my last day in Croatia, and it rained. not a downpour, but just rainy enough that i didn’t really have motivation to do much of anything.

i started the day with a PCR test so i could get back into the US, you’ll be happy to know it was negative, and i get to come home.

i decided to spend the morning catching up on posts and printing out all of the documents i’ll need tomorrow for my flight.

i then went for a little walk, back up to old town for a bit, looked at the cathedral (which is under some major repair), a walk around a park and then back to the hotel to pack-up for tomorrow.

i met up with Igor and his girlfriend for farewell drinks and dinner, which was fun and a nice way to end the trip. after spending 10 days with him, i kind of missed hanging out.

i’m not really looking forward to the travel home tomorrow, it’s going to be a long day, but it will be good to see Moxie’s sweet kitty face and to be back in my surroundings.

i hope to come back to Croatia again, it’s a beautiful country and i only saw a small slice.

we’re leaving Bled and heading to Zagreb today, where i’ll be until my departure on Friday, June 10.

when i went out for breakfast i saw that a car club had checked in, i can only imagine how much fun this group is having!

before we headed out of town, we stopped to get a picture of the church on the island in Lake Bled. also, i realized i didn’t include pictures of Bled Castle or the church in town, which are both very pretty, so here they are.

on the way to Zagreb, we stopped in the town of Ljubljana for a quick visit and gelato, then onward to Zagreb.

my guided tour officially ends here, which is a bit sad. i got on well with Igor, and it was nice to have a private guide, especially one that could help me improve my photo capabilities.

after a quick review of the town to get my bearings, we shared a final beverage and burek (pastry filled with meat, cheese or fruit), and he was on his way home.

i have two days left to explore Zagreb, let’s see what the city has to offer

first morning in Bled and we’re off to get a closer look at Lake Bohinj. another really beautiful body of water. a bit like a small Tahoe, but without homes on the waterfront and higher water level.

after photo taking at the lake we went for a drive to see a small hilltop village, Zajamniki. ok, it’s not really a village, it’s a collection of shepherd’s huts, which are arranged along a mountain “street”. currently these are used primarily as holiday homes, but the mountain has retained its original appearance. this is seriously the definition of mountain charm.

then it was off to the last water sight of the trip, Vintgar Gorge. of course it wouldn’t have been a worthwhile sight if we didn’t have to hike there first, in the heat and humidity. i know, the mention of heat and humidity makes a guest appearance quite a bit in this blog, but it is the thorn in my side, or rash on my legs, as the case may be.

Vintgar Gorge made their path one direction, so people moved through at a pretty good pace, and there wasn’t such a back-up along the way. a wooden walkway and paths made it easy to navigate, such a gorgeous area and a beautiful way to end the nature portion of the vacation.

i can’t believe tomorrow we’re off to Zagreb, the last stop of the trip……it seems like i just got here.

the next destination on the itinerary is Bled, where we’ll stay for two nights. i’m very excited to be able to unpack a little and have time to do some laundry. since it’s been hotter and more humid than i had thought, my shirts could use a freshen up.

we left Tolmin in the morning, and the first stop was the Soca River, followed by a stop along the Vrsic Pass and Russian Road and the last site of the day was the Pericnik Waterfall.

the Vrsic Pass is the highest road in the Eastern Julian Alps with an elevation of 5,285 feet. it was originally built as a military route in the early 19th century and followed an old trade route.

the road was improved in late 1915 to supply the Isonzo Front of World War I, and the current name, Russian Road, refers to the approximately 10k Russian prisoners of war used as laborers in the 1915 road construction. the chapel pictured below was built by the surviving Russian POWs as a memorial to their comrades that died during the building of the road.

the Pericnik Waterfall was the last stop of the day, and the first fall we could walk behind, it was a bit windy, so more difficult to get good photos due to mist on the lens.

i stayed at the Garni Hotel Savica – Sava in Bled which was another larger hotel, designed to cater to the larger groups and families. i’m not sure the reason why (my guess is lack of staff), but their restaurant was closed, so the hotel across the parking lot was where we had meals. it was all fine, but nothing outstanding.

i’m falling behind on my posts, i apologize. i’m trying to keep up on things, but there are a lot of photos to download and sort……

after leaving Tolmin we headed to Tolmin Gorges, the Kozjak waterfall, and lastly, the Boka waterfall.

there was a lot of hiking and walking, each place equally as beautiful……..i had the opportunity to try out a variety of camera settings and lenses, each providing a very different type of image and feeling.

since my camera has the limitations it does, i’ve stopped bringing it with, and i’m using Igor’s Fuji and my phone.

here is a little visual for each of the areas we visited.

we stopped in at Thirsty River Brewing for a couple of pints of the local beer, and a pretzel. i can’t recommend the Scorpion, a chili stout, but i did enjoy These Nuts, their nut brown and the Kabi, a pale ale.

accommodations were quite charming at the Hotel Sanje ob Soci. the room was decent size with a nice bathroom and each room had it’s own outdoor sitting area. the real gem of this place is the breakfast, where there was an assortment of homemade treats. if only i could have stayed all morning and had two stomachs…….it was truly a thing of beauty and delicious.

although i did spend some time wandering through the streets of Rovinj yesterday, it was….unscripted, so we started the day with a tour of the town before driving to Tolmin in Slovenia.

Rovinj is a small coastal town that was originally settled by the Venetians, and was once ruled by the Republic of Venice, and it still has a heavy Italian influence. you hear equal amounts of Croatian and Italian being spoken and it’s quite the little tourist destination.

when i was talking to the hotel manager she was telling me that the town has 15k residents and last year they had 70k tourists in one month. every extra room in the town was taken and there was barely room to walk down the street. pandemic, what pandemic?

one of the sights we stopped to see was the Church of St. Euphemia, formerly known as the Church of St. George.

the story goes like this, St. Euphemia was from Constantinople during the time of Emperor Diocietian, and was martyred in her youth due to her Christian religion.

they put her in a sarcophagus and she was kept safe in Calcedonia, then was moved to Constantinople, but when the governing power became the Iconoclasts they felt she would be unsafe and put her on a ship to a new home, but the ship disappeared.

later the sarcophagus appeared on the shores of Rovinj and it has been safeguarded there ever since.

the Church of St. George was too small to manage all of the people coming to see St. Euphemia, so they had to make a larger church….St. Euphemia is the guardian of the city, and is honored on the 16th of September by people near and far.

we stopped for a brief visit to Zavrsje, a town with very few residents and a lot of dilapidated structures. residents left the area due to lack of work and money, and made lives elsewhere leaving many unoccupied homes.

next was the town of Groznjan, which has been know since 1965 as the, “City of Artists”, and since 1969 it is the residence to the International Cultural Centre of Jeunesses Musicales Croatia. the cultural program is made up of numerous artists, temporary and permanent, in Groznjan and the surrounding area.

once in Tolmin, the Hotel Dvorec was the accommodation for the night. it’s a large hotel, but had the tiniest of rooms. it was a single room, but there was barely room enough for one to spread out. that being said, it was clean and very efficient with the use of space. breakfast was included, and it was a nice spread.

the only slightly inconvenient thing was that they didn’t have an elevator (it’s being installed now) and i was on the second floor. my suitcase seems to be getting heavier as the trip goes on. must be the dirty clothes, they weigh more than clean clothes right?!

oh, going back to the hotel in Rovinj…….it was the first hotel in all of the town to have an elevator. the slowest elevator known to mankind, but they had the first!

today we’re off to Plitvice Lakes National Park, which contains 16 terraced lakes, connected by waterfalls, and everything flows into a limestone canyon.

there are wood walkways and hiking trails that wind around, and across the water, and you take a boat from the 12 upper to the 4 lower lakes. (the boat reminded me of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, except there weren’t any puns or hippos with wiggly ears.) at the lower lake area is the, “big waterfall” coming in at 255 feet.

lakes and waterfalls, things of beauty for sure. one thing to note is that the pathways are wide enough for one person to walk by each other in opposite directions, but it would be challenging if there was a large amount of people.

it isn’t busy season quite yet, and the amount of people was still a little overwhelming. i have never liked large crowds of people, but i think after the lack of large group activity during the pandemic, even smaller groups seem slightly daunting. that, and it’s hot & humid, so having people surrounding you in the great outdoors is unpleasant.

that being said, crowds or no, if you’re ever in this area, a visit is a must.

after the journey through the park we made our way to the town of Rovinj, with stops at Roc and Motovun.

Roc wasn’t on the official itinerary, but it was of personal interest to me. i have a friend at home, and her father was from Roc. i thought since i was in the area i should check it out. BH, if you’re reading this, i have more pictures to share with you!

Motovun was a cool little hilltop town, known for truffles, both black & white. we stopped in a local shop so i could try some truffle products, olive oil, wine and rakija (liquor)……all delicious. at lunch i was also treated to a homemade olive and truffle tapenade and grappa. certainly a tasty place to visit.

with stomachs full, we headed to Rovinj.

Tre Porte Rovinj is a seven room boutique hotel in the heart of town. it opened last year and it’s a bit funky, but has everything you need, including a bar.

the bar was essential since i managed to get lost getting back to the hotel after taking some sunset pictures. spacious room, comfy bed, nice staff and great shower pressure. no breakfast, but that’s ok, there was no shortage of coffee and pastry nearby.

also, the manager was gracious enough to change my room after i managed to blow the power in the first one. it really wasn’t my fault, plugging in an iron (their iron, not a US one) shouldn’t be an issue, but it was……and it wasn’t just me, the manager blew the power when she tried as well. must have been a short in the system.