Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

Day 48 - Plitvice National Park, Croatia:

We left the hotel around 6:30 this morning by taxi to the bus station. The public bus took us to Plitvice and took about 4 hours. Along the way we stopped for a lunch break and I had an apple strudel and a cappuccino. The driver was a bit of a speedster and took the corners pretty quick. I tried to sleep most of the way in order to not stress about the driving. 

We got to the national park and walked a little ways through the trees to our hotel. There's trees and little paths everywhere. It's beautiful. We quickly got settled in and then set our for a 2 and a half our trek. In order to get to the top of all the levelled falls we took a train/truck that reminded me of something you see at Disney World transporting lazy people around. 

The rustic boardwalks winded along the turquoise lakes and through the trees. The sun was shining and it turned out to be a fun little hike. Along the way we saw a cool looking salamander type guy, a tiny mouse, and a disgusting water snake. 

Once you got to the end of the trails you had to take a little ferry back across the lake to get to the hotel. Some of us went back to the hotel and others decided to take another ferry across to the lower lakes, which would be another 2 hours of hiking or so. Katherine, Kerry, and I decided to go back to the room because we were hungry and tired and figured we had all of the next morning to do the lower falls. 

Back at the hotel I had a refreshing shower and then we went and got a bite to eat at the restaurant nearby. My beef stroganoff that came with rice and veggies was delicious - as was my refreshing beer! 

After that I went and joined the others at the cafe and had a piece of cake. We sat around and chatted for a bit. Kerry pointed out that the bushes were twinkling and she didn't know what was going on. Turns out she had never seen a fire fly before and that's what they were. They were twinkling all over the place. It was a pretty sight to see at night! 

Back at the hotel many of us congregated in the lobby where we could get a wi-fi connection and I did some blogging and such. Then it was off to bed...but not too soon. Joanne and I found mosquitoes flying around so we didn't go to sleep until they were all dead. 

Strolling:

Salamander guy: