We woke to cloudy grey skies and drizzling rain. Not the best conditions for a hike through a national park!
CL and I got up and were ready for breakfast a little after 7am. As with last night’s dinner, my expectations for breakfast were surpassed. There was quite a nice variety.
Since I knew we’d be hiking for a bout 3 hours I had a fairly substantial breakfast. I had eggs, coffee, grapefruit juice (pink), ham, cheese, bread, and a pear. It was all very good.
After breakfast we loaded our bags onto the bus and met in the lobby at 8:45am. We left the hotel and went to the shuttle bus stop to take the shuttle to the top of the lakes. I went with Ben’s group on the longer more “vigorous” walk and CL went on the walk with Etelka, in the end I think both walks ended up being about the same.
The boardwalk at Plitvice
A Plitvice Waterfall....Unforgettable!
We walked the upper section of the park and met Etelka’s group at the boat dock for the boat ride across the lake that connects the upper lakes with the lower lakes. The water was such a pretty blue color. We finished walking through the lower lakes and clearly that area was where the majority of the tourist were. Many people just take the shuttle to the middle point of the lakes and only walk the lower part. But I think it we were going to be there we should walk the whole place and I’m glad I did.
The lakes, waterfalls and just the natural beauty of Plitvice Lakes National Park was great to experience. Their website is http://www.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/default.aspx?lan=en
While we were waiting for everyone to finish their walks and we were sitting at the entrance I bought 2 massive pieces of strudel. One was peach and cheese and the other was apple. CL and I tried the peach and cheese first and it was pretty good, not sweet at all. We saved the apple for later, but I never tried it, too many other tasty treats to try!
After leaving the park we stopped for lunch about 30 minutes away. It wasn’t anything too fancy. CL and I split tomato soup, salad and grilled lamb, it was all good.
After lunch it was back on the bus for the ride over the mountains to the Island of Rab on the Adriatic, this would be our first look at this incredible coastline! The ride took about 3 hours and the views along the coast road were fantastic even with the cloudy sky.
We arrived at the car ferry port and Bojan maneuvered the bus onto the ferry, and I can’t believe how he can get this huge bus into some of the tightest spots I have ever seen. If I wasn’t witness to how Bojan got that bus onto the ferry (since I was in the bus!) I would never have believed it!
The ferry ride to Rab was not very long, maybe 15 minutes. While on the ferry I called Dori to wish her a happy birthday and it was wild to be standing on the ferry deck the wind whipping through my hair chatting with Dori who was at home sitting on the beach…mobile technology, ya gotta love it! Before I knew it we were at the dock in Rab and ready to disembark and it was a short drive to Rab town and our hotel.
The hotel in Rab is one of my favorites. It is very well located right on the harbor with stunning views. This is considered our vacation from our vacation while on the tour. So we have no planned activities expect for a group dinner tonight and happy hour tomorrow night. The name of the hotel is Hotel Ros Maris at Obala P. Kresimir IV and their website is http://www.rosmaris.com/ .
Tonight we all had dinner together and it was a seafood extravaganza! We had salad, wince, tuna, calamari, and a lemon tart for dessert, another good meal. We lucked out with another meal with great table-mates and the wine flowed!
One of the nicest things about being in Rab was the really pleasant breeze off the water and the fact that there is very little humidity. Well, at least for me, a girl living in the SC lowcountry the coast of Croatia felt as is there was no humidity at all!
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