Croatia Part III: Hvar

After spending some time in Split and Plitvice, we traveled by boat to the island of Hvar, located in the Adriatic Sea. Since the weather was rainy and windy, the 90-minute boat ride was fairly unpleasant. Needles to say, we promptly purchased Dramamine upon arrival in Hvar (in preparation for our upcoming 8-hour boat ride to Dubrovnik). I usually don’t get seasick, but I was really suffering on this particular boat ride. I was elated to disembark the boat, especially when I saw how beautiful our destination was. Croatia just kept getting better and better. Though the day was cloudy with some light rain, we were still able to enjoy exploring the (very small -- population 4k!) town. The narrow, winding streets reminded me a lot of Venice. While Hvar is not frequented (yet) by many Americans, there were a ton of British tourists. Apparently, it is a very popular resort destination for Europeans. We chose to stay at a resort with a nice pool, as we had wanted a few days to relax and get some sun. I was originally worried that the weather would not be quite warm enough, but it was perfect. The water was too cold to actually swim (not for some people, but for the wimps like us), but we really enjoyed laying by the pool and doing lots of reading. In the evenings, we strolled back down to the main square for dinner. Unfortunately, due to both the popularity with tourists and the limited number of restaurants, Hvar was a bit expensive. Nothing outrageous, just too much money for the quality of the food, in my opinion. We did enjoy eating outside along the harbor, though. More nights of pizza, pasta, and gelato! As it is a small island and mostly a resort town, there isn’t a whole lot to do outside of relaxing by the pool or on the beach, shopping in the town, or sailing on the Mediterranean. But that was fine with us. It was the perfect way to incorporate some rest and relaxation into an otherwise busy sightseeing trip.

Next up: Our fourth and final stop in Croatia, Dubrovnik!

Bis Später,
Kristin and Matt

Croatia Part II: Plitvice National Park

On our second day in Croatia, we rented a car and drove from Split to Plitvice National Park for the day. Although it is a 3-hour drive from Split (in a foreign country where we can’t read the language, minor detail), we decided to still make the trip out because Matt was pretty much obsessed with visiting it. I’ll admit, I had seen a few photos of the park on Pinterest and other sites on the Internet, and it really does look stunning. But I was prepared to be underwhelmed because in my experience, a lot of those photos (most likely drastically edited) make even beautiful places look about a hundred times better than what they look like in reality. But wow, was I surprised. This park is definitely one of the most stunning and truly awesome places I have ever been to. It really takes your breath away. Around every corner, there is another gorgeous lake or waterfall, even more impressive than the last. The water was insanely clear. I bet if you poured it into a glass, it would look like tap water. It is also really cool that you can basically walk right over the falls (I love Europe and their lack of rules!). Although, some of the walkways over the water were pretty narrow and the pushy Italian tourists made me extremely nervous haha. I think too many times in the U.S., thanks to everyone suing everyone else for every little thing, we don’t have the opportunity to get up and close with things if there is even the slightest perceived risk. That’s not true in most of Europe, as I have found. And you really benefit from it. Matt was our photographer for most of the day, and I think he did a really great job of capturing the beauty of it all.

And to think, we almost didn’t go because the forecast called for rain all day. It did sprinkle for a majority of the time, but it wasn’t a big deal and everything still looked spectacular. I am really glad that Matt forced strongly encouraged us to visit Plitvice. It was definitely one of the highlights of a trip with many beautiful sights.

Bis bald,
Matt and Kristin

Croatia Part I: Split

Recently, we spent a little over a week in the beautiful country of Croatia. After hearing a lot about it and seeing countless beautiful photos, I had wanted to travel to Croatia for awhile. Matt was not too enthusiastic, but he is always willing to experience new places. Admittedly, we both had lower expectations. To our surprise, this turned out to be one of our favorite European trips, yet! Croatia is just stunning. A lesser-known gem in the Mediterranean, if you ask me. It reminded us a lot of Italy, but with less people and a more relaxed, calm vibe. Since we have so many stunning pictures from each of the places we visited, I will post separate posts over the next two weeks or so.

First, a brief history lesson on Croatia. During the early 90s the country had a bloody civil war as they were trying to break away from Yugoslavia. They were fighting Serbia for independence. Although it's approaching 20 years since the war ended, it has taken them a while to completely recover. Over the past few years tourists have realized how great of a country it is and started flocking back to it.

We started the trip in the city of Split. It’s not a huge city (population of only 178k), but it certainly is charming. When planning this trip, we had considered Split to be more of a “landing spot,” if you will, as there is an airport there and also, the national park and the island that we wanted to visit are easily reachable from here. Split really exceeded our expectations. It was a lovely harbor town with lots of character. The people are especially friendly, as well. There is a large promenade along the harbor, with cute cafes and shops alongside lovely palm trees. We really only had one full day in the city, which is definitely enough time, considering how small the town is. We spent the day exploring the market, enjoying scenic views from a hillside park, and relaxing along the water. We had a couple of delicious meals, including a spectacular al fresco dinner at a wine and cheese bar, and some delicious pizza and gelato. Italian food was everywhere in Croatia, so we definitely enjoyed our share of pizza and pasta. Although our time in Split was short, we really enjoyed it. It was the perfect start to our trip.













After spending time in Split, we headed to Hvar Island and then Dubrovnik. Stay tuned for more pics...

Bis Später,
Kristin and Matt