Looking forward to more. I like that area too. You didn't do the boat ride at Lake Bled? I thought it touristy but the island and church are neat.

No, we didn't. Looking back on it now, it probably would have been a good idea... perhaps there will be a 'next time' to correct this oversight. Frankly, the whole day-trip would work well as part of an Austria trip.

I'll try to post more when I get a chance, but there is much work to do today.

Great start, looking forward to reading more! Your description of Lake Bled brought back great memories for me. I was there in 2006 for a few days and had a wonderful time!

Thanks for your report. Croatia and Slovenia are on my to-do list, so I appreciate your descriptions.

Great itinerary!! Looking forward to more.

Thanks very much for your kind words and encouragement, everyone. And LCI... it does seem like you and I cover much of the same ground, doesn't it?

Day 3: Finding our way in Rovinj
Fortunately for us, the weekend package at the Hotel Slon included a late check-out. That allowed us time to ramble about the town and explore some areas we hadn’t seen previously, such as the Tivoli park to our immediate west. The cool light of day reaffirmed our impressions from the night before; this is just a great town and well worth a visit!

We enjoyed our breakfast buffet once again and hit the road by 11:00. Almost all of the route to Rovinj is highway driving, and it went fairly smoothly. But one problem did make itself evident for the first time… our 5-door VW Golf did not include an input jack for the stereo system, so we couldn’t play music from our iPhones. And since I’d neglected to pack emergency CDs, that meant Slovenian & Croatian radio the whole way. In other words, long-forgotten hits and deep-tracks from cheesy 80s bands mixed with current Serbo-Croatian disco. You know it’s not going especially well when Bon Jovi (Shot down! In a Blaze of Glory!!) comes on and you’re actually happy to hear it.

We arrived in Rovinj, Croatia (on the Istria peninsula) around 2:00 pm, and waited a good 15 minutes in line for a place to park at the big municipal parking lot near the Old Town. We took a few moments to load out our belongings and start walking in the general direction of our hotel, the Casa Garzotto.

Rovinj used to be an island, separated by a narrow channel from the mainland. A few hundred years ago, the town grew and they filled in the channel… and that’s where the parking lot is today. But once you’re inside the old city gate, the streets become an erratic warren of cobblestone streets, blind alleys, unexpected turns, hills and passageways… all lined with an amazing assortment of shops, galleries, cafes, restaurants, apartments and inns.

I got us to a spot that I knew must be close before I asked a kindly shopkeeper for directions. With a bemused grin he showed me that if I’d only taken two more steps, I would have seen their sign just 20 feet away. Not bad without a map!

We were actually renting their apartment, Corte Montalbano, which is around the corner from the B&B, and which shares a wall with their sister restaurant. We unpacked and settled into this unusual apartment, built on three separate levels. From the street-level living room/kitchen area, two different stair cases lead up to different bedroom areas… one of which has an intervening dressing room/bathroom floor. The two bathrooms were a great bonus when getting ourselves ready in the morning, and the second bedroom proved fortuitous one night when I experienced an unfortunate snoring attack. It’s a very nice, homey place with lots of little touches and amenities (but a few more windows would have been nice).

We had a brief, mild panic when ms_go discovered her iPhone was missing, until we had the hotel’s driver bring our car back so we could see if it was there. It was! Elated with relief, we walked all over the Old Town and up to its iconic Church of St. Euphemia, learning how to keep our footing on the slick paving stones. Later, we made our way to the colorful, picturesque waterfront and had some refreshing drinks by the marina while we admired the view.

Rovinj is a very active hotspot of tourism, especially compared to the low-key Ljubljana. But we actually don’t mind a destination being a little touristy if it’s touristy for a reason, and this is one of the loveliest towns we’ve ever stayed in. It’s the type of place that keeps revealing new glimpses of rough-hewn beauty and old-world charm around every corner, despite the t-shirt shops and souvenir stands.

After some more exploring, we decided to have dinner at the hotel’s restaurant right outside our front door, Barba Zuane. I should point out that the restaurant is so close that, literally, anybody sitting at the street-side table in the smoking section had to make way for us when we entered or exited the apartment! The atmosphere there is quite nice, very rustic and inviting and the service is decent; the food was pretty good, not great. We had a Caprese salad, linguine with chicken & mushrooms and spaghetti with tomato and prawn and a local wine.

We walked off some of our dinner through the town before stopping for a late evening drink by the waterfront. (Note: I realize this trip report is starting to make it sound like we’re a couple of booze-hounds, but really… stopping for a nice glass of wine by the water here is a fabulous way to while away an hour and catch up on trip notes!)

We turned in early, knowing we had plenty to see and do the next day. Weather permitting.

Wow, you sure are prompt with this report--cannot wait for more---and the pics of course.
As usual, some world class writing, but where did you learn the vocabulary that includes "easy-peasy"?

...where did you learn the vocabulary that includes "easy-peasy"?

Your granddaughter, probably.

It might take a while for those pics to get posted. There are an awful lot to sort through.

So, when do we get to see your Scotland report?

ahhh, yes, mr_go....great (travel) minds think alike!

Dying to go to this area, so this report will be saved by me for future use. Good thing it's well written!
Your reports are always good ones!

Enjoying your report and looking forward to reading more as its high on our list of places to go. Seems like yesterday when we met u for dinner in Luang Prabang and you were talking about Croatia as your next trip.

Glad to hear that Spajza is still good. That was one of our regular places when we lived in LJ.

Thanks everyone! We will try to get a few more segments done early in the week. The photos are going to take awhile--we took a lot!

Hi yestravel! Definitely put this area on your list. Where are you off to next?

Now...trying to figure out how Singapore ended up in the Fodor's destination guide box after the first post in this thread!?

Hi! Ok, moving it up on our lengthy wish list...we head to Naples and then Puglia on Tuesday. Been to either?

