Croatia and Slovenia April trip

Old Apr 23rd, 2004, 03:32 AM
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Croatia and Slovenia April trip

Since I have jet lag I thought I would start this. We just returned from a tour we took to Lake Bled, Opatija, Split, Dubrovnik and then 9 days on our own in Hvar, Korcula, and then back to Dubrovnik. The tour was mostly seniors, as we are, and was a good value. We stayed in 3 and 5 star hotels and saw a lot of places we wouldn't have seen on our own. They also took us to a farm and a private home for meals, which were highlights of the trip.

Slovenia and Croatia were about a month earlier than the west coast in weather. It was cool when we arrivived in Ljubljana, Slovenia. There was still snow in the shadows on the ground. We were picked up and taken to our hotel, the 3 star Lake Bled Park Hotel. It was very nice and we had a balcony with a view of the lake and the castle. We walked around the lake, about 3-1/2 miles, toured the castle, took a boat to the church in the middle of the lake, plus the places they took us on the tour. On a free day, we took a bus with some others to the bee museum in Radovljica, about 20 minutes away. It was sunny and that turned out to be a lovely day. We enjoyed the museum and my husband bought this ugly wooden painting of a wife having her nose sharpened by the devil. We walked around a bit and had lunch across from a little jewelry store, that I found. The restaurant, St. Augustin, was recommended by the bee museum person and it turned out to be one of our best lunches. We sat on a deck overlooking the countryside, with the sun shinning and good company. I had a pasta dish and draft beer. Ordered this ice cream concoction that had whipped cream and fruit ice. Then the owner treated us to homemade blueberry wine and brought another big plate of dessert of some kind of chocolate cake with more whipped cream and liquor. Turns out the desserts and wine were gifts of the owner. What a nice experience.

Never ate so much whipped cream, seems like every dessert had lots. Best was the cream cake that the Park Hotel made for the whole town of Lake Bled. A sweet memory.

Have to mention that wine and beer were cheaper than soda or orange juice. We drank the local tap beer and local wine everywhere and only once sent it back. Could be had for as low as $3 a bottle. We like to eat the local food also. Since both countries are close to Italy and were under Venetian control, among unders, at some point in history, pasta and pizza are everywhere and great. Also, in Croatia, fish is the speciality.
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Old Apr 23rd, 2004, 06:03 AM
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We toured Ljubljana with the group and then walked around on our own and visited the colorful farmers' market and had lunch at the fish market, next to the river. We shared the biggest plate of calamari and fries. The newest fashion stlyle there is these pointy dress shoes with very high heels. How they wear them on their broken sidewalks, I don't know. I felt lucky returning home without falling myself.

Our next stop was Opatija. It's on the coast and has many old beautiful hotels. We stayed at the Hotel Millennium. It is a 5 star hotel right on the water, very nice. We had a balcony overlooking the water and part of the street. Have to say if you are a light sleeper, bring ear plugs. The hotels in April don't offer air conditioning until May and so you need to sleep with the window open and there is always street noise. Besides the restaurants on the tour, we enjoyed the Restaurant Kvarner in Lovran and a simple place across from the hotel that we went back twice for the pizza, about $3.50 for an individual one.

We did a lot of walking here. They have a walk along the water that goes for miles. We finally stopped after about 3 hours at the Restaurant Kvarner and met some other people from the tour and spent a couple hours enjoying our lunch, more calamari and lots of local wine. I had calamari everywhere. We caught a bus back and stopped for coffee and dessert at an outside hotel and watched the passing crowds. This is a nice, old world town. I could go back.

Already forgot one of our favorite restaurants in Lake Bled, the Union Restaurant, a block up from the Park Hotel. Had Gnocchi with gorgonsola sauce. Mmmm As you probably guessed we ate and drank our way through these two countries. I can only handle so many churches, museums, etc.. plus I like to shop.

A side trip from there was to Rijeka, a big port city. We toured the local church, etc., farmers' market and then looked for somewhere special to have lunch. We didn't like the place suggested by the guide, so we asked a lady passing if she could recommend somewhere nice and she pointed out this place close by and down an ally. They were washing the ally down and it sure didn't look like anything was open. We couldn't tell if the sign on the door said open or closed, so we tried it and walked into another find, Zlatna Skoljka Conca d'oro. I don't know what that means but it was full of patrons and smelled wonderful, an upscale little place. The waiter spoke English and that was a help. We had fish soup and the waiter brought us a complimentary apetizer, very nice. Have to add, most restaurants don't have a non-smoking policy.

