Category: 2016 Croatia

July 14th, Dubrovnik to Amsterdam

Our flight to Amsterdam leaves midafternoon so we spend the morning in Dubrovnik. We find a tourist cafe and order their set breakfast menu and our usual three cappuccinos. It’s almost impossible to find anyplace other than a tourist restaurant inside the old city and we endure the bad service and mediocre fare. Our waitress fauns over the locals at an adjoining table making the slight all the more obvious.

Marty on the ‘Walk of Atonement’ staircase.

We visit the ‘Walk of Atonement’ staircase one last time and have the staircase all to ourselves. Dubrovnik is a port for many cruise lines and in an hour the city will be crawling with tourists.

Staircase leading to the upper plaza.

View down the staircase

One of the many things that I love and admire about our son John is his good disposition and his interest in absolutely everything.  Our Dubrovnik cards are valid for another few hours so John suggests we go to the Cultural and Historical Museum before driving to the airport. The two floor museum is great; the exhibits span many centuries of Yugoslavian, Bosnian and Croatian history. Most poignant to me are the photos of the Croatian War of Independence, the civil war fought between 1991 and 1995.

We stroll back towards our guest room and car via the wide and fashionable shopping promenade. A mixture of couture and tourist shops line the ancient polished limestone marble street. I spot a sign to a coral factory and we dart up a narrow street to visit the workshop.

Marty in the coral workshop

Close up of Oxblood Coral Horns

Workbench at the Coral workshop

The showroom is on one side of the steep street and the workshop just across from it. Red oxblood Mediterranean coral horn is a deep sea coral, extremely hard and easily carved and fashioned into jewelry. For years, at world class museums around the world, I have admired remarkable religious chalices and renaissance and baroque jewelry featuring the red coral horns. Naturally the salesmen in the workshop hopes to sell me a piece of jewelry and they give us a long and careful explanation of both the harvesting process and the jewelry-making techniques. I want to purchase a small and ornate horn but the best ones have already been incorporated into jewelry designs and I have not researched the price per gram prior to my visit to this workshop so I leave with only photographs.

Goodbye view of  Dubrovnik

Art maneuvers our rental car out of the tight parking space and we merge into bumper to bumper traffic and search for the coastal road south to the Dubrovnik airport. The view of Dubrovnik behind us is postcard perfect and I reflect on the near perfect 24 hours we spent in there. Once again, we have managed to squeeze the most out of a short amount of time and I am ready to begin our next adventure in Amsterdam. We pass airport souvenir shops and I wonder if I should have purchased a Game of Thrones T-shirt. I am amused at the abandoned water bottles along the terminal windows of the airport security check.

Abandon water bottles at airport security

Last chance to buy Game of Throne souvenirs

Our plane lands in Amsterdam late afternoon and we stop at the airport tourist information bureau to purchase the three day I Amsterdam Card which gives us three days of unlimited train and metro rides plus discounted entrance to many of the museums. Art is very good at figuring out metro stops and schedules and we are quickly onboard a train towards the Arena district on the outskirts of Amsterdam where I have reserved a room for four nights.

Garett guest room in Dubrovnik

Luxurious Amsterdam Hotel

The hotel is modern and our room bright and quite luxurious especially in comparison to the guest room we stayed in last night. Unfortunately, John’s bed is more of a converted window seat but he takes this in stride and after quick showers we make the 30 minute train ride into the heart of Amsterdam. It is always exciting to be in a new city and Amsterdam is bustling tonight. We walk from our metro stop towards the Red Light district passing many cafes and bars and window shopping along the way. I have been to Amsterdam several times before and it comes as no surprise to me to see window displays of sex toys and drug paraphernalia along side of clothing boutiques and sex workers. Provocative woman stand in windows, advertising their wares. I sense that both Art and John feel slightly uncomfortable walking in this district with me but this is all a part of the adventure of travel.

Cool off with a Cannabis Drink

Sensi seeds for sale in Amsterdam

The lighted canals shimmer in the glow of the evening and we crisscross many canals as we get our bearings.

Amsterdam canals in the evening light

We eventually settle on an Argentinian restaurant for dinner. The fare is mostly red meat, a change from much of what we have been eating on this trip. Art and John eat heartily but the chicken entree I choose is mediocre at best. Once again it is the red table wine that saves my meal.

Wednesday, July 13th, Ston to Dubrovnik

Village of Ston, Ancient fortress wall

After cappuccinos and breakfast in ancient Ston and admiring Ston’s hillside castle wall from afar, we drive the final leg of the coast road toward Dubrovnik. The views from the road are breathtaking and we stop several times to take photos of the dramatic Adriatic Sea coastline.

