Plitvice The Park

Joe and  I arose fairly early and went into town for breakfast. San is not too keen on making it and we went to this lovely restaurant not too. far down the road .

 

I had 3 fried eggs and bread. They don't seem to do toast here but it is beautiful homemade bread.

Then we headed up to Plitvice. Joe's strategy was good We took the bus up and hiked down. I don't think I could have done it any other way. As it was there was rather a steep hike out but very doable.

Tree in the middle of the hotel courtyard where we parked the bikes.

Starting  down

Such beauty is hard to imagine

 

                                                          It is an amazing place and I did it every step of the way. Up and down stairs . On boardwalks . Over waterfalls. It is a Unesco World Heritage Site. 5 hours we walked through the park.

 

   

Following is an example of the boardwalks we had to traverse

 

 

 

At one point we even got to cross one of the beautiful lakes by boat.

Joe taking a break

 

 

Lots of fish so you just know the water is healthy. We saw one guy drinking it and kind of scoffed at the idea but apparently some kind of crab lives in the water and cleans it of bacteria and it IS safe to drink.

 

 

Walking back out and one more glance at this amazing place.

 

Back to the B & B and a chat with Kayo and Maegan and then Joe and I doubled on his bike back to the restaurant for dinner

Joe had pizza and Greek Salad and I had pork medallions with rice and gravy/ Both were very good.Then a quick ride back up to Plitvice and then back to our B & B. Joe wanted to get a feel for having someone on the back. Then we turned in. I was very tired . It was a great day just a few too many people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plitvice

Got up and went downstairs for breakfast which consisted of bread and cheese and cereal if one wanted it. then we headed west (I think) out of Kranjska Gora. Good thing I had Joe to follow. The first place we headed for was Bled. This is another very tourist place where the main point of interest is the Abbey in the middle of the Lake. We parked at Bled Castle and walked up this long steep walkway only to find they wanted 8 Euro each to go into the place and there really did not seem to be too much there to see, so we went back down and rode over to a stopping place on the other side where Joe sat at a roadside café and had coffee and apple strudel while I walked along the shoreline to see the sights.

This is the Bled castle up on the hill.

One could take a boat ride across the lake to the abbey but I just walked around the lakeshore.

 

Many of the restaurants in the small towns advertise pork and chicken done on a rotisserie and we stopped to take a picture of this one.

 

Back at Bled and the walk around the lakeshore. This is the Abbey out on the lake.

 

While this was very beautiful. Too many tourists .

We left Bled and headed out again and once again had to show our passports to leave Slovenia and get into Croatia and get a ticket for the toll road. I was very stressed and thankfully Joe stopped at a MacDonalds in Karlovac so I could chill out. We then went on a little further and stopped for fuel and a guy drove up on an Aprilla motorcycle and Joe asked him where a shop was. So he led us to one but it was closed and then he led us to another but it was closed also. However the shop owner was in his yard and came out to meet us and was very nice. Although Joe and I did not see the military display the first time by. We did see it the second time and stopped to take some pictures.

 

The war between the Croatians and the Serbs caused many hardships and it was not so very long ago.

1990 -1991

 

 

Then Joe led us onwards towards Plitvice and came up with a wonderful surprise for me. We stopped at this rest area and while he made coffee I took in the sights.and Oh what beautiful sights they were.

My first taste of waterfalls.

I believe this area was known as the Roberge. As I walked along the rest area I read stories that were generated by the area. About how the fairies would come at night and steal the horses from the surrounding area and ride them hard all night and then bring them back with their manes braided and how these same fairies would was their long hair in the waterfall during the day. There was also the story of a man who threw himself over one of the waterfalls because of unrequited love.

 

 

Oh so very beautiful. So back to the picnic table and the lovely coffee Joe made. Then on to our destination. Because we were losing the sun Joe took me up to the Plitvice viewpoint before we went to our B & B. San Korana. This is what I saw and to think tomorrow I would be there.

 

 

Now on to the B & B and Joe's friend San

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We were greeted with a wonderful beer so did not go into town for dinner. Then a couple arrived who were also house guests. I was Kayo and Maegan from Washington DC. What fun we had sharing stories that evening.

 

Joe and I went for a short walk around the B & B before turning in.

 

 Took this picture out our window. Tomorrow Plitvice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Road

Finally today we leave for Plitvice . Packed up and headed out of Vienna. .We had to stop at a store and buy Mozart Balls for a friend in Plitvice . Lovely chocolate and nougat balls all wrapped in foil with Mozart's picture on them.   Riding in Vienna is very busy. Motorcyclists duck in and duck out and most cars are very courteous but there are a few who cut you off. Joe was very patient and guided me through. Once on the open road things were much better. A stop for fuel and then on to Slovenia.  I found it very stressful showing passport to leave Austria, Then show It again entering Slovenia and then stopping to pay the toll for the road. Only difficult because one is on a motorcycle. We stopped a a fuel stop just across the border because it had started to rain and looked like we might get dumped on . This was a lovely stop for a service station. A lovely couple from Munich Germany stopped on their BMW's (Franz and Enricho)and we visited with them for a bit and had coffee. The rain stopped which was great because we had to go up and over a mountain to get where we were going.

 

This beautiful meadow was just outside the window and the mountain we had to traverse was right there.

 

Franz and Enricho from Munich.

 

 

The Beautiful One

On to our hotel in Kranjska Gora. A very quaint little place, family operated. Penzion Blenkus.

We were greeted by the lady of the house like old friends. Joe had stayed there before and were given pear schnapps to warm us up. We checked into our room and it started raining again so we went across the street to a mercantile and bought umbrellas. Then we did a little walkabout around town. Stopped at one of the big casino hotels but not my kind of place We went across the street from our hotel for dinner.

This is the restaurant from our room. Joe had spaghetti with octopus and I had deer goulash.

We had a lovely waitress who spoke wonderful English.She had been in an exchange program and worked in New York for a few months.

This is the butter we ordered to go with our bread and of course the wonderful beer.

 

Deer Goulash

We said no dessert so they gave us this tiramisu for free and that was followed by a gratis blueberry schnapps. Very good. They make you feel like a welcome guest.

As we walked around this picturesque little town we discovered a park with some art in it and sat on a bench to enjoy the quiet beauty of the place and just as we did the church bells echoed across the town. Very moving.

 

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We came across this lovely little waterfall on the way back to the Pension

And to end this special day I was delighted to find this snail.