Hiking Paklenica, evening in Zadar

We were awakened early by the sound of thunder and brilliant flashes of lightening. The mountains where we were soon to be hiking were enrobed in storm clouds.  We were not scheduled to leave for a couple of hours so we went back to bed hoping it would blow over. The thunder and lightening did pass but the rain continued. True to our Northwest heritage, we grabbed our rain gear and headed to breakfast. The peaks of Paklenica were still hiding when we began our hike and the rain was falling steadily. The temperature was mild and the hike was still very pleasant. We experienced the unique architecture of dry stone building including building the restroom along the trail right into the rock.  The rain kept the crowds away and we had the trail nearly all to ourselves. It was a steady incline to the top. We traveled at a casual pace and stopped in the middle for snacks (of course!). The last little climb to the top brought us to the home of Mario, our host for the afternoon. He greeted us in typical Croatian style with his homemade rakija. After tasting this traditional spirit in various venues, we all agreed that Mario's was superior.  The walnut variety, orahovica (orah means walnut) was particularly smooth and helped clear the chill from our muscles. The original plan had been to eat outside but the weather being what it was, we all crowded around the table inside Mario's little cabin.  Ultimately this only served to enhance the experience as we shared cabbage salad, cheese in olive oil (another Croatian tradition) and eventually the main course, a giant pot of meat and veggies, or just veggies for the non carnivores, that had been cooked in the traditional way ispod peke "under the bell". The food and a fair amount of liquid is added to a large pan and a metal or terracotta dome is topped with coals from the fire and placed over it. Similar to cooking in a Dutch oven, you have to know your stuff because you can't really check the food without losing either heat, moisture or both. Lucky for us, Mario's family has been living on the mountain and cooking this way for about 250 years so he's an expert. Everyone agreed this meal was outstanding. It was further enriched by the musical accompaniment of Mario on the accordion.  Robbie recruited Zack, the youngest member of the group, to join in the song and they belted out Croatian lyrics with enthusiasm. It was evident our hosts are fiercely proud of their country. Warmed both inside and out, we began our return trip down the trail. The rain actually let up and we made our way back to the vans with Goran teaching me a little more Croatian.  Of course I wanted to know the translation for dog (pas or kucak? Still not really sure how to spell that.) and cat (macka). We saw a  little Jack Russell-ish kind of dog at Mario's and Goran taught me the words for small and white, mali and bijele so I had a new tongue twister to work on, mali, bijele, kucak (maa-lee bee-A-lee koo-chuck) little, white, dog.
Back at the hotel, we quickly showered and changed clothes then loaded back into the vans for our evening in Zadar. This was a quick walking tour of a town with an amazing history. The influence of both the Romans and the Venetians, who occupied the region for centuries, was visible throughout the town. From the winged lion on the city gate to the narrow streets and tall stucco and stone buildings with shuttered windows. The influence of the church is also clear with the obligate cathedral in the center of the old town. This one sounded interesting, the Cathedral of St. Donatus. Robbie called it the doughnut cathedral! We didn't go inside but shared the spirit ordering cones from a gelato shop of the same name. As darkness fell, we made our way to the waterfront to enjoy the refurbished seawall promenade. It's a unique experience for the senses. As you reach the far end of the wall you can hear the soft low tones of musical notes.  This is the "Sea Organ" an auditory art experience created by a series of pipes built into and venting out the top of the pier. They create different notes as the water pushes air into openings along the seawall. Just a few feet away, the ground glows green, blue, red and orange as the lights of "Sun Salutation" flash in rhythm to the music of the organ. This was a truly incredible day, beginning with lightening and ending with a walk under a full moon and nearly cloudless sky.

