Croatia Blog

It seems ages since my last post but I've been in places where internet was either non-existent or incredibly bad. However, I'm now in Split (in Croatia) and the wifi is excellent so here we go. After leaving Pula, I caught a bus to Rijeka where I then boarded a catamaran for the island of Rab. I only decided to come here after chatting with the lady who owned the hostel in Pula. She raved about the place so I thought "why not". This is the great advantage of not having any fixed plans. Once on the island I made my way to the tourist info centre to ask about somewhere to stay. There aren't any hostels here but there are plenty of rooms available in people's homes. I ended up staying at a lady's house in the old part of the city and the view from my bedroom window was amazing. The house was situated at the top of the village and it overlooked the water. If you check out the photos, the first one shows where I stayed. It's the house on the left and my bedroom was on the top floor, in the middle. This island is really old, dates back to 360BC. The emperor Augustus was the one who had the town walls built and declared it a municipality. It didn't take long to walk around the old part and, at the end of my two days here, I'd had a coffee at 6 different places. Unfortunately, on the second day, it rained on and off all day but it was still lovely to sit at my window, reading a book and appreciating the view. After Rab, I caught the ferry again and went to another island called Pag. This is more of a touristy, party type island but it wasn't too crowded yet so I really enjoyed it. This one did have a hostel and I had the luxury of having the dorm room to myself. Even had my own balcony - all  for $20 a night. The weather was beautiful so I was able to take some nice long walks around the coastline. There are plenty of beaches but no soft sand, it's all pebbles and rocks of varying sizes so not very easy to sit or lie on for any length of time. I got a helluva fright on one of my walks. The path runs alongside a long stone wall and I heard this rustling sound. Next thing I know, a huge black snake is hissing at me!  Talk about a heart attack moment. I stood still and waited for it to wind its way back behind the wall before making a very hasty dash along the path. I was told later that the black ones are not poisonous and it's good if you see one because it means there won't be any of the smaller poisonous snakes around. Apparently those ones can jump! It has certainly put me off disappearing into the bush when nature calls!  After my two nights on Pag, I caught a bus (the island is connected to the mainland by a long spit of land) and went to Zadar, about halfway down the coastline. This is another old town with the usual churches, cobblestone alleyways etc. It has a lovely promenade that runs along the water's edge and, right at the tip, was a thing called a sea organ. Underneath the marble steps that have been constructed, there are some plastic tubes and a large cavity. The most beautiful sound is played, created by the wind and the sea. It was really quite hypnotic and I sat there for over an hour just listening. Also at the end of the promenade is another feature, designed by the same architect who did the Sea Organ. This one is called Greeting to the Sun. There are a whole lot of glass panels, set on the same level as the paving, and in the shape of a large circle. Underneath the glass panels are solar modules. At sunset, the panels are activated and you watch this amazing light show that fits in with the sounds from the sea organ and the colours of the sunset. Quite spectacular. On my second day in Zadar, I got together with 3 others from the hostel and we hired a guy to drive us to the Plitvice Lakes National Park, north of Zadar, right on the Bosnian border. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site and I can see why, it's absolutely stunning. I took so many photos, as you'll see when you flick through them! I just couldn't bring myself to delete any. There are 16 lakes here, all interconnected and following the water flow from several rivers. The lakes are in an upper and a lower cluster and you can walk around all of them, along well cared for paths that blend in well with the surroundings. There is also a boat that will take you down the length of the largest lake, to save you a six hour hike around it. As we only had the one day, we chose this option. I couldn't get over the colours of the lakes. The water was so clear and they ranged from deep blue to green to sky blue. Apparently they change colour all the time, depending on the minerals in the water and the angle of the sunlight. It was a hot day and, after six hours of hiking, I was well and truly knackered! So glad I went though. Yesterday I travelled to Split, about 2 hours further south. This will be my last stop in Croatia before heading to Bosnia & Herzegovina. On a previous trip I went to Dubrovnik so don't need to go again. Split is high on the tourist radar and yesterday there were 3 large cruise ships in port so the place was packed! I had about a half hour hike through the hordes, in 30 degree heat, before making it to the hostel. Boy was I glad to get there! I waited until after 5 before venturing out again, it was slightly cooler and the crowds were back on board. There's a wonderful promenade that runs the length of the main area, with seats all the way along - perfect for people watching, reading a book, enjoying an ice-cream or watching the sunset. I did all four!  Today I was going to go for a day trip to an island called Hvar but I'm still a bit worn out from my day at the lakes so decided to take it easy. It's another stinking hot day today so I thought I'd just go for a gentle stroll. On my map it showed a nice green area so thought I'd head there and sit in the shade for a bit. As it turned out, the nice green area was at the top of a hill (almost 1,000m up) and there must have been a thousand steps to climb! The sweat was pouring off me when I finally made it! Fortunately there were lots of seats at the top and lots of shade areas. I think it took at least an hour for my face to go back to its normal colour. There was a zoo at the top of the hill so decided to go in and have a look around. I have to say shame on the people for allowing this. The conditions were appalling! The only animals that looked reasonably happy were the birds. The zoo is very small and the animals look to be very old so I'm guessing that they're waiting for them to die and then they'll close the place down. I don't understand why they can't give the animals to another zoo that can house them in more appropriate conditions. I suspect that as I travel further east, there will be worse sights to see so am steeling myself for what's to come.