I could hear the rain pouring down outside when my alarm went off at 6:30 this morning. Katherine and I had made arrangements to meet for breakfast at 7 and be out the door on the trails for 8. As much as I would have loved to sleep more, I got up and got to breakfast on time.
I filled up on meat and eggs as there was bacon, sausage, prosciutto, and more. It was a bit of an overload. With our umbrellas and rain coats we headed out into the rain. It appeared to have stopped raining as we made our way down to the ferry we had to catch to go across to the lower lakes/falls that we hadn't been to yet; but as soon as we got onto the ferry and waited for it to leave (we were the only ones on it) it began to downpour. The lightning and thunder was non-stop and it was a little frightening being on a metal boat on the water. One of the guys that worked at the park and led us to the ferry came back on the boat and saw our terrified faces and started laughing.
We got to the other side of the lake around 9 and began our trek. The paths were all quite flooded and our shoes soon became drenched. It was a little slippery on certain parts of the path too. We eventually made it to a really cool cave. It was actually a good time to go because nobody else was brave enough to face the rain. It was like we had the park to ourselves. The falls were absolutely gorgeous. The water was still a turquoise blue, but with a different appearance due to the rain the clouds were all hanging low and all the trees looked so green. It was breathtaking.
We spent about an hour and a half walking before hiking up to where you can catch the Disney World like truck/trains back to the main area by our hotel. It was around 10:30 when we got back to the hotel. We saw some people from our group hanging out in the breakfast area still. They were very impressed with our enthusiasm to go out even though it was raining.
I needed a hot shower after being in the cold rain all morning, so that was the first order of business. After that I had to pack up and check out before noon. Once I was checked out I went next door with the others to the cafe and had a cappuccino and did some blogging. I also had a tiny plate of mashes potatoes, veggies, and sausage for lunch before we left at 1 to go to Zagreb. It was yummy.
The private can picked us up and we were on our way. We stopped at a cute little town where two rivers met and waterfalls ran through it. It was pretty. Our next stop was at a little road side cafe where I got a weird pastry that consisted of apple, cheese, poppyseed, and some other layer of something. It was like a combo strudel - and not so tasty.
It was 4:30 when we arrived in the capital of Croatia, Zagreb. We checked into our rooms at the Movie Hotel (I'm in the Penelope Cruz room) and then quickly set off for the centre of town. We had about a 10 minute tram ride into Ban Jelacic Square. From there we went on a 2 hour walk of upper town. We went past the cathedral, the bloody bridge, St. Mark's Square, the oldest pharmacy in Croatia, Stone Gate (in which a mini church can be found inside - drive through style),Tkalciceva (an awesome promenade full of restaurants, cafés, and bars), and much more. We haven't been on a walk with this many sights in one go before.
Once the walk was over we all split up for half an hour to do anything we needed to before meeting back at the clock tower in the square at 8:10 to go to dinner together. We were celebrating Donna's birthday so Brian was using the half hour break to run and get a cake for her.
Dinner was good. I had pork stuffed with ham and cheese with rice and veggies - and cake of course. From there we made our way to the main square to watch the Brazil vs. Germany match on the big screen in the beer gardens, however, as we were walking there Germany scored 4 times! We could barely walk past one screen to the next without a goal happening. It was insane.
It was 5-0 when we got to the square and at half time made the call to take the tram back to the hotel and watch the rest there in the bar. The end result was 7-1 for Germany. It was a little embarrassing.
When I went up to bed I noticed the air conditioning wasn't working in my room, but it was too late to do anything about it. Instead, I propped open the window and realized that the window came all the way down in a very weird way (see photo). I kept it open like that all night though so a breeze could come in. I just hoped that in the morning I wouldn't have any bird friends.
Sunny one moment, stormy the next:
Tkalciceva:
Stone Gate aka Drive through Church:
Clouds rolling over St. Mark's Square:
Hard to see, but each lamp has a number underneath it. There are 200 in the upper town that are lit by hand each evening:
After the rain:
Donna blowing out her candles with mom by her side:
Football screen in main square:
What I did to my window (I didn't break it, it just does this):
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