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SB14: Split, Croatia

June 1, 2014

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After Plitvice Lakes National Park, we drove four hours south to Split. We arrived in the late afternoon, got cleaned up, and walked around the harbor.

Where we ate
We ate dinner at Restoran Bajamonti. It had great sea food and a blue lobster on display in a tank.

Where we stayed
We rented rooms 1 and 3 at Villa Stone Flower. It was much more a bed and breakfast than a hostel. We loved this little place! It was centrally located, had fast Wi-Fi, and was decorated so nice. The owner Ana was super sweet and gave us some options of things to do. The only problem we had was parking our massive van. But the boys found a parking structure not too far away, so it worked out fine.

The next morning, we grabbed some pastries and walked toward the water.

Here’s the Croatian National Theatre:

We made our way to Diocletian’s Palace, another UNESCO World Heritage site. The Roman emperor Diocletian built it in the fourth century AD as his retirement home. I haven’t seen the show, but the palace is a filming site for the HBO series Game of Thrones.

The palace was quite large. Homes and businesses were built into the walls. See a 360° tour at this website.

You can walk around most of the palace for free. We paid a little extra to peek into the cathedral, baptistery, and mausoleum.

We didn’t spend much time in Split. We had a four hour drive back to Zagreb and returned to Turkey the following morning.

It was an awesome spring break trip! I’m always very thankful for our breaks and the opportunities we have to travel. We returned rested, relaxed, and ready to knock out the last quarter of the school year!

Here’s a recap of the trip:
» Day 1 & 2: Zagreb, Croatia
» Day 3: Bled, Slovenia
» Day 4: Ljubjlana, Slovenia
» Day 4: Škocjan Caves Park, Slovenia
» Day 5: Krk, Croatia
» Day 6: Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
» Day 7: Split, Croatia

SB14: Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

May 29, 2014

Leah

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After Krk, we left the coast and headed to Plitvice Lakes National Park. The park was my favorite part of our trip! Plitvice is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The drive there was beautiful with mountains and forests, but the road was crazy with a lot of switchbacks.

Entrance to the park was 110HRK, which is about $20. (Price conversions were tricky this trip… with a lot of initial sticker shock!)

My professional guestimation is that we saw 16,939 waterfalls.

We walked along footbridges that weaved in and out and over and around the waterfalls. We scored big being there during off-season. We heard that during peak season it can be so crowded that you’re shoulder to shoulder with people the entire walk.

We took a ferry across one of the lakes. We had a funny culture shock moment on our return ride. In Turkey, we’ve learned to be aggressive in lines. Our ferry was packed. Some people had to stand in the aisles. We sat on the benches at the very front. As we pulled up to the dock, we immediately stood up so we could be the first ones off the boat. And we looked like idiots. Everyone very methodically and in true Western style exited the boat row by row. People didn’t even stand up until it was their turn. Shame on us.

Everywhere we looked… waterfalls and more waterfalls!

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On our way out of the park, we made one last stop.

Here’s our travel group:

The water came over the footbridges in some spots:

So much so, we had to walk across bridges on the footbridges. As David said in his Vine video… “walking on water!”

It was an awesome last waterfall to see!

Where we stayed
We stayed at Hotel Bellevue. We chose this one over Hotel Plitvice because it was cheaper. It was very basic and fairly clean, so it worked for a night. The hotel was a 10 minute walk from park entrance #2. It was nice that we didn’t have to worry about parking.

Where we ate
There were no towns or villages by the park, and our only option was the restaurant in Hotel Plitvice. After we dropped off our bags, we walked across the street for dinner. We had a really weird Grand Budapest Hotel moment. There was a grand dining room with white tablecloths and napkins, but only a handful of the tables were being used. The meal was average. The breakfast the next morning at Hotel Bellevue was awesome. It was just what we needed before our hike in the park! We stocked up on snacks and fruit before we got there, so we had plenty of munchies for our hike.

Here’s a recap of our trip:
» Day 1 & 2: Zagreb, Croatia
» Day 3: Bled, Slovenia
» Day 4: Ljubjlana, Slovenia
» Day 4: Škocjan Caves Park, Slovenia
» Day 5: Krk, Croatia
» Day 6: Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
» Day 7: Split, Croatia

SB14: Krk, Croatia

May 25, 2014

Leah

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After exploring Škocjan Caves, we drove 70 miles south to the island of Krk. I heard some great things about Krk, and it was a good mid-point stop. It was just turning dark when we got to the island. We had a list of hostel and hotel options, but our lack of pre-booking gave us a big headache here. Because we were there during off-season (beginning of April), very few restaurants, shops, or hotels were open. We found one hotel, but the cost was ridiculous. We even considered sleeping in the van. We were all tired, hungry, and irritable. I started to feel like I ruined David’s birthday by suggesting Krk.

