The Trip That Keeps Growing: The Dalmation Coast Trip (Part 4)

It was overcast and rainy as we left Split – a portend of the weather to come. As we were driving to our first stop – the Plitvice Lakes region, we made a stop at a small restaurant where Alan’s wife and son and waiting for us. Alan needed to drop off some dirty clothes and pick up some warmer wear for the post-tour to Bled. His wife is a tall, statuesque woman who works as a local guide in the Zagreb area. His son is 10 years old and is going to be tall like his mother and father. He likes basketball so maybe one day we will see him in the NBA. Their 12 year-old daughter stayed back to help a friend with her horse – according to Alan, a horse trumps Dad anytime.

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Alan and his wife and son

When we arrived at Plitvice Lakes, it was raining. Plitvice Lakes is a 114-square mile national park that has 16 turquoise lakes that are linked by a series of waterfalls and cascades. They are divided into the Upper Lakes region and the Lower Lakes. The Lower Lakes were closed because of flooding. We took a 30 minute walk along one of the upper lakes to see the Great Waterfall. It was magnificent – not as big as Niagara Falls or Victoria Falls, but stunning none the less. Because of all the rain, the water was gushing over the cliffs. We then took a tram to the top of the Upper Lakes region. Most stayed on the tram to go back to the hotel, but seven of us hardier ones walked with Alan down to the lowest lake in the Upper Lakes region. It was a 1 ½ hour hike (in the rain). I was not particularly cold, but I did get wet. The wind breaker that we got from Grand Circle is only water repellant, not waterproof. Now I have the cold that I miraculously avoided a week ago when Bill had one.

Great waterfall in Plitvice Lakes

Plitvice Lakes

It rained off and on the entire time we were in Zagreb. Fortunately for our walking tour, it had stopped for a while. We took the funicular up to the Upper Town (political part of town) where we first visited the Museum of Native Art, the oldest such museum in the world. It was one of the best museums we had toured. A lot of the pictures where painted on glass and our local guide explained the complicated procedure. First a drawing of the picture has to be made on a piece of paper. Then the artist starts with the items that the eye sees first and does them, allows them to dry, and then add more and more features, until he finally adds what would normally be the first thing painted on a canvas – the background. It was truly amazing to see the final finished artwork. We then met our local guide who took us on a walking tour. He pointed out the Museum of Broken Relationships, voted as the best new museum. It sounded interesting, but we were not able to visit. He pointed out the Parliament and Prime Minister’s buildings, St. Marks Church with roof tiles that looked like embroidered Croatia emblems, and the gas lamps that are still lit by a lamplighter every evening. We then walked through the only remaining gate to the Old Town (13^th century) where there is a shrine to the Madonna and Child. At the bottom of the gate is a statue of St. George, the dragon slayer. In the Lower Town, he showed us the flower and vegetable farmer’s market (dolacs) and St Stephen’s or Assumption of the Virgin Mary Cathedral. It was built in a Neo-gothic style between 1880 and 1902. However, it was built of limestone which has started to disintegrate. In the 1990’s restoration was started, now using travertine from Italy to replace the limestone. We had free time for shopping and lunch. We ate at a restaurant called Purger, which was quite good. We had the veal stew and then some of our friends’ wienerschnitzel as the portions where too large for one person. We then went to a textile outlet to find a few warmer tops for our trip to Bled. Since dinner was on our own this evening, we elected to have a hamburger in the hotel bar.

Native Folk Art

St Mark's Church

Gas Lamplight

Croatian Egg Art

Farmers Market

St. Stephen's Cathedral

The next morning we had an optional tour to the Baroque city of Varazdin, about an hour’s drive out of Zagreb. For many years this city was the home of several aristocratic families, who built magnificent palaces and churches that continue to grace the city today. The centerpiece of the town is the moated castle which now features a museum with antique furniture from different eras. The castle was built in the 12^th century and was used as the seat of local government until 1925. We then had some free time to walk around the little town – quite picturesque. Our lunch was at a local winery (Villa Donata) which also included some wine tasting. We were lucky – we arrived at just the right time to sample some of their very young Chardonnay wine. It was quite good, although still very cloudy. Lunch was a roast duck that was very tender and quite tasty. We then traveled back to the hotel for our farewell dinner. Tomorrow most of the group heads back to the States, although about 10 of our group is going on the post-tour to Bled. Alan has told us that we can travel with them to Ljubljana, Slovenia, where we will then take the train to Bled. Fortunately for us, Alan is going to take our suitcases on the bus all the way to Bled since getting to our train platform requires walking down steps under the tracks and back up to the correct platform. If we had our 4 suitcases it would have been a huge hassle.