Naples, yes (for three days, seven years ago). Puglia, no...or I should say, not yet--it is on our list. I loved Naples! Have a great trip!

REALLY enjoying your report.
Plan to spend 2 weeks in Slovenia next Sept.Then moving on to Croatia.
Should be in Istria by mid-Sept. 2013 for at least 5 nights....and will definitely base ourselves in Rovinj.

More about Istria and Plitvice, PLEASE!

yt: As my LW mentions, we have indeed been to Naples before... and it was quite an experience for all of us. Here's the appropriate page(s) from our trip report:
http://www.onelittleworld.com/campania_7.html
http://www.onelittleworld.com/campania_8.html

Everyone else... thanks so much for your kind words. Sneaky, I'll have to check out your blog later today (assuming my work schedule permits!).

I should have pointed out on the very first post that, as always, this trip report is a collaborative effort. Ms_go and I work as a team. The same will be true when we post our pix (eventually).

I'll try my best to get Day 4 (Pula, Bale & Vodnjan) up into the thread today. Stay tuned!

As promised...

Day 4: Stepping back in time in southern Istria

Breakfast this morning (and for the next 4 mornings) was served at the restaurant next door, just a couple of steps from our front door. Now that’s convenient!

We left on our driving adventure around 10:00; first stop, the small medieval town of Bale. After a fairly short drive we parked and walked into small town. Immediately, we were mistaken as being part of a small group of French tourists by an Italian man who invited us all in to see the restoration (in progress) of a 500-year-old manor house with distinctive Venetian architectural details. It took some time before I realized the source of the confusion… I was wearing a t-shirt with bright lettering in French. Between the French and Italian commentary, we were able to get the gist of the message.

Afterward, we prowled around the evocative old town a bit more. We popped inside a very small church with striking 14th century frescoes at one point. But really, you can see the entire town in about 30-45 minutes… so we were soon on way to destination #2: Vodnjan.

The primary attraction here is a group of mummified saints on display in the local church. Suffice to say, it’s creepy in the extreme; one them, the Patriarch of Constantinople had died in 350 and was originally buried in the Hagia Sofia. The other desiccated saints were of a somewhat more recent vintage, and all were dressed in period finery. Definitely one of the stranger attractions we’ve paid money to see.

We walked around the town for a while, and found it to be a little more photogenic than we’d expected. Not a bad little town to check out if you want to get off the “tourist track”.

Next stop: the port city of Pula, famous for its Roman ruins. Our first challenge was finding a decent place to park. We eventually ended up at a pay lot on the waterfront near an industrial area, but not far from the city center. We only had coins for a one-hour ticket, so we stopped for a quick snack/lunch to get some change and feed the parking machine.

We walked to the Roman amphitheater in the center of town, which we found to be as formidable and well-preserved as the ones in Arles and Veronna. For some reason, workers were setting up what appeared to be a hockey rink in the arena. From there, we walked over to the nearby citadel in the heart of town and climbed around on the ruins. We then ventured over to the main square which was built on the old Forum, and which still includes a well-kept Temple of Jupiter at one end.

By now, a light rain had started to fall so we headed back to Rovinj, dropped off the car, had drinks at the waterfront (again!) and discussed our plans. So far, every day of this trip had involved some cloud cover and/or rain but we agreed that it didn’t really matter that much… as long as the weather cleared up in time for our visit to Plitvice later in the week. We crossed our fingers.

Sufficiently rested, we walked up the main street of Rovinj to the old church at the top of the hill and climbed the imposing tower. The stairs up are made of thin wood planks; not ms_go’s favorite, but she vowed that if the woman ahead of us in the 5-inch heels could do it, so could she! The views from the top are simply breathtaking, and the sun came out for us while we were up there… perfect timing!

Dinner that night was at Kantinon, a well-known seafood place (recommended by Lonely Planet) off the peninsula but on the waterfront. It’s a nice, unpretentious place with friendly service. We enjoyed excellent grilled squid and tuna steak, plus some soup and local wine. Despite the high quality of the food, the total was only about $45.

Afterward, we took a leisurely stroll and had a little gelato for a night cap.

Day 5: Into the heart of Istria

After breakfast and showers, we hit the road again around 10:00… destination: Pazin.

We eased our car into the city center and found parking by castle. From there, we went for a hike into the famous chasm that splits the town. The scenic and woodsy trail takes you to the bottom of the gorge and then back up the other side… a little over a kilometer in total, and we were only ones there as far as we could tell. On the other side, the trail ends at a resort hotel with dramatic views back at the old castle and city. It also has a zip-line that runs back to where we started. It wasn’t open for business at that moment, unfortunately (or fortunately, if you’re ms_go).

From there, it was on to Motovun. We were required to park at base of the hill and walk up into town, along with numerous other tourists (mostly German). It was here that we decided that people doing this with baby strollers (and yes, there were many) must be crazy!

We chose a decent-looking spot with outdoor tables along the rampart wall, called Pod Voltom. We enjoyed an excellent lunch there, and we can attest to quality of their fuzi (homemade pasta). Ms_go had it with black truffles and I had it with a hearty local beef stew. Both were rich and satisfying, and the view was terrific although a bit cloudy that day.

We explored the scenic old town, popping into an art gallery or two and soaking up the local color before descending the streets back to the car park. Our next stop was Groznjan, a very cute town and a good discovery that you don’t see on every tourist guide. There was, literally, music in the air as we strolled through town, courtesy of music students practicing their instruments near open windows.

We drove ourselves back to Rovinj around 4:00pm and had a couple of drinks and rested up before dinner. And, of course, took trip notes! We decided on pizza for dinner at the most popular pizzeria in the Old Town area, da Sergio. They serve good pizza—not fancy, but well-executed. We walked right in around 7:00, but there was a long line when we left.

We walked off our hearty fare with a lengthy stroll to the other side of the harbor and beyond, seeing the other side of Rovinj for the first time. Looking back at the lights of the old town behind all the boats in the marina is a very nice image for us shutterbugs!