Another day, we toured Rovinj, a little port village on the Istrian Peninsula and had lunch at a farm on the way to Pula. That was a treat. In Rovinj there's lots of jewelry shops and one that sells 18 kt gold handmade jewelry. Wish I had bought something.

In Pula we toured the amphitheater, the sixth largest preserved of its kind in the world.

Next we went to the port city of Split. We visited the Roman Palace of Diocletian and toured the city. We pickniced on bread, cheese, and meat from the farmers' market. We stayed at the Split Hotel, which is not in the middle of town. A large, very basic hotel.

We then went along the coast to Dubrovnik. It was a long bus ride, but beautiful. That area of Croatia is very rocky and we passed through villages that were totally destroyed in their war and have never been rebuilt. Very sad.

Dubrovnik is amazing. It's really not all that big once you've beeen there a few days and walked around. It took quite a few hits in the war and most of the tile roofs in the walled city have been replaced. We stayed at the beautiful,Excelsior Hotel. It was right on the water, but our only disappointed in the tour was that we didn't have a water view room. Those that did, were blessed.

We had three nights there and walked everywhere. I think we probably walked at least 30 miles on our trip and a lot of that was uphill. Everything was uphill. Steps, steps, everywhere. There were so many restaurants to choose from. One we enjoyed and went back to on our last day was Ragusa 2. They actually have 3 there, all close together. In One of the magazines at the tourist office, is a coupon for a free wine with lunch or dinner. Not bad either. My husband had the peppered steak the first time and it was so good, we both had it our last day. Desserts in the old city are best at the cafes where you can choose and sit outside. More whipped cream. The old city is busy with tourists, but thats part of the fun. We walked the wall, visited almost all the historical places in the walled city and took bus trips to other parts of town. Its very easy to get around and there are 2 tourist info places, one in the old city and one right outside thePile gate. I couldn't find most of the restaurants I had written down from Fodors, so we had to try them on our own. One place we wished we had time to visit was on the harbor behind the tourist info outside the wall. It looked like the perfect spot to spend the evening, but we ran out of time and it was raining our last day.

This was the end of our tour and we were on our own for 9 days. We took the ferry to Hvar. We left Easter morning at 9a.m. and arrived in Stari Grad about 4p.m. It was a most comfortable way to travel. We had lunch in the dining room, napped, read. Cost about $27 U.S. for 2. I had made arrangements for a room in a house over the internet. The owner's daughter was there at the ferry to pick us up and drive us to the house, about 30 minutes away. We had a small, clean room with a balcony with a great view of the water for about $14 per person. There was Easter bread and homemade Limoncelo waiting for us in the room. There was a larger room, but it was taken that night. They also have an apartment, no view. The only problem was it was on the top of the hill, another 28 minute walk to the center, not bad going down, but a lot of steps going back after dinner and wine. The first night we were lucky to find our way back in the dark. We should have gotten a map.

Hvar is just charming. The ice cream is great. There is a walk arund the water's edge. We went as far as we could one way and quite a ways the other. We had some sprinkles and then a day of heavy rain. We took a bus to Vrboska, a very pretty little village on the water, with not much to offer but the scenery. We were soaked. We found the only restaurant open, at the top of the port and lingered as long as we could over a simple lunch and watched Croatian soap operas with the owner's family while they lunched. Hi offered us a small glass of procek.

We had a dinner at Leporini, up a side street. We were the only ones in there to start. Croatians eat later than we do normally, so we were before the crowds. The owner treated us to more Easter bread and Procek, a sweet after dinner wine.

I have to say it again, the people there are so nice and friendly and most speak some English. Well, we toured just about everything there was to see in Hvar. In better weather, we would have gone out to the islands by boat taxi to see the beaches. The owner's son of our room said the summer is hectic here. In August the Italians come over in droves. It would just be wonderful there in warmer weather to swim in the beautiful aqua water.

