tcreath's trip report to spectacular Croatia and Slovenia (plus Bosnia and Montenegro)
Nov 20th, 2006, 08:12 AM
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Tracy, thanks again for your report. Just "being" there is exactly what I thought was the best part. I really miss it, but thankfully have lots of pictures to keep it alive. I can't wait to go back too.
Nov 20th, 2006, 08:35 AM
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Day 5 - Our drive up the coast
Today is the day that we were to start driving, and DH was more than a little nervous after seeing some of the crazy drivers flying around the coastal road, but we both decided that a car was a necessity so we decided to go through with our plan.
We woke up early and luckily had no hangovers from the long night before! We grabbed some pastries and an orange juice from the pastry shop next door to Villa Adriatica. We ate our pastries on "our" balcony, packed up all of our stuff and bid farewell to our hotel and beautiful balcony.
We usually book cars with Auto Europe, but the prices were really high. I found a recommendation for Economycarrentals.com here on fodors and decided to check them out. They gave me an excellent deal, at close to half the price of Auto Europe. Still, we were a little nervous, worried that they wouldn't show. Luckily this wasn't a problem. Promptly at 9:00 our car shows up right outside of our hotel. We quickly fill out all of the paperwork and are on our way. This was a great feature, I might add. Having the car dropped off right outside of our hotel was a wonderfulc convenience!
Hubby gets into the drivers seat of our Scoda and we go about our way. We get a little turned around in Dubrovnik, and hubby has some choice words to say about the driving, and then make it onto the coastal road. A big negative of Economy Car Rentals is that they don't leave you with a full tank of gas. Our gas was a little under 1/4 a tank left, so we are looking for a gas station as we drive. The scenery is beyond beautiful, but we start panicking when there are no gas stations to be found. Luckily we find one not far from Ston because we were almost at empty at this point. So a good tip would be to fill up your tank before you leave Dubrovnik!
Anyways, after getting gas and some snacks (Cockta, chips and chocolate; healthy, I know!) we were back on our way. Everyone says how gorgeous this road is, and they certainly weren't lying. We passed beautiful coastal vistas with hundreds of islands and the sun glittering against the silky azure waters of the Adriatic. Everyone talks about how great the coast is, but the mountains are fascinating in and of themselves. Very rugged and rocky and beautiful, especially against the coast where the views are dramatic.
We eventually went inland a little, where we saw lots of marshy floodplains and farms. It was here that we stopped at one of the many orange stands along the road. The elderly women sell oranges straight from their farms, as well as homemade orange liquors and honey. We picked up a bag of about 15 small oranges for under $1.50 USD. The oranges were delicious, very juicy and sweet, and made for perfect snacks.
We finally get to Split. We were unsure of rather to even add Split to our itinerary because of the mixed reactions, but it all came down to wanting to see Diocletian's palace. I'm going to be honest here; we did not like Split. Something about it just didn't click with us. It was crowded and lacked much of the charm that other Croatian towns seem to have. Its a big, bustling city. Still, Diocletians Palace was interesing and I'm glad we went. We picked up some take-away pizza slices and left because after about an hour or so we had already had our fill of Split.
Our base for the night was Trogir, and I was very glad we chose it over Split. Trogir is a beautiful town in a picturesque setting. We booked Villa Pape (http://www.villa-pape.com/) for one night. We had originally booked a regular room, but we found out later on that the owners don't actually live in Trogir; they live in Split and it was easier for them to just put us in the ground floor apartment for the one night. It took some doing to find the apartment, located high in the hills of the small island of Ciovo, located behind Trogir. Still, it was worth it because the owners were delightful. The place was also quite nice; we had a beautiful terrace with picture-perfect views of the coastline, a kitchen, bathroom and very comfortable bedroom. We made arrangments to pay for breakfast for the next morning and fell into a much-needed rest before leaving for dinner.
We had dinner in a small pizzeria in Trogir, mostly because their was very little available for us. The town really does all but shut down during the fall/winter months. Still, the food was food; we each had a pizza margharita and a Karkovacko beer again, and we had the restaurant all to ourselves for the duration of our meal. Afterwards we just wandered around the town, made a phone call to our parents on one of the payphones, stopped at a small bar/cafe for some hot chocolates and then drove back to Villa Pape for the night.
Sorry this is short and to the point...I'm not feeling too well today so I'm anxious to get back into bed for some rest!
Next: Hello Slovenia!
Today is the day that we were to start driving, and DH was more than a little nervous after seeing some of the crazy drivers flying around the coastal road, but we both decided that a car was a necessity so we decided to go through with our plan.
We woke up early and luckily had no hangovers from the long night before! We grabbed some pastries and an orange juice from the pastry shop next door to Villa Adriatica. We ate our pastries on "our" balcony, packed up all of our stuff and bid farewell to our hotel and beautiful balcony.
We usually book cars with Auto Europe, but the prices were really high. I found a recommendation for Economycarrentals.com here on fodors and decided to check them out. They gave me an excellent deal, at close to half the price of Auto Europe. Still, we were a little nervous, worried that they wouldn't show. Luckily this wasn't a problem. Promptly at 9:00 our car shows up right outside of our hotel. We quickly fill out all of the paperwork and are on our way. This was a great feature, I might add. Having the car dropped off right outside of our hotel was a wonderfulc convenience!
Hubby gets into the drivers seat of our Scoda and we go about our way. We get a little turned around in Dubrovnik, and hubby has some choice words to say about the driving, and then make it onto the coastal road. A big negative of Economy Car Rentals is that they don't leave you with a full tank of gas. Our gas was a little under 1/4 a tank left, so we are looking for a gas station as we drive. The scenery is beyond beautiful, but we start panicking when there are no gas stations to be found. Luckily we find one not far from Ston because we were almost at empty at this point. So a good tip would be to fill up your tank before you leave Dubrovnik!
