooooo windy here!

Plitvice Lakes (Plit-veet-suh)

Plitvice (see pronunciation above) was the first national park founded in Croatia. It was created in 1949 and has been a favorite spot for Europeans ever since (and has remained mostly secret from Americans). The area surrounding Plitvice was entrenched in a major war from the 1970s-1990s so the park was mostly left alone and allowed to return to its natural beauty. 

We came to Croatia to specifically come to the park, so that's how we spent a little over 12 hours of our time here. For the remainder of this section I am leaving a bunch of photos with captions, since that's the best way to enjoy this beautiful park!

One of the first waterfalls we saw, located on the upper lakes

Waterfalls all around this upper lake! The upper lakes are known for their more exotic nature.

To see most of the park you have to walk on these plank like structures that easily get flooded out. Our question of the day was "How long do these planks actually last??" It was pretty evident that some were eroding and those were replaced by wooden ladder thingys.

This was one of my favorite points on the entire hike

Aspen and I at the biggest waterfall in the park (80m!!). We also walked to the top of the waterfall, which was a pretty strenuous, completely uphill/stair based, 10 minute hike

This pic highlights the strong current that keeps the waterfalls, in the 16ish connected lakes, flowing

Overlook of the last few falls on our exit out of the canyon 

Food Highlights:

We only ate two meals in Zagreb, and they both were outstanding (we choose our food carefully). First was Le Bistro Esplanade where we had a three course meal, wine, and coffee/tea for approximately $25! Croatia is super cheap. The next night we went to Plac, which was a more traditional Croatia restaurant (the waiter appeared to be one of the owners and didn't speak English). I really really really liked my beer.

Conclusion:

I really wish we could've spent more time in this amazing country. Zagreb was clean, safe, cheap, and beautiful and we really didn't even scratch the surface. The coast of Croatia is also supposed to be fantastic, so I think another trip to Croatia is in my future!

Zagreb

Rating: 8/10 (Katie), 8/10 (Aspen)

Likelihood of Returning: 80% (K), 60% (A)