Bridge into Dubrovnik

We cross a modern suspension bridge and enter the outskirts of Dubrovnik’s new city. We pull into old Dubrovnik shortly after 11:00 A.M. and as Art predicted, traffic is heavy and parking is challenging and expensive.  The first place that I inquire about accommodations is full and we circle down into town in the heavy stream of bumper-to-bumper traffic. I spot an “Apartman” sign (private rooms for rent) and Art pulls over and I hop out of the car to ask about accommodations. An elderly, portly and grim-faced woman with a large wart in the middle of her forehead comes to the door and I try to communicate our need for a room for three people for one night. She surveys me suspiciously and grumbling and with great physical difficulty, she shows me the upstairs room. She hauls her body up one flight of stairs and then opens a door to a garret stairway and points for me to climb the sagging stairs up another flight. The dark carpets are stained and the wallpaper is peeling and should another guest rent her second room we will all share a vintage bathroom. The garret room is hot and a struggling fan stirs the air minimally but there is a double bed and a single bed with clean but tired sheets and this room is just steps away from one of the entrances to the old city.  The 50 euro price for the room also includes a coveted parking space.

Garret room with view of Dubrovnik city walls

Worn carpet to garret room

The room is a flash back to my backpacking days, but before committing I return downstairs and ask Art to turn off the car’s engine and come take a look at the room. The troll-like woman points again to the stairs and Art and I hurry up the two flights and quickly decide that we can handle this for one night considering the location, the price and the parking space. While I sit on the front porch with the woman in awkward miscommunication, Art maneuvers into the tight adjoining parking space.  She repeatedly asks me if I speak German, and I repeatedly tell her I speak English and a little French but when I pull out a 50 euro note, she grins broadly and begins clumsily punching her phone. She manages to communicate that her son speaks English and she passes me the phone and I tell him that I have just paid his mother 50 euros for the garret room for the night and that we plan to spend the entire day in Dubrovnik and will leave the following morning. He is articulate and reassuring and tells me he will explain our plans to his mother. When John enters with our bags, she appraises him quickly, smiles broadly, and proudly tells me that she has two sons. We make a hasty retreat to the attic, stow our luggage and within minutes are walking through the Dubrovnik Castle Gates.

Entrance to the old city of Dubrovnik

Outside Dubrovnik city walls

We enter at the top of the old city and descend seemingly hundreds of stone steps down to a city plaza and promenade. On the descent, I pop into a tiny tour office to ask for a map and a young woman, slightly younger than John offers me a free map but is insistent that I sit while she marks places of interest. Always wary about being pressured into buying a tour of some sort, I hesitate, but she is so innocently charming and enthusiastic that I sit and we ultimately buy our city museum passes from her.

Dubrovnik Old City

Dubrovnik Old City

With our usual dysfunctionality we struggle to choose a café that will please us all. We enjoy cool drinks while John strategizes our Dubrovnik plan, starting with the Dubrovnik museum.

John planning our Dubrovnik itinerary

View from the Dubrovnik museum

Hot and tired museum cat

After the world class museums of Florence and Rome, this one is not memorable but I am intrigued by the sedan chairs, brightly painted in a Venetian Rococo styIe. I try to imagine a procession where dignitaries, kings and queens might be carried through this medieval city in the tiny enclosed and claustrophobic chairs. The weather is sweltering but I surmise that the labyrinth of narrow streets, thick stone walls and polished marble plazas provides some relief to the heat.

The Game of Thrones, ‘Walk of Shame ‘Staircase in Dubrovnik

Episodes of the Game of Thrones were filmed in Dubrovnik and John navigates us to an open square where a wide and elegant marble stairway ascends to an upper plaza. This stone stairway was featured in the “Walk of Atonement” episode and I am excited to see the actual location. I imagine Queen Cersei Lannister, stripped naked and making her walk of penance down the staircase past the jeering crowds. Dubrovnik is a bewitching city, the very essence of a medieval Mediterranean fantasy and the perfect setting for filming The Game of Thrones.

“A sinner comes before you, Cersei of House Lannister. Mother to His Grace, King Tommen, widow of His Grace, King Robert. She has committed the acts of falsehood and fornication. She has confessed her sins, and begged for forgiveness. To demonstrate her repentance, she will cast aside all pride, all artifice, and present herself as the gods made her… to you, the good people of this city. She comes before you with a solemn heart, shorn of secrets, naked before the eyes of gods and men, to make her walk of atonement.”
―The High Sparrow to the people of King’s Landing[src]

I  return my thoughts to the present and Queen Cersei fades from my thoughts and the jeering crowds turn into photo snapping tourists, myself one of them. I dutifully take photos and plan to come back early tomorrow morning when I can take photos without throngs of tourists.