Kayaking the Zrmanje/Novigrad

We arose early to begin our journey from the Plitvicke valley across the mountains to Dalmatia. Taking in the local atmospere at a cafe along the way, we decided to try the Croatian cola drink, Cockta. It was an interesting combination of cola and an herbal flavor reminiscent of sarsaparilla. Good to try but perhaps an acquired taste.
The terrain became increasingly rocky as we made our decent, stopping at a viewpoint to stretch and appreciate the vast valley we were soon to explore.
We experienced a fusion of past and present at our last stop on the way to the Zrmanje river, the Krupa Monastery. The sole inhabitant is a monk who gave us a tour of the chapel. He explained the history of the icons as well as some of the other treasures of church which was established in the 14th century. The frescoes on the walls were only recently exposed after plaster that had been applied during the Ottoman occupation began to fall away. The history of this area and the country of Croatia is incredibly complex. We are receiving a brief overview as we travel the countryside between activities.
The other obligatory function between activities is eating.  In Croatia lunch is traditionally the main meal of the day.  Before we settled into our kayaks for a float down the river, we were served lunch by Bobo, a local farmer who makes his own cheese and prosciutto. It's traditional to eat all the food presented as a compliment to your host. The corollary to this rule is the host welcomes his guests by providing food. Thus we found ourselves in a conundrum at Bobo's house for as soon as we emptied a plate,  another or perhaps two full ones would appear. We all did our best but our host won the day. As we waddled back to the shore of the river to begin our float,  I was grateful the sun was out making it unnecessary to squeeze into a wetsuit. Our float was mostly flat water as the river level was pretty low. We had a few small rapids and two waterfalls that required portage.  We did not have to carry the boats though, we walked around while the boats were pitched over the falls and captured downriver. It was a very relaxing way to spend the afternoon. Once we made the takeout we all hopped in the vans en route to our hotel.  There was one more stop before we arrived. Robbie had arranged another surprise for us. We pulled over by the side of the road and followed a narrow path that opened on to a gorgeous view of Novigrad and its harbor. Of course there was wine and a little snack of small donuts called fritule (sounds like frito-lay) for us to nibble as we watched the setting sun disappear behind the coast line. Leaving our lovely view,  we drove into town and checked in at the hotel for the final event of the day, you guessed it, dinner! Our three course meal was served on the veranda and we were entertained by flashes of lightening over the mountaintops.  It was both exciting and a little intimidating as that was our destination for our hike the following day.

Biking Rakovica

Our second full day began with a hearty breakfast to fuel us for our ride through the countryside.  We were happy to see blue sky greeting us as we fitted our bikes.  Mike and I were not as intimidated as some in the group heading up the hill out of the village to the main road. We rode for a short distance on the main highway before exiting to a narrow side road which took us over a few hills to the neighboring village of Dreznik. On our way we stopped to visit a recently restored watchtower. It was part of a 16th century fortress protecting against invasion by the Turks. Today, it adds to the story book character of the surrounding area.  We hopped back on our bikes to ride to our next destination, the Barac Caves or Baracevin Spilja as they are known locally.  These caves were first protected in 1892 and only recently reopened to the public. The same karst phenomenon that creates the Travertine above ground also forms the stalagmites and stalactites that over millennia may meet to form columns. When we were deep inside the cave, they asked everyone to be silent and turned out the lights to demonstrate the complete absence of light and sound.  It was incredibly novel to experience the sensory deprivation.  As we made our way back to the light, our guide pointed out some horseshoe bats clinging to the ceiling. Some people were happy not to know we were sharing the cave until we were exiting.
After climbing the hill up to the main road, we headed to a local farm house for lunch. As with the majority of our meals in Croatia,  it was large and featured a diverse array of fresh fruit and vegetables from the farmer's garden. The only downside was having to get back on the bike afterwards! We stalled for awhile taking photos to prove we did ride since with all the fabulous food we may return heavier than we arrived. Our guide Robbie is a great practical joker and convinced Neil to photo bomb us. We have to give him credit for coordinating with the bee in front of us as well. Reluctantly,  we mounted our bikes for the ride "home".  Robbie, who also enjoys surprises, had one more in store for us as we continued up the hill past the road to our village.   We climbed higher over the next few kilometers and before we knew it we were hiking out to a secret viewpoint above Plitvicka Jezera.  We vamped for the camera taking advantage of the early evening light over the postcard view of the lakes.  Once more we mounted up and all the uphill was forgotten as we cruised downhill all the way to the village.  The perfect ending to another beautiful Croatian day.

Hiking the Plitvicka Jezera

We met the group in the lobby of Hotel Dubrovnik to begin our first full day together.  Leaving the city behind we were soon surrounded by rolling hills dotted with clusters of tile roofed villages. On our way to Plitvicka Jezera (Plitvicka Lakes) we stopped briefly at a military museum to view some of the equipment used in the war. The jet fighter is a Russian made mig 21, the armored vehicle in the foreground is a tractor covered with steel from a local ship building facility. Walking around in front of the tanks gave us an eerie feeling. We were grateful we have never witnessed them invading our city.
Back in the vans, we soon arrived at our destination. Plitvicka is the oldest and largest of Croatia's national parks established in 1949.
There were many people both Croatian and tourists visiting the park. Initially, we followed the crowds down to the lower lakes while our guide explained how the 16 lakes were formed. The lakes are constantly changing as the water flows through them. The walls that separate the lakes are created by the waterfalls and made of tufa or Travertine, a sedimentary rock created from calcium carbonate. The calcium carbonate in the water gives it the spectacular turquoise hue. We hiked down to visit the base of the largest waterfall then retraced our steps to the top of the lower lakes where we enjoyed a catered box lunch and left the crowds behind as we began our hike around the upper lakes. Hiking around the large lake we marveled at the early fall color of the smoke bush and were entertained by the diverse flora along the trail. We wound our way back to more falls, Big Splasher and Little Splasher before boarding a bus-train hybrid for a ride down the windy, narrow road to the parking lot.
It was a short ride from the park to our accommodation in a local village on the Korana river. Our apartment was upstairs in a wooden house with some creative joinery which Mike admired. We all met in a local home for a satisfying dinner of bean stew before turning in for the night. Looking forward to our cycling adventure the next day.

