Thanks, joannyc! I know how much I benefitted from this forum and the generosity of so many members--helping with information that was so helpful.

10/11/14. Hvar.
Hotel Marul allowed us to leave our car in their parking lot and our luggage in the hotel so we could take a small duffel on the ferry for our overnight in Hvar. After breakfast we walked over to the Jadrolina ferry to Hvar. The catamarans didn’t leave until 3:30 which was too late. The schedules are quite different in October from summer. 8:30 AM and we were promptly off.

2 hours + and the ferry arrived at Stari Grad. A bus was waiting for passengers to travel on to Hvar Town-about a 20-30 minute ride. Once again, we followed RS’s instructions and walked up three streets, turned left past the small church there and found what might be our place with a “sobe” sign over the door. Ivana from Ivana Ulick apartments showed us two apartments to chose from, both with a full kitchen and stocked with plates, etc. and a patio and rooftop terrace.

We dumped our small duffle bag and ventured out. We walked a lot, around the harbor, past the “beach” areas/rocks where people were occasionally lying out. The water was gorgeous, so clear.

Ate lunch at a cafe by the harbor--shared an Angus burger. As we continued to walk around the harbor, we did get pretty hot and tired so returned to the apartment a few hours later to rest up. Then we hiked way up stairs and more steps, towards the fortress. The second half of the climb was much easier--a slow slope. We saw the dungeon/prison and decided to start walking back down before dark. Even as the sun set, we saw young tourists walking up.

Ate dinner at Mizarola, very affordable. Hubs had lasagna and I had green Tagliatore with shrimp tails and a glass of the “No Name wine.” “Handmade by a guy who makes wine for us- grows his own grapes and delivers the wine to us.”

10/12/14 Hvar--back to Split and onward to Plitvice.
The catamaran was running this morning so we had a quicker ride back to Split. We found a bakery and a coffee shop for an early breakfast and picked up the catamaran right there in the harbor--no bus ride needed first. Once back in Split, we picked up our luggage and car (no extra charges), and drove to Plitvice, which was about 3 hours with a quick stop for lunch.

Plitvice National Park. We stayed at the Sedra Hotel/Villa, which was modern/rustic, just right for the area. They had free parking, so we settled in there. Since each place we stayed had wireless, we were able to make any arrangements we needed, like a hotel for the following night. We didn’t know if we’d be too tired or not after a hike around Plitvice to drive all the way to Rovinj, so we had left that night open. After some brief thought, we decided to email ahead to the Kastel Hotel in Motovun and stay there the following night. I sent them an email at 5:30 and had a confirmation in minutes.

We ate at the Sedra and the food was okay and very inexpensive.

"Mestrovic Gallery. We walked over 30 minutes to get to this gallery, but it was worth it." - I thought so, too! I'm glad you took the time to get there and thought it worthwhile.

Glad you liked it too, kja! I even bought a T-shirt there for our adult son--I think Mestrovic should be more well-known.

10/13/14 Plitvice and on to Motovun.
We had breakfast at 7 AM so we could be on the trail early. Parked at the park (9 km from the hotel), paid our fees, and walked through Entrance 1, starting with the lower lakes with wonderful waterfalls. Some slight waterflow was overrunning some of the walkways and we could only imagine what happened during the rainy season, when the park had to be closed for about two months--April to June. (We kept hearing how awful the rain was this past summer--almost all of the time--really hurt the economy.) We continued along the usual paths to the upper lakes and the biggest falls. Amazing and peaceful. I think you could easily do it in four hours or a little more.

Motovun.
Maybe a four-hour drive and then the drive up the hill as far as we were allowed to go. We ended up parking alongside the road and walked the rest of the way. The hotel did have parking but it was a big hassle to call them to open the barrier, so we just stayed put.

We checked in and walked around the delightful little town. Of course bought white truffle oil at Zigante Tartufi. I have a couple of recipes and had used Italian white truffle oil before so I knew I wanted to buy some. And this was truffle season in Istria. Had we stayed for the weekend, we could have visited the local truffle festival.

Dinner at Konoba Mondo and it was very nice! We ate indoors as it was a bit chilly outside. Hubby had ravioli (spinach filled) with white truffle sauce and I had
Tagliatelle with white truffle sauce. Our waiter brought homemade bread with a special spread made of olive, truffles, olive oil, capers., as a house gift. Then he donned gloves and shaved delicate slices of a whole white truffle on each of our entrees. The pungency lingered. Back to the hotel where the candy on our beds served as our dessert!