We enjoy a pasta lunch at an outdoor terrace café where there is a welcoming breeze and then navigate our way to the Maritime Museum. The walled city of Dubrovnik sits at the edge of the Adriatic Sea and on our way to the museum, we pass a small harbor and cross the square to the edge of the city walls. Many young people are jumping from the adjacent rocks and John takes several dives, cooling off in the crystal waters below the city walls.

Swimming along the Dubrovnik City walls

The Maritime Museum interests both Art and John but is not of particular interest to me, but it is cool inside with views of the Adriatic beyond. We continue to the beautiful 13th century Franciscan Monastery famous for its ancient pharmacy featuring a collection of pharmacology literature and equipment dating to the 15th century.

Apothecary

Franciscan Monastery Apothecary

Franciscan Monastery Cloister

Franciscan Monastery Cloister

The highlight of Dubrovnik for all of us is our late afternoon walk along the top of the city walls. Circumnavigating the wall takes us nearly two hours but with each turn the view changes. The afternoon light is golden and we inhale stunning vistas of the Adriatic coast and roof top views of the ancient city below.

John and Art atop the city wall, Dubrovnik

Rooftops, Dubrovnik old city

Art and Marty, Dubrovnik

Our appetites are primed after completing the city wall walk and we drop down into the old town and search for a restaurant. After much indecision and minor disagreements we settle on one. Dinner is not memorable. Exhausted, we walk back to our garrett room, grateful that it is just steps away from the old town of Dubrovnik.

Nighttime Dubrovnik

Tuesday, July 12th, Split, Trogir and Ston

By 8:15 A.M. we are sipping cappuccinos at the local café bar adjoining the farmer’s market. The coffees cost 21 kunas which is just under a dollar each. Art walks up to a market bakery and brings back three sandwiches, two salami and cheese and one ham and cheese that we eat with our coffee. It is already hot as we cross through the market to the waterfront and wait in line for the 9:15 ferry to Trogir. We buy the 24 Kuna tickets each as we board the ferry and settle into our seats for the hour ride to Trogir.

Ferry to Trogir

Morning market in Split

We are amused by the town’s name of Trogir and I anticipate seeing both trolls and ogres in this medieval walled city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After disembarking the ferry we cross over the bridge to the medieval Venetian style walled city. After strolling around the perimeter of the walled city we enter the old town through the back and wander the maze of narrow stone streets paved with an ivory colored travertine limestone, polished smooth by centuries of foot traffic.

Trogir Waterfront

Trogir Castle

Fortress guard tower

The temperature is in the high 90’s but gratefully, it is ten degrees cooler within the stone walls. Nevertheless, all three of us are somewhat lethargic either from the heat or the pace that we have been on for the past many days. We find a café in the center of the town and sit for drinks. Art orders an aperol spritzer, John a gin and tonic and I order a local prosecco which is basically a sherry over ice. Two rounds of drinks lifts our spirits briefly and we walk on to visit the village cathedral.

Are we having fun yet? Tired tourist in Trogir

Art and John climb to the bell tower but the day is sweltering and simply don’t have the leg power to make the climb and sit in the relative cool of the shaded stone entrance and wait for then to descend.

Trogir Cathedral

Lion guardians, Trogir Cathedral

After their climb we wander the small town in search of lunch and enjoy a surprisingly good meal in a shaded café. Since arriving in Italy and throughout Croatia, we have learned that when you order chicken or fish, that all you will get is the main entrée. If you want potatoes, salad or vegetables, you must order them separately. Today’s lunch comes with all the accompaniments and although the service is painfully slow, the hard working waiter lets us know that we are not forgotten and that lunch is worth waiting for.

By 2:15, we are in line for the return ferry to Split. The ferry leaves promptly at 2:30 and I doze on the hour return trip.  We drink afternoon Cappuccinos at the market before heading to our car, safely parked inside the gates of our hotel apartment and begin the drive to Dubrovnik.