Anyways, after getting gas and some snacks (Cockta, chips and chocolate; healthy, I know!) we were back on our way. Everyone says how gorgeous this road is, and they certainly weren't lying. We passed beautiful coastal vistas with hundreds of islands and the sun glittering against the silky azure waters of the Adriatic. Everyone talks about how great the coast is, but the mountains are fascinating in and of themselves. Very rugged and rocky and beautiful, especially against the coast where the views are dramatic.
We eventually went inland a little, where we saw lots of marshy floodplains and farms. It was here that we stopped at one of the many orange stands along the road. The elderly women sell oranges straight from their farms, as well as homemade orange liquors and honey. We picked up a bag of about 15 small oranges for under $1.50 USD. The oranges were delicious, very juicy and sweet, and made for perfect snacks.
We finally get to Split. We were unsure of rather to even add Split to our itinerary because of the mixed reactions, but it all came down to wanting to see Diocletian's palace. I'm going to be honest here; we did not like Split. Something about it just didn't click with us. It was crowded and lacked much of the charm that other Croatian towns seem to have. Its a big, bustling city. Still, Diocletians Palace was interesing and I'm glad we went. We picked up some take-away pizza slices and left because after about an hour or so we had already had our fill of Split.
Our base for the night was Trogir, and I was very glad we chose it over Split. Trogir is a beautiful town in a picturesque setting. We booked Villa Pape (http://www.villa-pape.com/) for one night. We had originally booked a regular room, but we found out later on that the owners don't actually live in Trogir; they live in Split and it was easier for them to just put us in the ground floor apartment for the one night. It took some doing to find the apartment, located high in the hills of the small island of Ciovo, located behind Trogir. Still, it was worth it because the owners were delightful. The place was also quite nice; we had a beautiful terrace with picture-perfect views of the coastline, a kitchen, bathroom and very comfortable bedroom. We made arrangments to pay for breakfast for the next morning and fell into a much-needed rest before leaving for dinner.
We had dinner in a small pizzeria in Trogir, mostly because their was very little available for us. The town really does all but shut down during the fall/winter months. Still, the food was food; we each had a pizza margharita and a Karkovacko beer again, and we had the restaurant all to ourselves for the duration of our meal. Afterwards we just wandered around the town, made a phone call to our parents on one of the payphones, stopped at a small bar/cafe for some hot chocolates and then drove back to Villa Pape for the night.
Sorry this is short and to the point...I'm not feeling too well today so I'm anxious to get back into bed for some rest!
Next: Hello Slovenia!
Nov 20th, 2006, 09:03 AM
#43
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Tracy:
It seems that many first-time visitors to Croatia either skip Split or "split from Split" very quickly. Advice to anyone wanting to see the Palace and spend a few days, I highly recommend the "better part of town", within easy walking distance of the major sights in and around the Diocletian comlex.
The Park Hotel is located in a more residential area, overlooking one of the better beaches in town. It is a throwback to the 20's and 30's, quietly elegant. We stayed there in '04 and have recommened it to friends and family who all agreed that it was a haven in otherwise drab Split. Rates are in the low $100's
http://www.hotelpark-split.hr/eng_index.php
Stu T.
It seems that many first-time visitors to Croatia either skip Split or "split from Split" very quickly. Advice to anyone wanting to see the Palace and spend a few days, I highly recommend the "better part of town", within easy walking distance of the major sights in and around the Diocletian comlex.
The Park Hotel is located in a more residential area, overlooking one of the better beaches in town. It is a throwback to the 20's and 30's, quietly elegant. We stayed there in '04 and have recommened it to friends and family who all agreed that it was a haven in otherwise drab Split. Rates are in the low $100's
http://www.hotelpark-split.hr/eng_index.php
Stu T.
Nov 20th, 2006, 12:23 PM
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Tracy, all you seem to do is eat and sleep and enjoy beautiful buildings and scenery. Sounds perfect! Any place where oranges can be picked fresh from trees is way up there for me. Hope you feel better soon!
Nov 20th, 2006, 01:36 PM
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I do want to make it clear that I wouldn't advise anyone to skip Split just because we found it unappealing. There were definitely some interesting aspects of the city. Different strokes for different folks, as they say.
Moolyn, you definitely summed up our version of a great vacation! We do like museums but for the most part we spend most of our trips just "soaking in the atmosphere" as they say. Croatia is the perfect place to do that because overall most of the towns don't have an overabundance of things to do. We try to be as relaxed as possible while also seeing what we want to see. And since I love to sleep, naps are almost always worked into our itinerary, even if by accident! But because many places close around 4:00 and dinner usually doesn't start until after 7:00, so this made for perfect nap times!
Issy and Stu, thanks for commenting on the Park. I did check it out due to your recommendation, Stu, and it looked lovely. We decided to stay in Trogir mostly because it was cheaper, although the Park is also a great price. Our flight tickets were more expensive than we usually spend so we offset the price by staying in smaller b&bs and apartments, which tend to be less expensive.
Tracy
Moolyn, you definitely summed up our version of a great vacation! We do like museums but for the most part we spend most of our trips just "soaking in the atmosphere" as they say. Croatia is the perfect place to do that because overall most of the towns don't have an overabundance of things to do. We try to be as relaxed as possible while also seeing what we want to see. And since I love to sleep, naps are almost always worked into our itinerary, even if by accident! But because many places close around 4:00 and dinner usually doesn't start until after 7:00, so this made for perfect nap times!
Issy and Stu, thanks for commenting on the Park. I did check it out due to your recommendation, Stu, and it looked lovely. We decided to stay in Trogir mostly because it was cheaper, although the Park is also a great price. Our flight tickets were more expensive than we usually spend so we offset the price by staying in smaller b&bs and apartments, which tend to be less expensive.
Tracy
Nov 27th, 2006, 05:41 AM
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Day 6 - Slovenia
Today was the day that we had planned on visiting Plitvice National Park. We really wanted to visit but wasn't sure how it would be in November. Our plan was kind of a crazy one; drive from Trogir to Plitvice, sightsee in the park for a few hours, and then head to Novo Mesto, Slovenia, our homebase for the next few nights. However, this plan went completely out the window when we woke up to see cloudy skies and overall gloomy weather. We decided that it wasn't worth it and that we would visit Plitvice next time we were in Croatia. Yet another reason to come back!
