a ferry trip to Dugi island to see the Telascica Nature Park was Wednesday’s activity, then we took the ferry back and drove to Plitvice Lakes National Park where we stayed the night.

the nature park is unique, as it has nice beaches on one side, and steep cliffs on the other, it’s quite the change in terrain as you make the walk from the top to the bottom of the trail.

accommodations were provided by the Hotel Jezero, which is what i would call a, “throwback” hotel. it’s in the park, and it’s quite large catering to the tour buses. it looks like it hasn’t been updated in awhile, and i don’t mean that in a bad way, but it felt like i was on a family vacation in 1973.

side note – i’m guessing you won’t be surprised to hear that even though i’ve been taking daily antihistamines and sleeping with the AC on (except at the Jezero, because they didn’t have it) that the humidity rash has appeared. sigh. thank goodness it’s fairly contained, but still…no fun.

the big adventure today, the waterfall in Krka, but first we made a stop in the town of Trogir.

Trogir is yet another charming coastal town, and the historic center has been a UNESCO site since 1997.

after a walk around town we headed to the Krka National Park, to see the Skradinski waterfall. note, the waterfall has the second largest density of lavender in Europe. needless to say, lots of bees.

after our very long (and warm) walk at the park, we headed to the town of Zadar. sunset is a big attraction in Zadar. at the waterfront there is the “Monument to the Sun” a solar (energy) representation of the solar system that lights up when the sun goes down. i didn’t get a good picture of that, apologies.

also, there is a sea organ on the waterfront…….holes along the waterfront that make sounds as the waves come into the wall. it’s pretty cool sounding.

i stayed at the Art Hotel Kalelarga, which is my favorite hotel thus far. the room was nice sized, and was simple yet nice in its decor. the staff were really friendly and they had a great breakfast included, with eggs made to order. yum.

the photo exercise for today was working on motion. talking pictures of moving water with, and without motion.

there were a lot of sights to see the next day. we started in Ston where were took a shoot of the town and salt flats.

now, as you probably know, I go to Bonneville Speed Week every August at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah……this salts flats is nothing like our salt flats. i thought it looked a bit like a rice field….square sections of field where they harvest salt. also, fact of the day, the best part of the salt is the very top layer called, “the flower of salt”.

after the salt flats we took off to go to Brac island by ferry, where we visited Vidova Gora Mountain and saw Blaca Monastery.

the Blaca Monastery is pretty cool, it’s build into the base of a hillside. it’s no longer functioning, but they do keep up the building.

we then drove to Supetar and looked around town, and then took a ferry to Split where we spent the night.

i stayed at the Heritage Hotel Saint Lucia, which was really nice, although it felt a bit “fancy” for my taste. i was upgraded, so i’m not sure what the basic room would have been, but my room was really pretty……white with touches of aquamarine and marble in the bathroom. they had a nice breakfast included in the price, i had dinner there as well which was a little on the pricey side, but very good. they also had a rooftop patio, which i think they have a bar in busy season, but nothing while i was there except a view of the sunset.

oh right, Bosnia was in the title of this post………while making this drive, we passed through 12 miles of Bosnia.

when Yugoslavia broke up in 1991, Croatia became independent, but was split in two. 12 miles of Bosnia-Herzegovinian coastline separates the Dubrovnik region from the rest of Croatia to the north. 

yes, my passport now has a Bosnia stamp.

Dubrovnik is so charming and picturesque, it reminds me a little bit of a land you might see on a ride at Disneyland.

my sightseeing was cut down since my flight was changed, but i feel like i still managed to get quite a bit in.

i stayed at a nice boutique hotel called Villa Dorma, which was very convenient to Old Town. the room was comfortable, it had a queen bed and private patio, AC – which i used due to humidity (let’s not have a repeat of the humidity rash of Columbia), and although breakfast wasn’t included, for a reasonable price could be added. two negatives 1) they use skeleton keys for the rooms, and although quaint, are super noisy in an echoing hallway without carpet and 2) they don’t take credit cards.

the first evening we just did a quick walk around town, and had dinner, since i was pretty tired.

