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It rains in Zagreb. Don't let the weather forecast fool u. We've been here 3 days and it has rained on all 3 days. Zagrebians obviousy embrace their weather as they have cute little trenchcoats, bright wellingtons and an umbrella always handy. In fact, they even sell fridge magnets in the shape of umbrellas with Zagreb proudly printed on them.

When we woke up this morning it was raining, and it hasn't stopped since. We walked around the shops, had lunch at Tip Top- brodet fish stew and pasticada. At a lost on what to do with such miserable weather, we asked the tourist information. Upon hearing what we've already done, he said that's about it - Zagreb is a small town. But said we could try a flower show that's on after we visit the famous Mirogoj cemetery.
Somehow the miserable weather, did I mention the temperature dropped to 12degrees?, seemed to suit the cemetery. Dating from the 19th century the plots are beautifully laid out and there's a serene feeling with the birds singing. Each plot has several names so I'm not sure if they are all cremated or have some unique stacking system.
We're back in the main square now, sitting under the equestrian statue having hot chocolate. Bliss!

Last day in Zagreb, as we leave early trow morning. We've been walking the streets ( the town Centar is surprisingly small) exploring the botanical gardens, ethnographic museum, mimara museum and even caught the popular Bodies exhibition.
As it was Sunday yesterday, most of the shops were closed. After lunch at kerempuh overlooking the dolac market we came back to our room to enjoy our sparkling wine (I guess being on yr honeymoon has it's perks!).

That night I watched the Zagreb philharmonic with Oliver Dragojević a popular croatian pop singer whose career started in the 60s. The concert was sold out but a lady with extra tickets kindly gave me one at the ticket counter. It was full house with lots of luminaries including the president in attendance. The concert was pleasant and u could tell the audience were happy - singing along with the songs when prompted. The 2 ladies next to me had tears in their eyes. I suppose it would have been like their nat king Cole performing with the orchestra. In fact, he even sang 'unforgettable'. :)

Pix is the view of the busy square in front of the train station from our room.

Plitvice lakes

The plitvice lakes did not disappoint, with its 16 lakes and picturesque waterfalls. Need to post proper pix to appreciate.

We got there around 10am after spending the night at the yugo-style hotel grabovac motel. Big rooms, but I think there were only 3 occupied. The park was very organized with a variety of trails to suit all and wooden walkways crossing over and right next to the falls and lakes. In 4 hours we had seen most of the park.

Had lunch with a sweet old Norwegian couple who had been to bor-nay-oh in the 60s. They have been retired for 14 years and spend their time on their boat and caravan throughout the Mediterranean with the poodle Chica they had bought in Spain. What a nice life I thought.

Soon it was time to head to Zagreb. We were waiting at the bus stop when a van pulled up saying it was heading to Zagreb. We got in and ended up arriving earlier than planned. Yay!

Zoning out in zadar

We've spent 2 days in zadar now and have spent it walking the marble streets and city walls as well as visiting the sea organ and sun salutation. So far, it is the most untouristy of the towns we've visited. There are many locals and normal shops. Of course the fair share of visitors walking around with their maps and guidebooks.

The food is good and relatively cheap. We tried Kornat yesterday which is supposed to be quite High end, and we paid less than a simple konoba in hvar.

Today we were supposed to catch the morning bus to the plitvice lakes national park, but when we got to the bus station we were told there was only a bus in the afternoon - probably cos it's still the low season. We walked around a konzum hypermarket waiting for the electricity supply to come back on before buying our tickets, then hightailed it to the old town for another round of food.

We noticed that the locAls take their coffee and lounging seriously. Esp around 3pm when many shops and businesses close for siesta. They must be efficient to get all the work done by then.

This place we are having lunch at (see pic) seems especially popular with the locals. Many cups of kava (coffee) and pivo (beer) being consumed. Viva la hrvatska.

Dramatic driving In hvar

Spent the last couple of days wandering around the island. We drove to stari grad and had ice cream. Then jelsa, where we had a lovely late lunch at 'me and mrs jones' overlooking the harbour. I had the interesting asparagus and strawberry and shrimp risotto while David had the frog in a 'home way'. Which turned out to be a yummy tomato and white wine sauce. We also had the famouse Dalmatian smoked ham and local wine - the maker zoomed by on his scooter a few times during the meal.

Decided to drive on the southern part of the island which the restaurant owner assured us was lovely. We got to a very small tunnel - only 1 lane. After waiting some time at the traffic light which kept flashing amber, we made a break for it. It was long and narrow and looked like it had been carved by hand. Luckily, we only saw a car when we were near the end. And it was driving in! But stopped and pulled to the side when it saw us. Wonder if the lights weren't working or if it's meant to be a game of chicken.

Our driving adventures weren't over. The same guy had told us that we could reach the town from the south on an unpaved road. He neglected to mention that it was an1 lane cliffside road. Thank goodness we didn't meet any oncoming cars. Views were amazing of course but we were high on adrenaline from the vertigo- inducing ride.

Today seems tame in comparison. We woke up late and went to the esplanade to check out the taxi boats going to the pakleni islands where a SANDY beach is. We caught one, but alas no sand. Had a nice time snoozing in the sun but water was too cold to swim.

Back in town climbed to the fort for nice views of the harbour. Had another yummy meal of dalmation cheeses, Hams and olives, and the chef's surprise - octopus. Early start tomorrow as we're going to catch the 530 ferry to split so we can visit the krka park.