We headed over to the small "tavern" that Villa Pape uses as their breakfast room. The owners had a scrumptious breakfast for us that included a delicious assortment of breads, cold meats, cheeses, yogurts and fruit, along with made to order eggs, coffee, a selection of teas and fresh-squeezed orange juice. All of this for 5 euro! But the best part was spending the next few hours chatting to the owners, who are darling. We discussed US and foreign politics, the recent war and how it still affects the relationships of the countries involved, and even the US's lack of a decent maternity leave! All in all it was a perfect morning and we learned more about Croatia from those two hours than we had reading up on the history before we left. We ended up leaving later than anticipated but decided that it was more than worth it. We will definitely stay here again.
We bid our farewells and headed up the coast and onto the A1, which my husband still swears is the best "interstate" he's driven on in Europe because its in excellent condition and was fairly empty when we were on it. We got off in Benkovac, a small town that I read about in my guidebook as having been hit quite hard during the war. The town itself is small and quaint, with a little castle perched above it. We really didn't see any remnants of the war, but we were glad we stopped. We walked around for a bit and contemplated grabbing a quick lunch but decided that we were both still quite full from our breakfast so we passed. We got back in the car and headed north.
So many people come to Croatia and only see the coast, but their is so much more to the country! As we were driving inland we were taken by the beautiful scenery, which starts to look a little more like Austria as we near the Slovenian border. Small towns dot the rolling hillsides, with beatiful church steeples dominating the "skyline" of the towns.
We stop at a gas station/restaurant, similar to an AutoGrill in Italy, for a quick lunch that was surprisingly good. I had spaghetti bolognese and hubby had a schnitzel.
Finally we were on our way to Slovenia! Slovenia has been high on our "must see" list for some time, and we decided to fit it into our itinerary now, while it is still using the tolar and things are relatively inexpensive.
Anyways, we exit at Karlovac to get to Novo Mesto and somehow managed to get ourselves really lost. We ended up on a small, winding road that was supposed to take us to a town that was on our map that headed to Novo Mesto. After driving on this road for what seemed like eternity we finally found the town and the main road into Slovenia. Border crossing was fairly uneventful and we got more stamps in our passports. Next stop is Novo Mesto.
I chose to stay in Novo Mesto because we were flying out of Zagreb after a few days and I wanted something convenient to both Ljubljana and Zagreb. Novo Mesto was perfect because it was halfway between the two. More of a working class town, I presume, with factories on its outskirts, it has a small old town built with its ancient walls. I stumbled upon http://www.novomesto.si/en/ when planning this trip, and this is how I found our accommodations, Gostilna pri Belokranjcu (http://www.pribelokranjcu-vp.si/English/eng.htm).
Gostilna pri Belokranjcu was a lovely place to stay. Our room was in the building directly behind the hotel restaurant and bar, and we had a lovely room on the top floor with slanted cealings and skylights that opened to let in the fresh air. Breakfast was included each morning and included yogurts, fruit, rolls and this delicious cake that was similar to a spice cake but much more dense. At 50 euro per night, this place is a great bargain.
Because it was later in the day when we arrived, we unpacked and rested a bit before heading out for dinner. We contemplated eating at our hotel restaurant but decided to check out the old town first. We walked across the bridge and into the old town, got out some Tolar and then tried to find a restaurant. Half an hour later we still could not find anywhere to eat! We weren't being picky; we literally couldn't find any restaurants. We were pretty hungry by this point so we walked back to the hotel and ate at the restaurant there, which turned out to be really good. We both had pork schnitzel with mixed salads and potato side dishes and we split a bottle of Slovenian white wine that was wonderful. We topped our meal off with a delicious layered cake dessert that our waiter told us was authentic to the area. The food was good but our waiter made our experience great. He was suprised to find us there and assumed that we were just staying there as we headed down to the Croatian coastline, as he said that most people who find themselves in Novo Mesto are Germans who use it as an overnight stop on their way to the coast. When we told him that we were staying for a few days his eyes seemed to light up and he gave us great advice on what to do with our time. He had a lot of pride for his country that was quite evident and made it a joy for us to discuss our trip plans with him.
With full bellies we went back to our room for the night, excited about the next day.
Next: Bled and Ljublana
Today was the day that we had planned on visiting Plitvice National Park. We really wanted to visit but wasn't sure how it would be in November. Our plan was kind of a crazy one; drive from Trogir to Plitvice, sightsee in the park for a few hours, and then head to Novo Mesto, Slovenia, our homebase for the next few nights. However, this plan went completely out the window when we woke up to see cloudy skies and overall gloomy weather. We decided that it wasn't worth it and that we would visit Plitvice next time we were in Croatia. Yet another reason to come back!
We headed over to the small "tavern" that Villa Pape uses as their breakfast room. The owners had a scrumptious breakfast for us that included a delicious assortment of breads, cold meats, cheeses, yogurts and fruit, along with made to order eggs, coffee, a selection of teas and fresh-squeezed orange juice. All of this for 5 euro! But the best part was spending the next few hours chatting to the owners, who are darling. We discussed US and foreign politics, the recent war and how it still affects the relationships of the countries involved, and even the US's lack of a decent maternity leave! All in all it was a perfect morning and we learned more about Croatia from those two hours than we had reading up on the history before we left. We ended up leaving later than anticipated but decided that it was more than worth it. We will definitely stay here again.
We bid our farewells and headed up the coast and onto the A1, which my husband still swears is the best "interstate" he's driven on in Europe because its in excellent condition and was fairly empty when we were on it. We got off in Benkovac, a small town that I read about in my guidebook as having been hit quite hard during the war. The town itself is small and quaint, with a little castle perched above it. We really didn't see any remnants of the war, but we were glad we stopped. We walked around for a bit and contemplated grabbing a quick lunch but decided that we were both still quite full from our breakfast so we passed. We got back in the car and headed north.
