Croatia
After our short time in Bosnia, we headed back to Croatia to continue our Croatian journeys. Our first stop was the island of Hvar. In order to get there we had to get on a car ferry and then drive a very scary road to the town of Hvar. We arrived at the ferry early so we were able to eat lunch and have fun throwing rocks into the water. The town was nearly deserted and we only found one restaurant that was actually open. It turned out that getting there early was a very good thing because there were quite a few cars that did not make it onto the ferry. The next ferry was 3 hours later!
In Hvar, I had booked us a 3 bedroom apartment with an ocean view. I was hoping it would be a really nice place but you never know when you book something online how things will turn out. Well, it did not disappoint! We loved the apartment, the space, the views, and the relaxed feel. This was one of Jacob's favorite places too because there was lots of space to run and play with his cars.
The town of Hvar is a small quaint town that we really only spent on evening exploring. For the most part we spent our time here wandering, shopping, and eating dinner.
After the caves, we spent some time boating around and stopped at an island for lunch and some swimming. We didn't do a whole lot of swimming because the water was super cold! Jacob didn't seem to mind but at some point we realized he was shivering so we decided it was time to go. However, Jacob was NOT happy about that decision. Even with the shivering he still wanted to play. Personally, I loved our time on the water and the boat and it was a nice break from the car and hiking. The scenery was beautiful, the sunshine nice and warm, and just overall a very good day.
At last it was time to get off the island and head back to the mainland. Our final destination for the day was Plitvice National Park but to get there we had to take another longer car ferry and then we made a pit stop in the town of Split. Split has quite a few Roman ruins that we quickly toured through and made it back to our car just before the rain hit. The first stop on our Roman tour was Roman Emperor Diocletian's palace. The old part of the city is actually built inside the palace making it a little difficult to picture it as a palace. We started with a tour of the cellars which were originally filled with water, then later used as a dump. From there we headed to the main palace square, Diocletian's Mausoleum which is now a church, and to Jupiter's Temple.
As I said, we quickly toured Split in order to continue our road trip to Plitvice National Park. We arrived to the area in time for a quick dinner and check-in to our house. We spent the evening playing games and resting up for our big hike through the park the next day. This park was the main attraction, if not the only attraction, that got me interested in going to Croatia. Plitvice is a series of 16 lakes with hundreds of waterfalls connecting each lake. I've read that depending on recent rains and water levels in the area, the falls can either be trickles or large thundering falls. We were very lucky to be there in high water time! The falls were spectacular. It's difficult to relay how beautiful the park is in pictures or words. We walked through the park in about 4 hours and saw waterfall after waterfall. What an amazing experience!
Once we finished our hike we headed straight for the little town of Rovinj. This sea side town is beautiful and quaint. We spent our little time there doing a short walking tour, shopping, and eating. Our apartments were in the heart of the old town and would have been a great place to stay for much longer than our one night. We were really only in Rovinj for one evening and headed out the next morning.
Our final day in Croatia was basically a travel day with a couple of final stops before we headed into Slovenia. First up was the old Roman town of Pula. In Pula we were able to tour the one of the most preserved and sixth largest Roman Amphitheaters. Of course, walking around the Amphitheater gave me a strong desire to go home and watch Gladiator! After the amphitheater we did a short walking tour of the remaining Roman sights in Pula which of course included a cathedral and the towns forum. The forum in Pula included the Temple of Augustus and the medieval Town Hall.
The final stop in Croatia was the little hill top town of Motovun. We basically stopped just for a quaint place to stretch our legs and get some fresh air. The scenery as we got closer to the town was stunning! We spent a few hours in the town walking the city walls, shopping, and drinking some fresh squeezed lemonade.
The following day, we decided to take advantage of our island location and hire a boat to take us around to the different island style sights. I was a little concerned about Jacob on a boat in the morning when he is the most active but I guess he was extra tired and fell asleep on the ride over. For our first stop, we headed to the "Green Cave". The Green Cave was simply a little cave that we could take the boat into and looked green on the inside. Micah and Shelly were the only ones brave enough to jump into the cold water and take a swim in the cave.
From the Green Cave we continued our boat ride out to the Blue Cave. For the Blue Cave, our boat was unable to actually go inside so we had to switch to a different type of boat. I really didn't know what to expect but entering the cave was beautiful. It was as though the water was glowing a beautiful blue. It appeared as though light was shinning up from under the water.
Goodbye Croatia, Hello Slovenia!
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