Rivera Drive along the Adriatic Sea – Split to Ston

The traffic is terrible as we navigate our way out of Split and search for the coastal road leading South to Dubrovnik. Once out of sprawling Split, the traffic eases and the late afternoon drive along the coast is breathtakingly beautiful. Art drives for the first two hours; the road winding past one picturesque beac cove after another. Families swim in the cordoned off sections of each “resort,” and many of the beaches have elaborate inflatable floating waterslides and play structures. There are countless “apartments” for rent along this “Rivera” stretch of the Adriatic Sea. Eventually the road winds higher and the resorts thin and we look down on sparkling aqua jeweled coves far below. This single lane road winds precariously along the cliff side and the guard rail doesn’t look all that sturdy so we drive mindfully and hope that no one chooses to pass on a blind curve and meet us head on. This stretch of road is as breathtaking as our California Big-sur Coastline or the Amalfi Coast that we toured just last week. At one of the many view points, Art asks me to drive and even though it’s been many years since I’ve driven a stick shift, I soon have the hang of it and thoroughly enjoy being at the wheel.

Oyster beds of Mali-Ston

Cliff faces on the drive to Ston

Our plans are to stay the night in Mali Ston, recommended to Art by Robert at the Split Tourist Information office as the place to eat oysters. We see the oyster beds in the inlets below and arrive at the picturesque village of Mali Ston at 7:30 P.M. There are two upscale restaurants with outdoor tables and Art examines the menu while I walk to find a hotel. There is only one hotel in town and they have just one expensive junior suite remaining so we climb back into the car and drive another half mile to Ston. After Art and John figure out how to pay for parking, we walk into the tiny stone village and ask about accommodations.

Stan’s ancient castle wall

Street in Ston

The first private accommodations we ask about is fully booked but the helpful young woman makes a call on her cell phone, points to a restaurant on a narrow side street and within minutes the waiter escorts us to an upstairs apartment just steps away. We enter an immaculate two bedroom apartment with an efficiency kitchen and when Art asks the price we try not to laugh with relief. It is only 55 Euros for the night or about $65.00. We stow our minimal luggage and return to the restaurant where Art and John order fresh oysters and we share an elaborate fresh fish platter with piles of mussels and shrimp. The food is affordable and delicious and we share two bottles of wine before climbing the stairs to our apartment and collapsing into bed.

We are happy tourists tonight! Seafood dinner in Ston

A delicious dinner: oysters & mussels

Monday, July 11th, Five Island Cruise.

I stuff John’s pack with sunscreen, snorkeling gear and changes of clothes and the three of us walk to the waterfront making a quick stop at the local market for strong cappuccinos and breakfast sandwiches. The cappuccinos here cost just .90 euros and are strong and served in small espresso cups. When we arrive at the dock our tour group is gathering and John and I quickly board our boat and wave good bye to Art who is staying in Split for the day.

Pontoon Boat – Five Island Tour

John and his octopus ring

There are just 9 passengers plus captain and guide and our pontoon boat has minimal shade. John and I get the bench seat under the canopy,  probably because of my age. We take the coveted seats happily and begin the trip out to the blue cave grotto. The trip to Biševo island takes 1 1/2 hours and we are one of the first tour boats to arrive at the staging dock for the visit the Blue Cave Grotto. Each person in our group is handed a numbered ticket to board a smaller motor boat that will take us out to the cave. The system is well organized and within 15 minutes we are onboard one of the smaller boats and motoring around the island to the cave entrance.

Entrance to Blue Cave Grotto

Dock staging area for the Blue Cave

John, enjoying the ride

The tide is high and the opening low and I wonder how many tourists have suffered concussions or death entering the cave. We all crouch down and glide through the cave mouth opening. The interior opens up and the water below glows a brilliant turquoise, illuminated only by the natural sunlight seeping into the cave from outside. We are inside just ten minutes, duck again to exit the cave and return to our pontoon boat.

Looking down in the Blue Cave Grotto

Blue Cave entrance from inside

We continue to onto Vis Island and anchor at the entrance to a narrow cove flanked by tall cliffs. There are many other boats anchored here and John and I slip into the water and snorkel for an hour, swimming along the rock walls and into the beach cove, although neither of us are compelled to go onto the pebbly beach.

Vis Island Cove

From here we motor to the Green Cave where outside, the white sandy bottom shimmers a near emerald green and a beam of light penetrates the interior of the cave through an opening in the roof. The cave is crowded with boats and swimmers, some with inflatable floats. I am especially amused by the pink flamingo.

Pink Flamingo in the Green Cave Grotto

John – Green Cave

Our group is not allowed to swim inside the cave and we continue towards Vis Island where we have two hours to relax, swim and to eat lunch.

Beach at Vis Island

Vis Island Folaige

The path to the other side of the island

John’s and my tour includes lunch and our captain walks us up and over the tiny island, through lush foliage to a small harbor on the other side of the island. Our lunch is at the Yacht club and we take advantage of the showers to rinse off the salt water before sitting down to enjoy our lunch. Beer and wine are included and we return to our boat feeling relaxed and in island mode.