So... anyone have questions so far?

We went to Groznjan a couple of years ago.....set off from Rovinj using our Garmin GPS. The drive into the town was on a gravel one lane road with multiple switchbacks and sheer drop-offs. I was truly dreading the trip down until we got up to the town, saw a parking lot, real streets and a very nice paved road down the other side of the hill! We still laugh about that daytrip.

Judy: We actually had a little adventure of our own heading out of Groznjan, on our way toward Buje (which we ended up not stopping in). We took a wrong turn onto a road that started out paved, then became gravel and dirt, then became mostly grass... and finally turned out to be someone's driveway! Oops.

funny story, mr_go! Did they invite u in????

No, but I got the feeling from the guy out front that it happens fairly often.

Thanks for the report. We may be going to northern Croatia for a long weekend in October so I am very interested in your descriptions. If not this trip, we certainly plan to spend time in Istria in the next few years.

Day 6: “Some of them are not wearing swim suits”

This morning, we collected the car and took a leisurely drive north to the seaside resort of Porec, opting for the scenic route instead of the highway. It was a very easy drive, and equally easy to find parking on the outskirts of town. Despite the fact that it is a similarly sized resort town near Rovinj, and it is actually an older town, most of it feels decidedly newer.

We spent some time wandering around the streets of Porec, taking in the sights and sounds along the old Roman Decamanus that still serves as the main drag in town. But to be perfectly candid, from what we observed, there is one main reason to visit Porec… and that is to visit the old basilica. It is simply outstanding, especially the stunning, nearly 1500-year-old mosaics in apse. They are among the finest we’ve ever seen, anywhere!

We took some time to climb the bell tower at the basilica, and it offered some very nice views. And we finally had some bright, sunny weather with nearly unlimited visibility… so that helped, too.

After a while we drove back to Rovinj and bought tickets at the local tourist bureau for a 4-hour boat cruise to the Limska Draga fjord, located just north of town. Again, because of the improved weather, it was the perfect day for a cruise and we had had enough of driving around anyway.

Rovinj, when viewed from the water on a sunny day, is about as gorgeous as you can imagine (just wait till we get those pictures sorted out, folks!). On the ride up to the fjord, we passed several nice, sunny beaches populated by sunbathers. “It’s definitely a nice day for the beach!” we observed. Shortly thereafter, I mentioned to ms_go “You know, some of them are not wearing swim suits.”

“So?” replied ms_go, “I’m not wearing a swim suit under this, either.”

“Uh… I mean, they aren’t wearing anything else, either.” I said.

Ms_go squinted at the beach we were passing, and her eyebrows arched. “Oh.”

It should be noted, the beaches of western Istria shore are very friendly to naturists. And this would not be our last encounter with public nudity.

Anyway, on to the fjord. If you’ve been to Norway or New Zealand, you might not be too impressed; but the early fall colors brought out by a hot, dry summer did lend certain rugged beauty to the landscape. Along the way, we struck up a nice conversation with young American couple from Massachusetts. They reminded us of ourselves, 15-20 years ago.

At the far end of the fjord, we stopped at a spot with a couple of decent seafood restaurants. The Lonely Planet book recommended the Viking, so we made a beeline for their outdoor terrace. The food was fresh and good—fish salad and a mixed mussels plate; just right for a late lunch.

After returning from the cruise, we freshened up and took some time to unwind, catch up on emails, take some trip notes, and made arrangements for laundry service with the hotel staff. Later, we enjoyed a light dinner at Ulika, just up the street from hotel. It is a very small and very quirky spot turning out surprisingly fine dishes; the lemon risotto with scampi and burrata, scallops on the half-shell, and cod mousse with truffle were delightful, and so was the house wine.

It was a beautiful evening, so we strolled. And we held hands under the moonlight. But I ended up sleeping in the other bedroom that night because I’d had a bit too much drink and was snoring like a broken vacuum cleaner.

What an image---the broken vacuum cleaner that is.

The lemon risotto con scampi sounds like a good reason to go.

Still waiting for the pics. I need to live vicariously since my recent pics are so lousy.

I'm afraid that sorting and editing the 2230 pix we took is going to take some time. As in, we haven't really started yet. Sorry.

Day 7: “Are we off the beaten track yet?”

It was a week into our trip, and we had yet to push the boundaries and get ourselves off the ‘tourist track’. So we decided to take a daytrip out to Cres Island, off the southwest coast of Istria. To get there we drove the long, scenic route to the ferry station at Brestova, heading first to the easternmost town on the peninsula: Opatija. It’s a very different feel on that side of Istria, more like Ligurian coast, not unlike driving from Umbria or Tuscany to Liguria in Italy.

We arrived at Brestova a good 30 minutes before the scheduled ferry departure, but there were already dozens of cars lined up. Dozens more arrived after us, too… but it’s a large boat, and could easily handle the traffic. After a quick crossing, perhaps 20 minutes or so, we were off on our quest to get “off the beaten track”.

Along with a few hundred of our closest friends.

Seriously, there is only one road leading away from the ferry landing, and so the cars must form a long, slow parade for the next 30 minutes or so, at least until we all reached Cres town, a small coastal resort town on the north half of the island. But while most of our fellow travelers peeled off the main road to head into Cres, we detoured about 5 km south to find a rustic konoba (or ‘family restaurant’) called Bucaleta, recommended by the LP book and noted for its locally sourced lamb. To get there, you have to turn off the main road and drive to a tiny hamlet, go to the far side of the village, and keep going until the road stops (but before you plunge over the cliff into the sea).

We were off the beaten track, at long last! By the time we arrived, it was just us and a small party of Germans (and more than a few bees) hanging out on the back patio. I’ll cut to the chase: it was the finest lamb I’ve ever tasted. Slow-roasted, juicy, flavorful, copious, and served with delicious roasted potatoes. Ms_go was equally pleased with her grilled calamari.