So many people come to Croatia and only see the coast, but their is so much more to the country! As we were driving inland we were taken by the beautiful scenery, which starts to look a little more like Austria as we near the Slovenian border. Small towns dot the rolling hillsides, with beatiful church steeples dominating the "skyline" of the towns.
We stop at a gas station/restaurant, similar to an AutoGrill in Italy, for a quick lunch that was surprisingly good. I had spaghetti bolognese and hubby had a schnitzel.
Finally we were on our way to Slovenia! Slovenia has been high on our "must see" list for some time, and we decided to fit it into our itinerary now, while it is still using the tolar and things are relatively inexpensive.
Anyways, we exit at Karlovac to get to Novo Mesto and somehow managed to get ourselves really lost. We ended up on a small, winding road that was supposed to take us to a town that was on our map that headed to Novo Mesto. After driving on this road for what seemed like eternity we finally found the town and the main road into Slovenia. Border crossing was fairly uneventful and we got more stamps in our passports. Next stop is Novo Mesto.
I chose to stay in Novo Mesto because we were flying out of Zagreb after a few days and I wanted something convenient to both Ljubljana and Zagreb. Novo Mesto was perfect because it was halfway between the two. More of a working class town, I presume, with factories on its outskirts, it has a small old town built with its ancient walls. I stumbled upon http://www.novomesto.si/en/ when planning this trip, and this is how I found our accommodations, Gostilna pri Belokranjcu (http://www.pribelokranjcu-vp.si/English/eng.htm).
Gostilna pri Belokranjcu was a lovely place to stay. Our room was in the building directly behind the hotel restaurant and bar, and we had a lovely room on the top floor with slanted cealings and skylights that opened to let in the fresh air. Breakfast was included each morning and included yogurts, fruit, rolls and this delicious cake that was similar to a spice cake but much more dense. At 50 euro per night, this place is a great bargain.
Because it was later in the day when we arrived, we unpacked and rested a bit before heading out for dinner. We contemplated eating at our hotel restaurant but decided to check out the old town first. We walked across the bridge and into the old town, got out some Tolar and then tried to find a restaurant. Half an hour later we still could not find anywhere to eat! We weren't being picky; we literally couldn't find any restaurants. We were pretty hungry by this point so we walked back to the hotel and ate at the restaurant there, which turned out to be really good. We both had pork schnitzel with mixed salads and potato side dishes and we split a bottle of Slovenian white wine that was wonderful. We topped our meal off with a delicious layered cake dessert that our waiter told us was authentic to the area. The food was good but our waiter made our experience great. He was suprised to find us there and assumed that we were just staying there as we headed down to the Croatian coastline, as he said that most people who find themselves in Novo Mesto are Germans who use it as an overnight stop on their way to the coast. When we told him that we were staying for a few days his eyes seemed to light up and he gave us great advice on what to do with our time. He had a lot of pride for his country that was quite evident and made it a joy for us to discuss our trip plans with him.
With full bellies we went back to our room for the night, excited about the next day.
Next: Bled and Ljublana
Nov 27th, 2006, 07:19 AM
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Tracy your report is wonderful. I would also like to visit this region one day.
A different question. What time did you leave Chicago? I am interested in the Ambien. I normally take Ativan for flying because of the axiety. I have been wondering if I could take Lunesta for a transatlantic flight which would be better. My problem is we go from Denver to DC and then to Frankfurt so I could not take the Lunesta but would be apprehensive about taking Ativan and then taking Lunesta. We leave D.C. at 5pm. I will talk to my doctor but just wondered how long you were flying.
A different question. What time did you leave Chicago? I am interested in the Ambien. I normally take Ativan for flying because of the axiety. I have been wondering if I could take Lunesta for a transatlantic flight which would be better. My problem is we go from Denver to DC and then to Frankfurt so I could not take the Lunesta but would be apprehensive about taking Ativan and then taking Lunesta. We leave D.C. at 5pm. I will talk to my doctor but just wondered how long you were flying.
Nov 27th, 2006, 10:48 AM
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milliebz, thanks for reading my report!
As for the Ambien, I took it as soon as I got on the plane. Our flight left around 5:30, if I'm not mistaken. It was about an 8.5 hour flight from Chicago to London, and with the Ambien I fell asleep promptly after dinner and slept probably a total of about 6 to 6.5 hours of the flight. I've never taken anything other than Ambien on flights, so I really can't comment about any other form of pill. I never have any side affects with Ambien, but it works differently for each person. I would suggest doing a trial-run of whichever pill you use before you leave home so you don't have some odd side effect while on your trip.
Good luck!
Tracy
As for the Ambien, I took it as soon as I got on the plane. Our flight left around 5:30, if I'm not mistaken. It was about an 8.5 hour flight from Chicago to London, and with the Ambien I fell asleep promptly after dinner and slept probably a total of about 6 to 6.5 hours of the flight. I've never taken anything other than Ambien on flights, so I really can't comment about any other form of pill. I never have any side affects with Ambien, but it works differently for each person. I would suggest doing a trial-run of whichever pill you use before you leave home so you don't have some odd side effect while on your trip.
Good luck!
Tracy
Nov 30th, 2006, 06:00 AM
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I hope I'm not boring everyone with my trip report! I'm not nearly as entertaining as many others on this board!
Day 7 - Ljubljana and Bled
As mentioned above, Gostilna pri Belokranjcu, our hotel in Novo Mesto, had an excellent small breakfast. I ate more than my fair share of the little cakes (although, in my defense, I also ate a lot of fruit which provided me at least a few nutrients!) and a nice hot cup of chamomile tea. Today would be a busy day and we were anxious to get started.
Our first stop of the day was Bled. Yes, we were probably crazy to try to fit in Bled and Ljubljana on the same day but we really, really wanted to see Bled so we decided to go for it. Driving in Slovenia wasn't as easy as driving in Croatia. The autobahn is on its way to becoming great, but it is still being heavily worked on so we would be on it for a few miles and next thing we knew we were back on a two-lane road. This gets repeated many times as we drive along. Anyways, the drive to Bled was fairly quick and easy from Novo Mesto, and our excitement level began to rise as we started seeing the beautiful Alps in the distance. I find being in the mountains an exhilirating experience, and these didn't dissapoint.