Island harbor

Drinks at the island’s yacht harbor

Drinks overlooking the harbor

We have another snorkeling stop along and around several submerged sand bar islands. The water is extremely shallow and sea grass is the main attraction. John dives down and comes up with a large and perfect crab carapace and as we motor onto Havar, we discuss jewelry design possibilities for the crab shell.

Havar Island Town

Havar is our last island stop and the day is brutally hot and blindingly bright. A fortress sits atop the island and I stroll the shaded town streets in the sweltering heat while John sprints up to the fortress to take in the views of the Pakleni islands and Havar city below.

The center square, Havar Town

Narrow street of Havar Town

Rooftops of Havar City

Narrow street of Havar Town

Our island tour started with the farthest island stop first and we have circled back to islands closer to Split. it is only a 30 minutes ride back to Split. When we arrive, Art greets us at the dock and recounts his day in Split, at his own pace and we share the adventures of our day with him.

Returning to Split harbor

Art greets us at the dock

We wander the streets of the old city and after examining many restaurant menus finally settle on one and enjoy a relatively good meal.

Reading restaurant menus to choose where to dine.

Night cafes on the waterfront

After dinner, we wander the waterfront and dance to the music of the outdoor band. The heat of the day has abated and we join in the festivities and relax in the cool of the evening.

Nighttime waterfront festivities

Live waterfront music

Sunday, July 10th, Plitvica Lakes to Zadar  and onto Split

After a breakfast of cappuccinos and plates of cold ham, cheese and bread we leave Plitvica Park and speed along the modern highway towards Zadar. Signage is clear and we make no wrong turns and Art is confident and happy behind the wheel of our new rental car.

Breakfast at Plitvica Lakes

We arrive in the outskirts of Zadar at noon; find a pay parking lot just outside the walls of the old town and enter into the picturesque walled city. The pedestrian artery is lined with ice cream shops, restaurants and cosmopolitan boutiques.

Ice-cream shop, Zadar

Zadar Old City

The guidebook advises that we head for the waterfront promenade. The sun is brutally hot and blindingly bright, reflecting off the creamy stone of the waterfront plaza that features Nikola Bašić’s Sea Organ and Sun Salutation Dial. Sunbathers cool off in the Zadarski Channel and we hear the mournful wail of the sea organ as the tide sloshes into it’s pipes.John takes a quick dip before we continue our promenade across the plaza of the Sun Salutation Dial, a 22 meter circle of inlaid glass plates that collect the sun’s energy and power the harbor front lighting and the Sea Organ. After a quick lunch we climb the castle walls to visit a glass museum before returning to our car to drive on to Split.

Zadar waterfront promenade

Designer, Nikola Basic’s, Sun Salutation Dial

Sun Salutation Dial

We arrive in Split late afternoon without hotel reservations. After getting our bearings in the picturesque walled city, we stumble upon a hostel and inquire about accommodations? The hostel has no availability but within minutes the desk attendant has made appropriate phone calls and a young woman arrives and escorts us several blocks away to two ground floor rooms that she rents. The price is about $70 for a simple three bedded room with gated parking for our car. We settle in quickly and return to the walled city where we stroll the waterfront promenade with the intention of booking a five island tour for the following day. The expansive waterfront is lined with countless kiosks selling a variety of island tours. Choosing which one of these to book is confusing and stressful. Both the types of boats and the itineraries vary and Art is soon in a grumpy mood and tells John and me that he does not want to go to the islands but will spend the following day in Split alone.

Waterfront promenade, Split

Unable to make an island decision we leave the waterfront and meander the back streets of Split. Without too many disagreements we find an outdoor cafe where we eat a light dinner. Refueled we return to the waterfront, choose an island tour and pay the hefty deposit for John and me.

Narrow streets of medieval Split

Narrow streets of Medieval Split

The many outdoor cafes are filling up quickly with patrons wanting to watch the soccer tournament and we hurriedly find three seats at one of the restaurants, order drinks and relax in the cool of the evening.

Relaxing with a beer in Split

Saturday, July 9th, Plitvica Lakes

We wake early and walk across the street to a nearby restaurant for breakfast. We are the only patrons and we order cappuccinos and three breakfast plates of cold ham, cheese and bread. Last night we read the guide book to plan our day at the lakes. Although we can take a bus into the park and avoid parking challenges we decide to drive into the park. We have heard that at high season there can be as many as 15,000 visitors each day and Art drops me at the entrance to buy tickets while he and John find parking. The price for a single day entry is approximately $25 per adult and $15 for students and children. The Kuna to dollar exchange rate is currently in our favor. There are two and three day passes also available and along with our tickets we are handed maps that chart out the various hiking routes depending on one’s available time and fitness level. Art and I get senior discounts and with maps in hand we catch the shuttle bus to the start of our chosen route which will take us throughout the park and most of the day to hike.

