Ron and Sally Jo Blog

Left our sobe with a nice view near Ravanjska. Stopped for coffee and donuts near a fish sellers stand then drove on to Zadar where we stopped briefly. Walked along the city walls and waterfront. Heard the “sea organ” – pipes in the seawall at various lengths creating music as the waves washed through them. Interesting. Basically spent the day meandering along the coast and stopping often for the views. Stopped in a small village for lunch and hiked along the stony shore for a while.

room view near Omis

Discovered another small village near Omis along the coast where we found an “apartment” for the night—4th floor with a balcony overlooking the water.

Doing a lot of meandering along the road—stopping often for photo shots. The scenery is beautiful—mountains, blue water, blue sky, rocky shores, colorful wildflowers, small villages with red tile roofs, sailboats, olive orchards, and vineyards. Drove up the Peljesac peninsula turning off the main road to explore small villages. Stayed in Trstenik for two nights in small apartment with a balcony overlooking the water. Nice and quiet with beautiful views.

Drove to the far end of the peninsula, again admiring the scenery. Chose a footpath along the mountainside exploring the plants and old buildings along the way. Walked 7-8 kilometres in the bright sun.

The morning that we left the peninsula we stopped in Ston to walk along the longest medieval stone wall in Europe—about 5 km. It is very steep and very impressive. It was built in the 14th – 115th centuries. It was quite a feat to build it and we felt that it was quite a feat for all of us to walk/climb it.

On to Dubrovnik. Again we stayed in a family sobe. Our view may not have been spectacular but the hosts were very friendly and helpful. Dubrovnik was a major maritime power 500-600 years ago. Today it is a major tourist center. The city is ringed by thick medieval walls; has narrow, steep alleys, and displays much history. It was virtually destroyed by two earthquakes in the 1500s and 1600s, rebuilt, again destroyed in the 1991-1995 war, and again rebuilt. We walked/climbed ¾ of the mile-long walk on the wall, visited Catholic and Orthodox churches, and rode a cable car to the top of Mt Srd with its fortress overlooking the city.

A new adventure begins! Left Budapest by train to travel to Zagreb with Bill and Phyl. Found our hostel—quite a difference from the last two weeks of accommodations. But clean and pleasant. A walk around seeing some of the buildings in Old Town.

Planned to drive to Plitvice National Park but passed through a small town of Slunj/Rastoke and decided to stop at their market. Had lunch. Looked for free Toilets. This led to talking to some tourist guides who told us about a short walk to the river and some older homes. Ron and Bill saw some fascinating toy windmills. This led the seller to tell us about a beautiful walk to see waterfalls. Bill and I went to see. I kept wanting to go farther. Which led Phyl to decide to check out the “Sobe”s (rooms in homes) which led us all to decide just to spend the rest of the day in this small town! The house where we stayed was destroyed in the 1991 war and has been rebuilt. What a pleasant and restful day. We did walk along the river and by waterfalls. We hiked up to the ruins of Napoleon’s Magazine where there were views across to the town. Ended the day with a great supper at a nearby restaurant eating on the terrace over the water—grilled fish.

Plitvice National Park

On to Plitvice National Park. No words nor photos can describe the beauty of this area. Waterfalls are everywhere. One cannot drive in the park so we parked, hiked a bit, took a boat across a lake, hiked some more, brought shuttle bus back to entrance. Even though it was cold, cloudy, and sometimes misty, it was/is a gorgeous place.