Bled itself was a nice little town and the lake was darling, but to be completely honest I was a little dissapointed. It is definitely more of a "resort" than I had anticipated, and while the lake is beautiful I don't know if I would agree that its more beautiful than, say, the Konigssee near Berchtesgaden in Germany. Still, the little island was beautiful, and all of the leaves were changing colors so it made for a beautiful scene.
It was pretty chilly here, so we walked partway around the lake and then sat on a bench and watched a mother feed the ducks with her young children before stopping in a cafe for some delicious hot chocolate. I don't know what it is about the hot chocolate in Europe, but it tastes about a million times better than anything I can ever find here in the states. Warm and chocolately and thick, its almost more of a pudding and definitely better than the watery stuff around here! Okay, that was way off topic....
We spent about an hour in Bled, taking our pictures and drinking our hot chocolate before getting back in the car and heading for Ljubljana. I have always heard and read good things about Ljubljana so its been high on my list of places to visit for a number of years, and it definitely didn't dissapoint. We loved it. The city is very charming and walkable, and has an intimate feel about it.
We parked our car in a garage near the river and just started walking. We didn't have much of an agenda other than to visit the castle. We walked across the dragon bridge and towards the lively market. We've been to plenty of markets in Europe and this one is one of the liveliest. There were dozens of produce stands, flower stands, clothing stalls and souvenir stalls, not to mention stalls selling fresh bakery items and pastries. We strolled for awhile and then made our way to the Information office, where we picked up maps and got information on how to catch the train to the castle. And then we just walked and walked and walked. We visited Preseren Square, Square of the Republic, the Serbian Orthodox church, Church of the Holy Trinity, and walked along the river. We picked up burek, a tasty mixture of cheese stuffed in phyllo dough and fried (another healthy lunch!) and soft drinks for lunch, and stopped in a wonderful chocolate shop, Cokoladnica Cukrcek, at Mestni trg 11, for some yummy chocolate souvenirs to take home and a small bag of truffles for us to eat as we walked up and down the streets.
Because by this point we were too lazy to walk up the hill to the castle, and because honestly we couldn't figure out how to get up there anyways, we picked up the little train in the middle of Preseren Square and rode to the top of the castle for just a few dollars. The castle itself is fairly interesting, although I think the best thing about it is the views from the top of the tower. It costs another few dollars to get to the top of the tower, and its kind of creepy for those weary of heights (me) but the sweeping views of Ljubljana and the Alps made it all worthwhile. We had another delicious hot chocolate at the little cafe in the courtyard of the castle grounds and then caught the train back down. After another quick stroll and more picture taking we were exhausted and ready for a nap. We got in our car and out of town uneventfully and made it back to Novo Mesto in time for a quick nap before dinner.
Because we knew better this time than to try to find a restaurant in the old town, we pulled out our Novo Mesto tourism brochure (picked up at our hotel) and decided to drive to a restaurant not too far from where we were staying, Gostisce Dezmar, located at Ljubljanska cesta 65 in Novo Mesto. Unfortunately this wasn't the best experience. After the superb service we had the night before in our hotel restaurant, this was a dissapointment. We didn't get the correct food we ordered, although the broiled scnitzel we ended up with wasn't bad, and the service was terrible. I probably wouldn't recomment this place.
We headed back to our hotel and sat in the bar, where we found the waiter we had from the night before talking to another person at the bar. We were greeted very warmly, and we sat down to order two beers the gentleman sitting at the bar asked if we had tried a new local wine. When we said no he had our waiter/bartender give us free samples. The wine was delicious and we had a wonderful conversation with our new friend. We found out that he was from Stuttgart and his whole family was in town to celebrate his MIL's birthday, as she lived in Novo Mesto. They had the hotel restaurant rented out for the entire next night for their family. We had a great chat about his visits to the US and our visits to Europe. Like our waiter from the night before, he seemed impressed that we were staying in Slovenia and in Novo Mesto instead of one of the more touristy places. After a few hours of chatting we parted ways and hubby and I quickly fell asleep.
Tomorrow: Otocec Castle, Verasdin, an unexpected journey into Hungary, and Zagreb
Thanks for reading!
Day 7 - Ljubljana and Bled
As mentioned above, Gostilna pri Belokranjcu, our hotel in Novo Mesto, had an excellent small breakfast. I ate more than my fair share of the little cakes (although, in my defense, I also ate a lot of fruit which provided me at least a few nutrients!) and a nice hot cup of chamomile tea. Today would be a busy day and we were anxious to get started.
Our first stop of the day was Bled. Yes, we were probably crazy to try to fit in Bled and Ljubljana on the same day but we really, really wanted to see Bled so we decided to go for it. Driving in Slovenia wasn't as easy as driving in Croatia. The autobahn is on its way to becoming great, but it is still being heavily worked on so we would be on it for a few miles and next thing we knew we were back on a two-lane road. This gets repeated many times as we drive along. Anyways, the drive to Bled was fairly quick and easy from Novo Mesto, and our excitement level began to rise as we started seeing the beautiful Alps in the distance. I find being in the mountains an exhilirating experience, and these didn't dissapoint.
Bled itself was a nice little town and the lake was darling, but to be completely honest I was a little dissapointed. It is definitely more of a "resort" than I had anticipated, and while the lake is beautiful I don't know if I would agree that its more beautiful than, say, the Konigssee near Berchtesgaden in Germany. Still, the little island was beautiful, and all of the leaves were changing colors so it made for a beautiful scene.
It was pretty chilly here, so we walked partway around the lake and then sat on a bench and watched a mother feed the ducks with her young children before stopping in a cafe for some delicious hot chocolate. I don't know what it is about the hot chocolate in Europe, but it tastes about a million times better than anything I can ever find here in the states. Warm and chocolately and thick, its almost more of a pudding and definitely better than the watery stuff around here!