The ticket kiosk at Plitvica Lakes

Trail Options

It is a glorious and beautiful day and the three of us walk a raised meandering boardwalk above shallow crystal clear pools alive with darting fish. Water shimmers in the sunlight and larger fish take shelter under submerged logs along shadowed banks. Initially the boardwalk winds through lush meadows fringed by Alpine forests but we soon arrive at the beginning of the chain of larger lakes, all the surreal color of Paraiba tourmaline.

Meadow Boardwalk

Plitvica Lake Boardwalk

Plitvica Lake Fish

In mid July, the day is hot but we are surrounded by water, rushing streams and cascading waterfalls. At each turn along the path a vista more beautiful that the last awaits us.

There are traffic jams of tourists along the boardwalk and we let clusters pass or we speed ahead to find moments of solitude along the trail.

Stream feeding into the lake

Crowds of tourists along the boardwalks

Stream feeding into the lake

We come to a group of photographers with their lenses focused a few feet up the hillside and I push in to watch a shiny yellow and black spotted salamander nudging it’s way slowly through the fallen leaves.

Spotted Salamander

The boardwalk turns into a wider pathway and the switchbacks take us steadily uphill where we have expansive vistas of the turquoise lakes below.

Switchback trail

Marty and Art, Vista at Plitvica Lake

The trail continues to climb and then descend and once again we are walking a boardwalk along the perimeter of the lake. Feathery waterfalls cascade into the lake below, the foliage diverting the water into many falling rivulets. I can only imagine how powerful the falls must be during the rainy season. We break the rules and step a few feet off the pathway to catch our breath and rest on a fallen log with a lakeside view.

Waterfalls feed the Plitvica Lake chain

Cascading streams

Feathery Waterfalls

Included in the ticket price is a ferry ride from one side of the lake to the other where one can choose from a number of trails and continue to hike other sections of the park. The ferry docks at a communal park area with picnic benches and restroom facilities and when we find a shaded table, we unpack our picnic and refuel.

Picnic area

Ferry across the lake

The chain of Plitvica Lakes are at varied elevations and after lunch our trail climbs high up to a series of caves and grottos in the cliff side. Art and I climb most of the way but when a steep rock hewn stairway ascends another 100 feet, we wait below while John sprints to the top.

Art below the cliff grotto

Grotto

Trailside Flower

John and Marty, Plitvica Lake Waterfall

After about 6 hours of hiking we have reached the end of our route. We have all enjoyed the day; both the exercise and the intoxicating beauty of jeweled lakes the color of tourmalines.

Plitvica Lake Vista

Vista of one of the Plitvica Lake Boardwalks

By the time we catch the shuttle back to the parking lot it is late afternoon. I pay for the parking while Art and John retrieve our car and we drive back to our guest house. The owner offers us schnapps and we sit on the terrace and drink her strong home distilled liquor and visit awkwardly. Communication is painful since her English is minimal and our Croatian nonexistent but John, with energy to spare, manages to get directions to a swimming spot along the nearby river. As tired as I am I set out walking along the road with him until I realize the swimming spot is further than I imagined.  I return to our simple room, check e-mail and rest until John returns. We eat another fine dinner at the same restaurant as last night and fall into our beds exhausted.

Friday, July 8th, Rijeka to Plitvica Lakes

After morning coffee, we go with Kate to visit Evan, her woodworker friend who we met last night. His workshop is impressive and he is renovating an immense stone farmhouse that has been in his family for generations.  Art is most interested in his tools and his projects and we take an extensive tour of the property, climbing ladders to the second floor and admiring the stacks of lumber he has milled for the renovation.

Stone farmhouse and workshop

Woodworker, Ivan Juretic Milano

Second story view

Tools

Milled and stacked lumber

From there we drive into Rijeka and visit Eva in her archival print studio where she repairs and archives important documents for the state.

Eva’s Archival paper studio

Document storage

Eva’s Archival paper studio

After dropping Kate off to pick up her car, new gas tank installed, we go to lunch in Rijeka. The restaurant is just off the waterfront and we eat piles of fried fish and sardines before saying our good byes and piloting our rental car towards the Plitvica Lake district. We find the toll road from Rijeka towards Zagreb and speed easily along the well signed and beautiful super highway. Unfortunately, we exit too soon and after much confusion and arguing choose the road that John and I believe will be a shortcut along back roads, through Ogulin and onto the lake district. We wind country roads, some of which feel little more than cow paths. The tension between us rises when the computer directions that Kate has printed fail to match our road map and we each have an opinion as to the correct route to the lakes. Happily, the scenery is so bucolic that we get caught up in the beauty of the countryside and we begin to enjoy the journey. Tidy farms and picturesque stone houses dot the countryside and families picnic in their gardens and farmers tend their land in the cool of the late afternoon.  Everything is lush and green and if I didn’t know better, I might think that we are driving through rural, Alpine Austria. When we arrive at the outskirts of Ogulin and stop at a small café for a cappuccino, I see a smile escape Arts scowl.

Ogulin Cafe

It is late afternoon when we enter the national park and we pull over at several view points amazed at the beauty of the lake below. Tomorrow, we will spend the day hiking the trails but this breathtaking, sneak preview view is all that we get today.

Late afternoon view of Plitvica Lakes

We don’t have hotel reservations for the night and we enter the national park from the back side. After inquiring at a few fully booked guest houses, we find a cluster of restaurants and family run inns a few miles from the park. A two story chalet has two rooms with a shared bath available for two nights and we pay the modest price of 100 kuna per person, about $45 for the three of us and settle into the immaculate rooms.  In broken English the owner recommends one of the two restaurants across the street for dinner and we walk the quarter mile down to the suggested one. Although we must wait for an outside table on their patio, the ambience is lovely and our dinners and the wine is good.

Thursday, July 7th, SKABE to Rijeka

After coffee and a morning tasting of snaps on the shaded terrace, we pay the reasonable bill of 225 Euros for our three night stay. The immaculate two room apartment had a tiny kitchenette, a private bath and an upstairs balcony overlooking the garden where I sat each morning to write. Breakfast has been simple but each morning, Mira made us coffee and provided us with freshly baked strudel or biscuits.

Later today we will rent a car in Rijeka and this morning we call our travel rewards credit card to double check on what insurance our card provides. After saying goodbye to our hosts we drive with Kate towards Rijeka where she has lived and worked for 8 years. On the way we stop in a tiny village and visit a new age friend of hers who is house sitting a lovely renovated three story stone house. We meet her in the village square and she wears a tight white dress and glides towards us in greeting. We stroll through the town’s historical castle fortress grounds before going to her home to drink mint lemonade and visit.

Village Castle

Lemonade with new friends

We arrive in Rijeka shortly after 1:00 P.M. just as the public organic market is closing. Kate gives us a brief tour of the city and buys a loaf of bread from a tiny sidewalk kiosk. We make another attempt to get Kuna from a PBZ ATM and after inquiring inside the bank, Art punches in a smaller transaction amount and we walk away with 3000 Kunas, not quite $500.

At a Rijeka bank to get Kuna’s

Rijeka

We go to pick up our Thrifty rental car and as usual, there are issues with the insurance. Liability insurance is included in the previously quoted price of the rental car but comprehensive is not. We explain to the agent that our credit card company will cover any damage or the loss of the car but the bottom line is that if we refuse their additional comprehensive insurance that we must agree to a $20,000 hold onto our credit card. If we buy their insurance for an additional $150 the hold on our credit card will be just $900. Art is angry and I only wish for peace and harmony and safe passage down to Dubrovnik. The rental car counter is inside the bus terminal and the price for bus tickets to Plitnvica Lakes and other parts of the Dalmatian Coast are reasonable. Art is anxious about driving and parking and we leave to discuss our options, eventually returning to rent a car. After accepting their insurance, considerable paperwork and a long walk to where the car is parked we drive away in a brand new white Toyota Corolla. We follow Kate out of Rijeka to an auto repair shop where she has arranged to have a new gas tank installed in her car. We take Kate from the auto repair shop to her rural home.

Appetizers at Kate’s house

Chilling in Kate’s courtyard

Hanging laundry

Kate’s kitchen and living space

It is nearly 5:00 P.M. by the time we arrive at Kate’s stone house in the countryside. Her small apartment is comfortable and cool and Art and I will sleep in Kate’s bedroom. She and John will sleep on a corner couch in her tiny living room. Art naps in the hammock while I cut thick slices of bread and Kate cuts cheese and dishes up a spread of whitefish, seasonings and olive oil. We have not had lunch and the whitefish is delicious spread onto the hearty bread. Art drinks Campari Spritzer and Kate, John and I drink hearty local red wine. I do two loads of laundry which we hang to dry on a line in Kate’s quiet garden.

Waiting for the dinner guests.

Hammock time

Kate chops onions and potatoes and whips in some eggs to make a skillet top frittata for dinner. After picking lettuce from her garden she makes a garden salad and around eight, Evan, a woodworker and Eva a paper maker/restorer arrive for dinner. A few other of Kate’s friends stop by and we enjoy a simple and delicious dinner in her courtyard garden.

Wednesday, July 6th – SKABE – Tour the upper Istria Peninsula.

After a leisurely morning of coffee and conversation in the shade of the porch off of Mira’s kitchen, we follow Roberts suggested itinerary and drive towards the seaside town of Roving.

Relaxes morning at SKABE farmhouse

After several incorrect stops at shopping malls in search of the PBZ ATM that we believe has some affiliation with Bank of America, Art, who has forgotten his passport is still unable to withdraw Kuna. We drive towards Rovinj stopping first at a tiny village where we eat lunch in the shaded courtyard of a jazz café.

Village lunch, Art and Kate

When we arrive in Rovinj, Kate finds street parking, pays the meter via her phone, and we wander the old town, climbing cobbled streets uphill to the Cathedral and the park overlooking the harbor and the city below.

Rovinj

Rovinj

The afternoon is hot and humid and we find a shaded grassy spot in the park and Kate pulls a rattan mat from her rucksack, unfolds it and the three of us nap on the mat. John leans up against a tree and continues reading Snow Crash. I seldom nap but am exhausted from the heat and our busy itinerary and fall asleep immediately.

Rovinj park

Rovinj rocky beach

An hour later we stroll down towards the harbor where John swims off the rocks. There are many cafe bars with terraces overlooking the sea below. Art wants a gelato but a “Greek style” cliff side café beckons Kate and me. While Art wanders the old town, Kate and I sit propped on cushions in the cool shade of the cafe just steps from the water and order frothy mint lemonades. Thirty minutes later, I walk up to the top of the street to meet Art and to inform John of our whereabouts. Art joins us in the cafe and John swims up to the café and hauls himself onto the terrace, drips dry and orders a drink.

Cafe bar, Rovinj

Swim up cafe, Rovinj

Rovinj harbor

Robert has suggested The Viking Restaurant along the canal where we can eat especially fresh oysters and fish. Finding the restaurant is challenging but Art navigates and we eventually find the restaurant, order oysters, raw shrimp and other assorted platters of friend fish. Not being a fan of oysters, the food is not my favorite but it has been a lovely day of exploration and relaxation on the breathtakingly beautiful Istria Peninsula.

Viking Restaurant, Rovinj

Tuesday, July 5th, SKABE – Istria

After two weeks of intense sightseeing in Italy, we are finally on vacation and I sleep until 9:00 A.M. After I wake I sit quietly outside on our bedroom’s terrace and write this journal allowing Art and John to continue to sleep. At 11:00 A.M. I urge my family to get moving  and we all  go downstairs for coffee off the kitchen terrace and meet Anjani, Robert’s wife. Surprisingly, Anjani is not only half Okinawa (as is my husband Art) but gracious, stunningly beautiful and was the vocalist and partner of Leonard Cohen for many years. Leonard Cohen is one of my all time favorite musicians and I feel tongue tied in Anjani’s presence. It is obvious that she does not want to talk about her past life and she busies herself in the kitchen and sweeping the patio.

John is anxious to return to the beach Safari Bar and we leave at 2:00 P.M.to drive the 45 minutes to the national park beach. We find a secluded table along the cliffside pathway of the bar, buy a bowl of Sangria and nibble on some snacks we packed. There is no sand at this beach but steep cliffs allow for good diving into the pristine ocean below. John immediately heads down to the cliffs, jumps into a deep pool and scrambles back up to do it all over again. He takes a dive and then does a back flip and his confidence and fearlessness frighten me, but I know cautioning him will only make him push the limits further. His athleticism surpasses most of the other swimmers and I see eyes watching this lean and muscled young man as he gets silently ranked and qualified to join the other alpha males swimming and diving.

John at the Safari Bar Cliffs

John at the Safari Bar Cliffs

Safari Bar Beach

Safari Bar Sangrias

Art and I wade cautiously into the ocean careful not to slip on the slabs of wet rock that form a gentle sloped ramp into the water. I swim parallel to the beach and watch the young people dive and jump into the water above me.

Sloped rocks into the ocean

We stay until nearly 8:00 P.M. pack up and drive into the nearby town. Friends of Kate’s have recently opened a new restaurant and we enjoy a fabulous dinner of truffle pasta, Mediterranean salad, Chautebrian in mushroom sauce and a filet of fish. We share our tastes of our various plates and all is exceptional including the bottle of local white wine. Dinner is extremely reasonable.