Croatia - the north

What a time to arrive at one of the top tourist spots in Croatia…..Easter! We have had everywhere to ourselves just about so guess it was time we mixed with the rabble! Plitvic Lakes is situated in the central part of the north of Croatia. It is a series of 7 upper lakes and 6 lower dropping from about 650m to 400m with copious waterfalls connecting all these lakes With a surface area of 295 sq km the National Park is the largest in Croatia. The Tufa rock formed by calcium carbonate builds barriers, sills etc and is constant…. producing numerous magnificent waterfalls. Because the water changes course constantly the lakes are never the same from one day to the next. Studies have recorded 321 species of butterflies, 161 of birds and 21 species of bats. There are also brown bears but we didn’t see them! It truly was a sight to behold and guess you could say it was a cross between Niagara Falls and Siete Quedas (on the border of Brazil and Paraguay but now destroyed by a hydro scheme)…… We thought our waterfall times were over after we left the area after 3 lovely days staying at very posh Croatian campsites but we were wrong! On our way further north towards Zagreb we passed by Rastoke village and lo and behold a village sat there nestled between 20 or so waterfalls, truly magnificent! We found a campsite ostensibly in the middle of the countryside – about one hour from Zagreb and by the river…..absolute magic! Weather continued to be magnificent day after day in Croatia with some of them actually HOT for a few hours! Went to Zagreb by train (60 kms) – took about 1 hr 10 and was in one of those typical old Euro trains with corridor connecting compartments with 6 seats, 3 each side and sliding door. Very comfortable. Zagreb still carried its Austro-Hungarian colours with buildings and layout resembling a cross between Paris, Prague and Amsterdam. French planners had, many years ago, designed the many city parks with fountains ringed by numerous carefully placed flower beds. It was a good time to visit as all the different coloured tulips and multitudes of other flowers were ablaze with colour, it was very lovely. As spring had arrived the hundreds of outdoor cafes and restaurants were full of young people. A whole swathe of the centre of the city was full of pedestrian precincts – not even a noisy motorbike! We were greeted by a brass band playing to the crowds amassing to collect a celebratory black shirt commemorating Croatia’s acceptance into NATO! It’s a clean and tidy city about 800,000 inhabitants. Medieval Zagreb developed from the 11th to 13th century in the twin villages of Kaptol and Gradec which make up the old town. The 2 communities merged in the 16th century. It was an important centre under the Austro-Hungarian Empire and eventually became the Independent State of Croatia in 1941. In Tito’s time it took second place to Belgrade when it was part of Yugoslavia. Since 1991 it has returned to being Croatia.

Waterfalls galore - Zagreb the capitol

We ended up staying for 5 nights in our “perfect” camp site by the river and the old wooden bridge near Duga Resa in Croatia.  We’ve really enjoyed our 2 ½ weeks and have been made to feel very welcome by everyone.  How would we describe it?  It has so many facets with a long long coastline giving way to over a thousand islands, then its warm and green centre full of lakes and rivers.  It was a sea of purple and lilac with masses of magnolia trees in full flower, wisteria hanging everywhere and lilac bushes adding to the array of violet colour everywhere.

We could also call the rural areas the “land of red tractors” – every farmer seems to own one!  Of course our stay was made perfect by the perfect weather – warm and sunny – like summer.  Not so expensive although entrance fees to sites were a bit costly but fuel and commodities at supermarkets weren’t so expensive, at least cheaper than Greece!  Parts of Croatia we loved – Dalmatia Coast, Dubrovnik, Plitvic Lakes and the rural areas – a little graffiti here and there in the cities, people were friendly – tons who either had rellies in Aus or who wanted to travel there.  Yes, all in all, we quite liked Croatia.