Okay, that was way off topic....We spent about an hour in Bled, taking our pictures and drinking our hot chocolate before getting back in the car and heading for Ljubljana. I have always heard and read good things about Ljubljana so its been high on my list of places to visit for a number of years, and it definitely didn't dissapoint. We loved it. The city is very charming and walkable, and has an intimate feel about it.
We parked our car in a garage near the river and just started walking. We didn't have much of an agenda other than to visit the castle. We walked across the dragon bridge and towards the lively market. We've been to plenty of markets in Europe and this one is one of the liveliest. There were dozens of produce stands, flower stands, clothing stalls and souvenir stalls, not to mention stalls selling fresh bakery items and pastries. We strolled for awhile and then made our way to the Information office, where we picked up maps and got information on how to catch the train to the castle. And then we just walked and walked and walked. We visited Preseren Square, Square of the Republic, the Serbian Orthodox church, Church of the Holy Trinity, and walked along the river. We picked up burek, a tasty mixture of cheese stuffed in phyllo dough and fried (another healthy lunch!) and soft drinks for lunch, and stopped in a wonderful chocolate shop, Cokoladnica Cukrcek, at Mestni trg 11, for some yummy chocolate souvenirs to take home and a small bag of truffles for us to eat as we walked up and down the streets.
Because by this point we were too lazy to walk up the hill to the castle, and because honestly we couldn't figure out how to get up there anyways, we picked up the little train in the middle of Preseren Square and rode to the top of the castle for just a few dollars. The castle itself is fairly interesting, although I think the best thing about it is the views from the top of the tower. It costs another few dollars to get to the top of the tower, and its kind of creepy for those weary of heights (me) but the sweeping views of Ljubljana and the Alps made it all worthwhile. We had another delicious hot chocolate at the little cafe in the courtyard of the castle grounds and then caught the train back down. After another quick stroll and more picture taking we were exhausted and ready for a nap. We got in our car and out of town uneventfully and made it back to Novo Mesto in time for a quick nap before dinner.
Because we knew better this time than to try to find a restaurant in the old town, we pulled out our Novo Mesto tourism brochure (picked up at our hotel) and decided to drive to a restaurant not too far from where we were staying, Gostisce Dezmar, located at Ljubljanska cesta 65 in Novo Mesto. Unfortunately this wasn't the best experience. After the superb service we had the night before in our hotel restaurant, this was a dissapointment. We didn't get the correct food we ordered, although the broiled scnitzel we ended up with wasn't bad, and the service was terrible. I probably wouldn't recomment this place.
We headed back to our hotel and sat in the bar, where we found the waiter we had from the night before talking to another person at the bar. We were greeted very warmly, and we sat down to order two beers the gentleman sitting at the bar asked if we had tried a new local wine. When we said no he had our waiter/bartender give us free samples. The wine was delicious and we had a wonderful conversation with our new friend. We found out that he was from Stuttgart and his whole family was in town to celebrate his MIL's birthday, as she lived in Novo Mesto. They had the hotel restaurant rented out for the entire next night for their family. We had a great chat about his visits to the US and our visits to Europe. Like our waiter from the night before, he seemed impressed that we were staying in Slovenia and in Novo Mesto instead of one of the more touristy places. After a few hours of chatting we parted ways and hubby and I quickly fell asleep.
Tomorrow: Otocec Castle, Verasdin, an unexpected journey into Hungary, and Zagreb
Thanks for reading!
Nov 30th, 2006, 03:09 PM
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Lynn,
Unfortunately the job hunt is going slowly! I think its just a bad time of year to be job hunting, with the holidays and all. That being said, I do have an interview tomorrow morning, so wish me luck!
Barb, thanks for your comments! We did see quite a bit, especially when I start thinking back on it!
Take care!
Tracy
Unfortunately the job hunt is going slowly! I think its just a bad time of year to be job hunting, with the holidays and all. That being said, I do have an interview tomorrow morning, so wish me luck!
Barb, thanks for your comments! We did see quite a bit, especially when I start thinking back on it!
Take care!
Tracy
Dec 7th, 2006, 04:53 PM
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Day 8 - Otocec Castle, Varazdin, an unexpected journey into Hungary, and Zagreb
We woke up this morning anticipating a long day. We had a pre-booked a Croatia Air flight to Dubrovnik for 9:00 p.m. that would leave from Zagreb. We had to be out of our hotel by 11:00, giving us a whole day and evening, without resting, before catching our flight back to Dubrovnik. Luckily we worked out a gameplan for the night before. We decided to first visit Otocec Castle, just outside of Novo Mesto, that our waiter told us about a few nights before. He gave us a brochure, and it looked like a lovely castle that is currently being used as a hotel. From here we would head to Verazdin, an interesting town full of baroque buildings that I read about in my Fodors Croatia Slovenia guidebook. Since Varazdin is fairly close (about 20 miles) from the Hungary border, we also decided to venture into Hungry, get a new passport stamp (tacky but true) and then head to Zagreb where we would spend the remainder of our time before heading to the airport to drop off our car. It sounds hectic, but overall it was a great day.
We woke up, ate another nice breakfast at the hotel, packed up our stuff and bid farewell to Gostilna pri Belokranjcu. We followed the signs to Otocec Castle (http://www.terme-krka.si/en/otocec/grad/). The castle itself is small but lovely, in a picturesque park setting on an island in the Krka. We parked our car and walked across the bridge over the Krka river and to the castle grounds. We didn't actually go inside, as we didn't know if we were allowed to or not given that its a hotel, but we walked into the courtyard and read about some of the interesting history on the castle. After taking our obligatory pictures, we hopped back into the car and headed for the Croatian border. Again, the border crossing was quick and easy.
Our next stop was Varazdin. As we headed for Varazdin we were once again taken with the beauty of Croatia. The rolling hills and small villages dotting the landscape was very peaceful and lovely.
As I mentioned above, Varazdin (http://www.tourism-varazdin.hr/) is a great town filled with really interesting baroque buildings with a great city center. We parked our car and just started walking, taking lots of pictures along the way. We stopped at another Kras chocolate shop for some not-so-healthy but delicious snacks, ducked into a few beautiful churches, and stopped for lunch at a small cafe/pastry shop for a light lunch of pizzas (that I swear had ketchup on them), cokes and a delicious dessert of an apple pastry similar to an apfelstruedel. All in all we really enjoyed visiting Varazdin. Although there isn't a whole lot to do there, like Dubrovnik the town itself is its own attraction and definitely worth a visit for anyone who finds themselves in this area of Croatia.
After leaving Varazdin we head north again, our sights on the Hungary border. Again the border crossing was non-eventful. We get our stamps (woohoo!) and drive about 20 minutes into Hungary before hubby decides that we should turn around and head back towards Zagreb because by this time it was the middle of the afternoon. So to sum it up, yes we drove into Hungary just to get our passports stamps. I can't say I was too impressed with the scenery just over the border. It wasn't bad, but in the words of my husband: "well, I can finally say that I found somewhere in Europe that reminds me of Illinois" because we were in a small, rural farming area that did indeed remind of us small Illinois towns near where we lived before moving to Charlotte.
Our next stop is Zagreb, where we will be spending the remained of our time before heading to the airport. We drive until we see exit signs for Zagreb's center and get off. Along the way we pass communist-era block apartment buildings, which is what I expected. We get into the city and park in a parking garage attached to a mall, anxious to get out of the car and explore Zagreb.
We were unsure all along whether to even visit Zagreb, as we heard mixed thoughts on the city. We decided that no trip to Croatia would be complete without a visit to its capital, and because my maternal grandfather was born in Zagreb I had even more of a reason for wanting to visit. I'm so glad we did, as I feel that the city certainly is underrated.
Our first stop was the TI on Trg bana Jelacica, where we picked up a map and some various information. We visited the beautiful Zagreb Cathedral, which was stunning, even when compared to the many cathedrals we have visited in Europe. I drug hubby through a few malls and souvenir shops and then we stopped for cappuccinos as a small cafe near the cathedral. To be honest we really didn't do a whole lot because we didn't arrive in Zagreb until about 3:00 p.m. on a Saturday and many things were starting to close. We wandered around the city center, which is filled with great pedestrian-only streets, lively cafes, restaurants and shops. We decided to eat at a lovely Italian restaurant, Trattoria Fellini, on Savska 90. I had a wonderful gnocci baked with a variety of cheeses, and hubby had a great pasta dish made with a meat sauce. We had an excellent bread basket and each had a glass of white house wine.
After dinner we were tired and chilly so we decided to head back to the car and make our way to the airport. Getting to the aiport was super easy, as there are signs everywhere to follow so its hard to get really lost. We parked our car outside of the airport and went inside to inform H&M Car Rental, which is who economycarrental.com used for our car rental, that we were ready to turn our car in. After a quick inspection we were good to go.
We had two hours to kill before our flight, and the Zagreb airport is tiny and dead at night! There were literally about 4 more flights that evening, and the place was almost deserted. We got our tickets, checked our bags, and headed down to the cafe to have a couple of nescafes and try to kill the time. We looked around one of the few souvenir shops until we got kicked out because they were closing, went to the newsstand to pick out a few magazines, and just sat at the gate until it was time to board.
I wasn't sure what to expect with Croatia Airlines, but the plane was fantastic! It looked very new and super clean, with indvidual monitors playing the safety instructions and very friendly staff. After a short 45 minute flight we were back in Dubrovnik. I just love Dubrovnik's airport; we landed, got our luggage, and boarded the Atlas bus all in a matter of about 10 minutes. The bus dropped us off right outside of Pile gate, and we walked the very short distance to the Imperial Hilton.
Now, my husband and I usually stay at more budget hotels or apartments because we rarely spend a lot of time in our room while on vacation. I will admit, though, that it was nice to stay at a luxury hotel after days of hotels with small showers and bad tv! We checked in and received a persolized letter signed by the manager welcoming us to the hotel. We walked into our room and were quite impressed; plush robes were sitting on the bed, we had a nice, big bathtub, tv with english channels, and a huge, comfy bed. I don't think I would have paid $180 per night for this hotel, which is what I was quoted by the hotel at the beginning of our trip, but for $100 I thought it was a great deal as it was very nice and plush. Still, it lacked any view and I preferred being on the Ploce gate side, which was quieter and had the better view.
After such a long day, it was so great to take a long, hot bath and get into the super-comfortable bed where we quickly fell asleep.
Tomorrow: A wonderful breakfast buffet, a last jaunt through Dubrovnik, and back to London
We woke up this morning anticipating a long day. We had a pre-booked a Croatia Air flight to Dubrovnik for 9:00 p.m. that would leave from Zagreb. We had to be out of our hotel by 11:00, giving us a whole day and evening, without resting, before catching our flight back to Dubrovnik. Luckily we worked out a gameplan for the night before. We decided to first visit Otocec Castle, just outside of Novo Mesto, that our waiter told us about a few nights before. He gave us a brochure, and it looked like a lovely castle that is currently being used as a hotel. From here we would head to Verazdin, an interesting town full of baroque buildings that I read about in my Fodors Croatia Slovenia guidebook. Since Varazdin is fairly close (about 20 miles) from the Hungary border, we also decided to venture into Hungry, get a new passport stamp (tacky but true) and then head to Zagreb where we would spend the remainder of our time before heading to the airport to drop off our car. It sounds hectic, but overall it was a great day.
We woke up, ate another nice breakfast at the hotel, packed up our stuff and bid farewell to Gostilna pri Belokranjcu. We followed the signs to Otocec Castle (http://www.terme-krka.si/en/otocec/grad/). The castle itself is small but lovely, in a picturesque park setting on an island in the Krka. We parked our car and walked across the bridge over the Krka river and to the castle grounds. We didn't actually go inside, as we didn't know if we were allowed to or not given that its a hotel, but we walked into the courtyard and read about some of the interesting history on the castle. After taking our obligatory pictures, we hopped back into the car and headed for the Croatian border. Again, the border crossing was quick and easy.
Our next stop was Varazdin. As we headed for Varazdin we were once again taken with the beauty of Croatia. The rolling hills and small villages dotting the landscape was very peaceful and lovely.
As I mentioned above, Varazdin (http://www.tourism-varazdin.hr/) is a great town filled with really interesting baroque buildings with a great city center. We parked our car and just started walking, taking lots of pictures along the way. We stopped at another Kras chocolate shop for some not-so-healthy but delicious snacks, ducked into a few beautiful churches, and stopped for lunch at a small cafe/pastry shop for a light lunch of pizzas (that I swear had ketchup on them), cokes and a delicious dessert of an apple pastry similar to an apfelstruedel. All in all we really enjoyed visiting Varazdin. Although there isn't a whole lot to do there, like Dubrovnik the town itself is its own attraction and definitely worth a visit for anyone who finds themselves in this area of Croatia.
After leaving Varazdin we head north again, our sights on the Hungary border. Again the border crossing was non-eventful. We get our stamps (woohoo!) and drive about 20 minutes into Hungary before hubby decides that we should turn around and head back towards Zagreb because by this time it was the middle of the afternoon. So to sum it up, yes we drove into Hungary just to get our passports stamps. I can't say I was too impressed with the scenery just over the border. It wasn't bad, but in the words of my husband: "well, I can finally say that I found somewhere in Europe that reminds me of Illinois" because we were in a small, rural farming area that did indeed remind of us small Illinois towns near where we lived before moving to Charlotte.
Our next stop is Zagreb, where we will be spending the remained of our time before heading to the airport. We drive until we see exit signs for Zagreb's center and get off. Along the way we pass communist-era block apartment buildings, which is what I expected. We get into the city and park in a parking garage attached to a mall, anxious to get out of the car and explore Zagreb.
We were unsure all along whether to even visit Zagreb, as we heard mixed thoughts on the city. We decided that no trip to Croatia would be complete without a visit to its capital, and because my maternal grandfather was born in Zagreb I had even more of a reason for wanting to visit. I'm so glad we did, as I feel that the city certainly is underrated.
Our first stop was the TI on Trg bana Jelacica, where we picked up a map and some various information. We visited the beautiful Zagreb Cathedral, which was stunning, even when compared to the many cathedrals we have visited in Europe. I drug hubby through a few malls and souvenir shops and then we stopped for cappuccinos as a small cafe near the cathedral. To be honest we really didn't do a whole lot because we didn't arrive in Zagreb until about 3:00 p.m. on a Saturday and many things were starting to close. We wandered around the city center, which is filled with great pedestrian-only streets, lively cafes, restaurants and shops. We decided to eat at a lovely Italian restaurant, Trattoria Fellini, on Savska 90. I had a wonderful gnocci baked with a variety of cheeses, and hubby had a great pasta dish made with a meat sauce. We had an excellent bread basket and each had a glass of white house wine.
After dinner we were tired and chilly so we decided to head back to the car and make our way to the airport. Getting to the aiport was super easy, as there are signs everywhere to follow so its hard to get really lost. We parked our car outside of the airport and went inside to inform H&M Car Rental, which is who economycarrental.com used for our car rental, that we were ready to turn our car in. After a quick inspection we were good to go.
We had two hours to kill before our flight, and the Zagreb airport is tiny and dead at night! There were literally about 4 more flights that evening, and the place was almost deserted. We got our tickets, checked our bags, and headed down to the cafe to have a couple of nescafes and try to kill the time. We looked around one of the few souvenir shops until we got kicked out because they were closing, went to the newsstand to pick out a few magazines, and just sat at the gate until it was time to board.
I wasn't sure what to expect with Croatia Airlines, but the plane was fantastic! It looked very new and super clean, with indvidual monitors playing the safety instructions and very friendly staff. After a short 45 minute flight we were back in Dubrovnik. I just love Dubrovnik's airport; we landed, got our luggage, and boarded the Atlas bus all in a matter of about 10 minutes. The bus dropped us off right outside of Pile gate, and we walked the very short distance to the Imperial Hilton.
Now, my husband and I usually stay at more budget hotels or apartments because we rarely spend a lot of time in our room while on vacation. I will admit, though, that it was nice to stay at a luxury hotel after days of hotels with small showers and bad tv! We checked in and received a persolized letter signed by the manager welcoming us to the hotel. We walked into our room and were quite impressed; plush robes were sitting on the bed, we had a nice, big bathtub, tv with english channels, and a huge, comfy bed. I don't think I would have paid $180 per night for this hotel, which is what I was quoted by the hotel at the beginning of our trip, but for $100 I thought it was a great deal as it was very nice and plush. Still, it lacked any view and I preferred being on the Ploce gate side, which was quieter and had the better view.
After such a long day, it was so great to take a long, hot bath and get into the super-comfortable bed where we quickly fell asleep.
Tomorrow: A wonderful breakfast buffet, a last jaunt through Dubrovnik, and back to London
Dec 8th, 2006, 04:56 AM
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I also wanted to remind everyone that you can check out the pictures from our trip, if you are interested, by clicking on http://www.kodakgallery.com/tracybates.The pictures are broken down by country.
Tracy
Tracy
Dec 8th, 2006, 07:25 AM
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Tracy, what a treat to find more of your wonderful report! I hadn't even considered Croatia until I started reading this and now it's definitely on my list.
I happened across your question about Asia on another forum. You should go! I've been to Japan twice and Thailand once and loved every minute. They're quite different from each other so you would have quite a different experience in each.
I didn't know about Fodor's back when I went to both in January 2004 but sent travalogues home to my family. My daughter has saved them so I could send them to you if you'd like. You can contact me at [email protected]
I happened across your question about Asia on another forum. You should go! I've been to Japan twice and Thailand once and loved every minute. They're quite different from each other so you would have quite a different experience in each.
I didn't know about Fodor's back when I went to both in January 2004 but sent travalogues home to my family. My daughter has saved them so I could send them to you if you'd like. You can contact me at [email protected]