For that Texan gal who is going to Hotel Podstine on her honeymoon, we walked over to check it out, but it was not open yet for the season. It did look very nice though, a bit secluded and about a 15 minute walk to the center. We walked through several hotels and it looked like one of the nicest from the outside. We didn't like the The Palace. The Amfora was tooo big. We ate at Junior's Seafood Restaurant. We had the $50 seafood platter for two. It was good, but not worth the $50. The house wine was worth the price. We also ate at the Fisherman, close by Junior's and that was good also. Their version of ice cream is everywhere and we enjoyed that and pastries every day.

My husband walked up to the Cididal, but I passed. We had a great enough view from our room.

After three days, the sun came out and we took the ferry back to Korcula. We had passed it on the way to Hvar and decided we wanted to visit. We landed at the other end of the island and took a bus that met the ferrys to the town of Korcula. They have a pretty, small walled city on the water. A young girl met us at the bus and took us to an apartment in the walled city. It was okay, but the closet smelled musty. It was $37 per night. We stayed two nights. We've stayed in a cave in Turkey and now in a walled city. Been there, done that, don't have to do it again. The city was kind of noisy, there were two churches close by and singers at night in one of the churces. But, walking all day, we slept anyhow. They have 2 nice museums and a lovely church in the old city. We did a lot of walking around. I think a better place to stay would be in one of the sobe rentals to the southeast of the walled city, along the water Anyhow, I think its southeast. Facing the Korcula hotel, they are to the right. We kept bumping into a charming girl from New Zealand, living now in London. We met her again when we had a long lunch at this outdoor cafe right next to the water, outside the wall. Can't remember the name, but it was the only one with picnic tables next to the water. We shared a fish special, 2 fish, calamai, frites for 80 kuna, about $14, plus wine and beer and salad. You get a basket of french bread everywhere, but sometimes they charge and butter is extra. One of the best fish meals we had. It was a beautiful day and worth the detour. We were planning to go to Trogir, but I'm glad we came here instead.

Our second night there, we wanted to catch the sunset we missed the first night and after that big lunch, we decided to picnic in front of the wall. We bought the usual loaf of bread, meats and cheese and discreetly put white wine in a water bottle. We didn't know if drinking was allowed in public outside of restaurants. So we settled down on a bench below the wall, and enjoyed our picnic. We kept noticing police coming in and out of this building we were in front of. You guessed it, we had parked ourselves in front of the police station. We weren't caught.

Next stop is back to Dubrovnik, but that will have to be later.





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Old Apr 23rd, 2004, 06:29 AM
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Hi granny,

Thanks for the interesting report. I'm glad you had a good time....sorry about the rain.

The burning question is where did you hang that ugly painting that your husband bought or did you "lose" it along the way?
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Old Apr 23rd, 2004, 07:10 AM
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Granny, What a fun trip report. My knees feel your stairs and hills! Thanks for posting. Looking forward to hearing more.
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Old Apr 24th, 2004, 04:04 PM
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Hi Judi, Took a second look at that painting and it's even worse than I thought. The devil is sharpening her tongue, not her nose. My husband wanted to put it in the great room, I suggested by his desk, we compromised on the powder room. Beekeepers painted these funny pictures on their bee hive boxes in that part of Slovenia. It was an art.

Grasshopper, Thanks for your kind words. I always look for your posts.

Well back to the trip. Got a bus from Korcula that took a short ferry to another island and then back to Dubrovnik. It was a nice ride. The bus dropped us off at the main bus station and we caught another to the Excelsior. It's very easy to get around Dubrovnik by bus. We had left our one big bag with some folks at the Excelsior and were hoping to claim it on the way to the apartment I rented over the internet. It was a one bedroom apartment with a balcony overlooking Lokrum island. Was a little over 40euros a night. The people weren't there, so we went up to the apartment. I say up, because it was a quarter mile up and 200 more steps up. The owner was there in the condo, a very nice young professor. He offered to pick up our suitcase when we had it. We managed to have dinner in the old town, get the suitcase finally, and have him pick us up with the suitcase. We saved 200 steps and it was pouring by then. Next day we just walked around the old town. We tried to eat at Spaghetteria Toni's. Sounds funky, its a small restaurant, but people were raving about it. Couldn't get in, it was full, so went to our second choice, a another little place by where the farmers' market is in the day. They have red and white umbrellas out front. Had calamari again, but the little fried fish looked good too. The next day we took a bus to Cavtat, a pretty little village about 30 minutes south of Dubrovnik. If the weather has been nicer, we would have taken a boat from the Dubrovnik walled city harbor. The water there was lined with one nice little outdoor cafe afer another. It would have great to spend an afternoon there, but it was too chilly, so we opted for a restaurant in our guide book. I think the name was Galija. It was across from the bus stop and had indoor and outdoor seating. We sat indoor and it was a good choice. We had a nice long lunch with some very good house wine. The owner said it was a mix of 3 red grapes. We bought a bottle to take with us. He offered us an apetizer that was delicious. I had the fried sardines with salad and my husband had the mix grill and stuffed eggplant. If you get to this town, try this restaurant. Two people passing said it was the best in town. I believe it. We had more ice cream and returned on the bus.

