Croatian Explorations

As you may or may not know, I had the last week off of school.  Fall break came laden with expectations, as people went off to Stockholm, Dublin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, Rome, Naples, Istanbul, Sicily, the Cinque Terre, Madrid, Marrakesh.  Yeah, major cities or tourist destinations.  And our plans had started off big: we were going to get Balkans EuRail passes and head into Serbia, exploring Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania before heading home in only 10 days, in the ambitious way that plans always begin.

We then had everything fall through.  The flight we'd booked home from Bucharest?  Canceled.  The EuRail pass?  Impossible to get.  A week before fall break began, we had only a bus ticket to Novi Sad, Serbia, and big expectations.

So, the end result:  Emily, Liz and I caught that bus, spending a day in Novi Sad.  Never heard of it?  Neither had we!  It's an adorable town on the Danube north of Belgrade, with a castle complex and a city center full of churches for us to explore.

Sitting on the walls of the castle complex

That afternoon, we took a short bus to a nearby village, where we wandered and tried to sample as much of the local wine as was appropriate.  The next morning, we went over to Belgrade to continue our journey.  We spent a few hours there looking at the sites and exploring the local markets.

We didn't expect to enjoy Serbia.  Serbia just has such a weirdly negative connotation, of seediness and dirt, but really it was beautiful.  The people we nice and amazingly helpful, and I left wanting to explore it more.  But, then, I think I leave every place wanting to explore it more.

After Belgrade, we caught an overnight bus to Sarajevo, as we headed towards Croatia.  We didn't spend any time in Sarajevo, unfortunately, but soon caught a bus to Dubrovnik.  That bus ride through Herzegovina will probably be the most beautiful leg of travel I will ever experience.  I wish words could capture how magical it was, as we rode along a road which winded with the Jablanica river through mountains craggy with white rock outcroppings.  Surprise, another place I'd love to return to, especially to go skiing (I've heard the skiing in Bosnia & Herzegovina is fantastic).

Anyway, Dubrovnik is a coastal town on the Adriatic at the bottom tip of Croatia.  We arrived in the rain, and it unfortunately remained overcast for most of our stay there.  But that didn't stop us from enjoying it!  The old town center is a walled city (a UNESCO World Heritage Site!), and was unfortunately crowded with tourist traps and souvenir stores.  But we got a tour of outer Dubrovnik and did a good bit of wandering.

Enjoying the Adriatic, despite the weather

After a day and a half in Dubrovnik, we caught a bus up to Split, a bigger city about halfway up the coast.  Split was much more hip, with chill hostels and lots of ex-pats.  But it's another UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has a walled city in the middle of the city with lots of cool ruins.

The view from the top of the hill

We'd gotten into Split at night, and met some girls who actually went to school with and knew Emily's best friend from high school (small world!).  So the next morning we went with them and hiked up a hill, to get a gorgeous view of the city and the local islands.  Then we went back down, to explore the city some more.  That afternoon, we had a picnic of local goat cheese, fresh bread and Croatian wine, which we ate on an outcropping right next to the water.  And, as we were packing up, we looked out and saw dolphins! Unbelievably magical.

After Split, we took a longer-than-expected bus ride up to the Plitvice Lakes National Park.  I wish I could just upload my memories of the countryside on here for you to sample.  The main attraction of the national park are the breath-taking waterfalls, falling off rocky cliffs into crystal clear, turquoise water.

So, as you can see, we had an amazing adventure.  We returned home through Zagreb, and then took trains to Vienna and then home to Prague.  This post, of course, leaves so much out - the anecdotes, the food, the people.  But I'll save that for another day, and another post that isn't quite so long.

The three adventurers, at the base of the biggest waterfall in the Plitvice Lakes National Park.