We decided to start our travels in Croatia in Zagreb. Though perhaps not as picturesque as other Croatian destinations, there were some good value restaurants, fun bars, a great hostel to stay at (House Hostel!), and a very interesting museum to visit: The Museum of Broken Relationships. We had seen a program about the museum on tv while we were in Chile and were quite excited that we could finally see for ourselves the quirky mementoes from failed relationships around the world. It did not dissappoint.
 |
| From the Musuem of Broken Relationships... |
After Zagreb, we went to hike around the Plitvice Lakes National Park. The area was so beautiful with sixteen tiered lakes connected by cascading waterfalls. We started hiking from the top lake down and each lake we saw was more beautiful than the last.
After a day around the lake, we found ourselves in Zadar. We met a woman offering an apartment at the bus station and thankfully accepted her offer. The apartment was great and the family even cooked us a huge barbeque feast one night! We also really enjoyed walking around the city, and especially listening to the sea organ (uses waves running through its pipes to create haunting music) and seeing the sun salutation (something like a big lit-up club dance floor) at night.
Our next stop was Sibenik, a really small town along the coast. We only spent a day there but it was beautiful to wander around the streets and was definitely less touristy than nearby Zadar.
We continued down the coast to Split where we visited Diocletians Palace, ate some great food, and swam in some of the bluest and clearest water I have ever seen.
From Split we went down to the Makarska Riviera. The scenery was incredible, with the ocean and mountains so close together. I cant say we did much here other than laze around on the beach all day.
Next we wanted to hit some islands: Hvar and Korcula (which incidentally became our new favorite word to say, especially with a terrible Croatian accent). Hvar is known as an island for the rich and famous and we saw some huge yachts in the harbour and many people much better dressed than we...although that is perhaps true of most places lately...Korcula was also great, and we spent most of our time relaxing on the nice beaches there.
Our last stop was Dubrovnik. As touristy as it was, it was also so beautiful. We loved walking around the city walls of the old town that jut out into the ocean and admiring all of the red cobbled roof tops. We spent most of our time exploring the tiny streets of the old town and yes, eating more delicious food. This will likely not be our last visit to this charming city!
 |
| View from our guesthouse balcony |
