Hilltop Settlement of Groznjan

Yesterday we drove from Plitvice National Park to a section of Croatia called Istria. Istria is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea, sharing three countries, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. It is very beautiful country side and for wine lovers (which we are not) it is a great place to be. It is also rich in olive oil and some fruit trees. We followed our map and arrived at our home for two nights. Up, perched on this hill is our little town? village? Settlement...Groznjan. In history books, the first mention of this little place is in 1102! Venice ruled this area from 1300 through the 1700's so it is heavily saturated with Italian culture. 

We parked and walked to find our little place. Didn't have to search long, there aren't very many "streets". Here is our courtyard.

Our entrance. Looks awesome huh?

Okay, so I might have picked this place because it seems like you are living in a castle...and I love castles.

But, it came with a kitchen and that is also a bonus! Didn't cost more than $60 per night either. Pretty good. 

Here are some pictures of the narrow, winding streets. 

One of the views from our little hill.

This house used to be the blacksmith, built in 1406 or so. 

Okay, sunset picture below.

Another one. This place is quite romantic and dreamy. And totally relaxing. They have a summer jazz festival, set to start next week I think, so the little village does get a fair number of tourists. It is quite a nice place to be for now. 

Waterfalls and Road Tripping

Wendy and I got the chance to go to a national park here in Croatia. I was interested to see how they are different from American parks. Well they actually aren't really all that different, but it doesn't mean that they aren't fun. Plitvice National Park is located in the center of Croatia and has more waterfalls and cute little lake fish than a person can count. 

 One waterfall would be nice to see, but here you get 8 for the price of 1.

 Even I (Brian) could see the bright blue color, and I am color blind!!!! Really beautiful water.

 Some guys were feeding the massive schools of fish and they were running into each other to try to get the piece of bread. It was quite entertaining. Not that we condone mockery of hungry fish, it was just fun to watch.

 This was called the Great Falls, standing tall at 43 meters (130 ft). It's just too bad most times the water at the bottom isn't deep or this would make one great cliff jumping experience!!!

 One thing you would never notice in this picture is that Wendy has little snacks in here hand, and I am hiding the snack bag behind my back. Other than that, it's just a normal picture.

 Plitvice was about 4 hours of nonstop waterfalls and blue lakes (that were forbidden to swimming, aarrrggghhh) and easy hiking which makes for quite a relaxing day.

 You can see that there is a very nice boardwalk that snakes through the park and goes into some pretty fun spots, like this massive cave. If they had not built this boardwalk, the park would be very different and a much wetter experience.

 At the rental car company the guy said all they had left was a Mercedes-Benz and it would be the same price and I said " Oh man, please I'm begging you to find our original car: the gutless, tin can Ford Spark, I just can't stand riding in awesome luxury cars!!!!"

I think of the phrase " the straw that broke the camels back." Except, in this case the camel is a Croatian farmers old rusty trailer. 

The sleepy little town of Korenica

I got to drive today! First time since August 2013! And, the car we had reserved wasn't available, so we got a Mercedes Benz. :) Anyway, we drove from Dubrovnik up the coast past the town of Split. Then, onward under the mountains. Yes, under. We passed a lot of beautiful spots along the way. This valley was full of fruit stands with figs, plums, watermelon, oranges, apples and more. All fresh!

Here is the longest tunnel Brian and I have both been in. 3 1/4 mile long tunnel. And when we came out the other side it was much more green and lush than the coastline had been.

Brian and I enjoyed a walk when we arrived in the little town of 1,500 people. We found the local firehouse, nice looking firetruck. After our dinner they had a volleyball net set up in the driveway with kids and firemen playing. 

Here is the entrance to our guesthouse for one night. It is a pleasant place. Tomorrow we head to Plitvice National Park. A mixture of Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon, as Rick Steves puts it. 

High on Mt Srd (pronounced "Surge").

Another hiking day for us. We started at 8 AM to beat some of the heat, but were both sweating freely by the time we got to the top. What an awesome view of the city though. You can really see the walled off area of the Old Town. 

Looking to the North. 

Napoleon built a fort up here in the early 1800's and it still stands today. It was helpful to the Croatians in 1991 when they were under fire from the Serbian army. The Croatians were able to hold the city because they had control over Mt. Srd. Good thing for Napoleon's fort!

We treated ourselves with a tram ride to the bottom though. Took us right to the walls of the city. So, inside we went. It is really a delight to walk through the streets of the Old Town of Dubrovnik. 

Within the walls are many narrow passageways built only for foot. Or a daring scooter, of which there are many here. You can just wander up and down all the streets, some locals still live within the walls, and there are many tourist shops and cafes. 

The main street.

Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. Built in 1725. 

We have one more afternoon here in Dubrovnik before we start north in our rental car early in the morning. I get to drive!!! First time since August last year! This is a lovely city, one we will hopefully return to someday. 

Where do I start???

The drive to Croatia from Bosnia was a long one. Not because it is really far, but because it is a twisty road with only two lanes. The border crossing was the longest part! We waited in traffic for at least 45 minutes, then finally parked (since we were a massive bus) and the customs workers took all our passports. At least fifty passports! Then we waited another 45 min to get our passports back. Not the most logical of systems. But, it was worth it when we saw the view. 

Below is our first view of Dubrovnik, Croatia. This is the north end of town, most of the tourists head south. Do you see the cruise ship? 

Our guesthouse owner found us and drove us to our lovely home for three nights. Complete with a garden to relax in! Then we headed out to the Old Town. Dubrovnik was first founded in the 7th century. Wow, then became a main sea trading city in the 13th century. There was a massive earthquake in 1667 that leveled many of the public buildings. Here you can see the walls as they stretch on one side of the city. 

The wall walk was our destination today. It stretches 1.24 miles around the old part of the city. We enjoyed a leisurely walk, taking a lot of pictures along the way. 

The views were awesome from the wall. All these buildings are within the old part of the city. 

Below, the popular main street inside the walls. Shopping, coffee shops and a lot of ice cream to buy!

I told Brian he had to let me buy more souvenirs or else...

We completed our evening with a lovely dinner, and a beer. Not quite the beer everyone is thinking of. It was so good! Almost like a soda, just not as sweet! We will make sure to find this one again. And, I found some friends. See below. The blue and yellow one didn't want to leave my shoulder, but I told him it was a long way home.

Tomorrow we go on a kayaking adventure complete with some snorkeling. I will wear a lot of sunblock.