Croatia Part One

I find myself a little behind on the Croatian adventure so here’s some dets from my last week...
Zagreb
We arrived in Zagreb with few expectations. For us, it was a stopover and a bed for the night so we checked into our hotel and headed into the city. We were pleasantly surprised by how pretty the city was. We were staying near a gorgeous park and we climbed up the Lotrscak Tower for a spectacular view. We were pleasantly surprised by how good our din dins was, Lydia and I even scoffed down a tiramisu. By the time we were through dinner and had consumed a glass of wine we were falling asleep at the table. We headed back for sleep, ready for an early start.

Plitvice Lakes National Park
We woke up to.... clouds and rain! Lydia tried to keep spirits high as we headed off for our day at the lakes. We jumped on the bus as the weather continued to deteriorate and arrived to pouring (near torrential) rain. Nikki wanted to jump back onto the bus and head straight for Split but we pushed through her complaints and determinedly decided we would continue on. We purchased ponchos and said goodbye to our white shoes as we trudged on through the mud. The national park was beautiful – the waterfalls were huge and gorgeous, the boardwalks (although flooding from the rain) were gorgeous and the boat ride (although freezing) was stunning. We spent the day a little speechless – I don’t think I have ever seen trees so green or lakes so blue. Impressed by our efforts to complete the walk, we jumped on the bus/train thing that was meant to take us back to the entrance in time for the bus to Split. A half hour later as we sat shivering on the bus we arrived at Station 4 – we wanted to be at station 1 – WE CAUGHT THE WRONG BUS! We were a mixture of frozen and furious as this point and headed all the way back to our intended stop. By this point we had to run back to our bags and only made the bus by about thirty seconds – a close shave! Now unfortunately the bad became worse – the four hour bus ride took over six and although our bus transfer in Split was smooth, we were told to get off at the wrong bus stop. So there we stood – in the rain, pitch black, unable to walk any further because there was a blind corner. Fortunately this is the point where things turned around – grandma and grandad came to pick us up, made us tea, cracked out some beer and ordered us a pizza. By thetime we got into bed we were beyond relieved – what a day!
Split
The next morning we met the lovely Tess and Matt – a wonderful day ensued – breakfast on the water, ice creams and lunch in Split, exploring the old town, climbing the Bell Tower for outstanding panoramic views and shopping for our BBQ. In the evening Grandma made us a BBQ – it was delish! We played card games, climbed a tree, took crazy photos and sang songs on the water’s edge. What a marvellous day with new friends.
We said goodbye to Split the next day and headed to Hvar by catamaran desperate for some time in the sun.