After a long and enjoyable meal, we resumed our journey. It’s a beautiful drive with interesting terrain, green forests and lots of rock walls along the roads. If the west and central parts of Istria are like Umbria and the eastern shore is like Liguria, then I’d say the northern part of Cres island is somewhat like the Peloponnesian mainland of Greece. We headed to the small seaside village of Valun, parked the car and walked down a very steep hill into town and hung out for a while in a nice relaxing area by the beach (and again, not everyone was, er, completely attired).

From there it was on to the nearly abandoned village of Lubinece (pop. 17), high on a dramatic cliff overlooking the deep blue Adriatic. It’s an amazingly scenic place, one of those towns where it’s hard to tell where the rocks end and where the buildings begin. Be advised: the road leading into and out of town is very narrow with few turnouts, and rock walls on either side. Not for the faint of heart, nor scant of skill.

We headed back north and made the evening ferry with plenty of time to spare. In hindsight, it would have been a good idea to have caught the earliest ferry to the island, so we could have more time to explore… but I do feel like we caught the flavor of the place.

On the ride back to Rovinj we FINALLY found some great radio to listen to (playing modern rock acts like the Black Keys, Jack White, Gun Club, Nick Cave, etc.). Dinner that evening was at Veli Joze, a restaurant near the apartment with a quirky interior plus outdoor seating. It’s a tad touristy and bustling, but the food is decent. Neither of us was very hungry after our big lunch, so we ate lightly.

And then we took one last walk through town, went back in and packed, and prepared to say our goodbyes to Rovinj.

Am taking copius notes and living vicariously until next September. Can NOT wait to "do" Istria.

So.....and this is a personal question......How much weight did you each gain??????? The food sounds wonderful....but we can ONLY manage lunch OR dinner....the con being, we do NOT get to try as many establishments. (sigh)

Plitvice report next????????

Thanks a billion for your time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep it coming! It's really good reading. Also need photos, but willing to wait!

Trust me folks, the photos will be better than the travelogue.

On the subject of weight-gain... I believe I put on a few pounds. But perhaps not as many as I could have since we did walk quite a bit on this trip, and both of us tend to walk briskly. Also, we tended to eat lightly (or not at all) for lunch on most days to save our appetites for dinner (Day 7 being a very notable exception).

Thanks a billion for your time!

Our pleasure. I've said it many times before, but thanks are never necessary. We have gained at least as much from this community over the years as we have contributed. We can never pay back the members of this forum for their valuable information and experience, so we pay it forward.

Anyway...

Day 8: “Every trip needs a down-time day”

It was our last morning in Rovinj, so we said bid farewell to Ditka and Alex the driver and the rest of the Garzotto staff and we headed out in the direction of the Plitvice Lakes… about 160 miles ESE, in the heartland of Croatia. Frankly, it’s a long boring drive, mostly on the motorway, so I broke out the portable desktop speaker for the iPhone and ran it on battery power.

We stopped for lunch at Grill Gloria, just off the motorway at Otocac. It’s an unassuming roadside stand where we ordered in a mish-mash of German, Croatian, Italian, English and improvised sign language. We both had cevapci, a traditional Bosnian sausage dish, with fries. It was sodium overload, and we were thirsty for the rest of the day.

We had reserved a cabin from a small B&B operator outside the tiny village of Grabovac, about 7 km north of the Plitvice Jezero national park. There are literally hundreds of places to stay in the area, most of them closer to the park than this one, but it looked pretty comfortable online, had some decent Trip Advisor recommendations, and promised free wi-fi.

We checked in around 3:00pm, and were met by “Metallica”. That’s not his real name, but we were having trouble pronouncing his name and I’m definitely not going to try to spell it here, and he was wearing a Metallica shirt… so I asked him if I could call him that. Apparently, he’s a huge fan of the band and was more than happy with that arrangement. Btw, he speaks incredible English for someone who has never been outside of Croatia.

Since we had arrived fairly late in the afternoon, we decided to save our trip to the lakes until the next day. So we asked Metallica what else there was to do around his neck of the woods. He hemmed and hawed a bit about some caves somewhere nearby, but ultimately told us that the best thing for us to do, in his honest opinion, was “Relax”.

We opted instead for a drive to Bihac, just over the border in Bosnia-Herzegovina. I mean, if we’re this close, we might as well get the stamp on our passports, right? Well, we got there but realized we had no local currency for the parking machine, and then realized that there wasn’t much we really wanted to park and see anyway, so we headed back. Thus ended our one-hour trip to Bosnia.

Bottom line: Metallica was right. Relaxing was the most intelligent option available. So we returned to our little cabin, opened a bottle of vino and took advantage of the free wi-fi. (Note: if you go to the “How many countries have you visited?” thread, you can find my post from the cabin’s front porch, claiming Bosnia for my list.)

We went to dinner that night at a local spot with outdoor seating and caught up on football scores on our smart phones. The food was ok, with better than average pizza for ms_go, but the discovery of the night came when I asked the waitress whether she had any limoncello for a nightcap. “Of course,” she replied, “and we also have sljivovica…”

Wait, what? Shlee-bo-veet-sa?

“Oh yes, why don’t you try that instead? It is a local specialty.” Well, we did try it. Apparently, it’s a clear brandy made from plumbs. And you know what? It’s everything that grappa should be, but isn’t.

"Not exactly a banner day for the trip" I said to ms_go between sips. "That's OK," she replied. "Every trip needs a down-time day. I'm happy just to relax."

As usual, she was right. We slept well that night.

"It was sodium overload"...

I am so going to use this phrase (I promise to give you credit!). That's the worst feeling, when you feel like you've ingested the same amount of water in Lake Michigan and your still thirsty. That happened to me with an "Italian" salad at a cafe in Reims, France, which was loaded with all kinds of cured meats.

