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October 29, 2018

Croatia.

It was Destination Croatia during the fall break earlier this month. I don’t think I have ever visited a country and then not rave about it! So Croatia was no different. In fact, it will easily be in one of the top spots. What a spectacular place! We had a fantastic week and came back glowing! We landed in Split and rented a car and drove straight to Plitvice National Park. On the way, we made an unplanned stop at Krka National Park and one look at the view, the walk and the waterfalls and I was in love. I was wondering how Plitvice could be any more beautiful than this! But I was so so wrong! The next morning, we left early for the Plitvice lakes. Parked our car, bought our tickets and ventured inside. It was quite chilly until the sun came out. It is a huge park with 16 lakes and hundreds of waterfalls. Theres a wooden boardwalk all around the park. Short hikes. Caves. Stunning views. Boat rides. We spent about 8 hours there, walked about 12 kms and with barely any lunch as the choice of food inside the park was not great for vegetarians. But we did nt mind. It was a magical place. A slice of heaven on Earth. I was telling HD “Lets go back home now. Nothing else we see in Croatia is gong to match this!” Famous last words!


The next day we drove back to Split stopping in Zadar for lunch. It was a quaint little port town. We found an amazing Italian place for lunch. Then we reached Split, chucked our luggage in the house we were staying and walked to the Diocletians Palace. We spent some time at the sea side, walking around and then called it a day. The next day, it rained in the morning. So we left late and drove to Trogir. Thankfully, the sun came up and we had a great time in Trogir. Its a small town by the Adriatic coast. The historic centre of the town is part of Unesco world heritage sites and it was pretty as a picture. Small alleys, cute shops, loads of restaurants,… We explored a bit and found a nice place for lunch. Then we drove back to Split and walked to the palace again, visited the city museum and hiked the Marjan hill before stumbling into a vegan restaurant for dinner.


Day 5 was the highlight of the trip. Giving stiff competition to Plitvice was Brac Island. We took a ferry from Split to Supetar and then drove to the Bol beach. I swear that that was the most beautiful beach and the most beautiful spot in the world. White pebble beach. Bluest of blue water. So calm like a pool with no waves. Absolutely no crowd. Water was warm enough to go for a swim. And the most interesting fact is that the beach is V shaped with the Adriatic Sea on both sides and I have never seen anything like this in my life. I was going round and round like a dog exploring the small stretch with pine trees on one side, beach on either side. We swam for a bit and then I sat and kept looking at the water in a trance. I never wanted to leave. Hd and Antu had to be dragged out of the water too. We had a blast. Ashu was happy that she found a crepe stand and was stuffing her face with a nutella crepe. Not wanting to miss the ferry back, we drove back with a small detour for a breathtaking view of the beach from a cliff! The ferry ride back to Split with the spectacular sunset would be etched in my memory forever.

Day 6 we drove to Dubrovnik and usually I am not impressed with hyped up places and I was like “bring it on”! But clearly I don’t learn a lesson. After a pizza lunch, we walked to the old city and it felt like we walked into a movie set or went back in time! I also realized why Plitvice and Brac Island were almost empty. Everyone was in Dubrovnik! It was mad crowd everywhere. We explored a bit and then walked back to our house. Though it was about 15 mins walk, we had to climb like a million stairs! Every side street is  a staircase, I tell you! Am glad we went when we went. I don’t think my knees would take this in my old age! Which is not very far!!! On the next day, Hd and I woke up early and walked to the old city to look at the sunrise. With no crowd, the place was even more beautiful. We came back after breakfast with the kids and visited the Fort Lovrijenak, Rectors Place, a few churches, went for a walking tour inside the city and had lunch at another nice Vegan place we found. We also bought tickets to walk the city walls and it was a stunning stunning view from the walls. By the end of the day, we had walked 16 kms and climbed 78 floors. Kudos to the girls!


Our last day, we drove back to Split from Dubrovnik. We decided to drive via Bosnia and make a quick stop in Mostar to see the pictueresque medieval old bridge. The drive was long in narrow roads with no village or town in sight. And hardly any cars. Finally we reached Mostar, grabbed some lunch and took a few pics and were on our way to Split. There were like a million Pomegranate trees lining the road and a kind man gave me two for free! They were yummy! Our flight was early next day and I don’t know how one week flew by. For the first time, we stayed with Airbnb for the entire trip. Usually I hate to make beds and fix our own meals in vacation because thats all I seem to do in my life and always prefer hotels. But this was a pleasant experience. Lots of friends have warned us about food in Croatia. So it worked out well that we managed lunch outside and fixed ourselves a simple dinner almost every night. There was more space and character and it was nice to talk to the local hosts. So thats that! Croatia - I will be back!

 
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