OMG, I agree -- Mestrovic is awesome, and even if he isn't well known outside of Croatia, at least he is well known (and celebrated) there! Did you see his Circle of Life in Zagreb? Not as incredible as the Castelet (well, dah!), but so well worth seeing!

Did someone tell you Plitvice was closed for 2 months? I was there in May (twice) and the park was open though there was some flooding. I was there again late September and the flooding was even worse then.

The summer was so terrible for the local economy - it rained almost every day. I hope 2015 is better, weather wise, for the sake of the people who's livelihood depends on the park's traffic.

10/14/14 More Hill Towns and then---Rovinj
Walked to our car perched alongside the road with others and took off for more adventures. First to Orpatl, small, old, lovely, and then to Zavrsje--very small and mostly abandoned-no restaurants or shops, but interesting anyway with the old buildings. Noted that the EU had invested in updating the school (pinkish) there.

On to Groznjan, with its artists’ galleries. I bought a couple of handmade glass necklaces and earrings from a reluctant salesgirl, whose artist father had made them. She really didn’t seem to want to be there. Stopped for a cappuccino and crepe break-mone with lemon and sugar.

On to Rovinj, and easy drive there--but then! It was very hard (for us, maybe not for you) to find the recommended parking lot and it was 5 kuna an hour. So for the first time ever, I decided to actually turn on the roaming feature on my phone and made that expensive phone call to our next place of lodging-Trevisol Apartments. He hopped on his Vespa and came to meet us, taking us first (on foot) to the apts. and later directed hubby to another parking place- cheaper. But his directions from the other remote parking place back to the apts. left something to be desired and I wasn’t sure I would see my husband that night! BTW, if you book with Trevisol Apts., you have to call the manager upon arrival as no address is given and they have several apts--something they need to work out, I think.

Dinner at Joze, a restaurant that reminded me a bit of Macao Trading Company in NYC, with a fun decorated interior. It was a spaghetti night and the most tender calamari I have ever had as part of the seafood sauce. We went to bed with a warning of rain tomorrow.

rialtogirl, Yes, they did tell us Plitvice was closed for two months, but maybe that was an exaggeration. You could see how they would have to close it at times with any flooding. Glad it was open some. October this year turned out to be an almost perfect time to visit Croatia-fabulous weather almost all of the time. So what takes you there so often?

kja-his circle of life in Zagreb??? Where was that?

"his circle of life in Zagreb??? Where was that?" -- just outside the Croatian National Theater. It seems that some people call it the Source of Life or the Well of Life.

I don't think they ever close Plitvice completely (except holidays.) They are suppose to tell you when you get in if there is flooding and give a 50% discount if it is bad. But 3 times I was there when it was flooded, they didn't do that Also even though the lower lakes had "do not enter" tapes up across some walkways, many people just went under them.

I am glad you had fab weather and had such a great trip.

kja, we didn't! Guess we should have.
rialtogrl, that is very interesting, as it was someone at the park who told us that about it being closed. I can't imagine walking those paths if they were really flooded as they described. But if this were my only trip to Croatia, I might have!

I don't believe much believe in "shoulds" -- I'm just glad you enjoyed the work by Mestrovic that you did see -- and so much more!

The floods in Croatia this year were well beyond the "usual" -- I believe they were among the worst in a VERY long time. Unusual steps would not have been out of the question.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0H90IN20140914

I'm glad that didn't prevent you from seeing the Plitvice Lakes, patty!

Thanks, kja, I am glad too! More to come after the weekend.

A very nice report on places I have myself enjoyed immensely.

But your statement about Medjugorje: "some girl claimed to have seen an apparition. The roads there were extremely bumpy and not worth it in my opinion" is at best culturally insensitive.

Acklander, you are totally right! I reread that and I was awful to write that. I think I was in a tired or irritated mood that day. My apologies.

Not awful, just tired!

Nice report, nice lady!

10/15/15 Rovinj.
Slight rain today, but we enjoyed the walking around anyway. Breakfast was coffee with milk and a large chocolate croissant (I would never do this at home!) at an outdoor cafe beside the Hotel Adriatic.

We walked all around, photographing Church Euphemia, the harbor, etc. I bought three small painted houses (on small blocks of wood) from a lady named Maria in an antique shop. Restaurants began drying off their tables, so we picked one at Scuba and they brought me a blanket in case I got cold as we ate.

Rain sprinkles off and on all day long. Dinner same place, approx. $ 30.00 for dinner with wine and a shared dessert of Tiramisu.

I really liked Rovinj, with the colorful buildings around the harbor and the small town feel.