A man from one of the few places open helped us. He knew a little English and said there was a new hostel and pointed in a general direction. Krk was a maze of tiny streets and David and I set out to find it while everyone else stayed with the van. A few people were out walking, but none of them spoke English. Fortunately, a man knew where it was and walked us directly to the place.

Where we stayed
I don’t think Hostel Krk was actually open. The owner was in the middle of renovations, but he said we could stay in a room. The whole situation was laughable… I mean, we used our sheets for towels in the morning. I’m sure this place is awesome when it’s not under construction. The owner was super nice, and it was a deal. We paid $20 per person for the night. (We probably would have paid more just for a place to stay!) This is what we walked through to get to our room:

Where we ate
Our next challenge was to find a restaurant for David’s birthday dinner. After our luck in the previous cities, we weren’t hopeful, especially since it was around 10pm. I would have been happy with a McDonald’s. Instead, we found a pizza place called Volsonis. Volsonis was one of those happy surprises. The history behind the restaurant was fascinating. A couple bought a house and decided to renovate. In the process, they found an old stone brick. They had someone analyze it and soon after did some archeological exploration. They discovered the house was built on top of an old town. Not only that, but they found the tombstone of Volson, one of the city rulers of Krk. (It was creepy to go to the bathrooms – the basement was the tombstone area!) And the pizza there – delicious. I was so glad I didn’t ruin David’s birthday after all. If you visit Krk, you must eat at Volsonis. And check out the basement. (Sorry no photos, but check out their website.)

We spent the next morning walking around the island. We saw one tourist group, but other than that, Krk city was pretty quiet. I loved the narrow stone streets. We bought some pastries for breakfast and did a little shopping. I’d be okay with living on an island one day.

Being by the Adriatic Sea was a literal breath of fresh air. Even though the water was too cold for swimming, I was in love with this little island.

We grabbed lunch by the boardwalk. I got scampi and David got a massive hunk of tuna. There’s nothing like seafood by the sea!

Being near the water puts me in a happy place:

So many shades of blue!

It would have been nice to have seen some of the other cities around Krk (the island is only 156 square miles), but we needed to get going to our next city. Here we are crossing over the bridge that connected the island to the mainland:

The Croatian coastline is insanely beautiful. One of the best things about having a rental vehicle is that you can stop whenever you want. Here’s the only photo I got of our massive van:

Dear Croatian Coast – I’ll never forget you!

SB14: Škocjan Caves Park, Slovenia

May 20, 2014

Leah

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After our morning in Ljubljana (still David’s birthday!), we drove 50 miles southwest to Škocjan Caves Park. The caves are on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The visitor center was under construction, so our tickets were discounted. Also due to renovations, part of the caves were closed, but we got to see a different section that wasn’t usually part of the tour.

We piled into an elevator that took us down the hill closer to the entrance of the cave.

The caves were carved out by the Reka River:

We followed a trail of stairs up and back down a section of the caves. I think the tour guide said it was around 100 meters high where we stood. It was cool inside the cave, but not as cold as I thought it might be. Photography wasn’t allowed inside, but David accidentally took this one:

It was interesting to see the structures and ledges the early explorers used. There was a super old bridge high above where we walked. Amazingly, very few people died exploring the Škocjan Caves. Young boys did a lot of the initial explorations. They were good at squeezing through tight spots and climbing the walls.

You can see a 360 degree virtual tour on the cave’s website.

After the caves, we walked to a lookout point that had a fantastic view of the valley:

We love to explore a balance of both city and nature when we travel, and we really liked the caves.

After a few hours at Škocjan Caves Park, we drove back to Croatia. Our lack of pre-planning caused a few troubles in Krk…

SB14: Ljubljana, Slovenia

May 15, 2014

Leah

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After our afternoon in Bled, we drove 35 miles south to the capital city of Ljubljana. (One of my Slovakian students who lived in Slovenia for a while attempted to teach me how to say it: “Layub-laya-na.”)

Where we stayed
We stayed one night at Hostel Tivoli and highly recommend it. It wasn’t a very big hostel, but it was super affordable, modern, and in a great location. (With a towel rental and free breakfast, it cost €11 per person a night.) We were in the 8-person room. It worked great for our group of six, and there was one other lady in the room with us. The room was really tall and the bunks stacked three high. There were individual storage drawers with keys and the hostel was very, very clean. (One of the cleanest I’ve seen in a while!)

