Crystal Clear

That old adage about enjoying the journey as much as the destination is certainly easy to embrace in Nacionali Park Plitvićka, or Plitvice National Park, where the paths are raised wooden walkways meandering through the landscape, and there are ferries and even a tramway for when you need shortcuts through the park.

 

Which isn't to poo-poo the destination.  We walk by and boated on an uncountable number of lakes and ponds in various shades of turqouise, thanks to travertine stone reflecting blue skies.  It's not a color you see too often in natural pools and reminded me of tropical beaches in Thailand.  And there are also an uncountable number of falls we pass, and they are truly divine.  We make it to the fun-to-say Veliki Slap, which literally means "The Big Waterfall," but I have to say that all the little ones along the way are just as picturesque.

 

 

(note from G:) Today I went to a national park and hiked next to a clear blue water later. It was so beautifull. We went on feirys and trains we also went in a cave.

Varaždin

(note from G:) Today I went to a little village.  In the village was a fair and I bott a bird wislte at a stall.  It does 4 things: it's a bird wislte, regular wislte, a vase and just a decoraytion.

Varaždin (pronounced Va-ra-ZHDIN) is an astoundingly charming village with street after street of 18th century Baroque architecture (after the older town was destoryed by fire) that we can't quite see or photograph because it is covered with stalls for an annual fair.  We recommend a visit if you're ever in Croatia, but not on festival weekend at the end of August. The good news is that G manages to find herself a little souvenir.  However, we get a $20 ticket which would be a bummer, except that we are from San Francisco where we get $65 tickets simply for overstaying a meter by 5 minutes, so we laugh in the face of $20. 

Here is a photo of Varaždin palace, from the 12th century, the only thing in town not covered at the moment with craft stalls, slushee booths, or bouncy houses: