This fantastic trip was a trip to Croatia! Fil lives there during the summers and most of his family is there so we got to stay with them and meet his friends and family. In total there were 7 of us. Fil left a week earlier, and then Paul, Amanda, Lauren and Madison all went on the 25th to start their trip. Now I had waaaaaaay too much stuff to do to be able to leave that early, so Taylor and I packed up Monday night and took another "wonderful" bus to London - (part of the deal about Taylor coming for 3 weeks was that there was a trip to Croatia involved, she wasn't too opposed so that's good). So we bussed it to London, had some breakfast, before hoping on another hour and a half bus to Gatwick Airport outside the city - but we actually slept on that bus so that was nice.
We arrived in Croatia's capital Zagreb at about 4:30 in the afternoon and were greeted by everyone! We then took a drive into Zagreb, parked and did some wandering around. The city is beautiful, all the roofs of the buildings are red so they all match but the colours of the outside of the buildings are different, making the streets very colourful, there was lots of excellent photo opportunities.
We managed to hit up a souvenir store too so I was able to get my Croatian bottle opener! Also, in Croatia, they use the Kuna as currency which is about 1/5 of the Canadian dollar so in order to determine how much we was actually spending, we just had to divide the cost by 5 which was very convenient, making this the cheapest trip yet! Mom and dad will be relieved I'm sure :)
So yes, bottle opener...souvenirs. Then we stopped and had a drink on this patio overlooking the city square before piling back in the van and heading to home base in Karlovac - where Fil resides. We had dinner at a place called Tiffany's and had a super excellent meal which consisted of two giant pizzas that had random things on them like cream and ham and an egg and whole olives, etc. Despite how gross that sounds, it was very good - I didn't the egg or olives because...ew, but the rest was good. We also were introduced to a Croatian drink called Bambus which is 1/2 red wine & 1/2 coke - it is very good and VERY dangerous because of its goodness. will definitely be making that at home.
We spent the rest of the night hanging out at
the guys apartment (we had separate apartments). The next morning we were up
and off to Nacionalni park Plitvička jezera or Plitvice Lakes National
Park! It is is the oldest national park in Southeast
Europe and the largest national park in Croatia. This
park is huge, and full of waterfalls and lakes, it was absolutely gorgeous and
we could not have picked a better day. The pictures don't do it justice but
they try. It was definitely an adventure, we started by taking a tram to the
top point of the park and working our way down the different levels of lakes,
at one point we had to take our shoes and socks off and trek through frigid
ankle deep water for a while, but that's what you get when you ignore the signs
and you know what? It makes for a great story and even better memories. We took
a boat at one point from one end of the biggest lake to other side where we
stopped for some lunch before heading on and finishing the rest of the journey
through the park. I took about 200 pictures which unfortunately I can't put
them all up in here but I'll put the best ones :)
After the park we headed
back to Karlovac (about an hour and a half) where headed to Fil's grandma's
flat for crepes! We were all pretty excited... I mean, whose not excited for
homemade crepes? So we met Fil's grandma who doesn't speak much English at all
but Fil translated full conversations back and forth so that was super helpful.
She also must have made at least 60 crepes for the 7 of us, there was sooo much
and they were soo good. Crepes and wine, doesn't that just sound lovely? What
spoiled students we are. We also broke out the plum brandy towards the end of
our visit, apparently making your own schnapps and/or brandy is a big thing in
Croatia. It was very strong, but it was good. I'm not entirely sure how people
just sip it but it works as a shot too. So we thanked Fil's grandma as best we
could (AKA hugs and a sad attempt at saying thank you in Croatian 'hvala') and
headed out to a bar for a bit - I know... it sounds like all we do is drink...
but thats not true, so don't worry. So that was a fun night.
The next day was labour day
in Croatia! May 1st! So like all good labour days, we loaded up at the grocery
store and headed to Fil's cousin's cottage outside of Karlovac! It was so
quaint and had a gorgeous view that went on for miles of rolling hills and
greenery. Most of the cottages/houses up that way had their own little
vineyards, it was cool to see.
We sat on the patio sharing
a few drinks and snacks, and gradually more people began to show up till we
were outnumbered by Croatians. It was a blast, meeting new people, enjoying the
weather, and figuring out what was trying to be said through the Croatian
accent. Thank goodness most people in the world speak English. However, knowing
so many people who speak another language and English makes it seem so boring
to be anglophone. I'm not complaining but perhaps learning a new language would
be beneficial or make me seem more cultured.
At one point one guy showed
up who didn't speak English but played the accordion all night long, so that
was cool to see that being played and the guys singing croatian tunes at the
top of their lungs. Sing it loud, sing it proud. There was also dancing at one
point too, that was both fun and hilarious.
We ended the night back in town at the same bar we were the night before, wrapping up a super incredible trip.The following day we were out the door at 7:45am headed Glasgow. The journey consisted of:
- 4 hour bus to Zadar
- 2.5 hour flight from Zadar to Manchester
- 1/2 hour train from Manchester airport into Manchester
* Dinner*
- walk to bus station: find out our bus has been delayed
- 4.5 hour bus from Manchester to Glasgow
- Walk from bus station to home
You can imagine how draining a day like that can be but we've done it so much now that its just natural haha, sleep when you can.
I didn't actually sleep on the bus home from Manchester, since it was only 4.5 hours I took the time to upload ALL of my photos and write this fantastic blog :)
Hope you've enjoyed it!
I can't believe I am going to be home so soon, it is very bittersweet, but it will be nice I am sure.
Peace out girl scouts!
p.s. This isn't my last post :)
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