Where we ate
After we settled into the hostel, we walked to the downtown area for dinner. It was around 8pm and we had issues finding a place that was open. We finally came across Vodnikov Hram. It was near closing time, but they let us in anyways. The food was so, so good. They had tasty soups and an awesome cheese plate. David got a beef medallion dish and I got pasta. One of our friends had these amazing pumpkin puree rolls.

The next morning (David’s birthday!), we walked back to the downtown area. We really loved this city:

Everything felt so relaxed here. Our group split up for the morning and we all did our own thing. David and I found a cafe along the canal and had a cup of coffee.

We poked our heads into a few shops and browsed the outdoor markets. Spring was in full bloom!

After some shopping, we found a grocery store, grabbed a few goodies, and found a spot to sit in the park.

Some cheese, crackers, prochutio, and chocolate made for a great birthday snack!

After our morning in Ljubljana, we drove to Škocjan Caves Park!

SB14: Lake Bled, Slovenia

May 12, 2014

Leah

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After our first two days in Zagreb, we picked up a rental van and drove about two hours northwest to Bled, Slovenia. Our first stop was Bled Castle. See it in between the houses up on the cliff?

Sadly, the castle was less than impressive. Part of it had been converted into a museum. The museum didn’t have much worth seeing, and I was disappointed how heavily renovated everything was. The interior didn’t feel authentic at all.

But the view? So worth it.

If we had extra time, we would have checked out this alpine slide:

The castle overlooked Lake Bled and Bled Island:

After a while at the castle, we drove down to the lake. We rented a rowboat and took it out to the island. (If you visit, give yourself at least 2 hours to row out, explore the island, and row back.)

Lake Bled is a natural lake formed from glaciers. There were a couple of buildings on the island with the main attraction being the church.

Though the sanctuary was small, the inside of the church was ornate. There was a rope near the front you could pull to ring the church bell.

We really liked the gift shop here. And it was so peaceful to sit outside and enjoy the scenery.

After a row back to shore, we headed into the capital of Slovenia Ljubljana for the night!

» Read about day 1 and 2 in Zagreb here.

SB14: Zagreb, Croatia

May 5, 2014

Leah

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We traveled with four friends around Croatia and Slovenia during spring break! We flew into the capital city of Zagreb on a Saturday afternoon.

Where we stayed
We found an awesome attic apartment on AirBnB (alliteration much?) for two nights. It was an easy walk from the city center in a calm little neighborhood. It was a great space and we recommend it if you’re looking to spend a few days in Zagreb. The day before we left ended our third quarter at school, so we were happy to simply relax on Saturday. We had brought an HDMI cord, connected our laptop to the TV, and watched some movies. It had a great little kitchen and we made a couple of meals there. (At the end of our trip, we spent one night at Design City Hostel. Don’t stay there, especially if you only have girls in your group. It’s a corporate building that was converted into a hostel. It’s not in a good location, the sheet were dirty, and it was super creepy.)

We were in Croatia during the last few days of March and the first week of April… which I’m pretty sure was off-season as far as tourism goes. It made traveling easy since places weren’t too crowded, but it seemed like nothing was open. Either that or businesses closed really early. We went into the city on Sunday. Most of the museums were closed, but we enjoyed walking around. We poked our heads into the Sunday service at the Zagreb Cathedral (aka the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) and browsed the red umbrella-ed Dolac Market.

The skies were clear and the weather was warm. We soaked up the sunshine as we wandered around the streets and parks.

We wanted to go inside the National Theater, but alas, that too was closed:

Before we traveled to Croatia, we discovered the Triposo app (available for Android and iOS). It taps into WiFi even if you’re not connected to a network and updates your location on a map. It also lists recommendations of things to see and places to eat and has a currency converter built in. (It’s available for other countries, too. Definitely check it out before your next trip!)

The other landmark we were sure to see was the Church of St Mark:

The roof has the medieval coat of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia on the left side, and the emblem of Zagreb on the right. There was a man with a crazy huge lens and fancy camera who stood near us. I asked him if I could see his photos. He didn’t speak English, but he figured out what I was saying. From what I could make out, the tiles were either round or hexagonal and were layered kind of like fish scales.

Day one and two of break were really relaxed. We didn’t have much of an agenda for Zagreb. We approached this trip a lot differently than we had other trips. We didn’t pre-book most of our lodging and we finalized our travel route once we were in-country rather than before. We felt really free because of this, but we ran into some challenges, too… More on that soon!