journeywithmadonna

Woke up to sunshine today and after a two second discussion we decided we were staying to hike Paklenica National Park and head out later in the day to Plitvice NP and hike there tomorrow………so glad we did as it was amazingly beautiful. Went for five hours and hardly saw a soul but all kinds of beauty surrounded us. In a nutshell Paklenica, and I often spell it wrong, is a 95 square kilometre park that is a rock climber’s dream. However it is so much more than that. It has an amazing diversity of flora and fauna and unbelievable landscapes. Due to its limestone and dolomite structure Paklenica is distinguished by the richness of kartstic phenomena such as karrens, karst ponds, pillars, natural bridges, pits and caves…….none of this I really get but I put it here from the guide for my brother in law Michael who is a geologist and should definitely come to Croatia!!!! In a nutshell we had a fabulous five hour hike, return, through Velika Paklenica Canyon and reached the Lugarnica forest cottage at an altitude of around 400 meters above sea level. Here they provide simple catering services and since we were the only ones there, and because it was so rustic and the three guys looked bored, I asked for a cappuccino! The response was “how’s a Turkish coffee?”….and I said “great”…….and so it was. See the picture of their site and “where’s Paklo?”

Jim pointing out a cave and Marilyn enjoying the hike……you might see this picture again but it’s so good it’s worth repeating!

Pictures: Marilyn just being with the beauty of the park; Marilyn and Madonna filling up their bottles with spring water……a previous picture of their behinds taken by Jim was deleted for very good reasons; and the third picture is “where’s Paklo?” taken from where’s Waldo? It’s a picture of a mountain climber but my fingers were a little shaky as I watched him climb so I’m not sure I got him.

Even the best laid plans go awry……or whatever that saying is! We woke up to pouring rain and it rained all day so hiking in Paklencia was not possible. But what a great day to relax, read, do laundry and so glad we’re not in a hotel room. The picture is of the garden before the rain; today it’s not so pretty. Marilyn and I did yoga while Jim went for a nap…..let’s see what tomorrow brings!

More steps…….time for a photo! That’s me you can’t see taking a picture of Marilyn taking a picture of Jim taking a picture of the steps going down, once again, into Old Town.

We spent 7 1/2 minutes driving through Bosnia on our way to Dubrovnik so we thought since we’ve now been there we should try their food. Marc, the landlord, recommended the Bosnian restaurant called Taj Mahal(go figure) so off we go. It was excellent! After we paid the bill we were wondering why it was called Taj Mahal as we associate that with Indian Food. When I asked the waiter he said because TM symbolizes peace,happiness and that means good food!
I didn’t argue.

During our 45 minute walk around the old city there was loads to see, the beauty of which cannot be captured here. We were actually quite high up and were frequently going up and down stairs so our thighs and calves got a much needed workout.

……and off we go to the restaurant just below our lodging, and so glad we did. The food was fabulous and Marilyn and I split a ‘fish platter’ of sorts, consisting of sea bass, mussels, calamari and shrimp and loads of veggies(see picture). Jim tried their grilled chicken with eggplant which was equally as delicious. In many restaurants, the good ones,they give you a free ‘grappa’ so we’re having a toast to a great city……we’ll be back, we hope!

…..has absolutely been the highlight thus far and the weather hasn’t even been that hot, thank God. We’ve stayed here for three nights in an apartment in old town where you can escape from all traffic. In fact we had to park our car in an underground parkade which was a fifteen minute walk from where we were staying. Today we hiked straight up to Mt. Srd which took
about an hour and a half, the first twenty minutes of which were straight up steps. From there we took a winding path that had our hearts pounding but in the end it was worth every beat and I took this picture of where we were staying in Old Town……too bad it’s not clearer but I’m not hiking up there again. Dubrovnik, population of around 30,000, has a very interesting history and I know that if you don’t know it already you can google it so I won’t repeat it here. Not only does it stand out because of its sense of awe and beauty, but also because it is here that you hear a fair bit about the war in Croatia, called the homeland war here. Dubrovnik became a UNESCO world heritage site in the late 1970’s and because of this statu many thought it would be protected from bombing during the 1990’s war but this was not to be the case. Shells struck 68% of the 824 buildings leaving holes in two out of every three roofs. Nine historic palaces were completely gutted by fire and many other important buildings were badly damaged. Reconstruction was estimated at $10million US and was done using traditional techniques, hence it’s regained most of its original beauty. Our landlord, Marc, is a very chatty Englishmen who talked a lot about the war and would have talked more if we had offered him a drink. Interesting fellow, actually, and his father was born in Montreal. He’s been in Dubrovnik for over forty years but left in the early nineties with his family and went back to England and returned after the war. His place in which we are staying remained fairly in tact so he and his family returned there. Today the old town of Dubrovnik is jaw dropping the moment you walk inside the walls and very difficult to capture the beauty with an iPad………I do my best, but with google you can find better.