From Zagreb we drove about an hour and half to our hotel by Plitvice National Park which is the largest national park in southern Europe.  The park consists of 16 lakes and creates stunning water falls and beautiful green/blue water.  The drive was pretty easy.  There are toll highways in Croatia so it is always fun to try to guess how much our toll will be and if we have the right amount of change.

Finding our inn could have been a little easier.  We drove by it the first time, but we only had to turn around once and found it the second time.  For some reason, I have a feeling I will be good at turning around after this trip.

We checked in to the hotel quickly and headed over to the park.  We wanted to try to cover half of the park in the afternoon and save the other half for the next morning.  We covered the lower lakes first.  There are plenty of lakes and waterfalls but I was always amazed at what the next view could offer.  This really is one of the nicest parks I have ever been to.  I hear that in the summer the waterfalls are not as impressive because there isn’t as much water run off.  Fall is supposed to be nice because the leaves change.  I can’t say I was disappointed with my views so I would say spring is nice.  Just be prepared to walk and to walk on boards that wobble and have big cracks in them.  Between walking in Zagreb and walking around the park, I did over 16 miles and 115 flights of stairs.

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One fun thing about Europe is that they always have the best markets.  Zagreb was no exception.  Zagreb might have one of the best markets I have ever visited.  They had an outdoor area where you could buy fruits, vegetables, eggs and cheese.  They actually were working on making the cheese at the market.  Also all stands used some very old fashioned scales that worked great.

They had an indoor market under the outdoor market that consisted of all the meat, chicken and fresh made pasta vendors.  There was also a fish market next to the outdoor market.  Pretty easy to do all of your shopping in one location.  Hard not to cook all your meals when you have a market this great.

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Our arrival into Zagreb was anything but sunny and easy.  In fact, it was very rainy.  Besides being tired and hungry, the rain didn’t make it very pleasant to walk around.  After grabbing a slice of pizza, it was basically bedtime for me.  Can’t say the sleep was great.  Zagreb is a city that likes to be out late and staying in the center of the city makes for one loud night.  I swear there were fireworks at one point, but why would there be fireworks at 2 in the morning?

We headed out at sunrise for a walk which turned into us climbing a lot of stairs.  The streets were quiet (except for the people walking home from the bars), and the sun was shining.  A perfect morning for a stroll.  Zagreb has a lot of cute charm.  They have a tram system that seems very efficient.  They have a market like I have never seen before.  They have more outdoor cafes than I usually see.  Streets lined with umbrellas and tables.  It is a cute city to walk around.

We even went to the Drazen Petrovic (former Portland Trailblazer) Square.  He passed away in a car accident some years ago.  He is considered a basketball legend in Croatia, and there is a museum dedicated to him.  His mom was there working at it.  She seemed very happy to talk about her son.

The morning went by fast, and next thing I knew we needed to drive to Plitvice National Park.

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Lesson number one when traveling is don’t wear light colored pants on the plane.  Thankfully I was not the one that needed to learn the lesson.  The lady across the isle from me was wearing khaki pants and for some reason decided to order tomato juice.  When the flight attendant came to pick up her lunch tray she knocked her full glass of tomato juice on her lap.  Lucky for her there was only 8 hours left on the flight.  The flight attendant felt very bad, and I know she did comp the lady some money.  Also the lady was  at least smart enough to pack other pants on the plane so she was able to change out of her wet pants but the rest of the flight consisted of the flight attendant apologizing to the girl.  That was my highlight of my flight.  4 movies and no sleep made for a great travel day.

Arriving in Zagreb was like no airport that I can remember before.  I have been to some pretty small airports but I never remember an airport not having a gate or at least a better method to get people out of an airport.  Zagreb airport did not have any gates.  They put you on a bus and then drop everyone off where you are all put in a tiny room and wait to go through customs.  There were no official lines so basically you just push your way forward.  By this time I was so hungry from not eating anything that I felt like the floor was moving.  Really I just needed food and sleep.

Instead, I would try to drive through the center of Zagreb in a manual car.  My first time driving a manual and I decide to drive to the center during rush hour….and with no sleep.  Not smart.  Didn’t start off well that where you pick up the rental cars is just along the street of the airport.  A guy saw I was leaving and insisted that he was going to wait for my spot.  I felt rushed already.  I did manage to get the car out but let’s just say there might have been a little whip lash.  I can’t say I enjoyed the drive.  We made it there somehow.  I did kill the car a couple of times.  The parking lot was located down a narrow one way street that you have to get out and punch in a code.  I felt like I was learning to drive all over again.

If driving wasn’t hard enough getting the car trunk to open was even harder.  We had a hard time at the airport but figured it out.  Then we couldn’t get the trunk open in the parking lot.  We must have tried for almost a half an hour before we decided to fold the seats down in the back seat and pull them out that way.  I think I might have it figured out now.  Yet another great feature in this not very fancy car.  I feel bad for the lucky person after me that get’s this trasmission.

It’s about time again for me to take a trip and explore a new part of the world.  I’m always amazed at how many countries I still haven’t been to in Europe, but this trip will include 3 countries that I have never stepped foot in. In a few days I will be leaving for Croatia with my friend. We are packing a lot of cities into this little over 2 week trip. We will mainly be in Croatia but a couple of little side trips to visit Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kotor, Montenegro. We will be driving the first week from Zagreb to the south of Croatia. Then we will fly back to Zagreb and then head to northwest Croatia. We’ll end the trip with brief stops in Bled, Slovenia and Vienna.  I have drawn out a map of the cities we are staying in so you have an idea of where in the world I am. Hope you follow along with me.

The Naschmarkt is one of the greatest outdoor markets.  I always spend time walking around from stand to stand looking at all the weird items that I don’t know.  It always amazes me how many vegetables and fruits I have never heard of.  You can buy any kind of nut, spice or olive.  There are also a lot of restaurants and their version of food carts.  I always think Portland’s food carts are overpriced when I can come here and get a large portion of homemade pasta and pesto for 4.50 Euros.
One of my favorite vendors is the Gegenbauer oil and vinegar shop.  They have unique vinegars that you can sample.  First you smell the vinegar and then they put a little drop on your hand for you to taste.  This time I was sold on honey, blueberry and tomato vinegar.  I can’t wait to try them on my food at home.

This is one of my favorite travel bookstores.  They have maps of pretty much any major city you want in the world and travel books that cover every country in the world.  Each time I visit here I always make sure to make time to go look at travel books.  Besides, I’m always thinking about where I can travel next…

It is nice to visit a city and not feel rushed to do everything the instant that you get there.  Since I have been here before I know the places I want to go and to eat.  I know the most efficient way to get around so it is nice to not have the pressure of figuring out how to get places.  It was great to visit Schoenbrunn today and just take a book and read some.  To not be in the pack of tourists trying to get a photo of the same fountain is a good feeling.

We took a 4 hour train ride from Maribor, Slovenia to Vienna, Austria.  It was beautiful mountain scenery which does cause the train to have to go a little slower.  I was worried that there wouldn’t be significant room in our train car for my large suitcase but lucky for me I was able to keep it in the bike storage area.  The train wasn’t very full so we had 4 seats to ourselves. 

We had to take 2 subways, but really that was no big deal.  Vienna has one of the easiest subway system to use.  We have an apartment near the center of town.  We are pretty much across from the Opera house which is one of my favorite places to enter the center of the city.  Now I must go out and explore one of my favorite cities in the world.