Day 9: A great day Plitvice Lakes

Throughout the first week of this trip, when it was pouring rain in Ljubljana; when it was drizzly in Pula; when it was cloudy the first couple days in Rovinj; when it was windy in the fjord… every step of the way, we said to each other “that’s OK, as long as we get decent weather in Plitvice.”

This day, our patience was rewarded. You literally could not have dialed in better weather on a thermostat… highs in the mid-70s F with crisp, clear air and nearly cloudless skies. It was glorious.

We got up early and enjoyed a hearty breakfast before setting out. We arrived at the park a little after 8:00am, parked the car and made our way to the information desk. They described the different routes one can take inside the park, and how they are marked by letter-coded signs along the paths. It was also helpful that our tickets included useful little maps of the park on the back.

So we picked out our route, studied our maps for a bit… and promptly lost our way at the first available opportunity. Guess what, it didn’t matter a bit, since we covered most of the ground anyway over the next nine hours.

It’s hard to describe the place. Be prepared for throngs of tourists, even that early in the morning, and most of them clustered in tour groups. The narrow boardwalk trails around the smaller lakes and the regular ferry-boat crossings tend to reinforce this clustering effect. Our advice: get off at the first ferry crossing, and wait a good 4 minutes at the dock before proceeding if you can. That way the tour groups will trudge off in front of you, and you can enjoy the scenery and take pictures at your leisure (at least, until the next group comes along).

The beautiful lakes, with their iridescent aquamarine waters and unusual limestone formations, and the many scenic waterfalls are clearly the stars of this park. But if you have all day to enjoy the place, like we did, I encourage you to get off the boardwalks and set out on the forest trails. The woods are absolutely gorgeous there, and can be far less crowded.

Random observations, experiences, etc…
* Baby strollers on the boardwalks, an inherently bad idea
* Poor Italian fellow realizing he had to carry a stroller up several hundred steps after a day of visiting the park
* Purse dogs; in one instance, two for one owner
* Lady holding her mobile phone to her ear in one hand, having a loud and animated conversation, while trying to take pictures of waterfalls with other hand
* Ms_go accidentally startled a large, unleashed dog that growled menacingly at her
* Loud and pushy tour groups from all over
* Our (cheap) tripod broke and later thrown in trash; so no ‘velvety’ waterfall photos were possible
* One big waterfall in particular, Veliki Slap, is worth lingering over… we probably took 40 pictures or more

We rested from our lengthy hikes in the mid-afternoon and enjoyed some refreshments and a nice, extended conversation with a friendly couple from Dortmund. They spoke excellent English and were travelers like us, so we compared notes on different sites in Croatia and around the world. Nice folks.

We ended with an hour-long rowboat ride around the largest lake (Kojak) in the late afternoon, which was an excellent way to wrap up our visit (even if it was a little taxing on the shoulder muscles).
Rowboat ride was a nice way to end the visit, if not a little taxing on the shoulders.

We walked back to the car park around 5:00pm, tired but pleased. It really was a beautiful day, and one we won’t soon forget. We drove back to the cabin and rested up, then returned to same restaurant as the night before for dinner. This time, we celebrated with the house special, the grill platter for two. It included veal, chicken, pork, sausages, vegetables, a mushroom-rice dish and more… not health food, but satisfying after walking over 10 miles. And, of course, more local wine and spirits.

Just in case anyone's hungry...a few photos from the best meal of our trip, at Bukaleta on Cres Island:

Part 1, the lamb:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p390799187/h43dc6e48#h43dc6e48

Part 2, the calamari:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p390799187/h43dc6e48#h43dc6e5c

Otherwise, posting photos is going verrryyyy slowly.

Day 10: On to Zagreb!

After breakfast, we proceeded to the office (i.e. the living room) of the proprietors’ B&B/house to check out. I offered my MasterCard, and was politely told this would not do… cash only, please. This, of course, was news to us and we did not have sufficient Croatian kuna for the transaction. To make matters worse, the nearest ATM was back at the Hotel Bellevue by the park, a fair distance away.

We started to scrape together all the kuna and euro we had when a thought dawned on me. “Would you take dollars?” I asked.

“American dollars?” replied the wife of the owner, who was away. I nodded furiously, and together we looked up the current conversion rate on the internet and arrived at an amount that we just happened to have tucked away (in case of emergency). Good ol’ Ben Franklin and U.S. Grant saved the day!

We anticipated a long-ish drive back up the main road to Zagreb, but it turned out to be easier and quicker than expected. Having already been to the airport once, we were able to find it and the rental-car return with no trouble, and before we knew it we were in a taxi and headed for the heart of old town Zagreb.

We checked into our hotel (the Jagerhorn Hotel, right on the main east-west street of the old city, about 2-3 blocks west of the town square), but our room was not quite ready so we decided to have a beverage or two at one of the nearby cafes. Our only problem… which one?

If you’re the sort of person who likes to relax at a comfortable outdoor café-bar and do some people-watching, have I got a city for you! We have never before seen such a density of sidewalk cafes in a city, and every one of them seemed to be doing fairly brisk business. We sat down at the very first one we encountered, just across the street from the hotel, and immediately felt like we were at home.

We went back to the room and took our bags up to the (now ready) room on the top floor, sent went to ride the shortest funicular we’ve ever seen. It starts about a half-block away from the hotel and rises up a steep hill for about 100 feet or so. We rode it mostly for the novelty of it; fortunately, it’s cheap. At the top of the hill stands an old lookout tower, which offers pretty nice views of the city from the top.

From there, we took the short walk to St. Mark’s church, with its iconic, vibrant and colorful tile roof. It was another clear and sunny day, which made the colors all the more vibrant (and photogenic). We proceeded on to Zagreb’s charming pub street, Tkalciceva, and wandered slowly past the dozens of restaurants, bars, cafes, etc. It was a warm and sunny day, so our thirst soon returned. This time, we tried the lemon-beer that we’d seen many of the locals drinking. Note: it’s refreshing, but tastes nothing like a beer.