Ferrying around

Our ferry was at 230pm so we had lots of time to wander around the palace (alas most of the shops were closed cos it was Sunday) and visit the sculptor mestrovic's gallery. The sculptures were nice and we enjoyed the gardens as well.(pic is the view from the gallery) A few turtles and lizards were out catching some rays. One of the docents told me that the weather was unseasonably cold and that they hadn't seen as much rain in 10 years!
Just our luck, ah well. The weather is definitely warmer than Dubrovnik so Im not complaining.
After a tasty lunch of beef tortelinni soup anlamb stew ( we had enough of seafood) we made our way to the ferry. It was a relaxing 1.5 hours as the vessel 'dubrovnik' took us calmly across to the port town of stari grad. Spent most of it soaking up the sun on the upper deck.
We drive over to hvar town despite the gps which insisted on taking us through some dirt trail. Guess they haven't updated the maps of the island. Hvar is breathtaking with postcard views. Our hotel is a 15 minute walk from the town. A 30s building with a lovely garden and we share a huge terrace with ocean views complete with deck chairs. They even said we could take the chairs to the beach. But as we are now learning fast, there are now sandy beaches. Just rocks and pebbles. Ah Msia, how we have taken u for granted.

There are some very chic resorts with swanky furniture and facilities but the town has the ancient stone look similar to Dubrovnik and split. We had a lovely fast slow food dinner at macondo - from marquez'S 100 years of solitude. Octopus salad, salted anchovies, shrimp pate, fish soup and lobster spagetthi. Yum ! If only they weren't so heavyhanded with the salt. Guess they're used to it.

Time to Split

After 3 days in Dubrovnik we drove up to split today. It was nice driving weather- not too hot. It even drizzled a little. Dubrovnik was v quaint, and the place we stayed in was wonderfully comfy and situated. However it was awfully touristy and a bit Disneyland-like. 3 days was just nice to see all the sights and even spend the afternoon walking around in lokram island. Will miss the many cats tho.

Driving up the coastal road gave us great views of the blue blue waters and stony mountains. We stopped for a delicious seafood lunch at mAkarskA - fresh And tasty.

Split's main attraction is the Diocletian palace. Buzzing with shops, cafes and stalls. There were at least 2 weddings going on too. Nice to see the locals out and about on the boardwalk. Trow we take the ferry to hvar.

One thing I'm pleasantly surprised is the high standard of Accm we've enjoyed. So far we've been at private accm - ppl's houses or rooms rented out. V clean and white towels in all! It's quite private and nice to know there's a friendly local to ask for help. Most important, have found that the toilets here are nice and clean. Whereas u noticed that roman Lois were quite icky with no toilet seat covers in most. Eee. Viva la Croatia.

Dining in Dubrovnik

With no fixed agenda, we seem to spend a lot of time looking for places to eat. And eating. We've had great roman pizza with dough as thin as popiah skin, lotsa sandwiches with provolone, prosciutto and salami plus great cappucinnos.

Here in Dubrovnik we've had nice risotto, grilled squid and now bosnian food (similar to Turkish). Better start walking it off - oh wait, there's a gelateria!

Ciao!

We're off on the bulan madu: Rome for 3 days followed by 12 days in croatia. Looking forward to the architecture, museums and blue seas of the Adriatic. Flight now delayed but hopefully everything else goes well.

idling in iguazu

spent most of the morning in a bus or waiting for a bus. guess it was too much to ask for the coach to get to Foz do Iguazu on time, instead of 2 hours late. well, at least i slept most of the time. also experienced the strange highway stops that they have. like a diner cum convenience store.

anyway, being late put paid to my plan of visiting the Brazil side of the Iguazu falls first. which actually ended up being a blessing in disguise since i didn´t realise it would take me 2 hours to cross the border. waiting for the bus, to being left at the brazil border to get my passport stamped, and then being ignored by 2 buses. sigh. the town of Puerto Iguazu is a small one built up over the years to cater for the tourists coming to see the falls. every other building is a hotel / hostel / guest house / souvenir shop. all the roads are red with the basalt volcanic soil and everyone´s shoes are soiled red. it´s relatively low season since it´s winter so the streets are pretty empty. 

after a lunch of pizza (as beloved here as in Brazil) topped with mozarella, ham, palm heart and olives (yum!) i headed out to the Argentinian falls. managed to cover one of the circuits and also go on a jungle safary to see the rainforest and animals. when the 4wd truck driver and guide, Alejandro, handed me a guide with pumas and jaguars, i started to get excited (and worried). but alas, over the 2 hour bumpy journey , we only saw a few toucans and goutis (small rat) and a deer. at least i know the pumas and jaguars are smart enough to keep away from a truck full of noisy tourists (including an Indonesian family, whose geophysicist father is working in Patagonia). didn´t even get to see a good old tapir. since it was dark by 6pm, i plan to come by again tomorrow morning to cover more of the circuits.

Dinner was local river fish - surubi,  at a restaurant recommended by Alejandro. Quite delicious and simple. Service was great too, plus you can pay in 4 currencies - argentinian pesos, brazilian reais, USD and Euros. talk about touristy. hehe. could hear from the tables around me that there were visitors from Australia, Japan, UK and of course the US of A. outside you could see the locals sitting on the streets or selling trinkets. i guess we`re there to provide them with revenue, so i shouldn´t feel bad. hmmmm. Buenos Aires tomorrow, i can´t wait! Aside from tango, the guide book says they have great buildings, museums, cafes and parks. yay!