the next day we we took a walk along the top of the wall, walked up and down countless stairs, took a ferry to Lokrum Reserve and in the evening took a drive to the top of the town for a panoramic view. sadly it was a bit overcast so there wasn’t a great sunset.

lots of history was shared along the way, and it is really interesting, but i’m not going to include all the details here. sorry, you’ll need to read up on your own. but one quick note…their currency, the kuna, is named after the kuna animal…..so cute, the kuna.

we ended the day at a local brewery, Dubrovnik Beer Company, which had a nice selection of beers and snacks. vegetarian options were slim, but who says tortilla chips and cheese dip can’t be dinner?!

photo notes of the day: try and take the time to get a good picture, you don’t have to rush through the shot. also, i need to work on my composition to make the images more interesting.

also, he didn’t say this, but i need to get a better camera. i sold all my big bulky camera bodies and lenses awhile back and got a decent pocket digital, but it’s really not the same.

Igor has a smaller Fuji camera he’s not using on this trip and will let me borrow it so i can practice my manual settings.

cute kuna photo courtesy of croatia.hr

as with Savannah, i was asked a number of times, why Croatia? i suppose it’s not the first place people think of when planning a vacation, but it has been on my mind since spring 2020.

i mentioned in February 2020 that i was going on a work trip to Dubrovnik and planned to stay an extra week or so to see the country. i had a small tour planned with Croatia Photo Tours, and was ready to go……then the world shut down.

after almost two years of smaller trips, (which i am most thankful for) i made the decision i wanted to go on a bigger trip in 2022. where to go and when, became the questions at hand. i figured, why not go to Croatia since i had a portion of a tour planned out already and it is a beautiful place to visit.

i contacted Croatia Photo Tour once again, and asked if they could put together a slightly different tour for me, one that was closer to two week. of course the answer was yes.

so here i am, in Croatia with my guide, and owner of the tour company, Igor.

i start in Dubrovnik, and will end up in Zagreb on June 8.

there will be a fair amount of stops along the way, as you know i pack in as many sights as humanly possible.

the cool thing about this trip is the photography element……although i love taking photos (and i take a lot), i’m very much an amateur. i will welcome all advice provided, and hopefully at the end of this adventure , i will be better!

of course, Igor doesn’t realize how amateur i am, or he might have given me to a different tour guide.

also, one note about future posts…….there is a lot of punctuation in Croatian words, and since i don’t have that keyboard and for the sake of ease, i’m not including any. i don’t think anyone reading this will be upset about that, but i wanted to make it known, my spelling is correct, but i am lacking accents and other symbols.

well, i spoke too soon. shortly after i posted from SFO, my flight to EWR was delayed by two hours, which would have caused me to miss my connecting flight to Dubrovnik.

being the proactive person i am, the minute i heard “delay” i made a dash for the customer service center. the nice (and very new) agent helped me change my flight from going through EWR, to Munich instead.

of course, Murphy’s Law……he just finished setting everything up with the new ticket, when the gate agent came over and said, we’re only going to be 30 minutes late, not two hours. oh well, too late, i was on a new flight, and hey…no weather reported in Munich. if i had kept my original flight, who knows if the flight to Dubrovnik would have even happened.

so i made it to Dubrovnik safe and sound, a little later than originally anticipated, but in one piece.

February 2019 was the last time i took an international flight. the whirlwind work trip to Edinburgh, London and Paris….so much fun, so long ago.

ok, yes, i did go to Mexico, but that doesn’t feel the same as taking a flight to Europe. Mexico is close and relatively easy to get to, and i don’t prepare the same way.

it was interesting getting ready for a big trip, i’ll admit, i was off my game. tasks that used to be second nature to me, took a lot longer than trips past.

but i managed to get everything ready, all items in a carry on and to the shuttle on time. although i still wake-up early, it’s been awhile since i had to be somewhere dressed and ready to go at 5:15 AM. made it to SFO with plenty of time to spare.

my route to Croatia is via Newark, NJ and stopping in Frankfurt on the way home…..5 hours in Frankfurt. thank goodness for a Red Carpet Club pass, thank you JH for your generosity!!

hopefully there won’t be much to report on as far as the flights are concerned. there is weather in NJ and a loud talker at the gate…..those things may cause me grief. only time will tell.

see you in Croatia!