Croatia

At the end of August for our last Bank Holiday weekend getaway, David and I split up and he headed to Boston for a friend’s wedding while I flew to Split, Croatia.  The truth is, Boston is a long way to travel for a short few days, and I had never been to Croatia before.  So when Paul and Alyson invited me as the third wheel on their vacation, I had to ditch David and New England for the sunny Adriatic.

Split is a scenic seaside town on the Dalmatian coast featuring the ancient palace of Diocletian.  The palace was built by the Roman emperor Diocletian in the 4^th century, and the modern town of Split has incorporated its old town into the ruins.  The entire site is protected by UNESCO, so walking through the city is like going back in time. 

We stayed at the Le Meridien (yay, Starwood points!) just outside the city.  The hotel is situated on its own private beach, and also home to a luxury yacht marina.  On Friday, Paul, Alyson, and I had to wake up at 3AM to catch our flight, so when we got to Croatia later that morning, we decided to lie around on the beach all day, napping and reading. 

Even though we were at the hotel and checked in before eleven, all of the beach chairs were taken.  We did manage to snag three spots on the pier next to the yachts, which gave us great views of the boats. 

Plus it was easier getting in by just jumping off the pier instead of tip-toeing across hot rocks.  When we asked a local if there were any sand beaches in Croatia, they replied, “Sand is nonsense!  We are a rocky people!”

That night, we had dinner in town at a great outdoor café called Konoba Marul, where we enjoyed local specialities like eggplant stuffed with cheese and prosciutto and spicy sausage with boiled potatoes.  

We walked off all of the food afterwards, taking a self-guided tower of the palace at night. 

On Saturday, we wanted to take the catamaran out to Hvar, a beautiful island and playground of the rich and famous.  Our concierge was really helpful and told us that we had to be there before 8:30 to snag tickets for the 11:30 departure.  So it was up at ‘em early again to grab a taxi to the city for our boat tickets.  We were able to get three seats, and with 3 hours to spare, we had plenty of time to grab breakfast and explore more of Split.

There are plenty of bakeries in the city centre offering traditional strudels, so we grabbed some cherry and apple flavors, as well as some chocolate crème pastries.  We ate them in one of the old town squares before going shopping for souvenirs and snacks for Hvar and our excursion the next day to Plitvice Lakes National Park.

Next we decided to climb up to Marjan, a hillside covered in pine forests with great views overlooking the town and harbour.  Looking back, we probably should’ve gone grocery shopping after our hike.  Poor Paul was left carrying all of the food plus a heavy bottle of wine in his backpack.  But I think the views were worth it, and we were able to see one ancient church, but we didn’t have time to find the hermitage caves used in the 1400s. 

13^th century church of St. Nicholas

When we got to Hvar, the harbour was small compared to Split, and we were able to see most of the major attractions, like the churches and arsenal, within an hour, so we decided to rent a boat to spend the day at sea.

Unfortunately to rent a powerful boat, we needed a license and Paul’s TX boating license was expired.  However, we were able to rent a dinghy for the afternoon for practically nothing! 

Our beloved dinghy

At first, Alyson was a bit weary that Paul could drive the thing, given it didn’t even have a steering wheel, and we were a bit anxious about getting stranded in the middle of the sea, but the rental company gave us some emergency contact numbers, some paddles in case we had to row ourselves to land, and assured us that we didn’t have enough power to go that far out to sea anyway.  In the end, Paul was an excellent driver and we had a great time touring the nearby islands!

  Captain Paul was having a great time doing donuts all afternoon!

Paul is currently reading ‘Treasure Island’ so he found an abandoned island for us to sunbathe on, but we kept teasing him that he should lead us on a treasure hunt instead.

On Sunday, we had planned a day-trip to the Plitvice Lakes.  I’d heard about these lakes from some other friends that have been there, and was really looking forward to seeing them in-person. 

We were picked up at 7:30 on Sunday (another early morning!) and started our three-hour drive to the countryside.  About 2 hours into the drive, it started storming.  Not just raining, but sideways rain, thunder, and lightning.  All of the tourists began panicking and when I asked our driver and guide if they’d ever been to the lakes in weather like that, they replied, “We’ve been in the snow and rain, but no, not like this.  But who cares?!  We’ll have fun!”

We weren’t so sure.

I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to see all of the gorgeous colors – the blues and greens of the various lakes, Alyson was afraid of being struck by lightning walking across open water, and Paul wanted to turn around and go to the lakes closer to Split, Krka.

We toughed it out and after grabbing some plastic ponchos and an umbrella at the gift-shop, we headed out in the torrential downpour to start our 3-mile hike around the 16 lakes.  

I felt so bad for organizing the tour, and dragging Paul and Alyson there with me…

But less than 5 minutes later, the rain stopped and it completely cleared up.  Thank goodness!! 

Alyson and I are still in our ponchos, just in case...

I've removed the poncho but still have my jacket on, just in case...

We finally shed all of our layers once we realized the sun was going to stay out!

And it worked out in our benefit because the park was much less crowded (especially during peak summer season) so we didn’t have to wait in line for anything – the entrance tickets, the boat ride across one of the larger lakes, or the shuttle.

I was so happy to be able to see the vibrant blue water!

The park was so amazing and beautiful, so we were really glad the sun came out and we could enjoy all of the crystal clear water.

There is a whole other world beneath the lakes, and when the sun hit the surface just right, you could see clearly all of the way to the bottom.

The lakes are protected as part of one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, so no swimming is allowed, plus the park is home to otters and bears and other creatures that we were not allowed to disturb.  It wasn’t that hot because of the rain, so we didn’t feel like we even wanted to go in for a dip, but Paul did ask if any other tourists ‘accidentally’ fall into the lakes to cool off.  Our guide told us she doesn’t let them!

One of the most fun parts of the trip was meeting Leonardo, a three year-old Brazilian boy on vacation with his father and mother.  He hiked the entire 3 miles on his tiny little legs.  He spent the walk singing to us, or counting to 10 in English, Portuguese, and French.  He was so bright, and I couldn’t believe he did the entire hike on his own.   What a cutie!

On Monday, we finally got to sleep in a little.  We woke up at 8:00 and immediately headed down to the beach, where we read and napped and relaxed and swam.  We hung out there until 1:00 when it was time to grab lunch and head to the airport.

Though it was a short trip, it was the perfect ending to a great summer!  Thanks again for the invite, Paul and Alyson!  I had so much fun as the third wheel. ;)