Exploring Zagreb

Our first full day in Zagreb involved a fair bit of walking as we explored the city. The first item on the agenda was breakfast. Our search was limited by our lack of research into dining options for a Sunday morning. Most of the places we passed were either closed or serving only croissant and coffee. We were in the mood for something more substantial.  Ultimately, and somewhat ironically, we settled on the buffet at the Hotel Dubrovnik.  Once we joined the REI group, this was to be our accommodation for the night. After enjoying our breakfast we retraced our steps to check out of our Air BnB apartment then boomeranged back to HD to check in there. Luckily, our room was ready so we dropped our bags and hit the streets once more on our way to Maksimir Park. We could hear drum beats from our window and peered out to see a regement of horses and men in costume from the late 18th century, complete with swords at their sides, marching across Ban Jelacic square.  We zipped downstairs in time to get a couple photos of the very stern captain on his handsome steed.
All the excitement had made us thirsty so we headed around the corner to the aptly named Corner Bar for a beverage.  Mike ordered a smoothie while I ordered what I thought was hot chocolate.  When it arrived, my "drink" was in a cup but more like warm chocolate pudding than a liquid. I was not disappointed, just a little surprised.  Amused and refreshed, we began our journey to the park in earnest.  We headed up some interesting looking stairs and ended up taking a detour around the Zagreb sports club. This "shortcut" took us uphill beside many clay tennis courts and a large swimming complex then back down through a nice neighborhood to the park. 
Maksimir was established as a park in the 1794. It is an amazing green space in the city where many of the local citizens and their canine companions were enjoying the afternoon sun. Fortunately,  we took a photo of the map of the park on the way in. We had to reference it multiple times as the trails were extensive and the woods were rather dense. Walking through the old forest, it seemed like we might find Robin Hood and his band of merry men just around the next corner.
We left the park and headed back to HD to meet our new best friends for the week.  Our guides Robbie and Goran introduced themselves as well as the 10 others in our group. We chatted and then headed out for one last look around the city before turning infor the night. We decided to visit St Markov (St Mark's) cathedral. It sits on a hill overlooking the city and is easily recognized by its elaborate roof design.  We were unsure how much of the pattern would be visible at night.  However,  we were pleasantly surprised by the lighting and detail in our photos. Extending our loop through the narrow streets, we returned to our hotel excited to start the official adventure the following day.

Arrived in Zagreb, Croatia

We had a relatively uneventful trip from Seattle to Zagreb.  Our flight was delayed in Seattle for an hour but we still arrived in Amsterdam with enough time to wander around the airport and get a snack.  We landed at the Zagreb airport under sunny skies with temperatures in the upper 70s. After a short bus ride and directions from a helpful bus driver,  we took a 10 minute walk and arrived at our BnB. We were met by the owner,  given the keys, and promptly opted for a nap. We got up about 7pm local time and did a little exploring.  We ended up in Ban Jelacic Square near the main cathedral. It was bustling with a night market and various music venues playing a variety of tunes. We took a few photos enjoyed a piece of cheese pie and a piece of pizza from a bakery across from the hotel we will be in tonight, then wandered back to our place to get a good nights rest.

Hi, this is Mike and I thought I should give a high level overview of what we have planned for our trip to Croatia.
We start off our trip with the long flight from SeaTac to Amsterdam, a 2 hour layover and then on to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.  Here are a couple of images I found of some places in Zagreb we'll try to hit while we are there:

We have about 24 hours in Zagreb on our own before meeting up with our REI Adventure group to hike, bike, and kayak our way from Zagreb to Split over the course of 8 days.  Check out this site for a more detailed description of the REI trip:
http://www.rei.com/adventures/trips/europe/croatia-hiking-biking-kayaking.html

Once we say goodbye to our REI group, we'll be spending a few days on our own exploring the beautiful coast of Croatia from Split down to Dubrovnik.  We don't really have a set itinerary for this time, but we'll have a list of potentials and make it up when we get there. The coast of Croatia is very spectacular with plenty to see and do.  Here are a couple images I found of sights in Split and Dubrovnik to wet our appetites until we get there: