Split, Croatia

Split, Croatia  - our last stop before returning to Venice.  

We decided to have a low key beach day and took a taxi to Bene beach.

 

 Beach = happy kids!

 Cracker break

Let's get back in!

The crystal clear water was cold, but bearable. We all swam with our flip flops on, as the beaches in Croatia are painfully rocky to bare feet.

The cruise was such a great time for our family. We all came back refreshed and ready to start the school year.  We can't wait to take another cruise!

Dubrovnik

 The first stop on our cruise was Dubrovnik, Croatia. The harbor was gorgeous!

Dubrovnik was originally a walled city and a highlight is to walk the walls. The walls are fairly high and go about 2 km around the city. It is a beautiful view from the top. They are not for the faint hearted, however! We were there in the afternoon, and it was quite hot. We each had a child on our back. There were about a zillion stairs up and then up some more, then down a little and back up again. In some places, the ledges were not very high.  We stopped to take a picture, and Larry had Chelsea on his back. He told her not to move for fear he would lose his balance and tumble over the side. Yikes! After we had gone halfway around, we came to an exit point and we decided that was plenty for us.

 The view from the top - it was amazing to see all the houses just crammed together within the walls. Walking the walls, I thought about the story of Joshua and Jericho and the walls falling down. Walking on the walls of Dubrovnik allowed a unique opportunity to give Chelsea a visual of what those walls may have been like. So fun to have those teachable moments!

 After we climbed down, we were so hot. The kids had been riding in kid backpacks and they were drenched in sweat. As is the norm, we had a gelato stop on the way back to the ship. This is how we keep our kids happy in Europe. As you can tell, these were big cones. Little man loves his ice cream and savored this one until the cone turned to mush and ice cream was falling out the bottom.  He didn't mind though - he just kept on eating. Entire tour groups stopped to take pictures of him, and we gathered quite the audience standing there watching him eat his ice cream. Who can resist that face?

Croatia!

Larry had a 3 day weekend this weekend, so we decided to take advantage! We planned a super last minute trip to Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. Croatia is a neighbor of Hungary.  To get to Plitvice Lakes, it is about a 5 1/2 hour drive from Budapest, including a couple of short stops. Thankfully, we had no delays at the border coming or going. We have heard that traffic can back up there and take a while. They did seem to run some kind of check on us crossing into Croatia, but the guy gave us back our passports after about 5 or 10 minutes and let us go. Larry was afraid they would ask for his Hungarian driver's license...that is a post for another day.  

Croatia seemed to be filled with farms - we saw some authentic sheep herding and some women farming in bikinis. Other than that, the highway and toll system was very modern, but there is very little along them in terms of services. There are gas stations, but that is about it.  Miles of nothing! There are also lots of two lane roads, where if you get behind a slow guy you are stuck. Random sighting - I saw a Carter's/OshKosh store...we don't even have those in Budapest, why is there one in the middle of nowhere in Croatia?

  After this trip, we will definitely visit again! It was spectacularly beautiful.

The city that the National Park is in exists because of the park. It is one road, lined with bed and breakfast type lodging. It was no frills for sure, but our room was clean and cheap. Best of all, everyone we came in contact with spoke at least some English. Worst part - everyone only took cash (the kuna) and the only ATM in town was out of order. Fortunately, we found one not too far away.

Sunday morning, we got up and headed to the park. It was amazing - turquoise blue lakes and waterfalls around every corner. I felt like I was in a movie - it all seemed fake! In Europe, they tend to operate on the every man for himself philosophy - there are no barricades or warning signs as you cross the lakes or the falls - just a little wooden plank to walk. It enhanced the beauty and the experience.

 

I must give props to my little hiker. Larry and I each wore a kid carrying backpack, anticipating we would need both of them. Chelsea amazed us and hiked along with us for about 4 hours of our 5 hour hike. She rode in the backpack briefly after a fall, but otherwise did an amazing amount of walking.

We climbed 300 (yes, we counted) stairs to get to the top of the waterfall. Too bad you can barely see it in this pic. It was a nice view, but not sure it was worth the climb!

Look closely and you will see i have a foot growing out of my hip.

 

 After hiking for several hours, we found a place to rent canoes. We rented one for 50 kuna ($10) and explored one of the lakes. It was lots of fun and we appreciate daddy for being our rower!

After a long and beautiful day, we had a crazy thought. The coast was only an hour and a half from our hotel, and we decided to go to the beach. It was about 5 by the time we got there, so it was a little chilly. That didn't stop Chelsea from fully enjoying her swim in the Adriatic Sea. 

 

Just jump in!

The Croatian beaches are made of pebbles. Cade enjoyed splashing and burying himself.

So beautiful!!!

It was a great weekend and we can't wait to visit Croatia again!