It was at this point that we both started to feel the fatigue of 10 straight days of traveling catch up with us. Ms_go, in particular, hit the “wall” and needed a nap. I escorted her back to the room for a nap, and went back out to take a few more pictures on my own.

Dinner that night was at Kerempuh, next to the central market. It offered very good traditional Croatian dishes, and I really enjoyed their homestyle roasted veal and potatoes. Ms_go had a decent fettucine with shrimp, and we split a Caprese salad plus mixed grilled veggies and liter of very good house white wine. It was one of the better dinners on our trip, and a relative bargain at 279 Kuna (under $50). About halfway through the meal, some live entertainment livened up the outdoor bar/restaurant next door, about 30 yards away from us. It was just a couple of young women and a guy with a guitar playing traditional Croatian melodies, but they were extremely popular with the local crowd that gathered around.

Again, we strolled all over the Old City after dinner, getting a feel of the place and making notes of sites to visit the next day. But our legs began to weigh heavy, and before long we were happy to call it a night.

KUDOS to you for a description of Plitvice that NOW makes me want to go, even if we have been to both sides of Iguazu!!!

Those lamb and calamari photos......YUM!

Do you have a site for the place you stayed at in Grabovac??????
Restaurant name????????

Here's to traveling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks so much, mw. The place where we stayed in Grabovac is called House Tina. Here's the Trip Advisor link:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g644071-d639599-Reviews-House_Tina-Grabovac_Plitvice_Lakes_National_Park_Central_Croatia.html

It's a decent place, nice breakfast, friendly people, excellent English... but there were a few little quirks. As I mentioned, there are many, many places closer to the park. And you won't find soap in the bathroom, or a glass to drink from (although they did let us borrow a couple from their kitchen). And the whole cash thing was a bit of a surprise.

As for the restaurant, it was really nothing too special... probably a dozen places just like it within a few miles. I'm not even sure I knew the name of the place while I was there!

OK... as promised, here are some of the pictures we took. This batch is solely from the daytrips we took while staying in Istria.

Cres Island:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p390799187

Porec and the Limska Draga fjord:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p406190438

Pazin, Motovun and Groznjan:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p499326334

Bale, Vodnjan and Pula:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p231612379


Many more still to come, so stay tuned.

I am so glad you visit the places I have missed and capture them via your lenses. As usual, wonderful images.

Thanks, bob; selecting from our Rovinj shots is going to be a challenge, trust me! And now...

Day 11: A Tram Ride to Nowhere

The breakfast buffet at the Jagerhorn is not bad at all. They even had an open bottle of bubbly for making mimosas.

For our last full day in Croatia, we decided to start out by going to Mt. Medvednica north of town. Following the directions laid out in the Lonely Planet book, we took tram #14 to its end and got on tram #15, and took it to its end, where we looked for the “nearby” funicular that was to take us up to the top of the mountain. The tram part of this trip was easy as can be… you simply buy ticket at a kiosk near the stop and validate it on the tram; then you have up to 90 minutes in the same direction.

The funicular part was not so easy. We were pretty well out on the fringes of town, and there was absolutely no sign of a funicular anywhere. We started off walking down a trail that went into a long tunnel and then started up a hill, but still no sign of a funicular (or cable car, anything like that). We headed back to the café next to the end-of-the-line tram stop, and it didn’t look like any of the patrons there was going to be much help to us. On our way out, we saw a young fellow who apparently worked there, and so I asked if he spoke any English. And while his English was actually pretty darned good, it wasn’t quite up to the task of translating “funicular”… so a certain amount of explaining and pantomiming were in order.

Finally, he knew what we were talking about, but at the same time he had no idea what we were talking about. An older gentleman seemed to get the gist of our inquiry and told him, in Croatian, that there used to be a funicular nearby. “Used to be” being the operative phrase, here.

We thanked them both, decided to cut our losses and headed back into town the same way we came. We got off the #14 tram near the old Mirogoj Cemetery and took a long walk uphill to see it. (Note: once again, we almost got lost and had to ask for directions again.) It really is a remarkably beautiful grave yard, and well worth finding. As you enter, there is a huge colonnaded memorial arcade that must stretch for a half mile or more; the rest of the cemetery covers quite a distance as well.

After about an hour, we walked back into city center, stopping to look inside the old cathedral (again, well worth a visit!). Afterward, we were happy to stop for a coffee break at one of the many, many outdoor cafes. And then we grabbed a late-morning snack at a local bakery, sharing a delicious spinach burek and a small slice of fresh-baked pizza-bread. No need to waste time and dollars on lunch today!

We walked some more, south of the Old city and through the long park that runs down to the train station. We admired the various stately buildings and fountains, and made note of the many interesting architectural details throughout this city. The area near the train station shows some true old-world grandeur that’s just a little past its prime of 100 years ago. From there, we meandered back north in the direction of our hotel. Being an alum of the U. of Georgia, I insisted we stop for a beverage break at a place called the Bulldog Café. Then, it was time for a nap for ms_go and and some more picture-taking for me.

Dinner that night was at Agava on Tkalciceva (pub) street, which serves very good Mediterranean fare. It’s a tad pricier than most of our dinners but still came in under $70. The traditional Croatian starter of lightly baked dough with cheese was great. Our mains of veal with celery-root puree and octopus stew with a side of rice with leeks were excellent, and we washed them down with a bottle of the very good house white, plus a nightcap of (what else?) sljivovica.

We were heading back to hotel after dinner, but we noticed significantly increased activity on “Pub” street due to a Croatia vs. Belgium soccer match. Several of the bars had big-screen TVs out front, so we decided to join in the fun. We took a seat at one of the bars and watched the second half of the match with (what the hell) one more drink for the road. Croatia won, the crowd loved it, and we had a blast.