Next day it was sunny and we took the little boat from the harbor to the island of Lokrum, about 15 minutes away. We roamed the island and climbed to the fort and ate the lunch we brought overlooking the sea. Wonderful. If you go, bring food and plan to spend 3 or 4 hours there. The boat ticket is roundtrip.

That night we tried again for Spaghetteria Toni. Went early and got in. I had a pasta dish and everything was as good as predicted.

Spent our last day just trying to find the historical things we had missed. Most are only open in the morning, so we still missed a few. We then tried to find some things to bring back as gift. Bought a bunch of Vegeta, that was a suggestion somewhere. Also, table scarves and a silk scarf for me. As I said before, we had a long last lunch at Ragusa 2 and sadly headed back to the apartment.

That night there was heavy lightning and thunder and poured and we thought it is time to go home. The apartment owner picked us up at 6:30 and drove us to the airport and we arrived back in Seattle at about 9p.m. that night. It was a very good trip and we saw almost all we wanted.

Things I wish we could have done:
Gone to see the Plitivice Lakes
Swam in the Adriatic
Gone to service in the beautiful church in Hvar

What surprised me the most:
Walking into the Park Hotel in Lake Bled when we first got there, and talking to a fellow tour gal for about 2 minutes and just saying I got a lot of info from chat rooms and her asking me if I'm Granny from Fodors. I was so taking back, I couldn't speak. Guess I've blown my cover!

If anyone is interested in the email address of the places we rented just write.

It's good to be home!
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Old Apr 24th, 2004, 04:55 PM
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Things I forgot to mention:
Hotels would be about $200 if we hadn't been on a tour. I asked at a couple of the ones we stayed at. We usually stay at zimmers or small inns when we're on our own.

Lunches ran about $20 - $25 for two. Sometimes we shared, but it was still that much with a glass of wine or beer.

Dinner usually was around $40 and up. Prices were a little higher than expected and they were about the same in most restaurants. Also, we went to Proto restaurant in Dubrovnik and that was very nice too.

Forgot about the Postojna Caves. Can't remember exactly where they were, but not to be missed. About $10 admission.

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Old Apr 24th, 2004, 05:24 PM
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You are one cool granny! How funny that you got exposed in Bled. What are the chances? Kind of like my signing on to the computer in Dubrovnik and finding the last user was CrazyMina.

Your want you regret you missed list looks like mine. Although I have to add the caves. I missed them and wish I hadn't.

So lots of good reasons to go back! Thanks for your report.
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Old Apr 24th, 2004, 05:41 PM
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granny, Loved your report! Thank you for sharing it - really enjoyed it! I'm not sure if I missed it, but could you tell us what the name of the tour you were on - I'm thinking it might be something my parents would enjoy.

Thanks,
Sally
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Old Apr 25th, 2004, 07:50 AM
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Hi Sally,
It was a Grand Circle Tour. The first time they have had a tour to Croatia since the war and they had to keep adding additional tours because there was so much interest. We wanted to go before it discovered by more tourist.

It was our first tour and we were happy with it and will probably go on another GCT. The guide was excellent. He was a very proud Slovenian, with a wonderful knowledge of the history of both Slovenia and Croatia. He made the tour part all the more interesting.

There were some fun people on it also that we'll keep in touch with.

If your parents try it, please let me know how they liked it.



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Old Apr 25th, 2004, 01:45 PM
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Thanks granny! If my parents end up taking a tour, I'll post about. It probably wouldn't be for a year or so - Mom's a teacher and her vacations are concentrated in the summer, plus they'd need time to "think" about it!
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Old Apr 26th, 2004, 06:50 AM
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Thanks for the great report. I am heading to all these places the last week in May so you made me feel like I was there already.
I do have plans to see Plitivice National Park and the caves. Now I can't wait!!!
I will be sure to have some of the ice cream also.
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Old Apr 28th, 2004, 08:29 PM
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Hi Martha,
Where all are you heading? Are you going to any islands? How long will you be gone? I'd love to hear about your trip when you return.

