My European Adventures- part 2

Zagreb-Plitvice-Split-Hvar Island

Our trip continued as we took a bus from Zagreb south across the country to the Plitvice lakes- a national park in central Croatia. The bus took several hours, but the end result was well worth the effort. We stayed in a comfortable apartment in a village near the lakes and started exploring as soon as we arrived. We heard there was a local river that you could swim in, so in the evening we got a bus there and immediately we were starstruck. There was a grass bank on either side of the river, with people sunbathing and the water was really warm- there were even two huge diving boards! It was an incredible experience and definitely worth the effort it took to get there.

The following day, we visited the Plitvice Lakes- a national park consisting of 16 lakes adjoined by waterfalls. We were able to walk there from our apartment through a forest and when we arrived we were blown away by the natural beauty of the environment.

The park was connected by elevated wooden paths- so we could see the lakes up close without ruining the natural habitats. We got there early enough to avoid the large crowds and so our experience was much more pleasant.

The blend of trees, plants and running water made for some stunning photos! All were taken by my brother Tom- his Flickr account is linked at the bottom of the page if you would like to see more of his work.

It was the most naturally beautiful place I have ever visited, the photos look great but the experience and feeling you have when you’re there cannot even be put into words- it was like the Garden of Eden on Earth! If you are travelling to Croatia, I highly recommend visiting the Plitvice lakes, but stay nearby and come early for the best possible experience.

The following day, we got a bus out of our little village to Split in the south Again, the journey took several hours but it was a good opportunity to catch up on sleep after the roamings of yesterday. From Split we caught the ferry to Hvar Island- part of the archipelago in the Adriatic Sea.

We arrived in the evening and immediately fell in love with the island. We walked from the ferry port to our apartment and took in the initial feeling of Hvar- it was incredible. The weather was perfect- warm but not boiling, it wasn’t busy and the scenery was beautiful. We had a small mix up finding our apartment, but when we got there me and my brother went for a sea swim in the dark! We dived off a little stone jetty close to the apartment and played around in the water for what seemed like hours, before we were called in for bed.

For the first few days we explored the surroundings, seeing local beaches and the main town Starigrad. The town was lovely- it was small but packed with interesting features including a variety of restaurants, a harbour and shops selling things like lavender (Hvar is world famous for it) and tea towels. The beaches were amazing, the sand was golden and the water turquoise- it was so salty you could even float on the water!

On our penultimate day, we decided to hire some bikes so we could explore the other side of Hvar, and so we did. We set off from Starigrad after lunch and cycled to Vrboska where we took a break and had some lavender ice cream (it was delicious). We then went round to a lovely beach near Jelsa and swam in the heavenly warm waters. Afterwards, we cycled back to the apartment, had showers and then went into town for supper.

On the last of our five days on this spectacular island, we went snorkelling. We set off from the other side of the bay in a small boat and travelled through the Adriatic to a secluded cove where we stopped and jumped in. We swum around and explored the sky blue water and even got to jump off the roof of the boat!

We had a variety of food during our time in Hvar, including pizza, seafood and pasta. The Italian culinary influence was there, although we had lots of local seafood dishes and soups as well. The restaurants in Starigrad were very pleasant and affordable and the service was brilliant.

We left Hvar Island on the 13th August and took a ferry back to Split, where we spent a day, diving into the sea off the rocks, visiting the Diocletian Palace and exploring the city. It was a good visit, although somewhat less enjoyable than the other places we went to due to the large crowds and air pollution. Overall though, the second leg of our journey was a massive success- Croatia was a definite highlight!

My brother’s Flickr account- https://www.flickr.com/people/188012621@N03/