It’s good to be on vacation.

Day 12: A fond farewell

On our last day of the trip, we had an early-afternoon flight. So we had some time to take it easy and linger over breakfast, and to see a little more of Zagreb before our departure.

First, we visited the market which is in full swing. Some of the best-looking produce we’ve seen in a long time was on offer, but we were only there to take pictures. Then, on to the area west and south of our hotel which was home to more stately old buildings. As we passed the national theater, we could hear a soprano warming up through an open window (loudly!). We also walked on past the national archive building, over to the lovely botanical gardens.

Before returning to the hotel, we took one more opportunity to embrace the quintessential experience of Zagreb, and paid one last visit to a sidewalk café. Honestly, this is the best city for sidewalk cafes that we’ve found so far… and a little more caffeine was needed to fortify us for our travels.

Our taxi from the hotel to the airport arrived at 12:20 for a 2:20 flight. Everything was right on time heading back home, and the delightful film Moonrise Kingdom from Wes Anderson was quite enjoyable.

I’ll be back with some final observations and overview. In the meantime, please let me know if there are any questions we can answer.

mr_go...WOW! Stunning photos. I also like to take pictures through windows, however, my results aren't usually as good as yours!

Photo/camera questions for you...
1. what type of camera do you use? Is it a DSLR? I'm thinking about getting a new camera (mine is about 4 years old)
2. do you do any editing to your photos? I have photoshop light, but haven't even tried to teach myself how to use it (yet!)

Thanks for your kind words, LCI. At least half of those shots were taken by ms_go with her trusty Canon EOS Rebel T2i DSLR. I use a Canon PowerShot ELPH 510 HS point-and-shoot model that does a pretty solid job with very little effort/set-up/adjustments... and has a nice wide-angle lens that comes in handy pretty often.

ms_go reviews, selects and edits the shots, and posts them to our Zenfolio account. I believe she uses p-shop light.

Thanks, LowCountryIslander! These are a mix from both our cameras--an older Canon DSLR and a Powershot 500, with an occasional iPhone photo thrown in for good measure (the lamb and calamari photos, for example). I have Photoshop, but I really do very little editing on the whole--a little cropping and straightening here and there and maybe small adjustments such as contrast.

mr_go obviously forgot that not all went quite smoothly and on time on the way home! Our Lufthansa flight departing Zagreb was over an hour late, cutting our connection time in Frankfurt to just under 40 minutes. To make matters worse, our plane parked at a remote stand out on the far reaches of the airport. We were not encouraged.

As we walked down the stairs of the plane, a Lufthansa agent was at the bottom, holding a sign that said "Chicago, Milan." She motioned us to a separate bus, and we waited until all people were off the plane. We were the only ones on the bus (not sure what happened to "Milan"). Two agents escorted us to the terminal, to and through a separate security checkpoint, back onto the bus and then to a different part of the terminal and up an elevator that opened right by our departure gate--about 10 minutes prior to scheduled departure. Our flight to Chicago had already boarded and we were just about the last ones on! Way to go, Lufthansa!!

mr_go obviously forgot that not all went quite smoothly and on time on the way home!

Good lord, I must have repressed that awful memory. And it was only a couple of weeks ago! Yikes!

Also, I stand corrected on the model of camera I use... it is the 500HS, and not the 510HS. (I'm posting from work, so I don't have it with me.)

Thanks for the camera/photo info. I'm really bad about editing. I've had the photoshop light for a couple years, but never seem to make the time to learn. I probably should make the effort!

BRILLIANT photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


A million thanks.

A wonderful report and stunning photos - thankyou for sharing. We had to cancel our holiday, scheduled for September (we should be in Dubrovnik now - sigh) at the last minute due to my husband requiring unexpected surgery. I am now counting the days till September 2013 and very much looking forward to our stay at the Jagerhorn!

Thanks, four_maccas... and sorry to hear of hubby's surgery. Hope it works out for the best, and soon.

And now, a drum roll, please...

CONCLUSION

This trip gave us a generous, broad sampling of Europe in a relatively compact area. Slovenia offered a pleasant central-European city experience, plus an Alpine experience as well. Istria provided a very Venetian flavor to the west, but it reminded us of Umbria and Tuscany in its central region… and Liguria on its eastern shore. Cres Island was very much like the mainland of Greece. Zagreb delivered some urban edge and grit. And Plitvice was like a fantasyland!

Here are some parting thoughts and observations from our 12-day sojourn…

* We will be back to Croatia, I am certain. The Dalmation coast, including Dubrovnik, Split and the nearby islands are very definitely on our radar… and I’m thinking it might be done as a cruise someday.

* This place can be an excellent value, overall… especially the food and beverages. We ate pretty well, and nearly all of our meals (including drinks & tip) came in under $50.

* The Lonely Planet book was indispensible to our planning, and it contains a depth of information on the Istrian peninsula that some other guidebooks lack. But it was frustratingly out of date on a couple of key points (and not just the phantom-funicular, either), and it was almost completely devoid of information on parking your car. I realize that’s in-keeping with their “philosophy”… but I counted it as a serious fault nonetheless.

* We’re old-school travelers, so once again we eschewed the GPS device and used old-fashioned maps (Freytag & Berndt, 1:200,000) of both Slovenia and northern Croatia. And it worked out just fine.

* The car, a red diesel VW Golf with 4 doors and hatchback, was exactly what we needed on this trip. While it doesn’t have the quick acceleration we’re accustomed to, it sipped fuel, was easy to park and had a delightfully tight turning radius. The only real minus was the lack of an input jack for the stereo.

* If you choose to stay in Rovinj (and we recommend that you do), be sure to pack comfortable footwear with good traction. The streets of the Old City are all uneven cobblestones that have been worn slick by constant foot traffic. If there’s a hint of rain on them, you need to watch your footing.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Best Western Hotel Slon, Ljubljana – A great place with good service, a comfortable room, very good breakfast buffet, and perfect location. Their weekend special is an exceptional value!
http://www.hotelslon.com/index_en.php?w=specialoffer&id=1

Apartment Montalbano, Casa Garzotto, Rovinj – Again, it’s hard to beat the location, right in the heart of the Old City. We liked the quirky, multi-level layout of the place, and it would be perfect for a family of three… but it is a little weird for two. And some people would probably hate being that close to the restaurant (i.e., you’re practically in it). But overall, we loved this place and the Garzotto staff.
http://casa-garzotto.com/corte-montalbano.php

House Tina, near Plitvice – Very clean, functional, nice proprietors, reliable wi-fi, very comfy bed. Again, our cabin was better suited for a family of 3 or 4. Thumbs up from us… but my guess is you can find a similar place that’s closer to the park.
http://www.expedia.com/Rakovica-Hotels-House-Tina-Bed-And-Breakfast.h3748398.Hotel-Information

Jagerhorn Hotel, Zagreb – Perfect location on the Ilica, decent room size and amenities, nice courtyard area for breakfast. But despite what the guidebooks say, there is no restaurant here… and you can’t even get a drink in their lobby/courtyard area. Still, an excellent value for a city-center hotel.
http://www.hotel-jagerhorn.hr/index.php?LANG=EN

A sincere thanks to all who have posted their observations of these great destinations on this forum before us, and to all of you who have followed along with us on this thread. We truly appreciate your comments, and the opportunity to relive our experiences with you!

More pictures are coming, we promise. We will post the links here, so stay tuned.

Our next trip destination… remains undetermined.

Terrific !
You all are still the royalty of trip reports.

Thanks, Bob. We try to share what we can.

Speaking of which, here is our album of Ljubljana photos:

http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p925615814

The skies were a bit gray, but it's a cool town!

OK, about time for some scenic splendor. Here is our album of Lake Bled & Lake Bohinj photos:

http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p803094329

And these are our shots from Plitvice Lakes National Park:

http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p167554570

There was a recent Fodors thread asking 'what's the bluest waters you've ever seen?' (or words to that effect). I'd like to submit that second link as my answer.

Very nice!
I wish we had seen Plitvice--most impressive.

Great report and terrific pictures! I loved all the cats and dogs, the windows and doorways, through the arches--I guess that covers most of them! Thanks for sharing!

Fantastic photos! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks, everyone. We'll have an album Rovinj shots, and another of Zagreb... and then we'll be finished.

And then, it's time to start planning the next trip!

mr_go, great trip report. We spent 2 weeks in Croatia a few years ago and a week in Slovenia in August, and we fell in love with both countries. Needless to say, I enjoyed your trip report immensely (and the pics I saw so far), for all the memories they brought back.

We were in Ljubljana, Hotel Slon on Saturday, Sept 1st – and there was a wedding there. I guess we were there at the same time. We left early (very early) the next day, for a 7 am flight…hope the weather got nicer after we left.

xyz99--wow! Small world. We did stay at the Hotel Slon on Sept 1 (that was our arrival day). Lovely evening, wasn't it? Always nice to start off the trip with shoes that get soaked completely through! The next day was our trip to Lake Bled--overcast but no rain, and it kind of cleared off by evening. It was a very nice evening in Ljubljana and we were able to eat outdoors.

irishface--I haven't had a chance to go through and post some of our gazillions of photos of Rovinj yet, but if you liked the cat photos, here is my favorite (from Rovinj):

http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p961512809/h453972c8#h453972c8

Lucky for us, it was the end of the trip - we did not get to see Ljubljana, so now we have to go back

We missed the breakfast at Slon, but the one they packed for us was very nice.

Here is a link to our trip report http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/a-heat-wave-rain-and-some-nice-weather-in-between-a-wonderful-trip.cfm

can you recommend a car rental company that would have an automatic?

Hi mcmover, we rented through AutoEurope (broker) and the local rental vendor was Oryx. We reserved and got a mid-sized automatic (a diesel VW Golf).

mcmover,
We rented from Budget (picked up in Prague, returned in Ljubljana), and got a Fiat Punto automatic.

When in Croatia a few years ago we rented from AutoEurope and the local vendor was Sixt (I don't remember what car we got, but it was automatic).

We have now sorted through and posted our photos of Zagreb. I apologize for the sheer volume of shots, but we ended up with more 'keepers' than we expected.

http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p451431154

There's one more album left to post, Rovinj... and then we'll be done.

Very nice---you had sunny skies.
My favs were the beans in the market and St. Marks church.

Waiting for Rovinj.

Sunshine definitely helps!

OK, at long last... our final photo album of the trip is posted for your viewing pleasure.

Rovinj shots:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p961512809

That puts a final coda on the trip report. Thank you for your patience!

And, worth the wait.

Mr. Go, love your photos. I was in Rovinj in 2003 and I can't believe how much more crowded it is now. Your Lake Bled photos are so beautiful. When I was there it was blazing hot.

Wonderful photos. After reading your report and others are definitely thinking about Croatia & Slovenia for 2013, maybe Spring or in the Fall. If u wanted to go at a leisurely pace & had unlimited time, how much time would you allott to these two countries?

That's a very tough question, yt. We deliberately left off some of the more desirable areas of Croatia (like most of the Dalmatian coast, Dubrovnik, etc.), with the intent of returning and possibly taking a boat-trip there in the future. And I feel like we barely scratched the surface in Slovenia.

The short answer to your question: somebody else could tell you better than I could.

The shorter answer: 3 or 4 weeks, total.

Thanks! short trips or long trips, I always have trouble figuring out how much time to spend where.

This is a wonderful trip report and very helpful to me as I plan my September trip to Croatia. We'll be mostly visiting friends on the Dalmatian coast, but thinking of getting there via Northern Croatia. The Istrian Peninsula looks amazing; love your pictures too!