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Old Apr 29th, 2004, 09:46 AM
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Granny, going the end of May for 17 days. Flying into Ljubljana and making our way down to Dubrovnik. Stopping at Bled, Rovinj, Opatija, Plitivice Lakes, Zadar, Split, Hvar, Korcula.
I will be with a small group tour company only 10 people going and only half that after Slovenia. I'm counting the days.
I will write about the hotels and highlights when I return.
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Old May 1st, 2004, 09:54 AM
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Granny,What a great report.
Can you give me more info on Ragusa2.
I will be in Dubrovnik in the near future.Someone else told
me they liked it,but that source is not available.
Thank you
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Old May 1st, 2004, 10:28 AM
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Hi Capribird,
It's hard to describe where it is, but easy to find when you're there. It's at the opposite end from the Pile gate and up a couple blocks from the church at that end. Anyone can tell you once your there and there are signs at the end of each row of alleys.

As I mentioned before, there's a coupon for wine in one of the brochures at the tourist office in the walled city.

We ate first at their restaurant at the top of the alley. It is cozy and a good choice for dinner. Everything is ala carte and I think dinner would be around $25 per person, if you get the free wine. The red wine was nice. The peppered steak is very good and comes with veggies, etc. The menu is Italian and fish. One of our dinner companions didn't like the whole fish he ordered, so I would stick to the other. I had seafood risotto and that was good, but its only a side dish. The calamari was good also. We had flan for dessert.

They also have two resturants one flight below. Two are outside under umbrellas and would be great for a sunny day. One of them had an inside dinning room that was small, but nice.

Our last day there, we went for a very late lunch and the waitress offered us an aperitif before our meal in addition to the wine. You can linger as long as you like. They say 10% for tipping, more for special treatment.

One caution, we had to check our tabs closely in the restaurants. They are so busy, mistakes are sometimes made.

If you have time, try the little restaurant on the harbor to the right of the tourist office outside the Pile gate. It's small and right on the water and would have a wonderful view. Someone told us it had very good food. Our host said the Adriatic, close by this other restaurant, had the best food, but people here said it was overpriced and not that great. However, we noticed they had a lunch menu outside that wasn't too high, but no one was eating there, so maybe that tells you something. I find sometimes you just have to try for yourself. It depends on your mood, the company and the chef of the day.

Have a memorable trip and let me know if I can help any further.

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Old May 1st, 2004, 11:24 AM
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Granny,
Many thanks for your great report!!
Croatia & Slovenia are so beautiful!!
It's fun to relive the memories!!
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Old May 1st, 2004, 11:27 AM
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MARTHA.....
i just saw a documentary about Plitivice Natuonal Park...it looks amazing.
I wan't sure how accesssible it is....didn't look as if there were many roads.
Do you have any info??
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Old May 3rd, 2004, 04:50 AM
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Zagreb - Split highway passes right through Plitvice Lakes. You can't miss it, there are large signs 'Plitvice', 'Plitvice Entrance' everywhere. You will notice you are getting closer to the park by the number of signs 'Rooms', 'Sobe', 'Zimmer' which are ads for private inns and accommodation.
In late June brand new motorway is about to be opened which will detour Plitvice, but the old road is still going to be there, of course.
http://www.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr
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Old May 3rd, 2004, 06:09 AM
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Bailey: I also saw the documentary, it really showed the wildlife in the park. I only saw them in one scene, but around the waterfalls there are wooden walkways you can take walks on around the area. And we are staying overnight at the park. (sorry I don't know the hotel name yet.) I will be there one afternoon, spend the night and go walking for a couple of hours the next morning. So I am not sure about the roads. But I can't wait.
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Old May 3rd, 2004, 04:23 PM
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Thanks granny for the great trip report! I am heading to Croatia in late June and will definitely use this info. I was the one asking about the Podstein, but I decided that I was trying to do too much, so I am saving Hvar for the next trip. I am glad to know it looked good to you. I am flying into Split, driving down to Dubrovnik and flying back out of Dubrovnik. Glad you are home safely. WT
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