Castle of Varazdin

Targets for Shooting

Ceramic Heaters used in each room

Town of Varazdin

Cathedral of St. Mary Ascended

Town of Varazdin

Villa Donata Winery

Wine Tasting

The tour has been good. The scenery is amazing and the walled cities beautiful. In the US we think old is 300-400 years. Over here, most of the ruins we have seen started 4000-5000 years ago, and the cities have been occupied by many different civilizations (Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, Venetian). And as this area is prone to earthquakes, there has been considerable damage done by quakes throughout the years. Yet the cities have been rebuilt and the damaged walls and homes repaired. The streets are the same streets that inhabitants 3000 years walked on. And yes, many cats roam the streets and shops of all the Dalmatian cities that we visited.

On Wednesday morning we boarded the bus with the other members of our group who were taking the post trip to Bled. About a ½ hour out of Zagreb we reached the Slovenian border. We had to get off the bus and take our passports to the passport control office and then reload the bus. Once in Ljubljana, Alan pointed out the train station and we were on our own. We got our tickets (only 5 euros each) and wait for our train. The train was a very modern one, on time, and with comfortable seats. It was a very pleasant ride and we were in Bled in 45 minutes. By this time it was pouring rain. We took a taxi to our hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon washing out clothes and relaxing. We are getting very efficient with our hand washing, but by the time we get to Madrid, most of our clothes will be able to stand by themselves. We ate at a little Italian restaurant in the shopping center by our hotel.

Saturday it was still overcast, but not yet raining. We took a taxi up to the fortress on the hill overlooking the lake. According to written sources, Bled Castle is the oldest castle in Slovenia, first mentioned in a 1011 donation deed as castellum Veldes. We had some beautiful views of the lake and the mountains surrounding it, all shrouded in low clouds. One of the most interesting things in the fortress was the replica of the Guttenberg press. We were able to make our own print by selecting the cotton paper and scene we wanted. The attendant then put it together and inked the letters and scene. We then had to push the wooden level from the right side to the left side – not as easy as it sounds. Even with Bill helping me push, the attendant still had to help us. The result, though, was a nice print of lake scene with our name and date. By the time we left, it had started to rain again. We had wanted to take on of the little boats that ferry people to the island where an old church is located, but it was rainy and foggy in the afternoon. The boats will only go if they have at least 6 people to transport. That evening Alan had told us about a local Slovenian restaurant so we decided to give it a try. According to his directions it was only a few blocks from the hotel, however, in actuality it was just a tad farther. However, it was raining and the walk along the lake was nice. We each had a Slovenia soup – mine was cream of garlic and Bill’s was a goulash. We then split a Weiner schnitzel. One thing about the meals here – they are filling and big! Walking back to the hotel, we saw the fortress all lit up with orange lights – it was an awesome sight.

Stunning Views of Lake Bled from Castle

View from the Castle

Church in the Castle

View of Island and St John's Church

Ceiling in Church in the Castle

Working the Printing Press

Putting the Seal on our Print

Castle lit up at night

The next morning we walked back over to the lake to see if we could take a boat to the island. However, at the time it was just the 2 of us, and judging from the overcast skies we didn’t thing our chances of finding more people willing to go to the island was very good, so we took a walk along the lakeside. As we were returning, we saw a group of people getting on one of the boats so we hurried and made it in time. No sooner had the boat started for the island then it started to pour. Luckily we had brought an umbrella. At the island you had to walk up about 50 steps to get to the Church of St. John. As churches go, it was okay. But it did have a church bell that you could ring. There was a long rope hanging down from the ceiling – you pulled on it 3 times and the bell would ring. Legend has it, if you ring the bell it will bring you good luck. We spent 30 minutes on the island and then hurried back down to catch our boat back. No sooner had we left the island, than the sun came out! We did get some great shots of the fortress in the sun, but the church on the island was still shrouded in clouds. We ate lunch at a little pizza shop near our hotel and then hurried back to wait for the car that would take us to the airport for our flight to Bucharest. We said our last goodbyes to the other members of our Dalmatian trip. Goodbye Dalmatian Coast and hello Romania.