May 27, 2016
It’s high time we took this adventure on the road true Mark & Jen style. We enjoyed an early start to the day by picking up our car around 8:30 and heading southwest toward Croatia!!! It was a 5 hour drive through the Hungarian and Croatian countrysides. Lunch of cold cut sandwiches, fresh pressed juice and strudel was at a Marche during our gas stop. As Jim said- it definitely was a better lunch than speedway!
Destination for the afternoon - Plitvice Lakes National Park. We arrived at the National Park around 2:30 - entrance tickets were purchased and we were on our way! The lower area which is the most popular portion of the park was closed due to flooding. We explored the lesser traveled portion and were not disappointed. The paths around and through the lakes were made of quaint 3-5” diameter tree branches, cut about 48” long. There were varied gaps and no railings which would make for some substantial lawsuits in the US. The Plitvice Lakes is a UNESCO World Heritage Centre - considered by some to be one of the natural wonders of the modern world. The park is comprised 16 terraced lakes connected by waterfalls. I can talk all day about it - but let’s just get to the pictures!
After putting in 7 miles at Plitvice Lakes we piled back in the car and headed to Zagreb for the night. Much to our surprise our hotel (Hotel Esplanade) was host to a local prom; it was neat to see all the young adults dressed up. Our receptionist (BTW he was a hoot!!) mentioned that prom was a US custom that was just starting to be adopted there. After dinner we went for a walk to explore Zagreb around 11pm. There were people everywhere with multiple outdoor concerts going on (interestingly many of the concerts were comprised of USA pop tunes.). The cafes, restaurants, and bars were full with people of all ages enjoying an early summer weekend.
Here are our stats for day 5
Steps - 22,545
Miles - 10.28
Stairs - 69 flights
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| Plitvice Lakes National Park Croatia |
Destination for the afternoon - Plitvice Lakes National Park. We arrived at the National Park around 2:30 - entrance tickets were purchased and we were on our way! The lower area which is the most popular portion of the park was closed due to flooding. We explored the lesser traveled portion and were not disappointed. The paths around and through the lakes were made of quaint 3-5” diameter tree branches, cut about 48” long. There were varied gaps and no railings which would make for some substantial lawsuits in the US. The Plitvice Lakes is a UNESCO World Heritage Centre - considered by some to be one of the natural wonders of the modern world. The park is comprised 16 terraced lakes connected by waterfalls. I can talk all day about it - but let’s just get to the pictures!
After putting in 7 miles at Plitvice Lakes we piled back in the car and headed to Zagreb for the night. Much to our surprise our hotel (Hotel Esplanade) was host to a local prom; it was neat to see all the young adults dressed up. Our receptionist (BTW he was a hoot!!) mentioned that prom was a US custom that was just starting to be adopted there. After dinner we went for a walk to explore Zagreb around 11pm. There were people everywhere with multiple outdoor concerts going on (interestingly many of the concerts were comprised of USA pop tunes.). The cafes, restaurants, and bars were full with people of all ages enjoying an early summer weekend.
Here are our stats for day 5
Steps - 22,545
Miles - 10.28
Stairs - 69 flights