Tuesday 2nd July: Pula to Plitvice
The primary objective of today was to first drive from Pula to Rijeka for a coffee stop, then to follow the Croatian coast till it was time to head east to Plitvice in preparation for time at the lakes the next day - around 300kms, so no particular hurry!
But first the challenge of getting bags down 2.
5 stories from the apartment, along and up cobbled streets to the gravel car park. An alternative option was to try to get the car closer, but given my
allergy to driving in twisty, narrow ‘old town’ streets, this was dismissed quickly! The task was managed in two phases and accomplished with a bit, not too much sweat and resultant happy travellers.
That done, the exit from Pula (including finally taming the in-car navigation system by double checking her work) was good, and we headed to the Croatian seaside city of Rijeka (which I visited in 2016). After some fast kms on a freeway then a scenic swing along the coast, we snared a parking spot near the old town and headed in for coffee! Following that tummy top-up a short walk along the harbour, some purchases in the market (fruit and a replacement hat for the one I bought yesterday and left on the table in Pula, at half the price) and a gawk at some amazing boats, saw us ready to head on to Senj for lunch.
After an extremely scenic drive on the amazingly engineered road hugging the coast we arrived in Senj after several stops to photograph the panoramic view that is the Croatian coast and looking to the huge island offshore.
Senj was interesting ... and as I drove into a car park for which the notice seemed to say that it was for tourists - a fellow approached and after asking if accommodation was required, implied that he somehow was entitled to a fee for keeping an eye on the car and organising the car park. To cut a long story we agreed to his suggestion of a recommended restaurant, which he took us to, and we made the whole relationship worthwhile! As it turned out the restaurant was excellent, the owner / waiter has a family connection with Australia and he was forthcoming with sharing details of his visits with us on Oz. He also would not take a tip!
From Senj to Plitvice it was first up over the steep, high hills that run down to the sea, including lots of twisties, changing speed limit and lots of cars coming the other way encroaching on my side of the road. Sadly there wasn’t an obvious stopping point to photograph the view as it was dramatic over the water and islands.
The rest of the drive across and into the hilly / mountainous area also involved hundreds of speed changes, frustratingly very little 90km and lots of 30, 40 and 50 kms.... oh and one dramatic descent with multiple hairpin bends (serpintina).
Then the challenge of locating our accommodation ‘Lake House’, on a street in 3 sections, that are not connected! Still we made it and were warmly greeted by our host Ilya, who showed us around the beautifully renovated property with 6 small units and dining / outdoor areas.
He recommended a restaurant for dinner and we were soon on our way (sadly requiring driving - so less drinks for me) and it was excellent with a large table of young Croatians (ie young by my standards) nearby for entertainment ! once safely back at the Lake House, sleep came quickly.
Wednesday 3rd July; Plitvice
The planned fir visiting the the famous Plitvice Lakes Park dawned a tad cloudy but the cloud burned off and the pics testify that the gay was full of sunshine, fantastic scenery and later, people.
Or host had a comprehensive breakfast ready for us at 7am (juice, cereal, toast, yogurt, cheese, meats, omelette and coffee - no need for lunch) after which we headed to entrance 2, parked the car, bought tickets and headed over to start the lakes experience.
A summary of the day (pics are in sort of order) was that we took a bus to the top part of the lakes, followed a descending path to a very large central lake where we took a boat across to the other side, followed another descending path to the ‘large waterfall’ at the bottom, then climbed a long, steep path to the top where another bus returned us to where we boarded the first bus. Then it was uphill to Entrance 2 and the car park.
Adjectives can’t adequately do justice to describing the beauty, enormity and sheer wonder of this natural phenomena so I won’t try, except to say the diversity is also part of what makes this truly amazing and understandingly popular.
I also credit the lake / park management for making this accessible to such huge numbers, and noted the very significant improvements to the infrastructure since I visited 3 years ago - particularly much better paths, walkways and lake edges, which also keeps the visitors more contained!
18,000+ steps later we collapsed into the car and headed back to the Lake House for some relaxation time before returning to the same restaurant for another yummy dinner, including the largest banana split I have ever eaten, with the banana hidden beneath 3 scoops of ice cream and about 2 cups whipped cream!
18,742 steps today.
A record for the trip where I have usually done 11,000 -14,000 steps most days.
Thursday 4th July: to Belgrade
A change of plans here (dropping an overnight stop in Novi Sad and extending three nights to four in Belgrade to streamline the pack/unpack effort somewhat) enabled a bit of a sleep in and a leisurely 8am breakfast before hitting the road for the 520 km drive to Belgrade. Google maps said 5.5 hours and with a few stretching stops, tolls (3 pick up ticket and then 3 pay stops) and a 20 min border crossing stop, it took another about 1.5 hours. At the end by of driving this far I was totally brain dead and my body needed a lie down.
As much of the trip was on the wonderful toll roads where the maximum speed is 130km, this speed, the huge number of trucks, cars coming down the left hand lane at 150km +, speed limit fluctuations near towns and exits, and looking out for tolls and the border, requires a lot of concentration. And the first part of the trip pre-freeways (ie speedways) was pretty much single lane, lots of traffic including many trucks, constantly changing speed limits and many towns. As the car rental stuff up last week meant a manual, not automatic, car, this was a bit of a workout too.
Still, we arrived in Belgrade through peak hour traffic, found the hotel, parked the car, checked in and enjoyed having a lift (not stairs) to get to the 4th floor ... for a change.
Then it was off to find dinner in the busy old city area, crowd watch, admire the many old buildings, wander across to the Belgrade Fortress and look down on the corfluence of the River Salva and the Danube, and start to think about touristy options for tomorrow!
Chrissy
2019-07-15
Wow!! I can hear the enjoyment in your written word x